Torquay United v Forest Green Rovers matchday thread

PL21gull · Post by **PL21gull** » 16 Nov 2014, 15:26

Yes, the ref was only interested in giving free-kicks against us, Ricey could have done better by at least coming off his line to clear the cross for the first goal; but, surely the manager can see that we are 3-1 up, that FGR were controlling the midfield and over-running our central two, and that, in order to conserve our lead, we need to beef up our presence in the middle and not play with two wide men. However, on the bench we had three young forwards, a young goalkeeper, and a young defender. Why no midfielder?
FGR did not panic when 2 down but stuck to their ball-playing ethos, tight in mid-field, forwards coming off their markers to receive and then spread play, thus enabling the midfield to go forward and support. And we just did not try to counteract it. Which then increases the pressure on our defensive backline. It is not rocket science, just footballing basics.

Point 2, we consistently waste possession with dire throws-in. We hardly ever throw the ball to feet or chest, we just lob the ball in the air towards our two players surrounded by 4 or 5 opponents, and hence give them possession. More imagination and movement/ support needed.

bengull · Post by **bengull** » 16 Nov 2014, 16:02

I agree with you, Dave. It's refreshing to go to Plainmoor and see some exciting, attacking football, Last season there were some matches were we couldn't muster a shot at goal. Greavsie has done well to create an attacking minded team, anybody who came to watch us for the first time yesterday would definitely be up for a return visit on that showing.

I did not mean to come across as overly critical in my last posting, I think Greavsie is doing as good a job as anyone reasonably could have expected with the meagre resources at his disposal. I don't think another man, experienced or otherwise, could do much better.

He put 6 below par performer/high wage earners on the transfer list in order to free up some more budget, he received no interest in any of those 6, that immediately put him 2 steps backwards. He was lumbered with the same defence that looked so fragile last season, to compensate he brought in 3 or 4 high quality forward players to gamble on the fact that we will score more than we will concede. If he were to gerrymander the boundaries the other way and strengthen the defence and then rely on nicking the odd goal here or there with substandard strikers; well I don't think I could cope with that sort of football 3 years in a row.

Cameron, still on another year, has underwhelmed all season. Cheap options Yeoman and Thompson aren't trusted to start but aren't given enough pitch time to become effective squad players. All in all I think Greavsie has done brilliantly to get together a team that on their day can compete with anyone. Lathrope and Nicholson might well be better than others at the club but as their contracts had ran out, they were dispensable. I can see clearly now, why Greavsie has done what he's had to do

In any case , this still isn't the time to look into Greavsies management too deeply, we are still carrying a lot of baggage from the previous management. Players who under performed in League two and are still of little use now. Next season when the squad is fully Hargreaves' own is the true time to judge and if his eye for solid signings in Young, Bowman, Briscoe and Richards is anything to go by, I would hope he can build a more consistent, cohesive starting 11. The crux, however, will be if we can keep hold of those aforementioned.

lucy6lucy · Post by **lucy6lucy** » 16 Nov 2014, 16:06

bengull wrote:I agree with you, Dave. It's refreshing to go to Plainmoor and see some exciting, attacking football, Last season there were some matches were we couldn't muster a shot at goal. Greavsie has done well to create an attacking minded team, anybody who came to watch us for the first time yesterday would definitely be up for a return visit on that showing.

I did not mean to come across as overly critical in my last posting, I think Greavsie is doing as good a job as anyone reasonably could have expected with the meagre resources at his disposal. I don't think another man, experienced or otherwise, could do much better.

He put 6 below par performer/high wage earners on the transfer list in order to free up some more budget, he received no interest in any of those 6, that immediately put him 2 steps backwards. He was lumbered with the same defence that looked so fragile last season, to compensate he brought in 3 or 4 high quality forward players to gamble on the fact that we will score more than we will concede. If he were to gerrymander the boundaries the other way and strengthen the defence and then rely on nicking the odd goal here or there with substandard strikers; well I don't think I could cope with that sort of football 3 years in a row.

Cameron, still on another year, has underwhelmed all season. Cheap options Yeoman and Thompson aren't trusted to start but aren't given enough pitch time to become effective squad players. All in all I think Greavsie has done brilliantly to get together a team that on their day can compete with anyone. Lathrope and Nicholson might well be better than others at the club but as their contracts had ran out, they were dispensable. I can see clearly now, why Greavsie has done what he's had to do

In any case , this still isn't the time to look into Greavsies management too deeply, we are still carrying a lot of baggage from the previous management. Players who under performed in League two and are still of little use now. Next season when the squad is fully Hargreaves' own is the true time to judge and if his eye for solid signings in Young, Bowman, Briscoe and Richards is anything to go by, I would hope he can build a more consistent, cohesive starting 11. The crux, however, will be if we can keep hold of those aforementioned.

Spot on

6667GULL · Post by **6667GULL** » 16 Nov 2014, 17:03

I know he's stiil young but someone please tell Ajala to stick to the basics and stop the fancy step overs.
He could have had 4 or 5 goals himself yesterday if he'd stopped trying to be flash.

Dutchgull · Post by **Dutchgull** » 16 Nov 2014, 18:38

Agree but at least he produces more than what Billy Bodin ever did and he loved his step overs too !!

