Torquay United v Bristol Rovers 26/12/13

[jonnyfive]

Exeter at home, I just do not know. They are due a win at Plainmoor in the league, it must be well over a decade since they won a league game

Not counting a certain BSP playoff match; very wise. I don't remember it either.

[Colorado Gull]

Exeter at home, I just do not know. They are due a win at Plainmoor in the league, it must be well over a decade since they won a league game here and they are good away, have been doing badly and when teams do badly, Torquay always have a knack of ending their bad run. Plymouth away, I just do not see us grabbing anything. 1 pts from the three derbies would be a very poor return. Knill needs 4pts in my view, as a minimum, to suggest that he is starting to turn the tide. Anything less and we are pretty much back to square one.

People forget that we haven't lost to Plymouth and Exeter for around 10 or 11 games I'm sure? Haven't got the stats to prove it, but I'm pretty sure that I am correct.

[hector]

People forget that we haven't lost to Plymouth and Exeter for around 10 or 11 games I'm sure? Haven't got the stats to prove it, but I'm pretty sure that I am correct.

I think the last time we lost to Plymouth was Sept 2001, when they beat us 1-0 at Plainmoor with a squad containing 7 future Gulls. We drew the return fixture on Boxing Day 2-2. After that we did not play in the same league as them until 2 years ago and there have been 5 games since then of which we have won 2 and drawn 3. So effectively, Plymouth have not beaten us for 6 games.

Exeter last beat us in the league, in the Conference, on Boxing Day 2007 (4-3) and we won the return roughly a week later 1-0. We did not play them again until last season of which we won one and drew one. So effectively, we are three unbeaten, against Exeter (in the league, as obviously there was the play-off game)

They last beat us in the Football League during the autumn of 2001 (and their last league win at Plainmoor), a game in which Gary Brabin was sent off and Sean McCarthy scored. The following season we did the double over them and then they were relegated to the Conference.

So we are sort of due defeats to both Plymouth and Exeter as it has been 6 years since we lost a Devon Derby in the league and that was the first for 6 years (but largely because not many were played).

So just two defeats in 12 years and so please let us not suffer two more in three days.

[SuperNickyWroe]

Not counting a certain BSP playoff match; very wise. I don't remember it either.

[hector]

Yes - that is why I purposely stated league game. I have had to banish that dreadful day from my mind. Probably the worst I ever felt as a Torquay fan and one of the rare occasions I have left before the end of the game.

[jonnyfive]

Perhaps a league game but not a League game?

I thought Rayner was a decent goalie until that day. But I mentioned it once and I think I got away with it... I'll say no more!

[tomogull]

thanks friendly gas, good comments mate, lets hope to see both clubs climbing the table soon,,as for the morons who give stick to bodin and mcCourt be ashamed of yourselves, **** of to another planet, your not needed or wanted, the club needs supporters to get behind them, not on there backs.what a bunch of wankers!jak mcCourt is a lovely lad and doesnt deserve this sort of treatment.

Fully agree with Roadrunner but perhaps in not so, er, colourful language ! Young Jak McCourt worked his socks off yesterday and although not everything went right for him, he didn't deserve any stick from the fans. However, I stand on about the halfway line on the Pop Side and like Wivel, I didn't notice any barracking of McCourt.

Hector summed up his afternoon very well on the MOTM thread - Jak McCourt, struggled at times to find a decent pass but as the game wore on, I thought he was our best player in the latter stages. You look at loan players (and some that are not loanees) and it can be tempting to think they do not give a toss but McCourt clearly put everything into it yesterday and I did look at him and think, in a few years time he is going to be a very decent player. Whether that is with Leicester or not, I do not know but he has something about him for a youngster.

As for Billy Bodin - he really is a conundrum. Although players shouldn't be barracked, I can understand fans frustration at Bodin. We know what he's capable of but he just isn't doing it. In my opinion, he had another poor game yesterday - poor ball control, leaving players unmarked, rarely challenging for the ball. He is a pale shadow of the player when he was on loan with us which is a shame because we can see he has the potential to play at a higher level ....... if his mentality can cope with the pressures of professional football. And I think thereby lies the problem - lack of self confidence.

[ferrarilover]

Hmmm, not sure McCourt 'didn't deserve stick', in fact, I'm pretty sure it was a jolly stick-worthy performance. The question is whether it should be offered when deserved and, for me, the answer is no. Players know when they **** up and a collective groan from the crowd at misplaced pass no.9817 will reaffirm the player's own feelings.
To go beyond that initial (and present fair) reaction and start offering personal critique is where the line should be drawn.
This is in a similar vein to the "you wouldn't say that to his face" defence that some choose to run when their favourite player comes in for criticism on here. No, of course I wouldn't meet Nico in Tesco and say to him that his TUFC career is over and that he's been replaced by a younger, better man. I wouldn't do that, not because I have a small man-sausage or am some way lacking in bravado, but because that simply is not how polite society functions. If I find a woman especially unattractive, I don't feel the need to point and laugh and make a fuss, I simply don't ask her to marry me. Equally, if I feel a player is having a bad game, there's no part of me which wants to call him a wanker (not so that he can hear it, at any rate), I merely decline to offer that he has had an excellent game.

Matt.

[gullfan92]

Poke - 9 -
Tonge - 6 -
O'Connor - 8 -
Downes - 7 -
Cruise - 6 -
Manse - 6 -
McCourt - 6 -
Mozika - 9 -
Chapell - 6 -
Bodin - 6 -
Marquis - 8 -

[ferrarilover]

I presume that the Downes mark is minus seven.

Matt.