Neal · Post by **Neal** » 16 Nov 2014, 19:17

PL21gull wrote:Yes, the ref was only interested in giving free-kicks against us, Ricey could have done better by at least coming off his line to clear the cross for the first goal; but, surely the manager can see that we are 3-1 up, that FGR were controlling the midfield and over-running our central two, and that, in order to conserve our lead, we need to beef up our presence in the middle and not play with two wide men. However, on the bench we had three young forwards, a young goalkeeper, and a young defender. Why no midfielder?
FGR did not panic when 2 down but stuck to their ball-playing ethos, tight in mid-field, forwards coming off their markers to receive and then spread play, thus enabling the midfield to go forward and support. And we just did not try to counteract it. Which then increases the pressure on our defensive backline. It is not rocket science, just footballing basics.

Point 2, we consistently waste possession with dire throws-in. We hardly ever throw the ball to feet or chest, we just lob the ball in the air towards our two players surrounded by 4 or 5 opponents, and hence give them possession. More imagination and movement/ support needed.

Don't need to post as I was going to say the same

portugull · Post by **portugull** » 16 Nov 2014, 20:08

This was a brilliant match. Very entertaining from start to finish. The save by Russell from a fabulous shot by Luke Young was stunning.

I feel there are many positives from the match. The players are with CH 100%. Fantastic team spirit for all to see.

Berry is so much better than Tongue. The main reason we did not win was Sinclair. He was the driving force behind FGR. At 3-1 up we should have man marked him. An excellent player.

I thought their first goal was very lucky. It could have gone anywhere but clipped the post before going in from a very slight touch from Guthries head.

The second goal was so crucial For FGR and was definitely not a free kick. When defending free kicks in this position I favour putting Berry and Cruise not in the wall but on the line one at each post.It makes it much harder for whoever takes the free kick. Any views?

So pleased to see Pearse back in the team. Cannot wait for next Saturday.

A Bristol City fan I sat next to (after he recovered from City having a player sent off after 3 minutes) was very impressed by Louis Briscoe and Luke Young.

Spread the word we should be getting better gates. I am confident we are heading for the play offs.

Post by **SuperNickyWroe** » 16 Nov 2014, 20:26

hector wrote: What I am suggesting is that we have around 12 or 13 players who are of reasonable standard and the rest are sub-standard. Benyon, like it or not, falls into that category and unfortunately, you are in a tiny minority of people who are deluded enough to think that he could come in and do a job. Perhaps his 7 goals in about 6 years is what has convinced you.

come on brucie, you and I know that benyon should never play for us again.

hes useless.

compare him to rendell - who we could have signed instead of him - its a no contest.

watched him today @ hailfax......he looked good - as well as fit.

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 16 Nov 2014, 21:32

6667GULL wrote:I know he's stiil young but someone please tell Ajala to stick to the basics and stop the fancy step overs.
He could have had 4 or 5 goals himself yesterday if he'd stopped trying to be flash.

For Christ's sake, Chris, if you're reading, do NOT do this at all.

Matt.

Dutchgull · Post by **Dutchgull** » 16 Nov 2014, 23:06

He should use those tricks only when he has to and then he can surprise his opponent. Do it all the time and they will know what to expect. The element of surprise !!

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 17 Nov 2014, 00:45

Woking up to third place after beating Halifax 3-1.

tomogull · Post by **tomogull** » 17 Nov 2014, 16:10

Good post Yellowsmiffy. Having got over the disappointment of letting a two goal lead slip, I think a draw was probably a fair result in the end, even though as Matt posted, they only had about four shots on target. We were under huge pressure in the last 15 mins and despite Young's brilliant strike which could have won us the match, we were just about hanging on at the end. I suspect that Josh Wakefield's loan spell came to an end to make way for Durrell Berry coming in. Had Wakefield still been with us, I'm sure Hargreaves would have brought him on to shore up the midfield in the last twenty minutes or so. His only other option was to have Harding on the bench who wouldn't shore up anything. Midfield is an area where we lack cover now that Wakefield has left.

We've had a right go at refs on here and I really do not like criticising refs. The free kick against Pearce was at the very least harsh. The resulting goal changed the match. Also, their central defender's arm across Bowman's face should have resulted in a red card. If you remember the Shamir Goodwin sending off towards the end of last season, both incidents happened right in front of us on the Pop side. Saturday's foul was definitely more of a 'sending off' offence than Goodwin's although I suspect Bowman's writhing around in death throes probably saved the FR player being sent off ......

Forest Green are a good side. I was impressed with the tempo they play the game. One example - throw ins, already mentioned on here. When we have a throw in, it takes about two minutes to get organised. Rovers throw ins were taken very quickly and they had players alert and ready to receive the ball. Something I think we could take on board.

arcadia · Post by **arcadia** » 17 Nov 2014, 18:37

Sinclair in their midfield should have been identified and marked as he ran the show!
It shows it was a good game because the forum is alive again!

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 17 Nov 2014, 19:10

Whether or not the free kick against Pearce was harsh, the fact remains that we must defend free kicks better than that. And I've little doubt that we will improve.

I'm also sure that crowds would rather watch exciting 3-3 draws like that than the 0-0 draws or 0-1 defeats of the past couple of seasons. And with supporters cheering the lads on instead of moaning and whingeing, the team will be inspired. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season with eager anticipation..

Post by **Dave** » 18 Nov 2014, 22:40

Here's the goals from the this game.. First goals as thought totally free header, could Ricey have come out for that, don't think he would have got there, so made the right decision in my view. Then take a look at that free kick he's been blamed for not saving, laughable, no chance of stopping that, the third where's the left back ?

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