Who can turn it around?

[taxilady]

No, disagree; Briscoe is also likely to score , if only CH would put him on/leave him on the pitch !!!!!

[Admiral]

From the Radio commentary on Tuesday night Richards made an impact in the second half. Him or the experienced Harding in the holding role? Hmm, probably go with Richards.

[tommyg]

The sad thing is Bowman probably is our best all-round striker which just proves how rubbish our other forwards are. Irrespective of that, after watching Bowman against Telford and Chester, he needs to be taken out of the team for a game or two. If Hargreaves can 'rest' Ajala and Richards, then he should be able to do the same with Bowman. I'd like to see Briscoe playing off Reid or Campbell if Duane is still injured. Absolutely no point in keeping Reid and Campbell on loan if they're not going to figure.

[notnow]

bring back Ling, he's got influence.

Whose going to come here and do the biz for Hargreaves? he dose not have the contacts which play a big part. I agree everyone has to start some where, just not here Chris, sorry.

[DevonYellow]

What we should remember is that whoever had come in as manager last year, whether CH or anybody else, they would have had the same budgetary problems and, unless they were extremely lucky, the same lack of success. And lack of success, given the financial situation at Plainmoor, does not amount to failure. The impatience and frustration of fans hungry for success is understandable, but is misplaced. Calling for CH to resign or be sacked at this stage is not the answer. We must support him and the team for what is left of the season, and then see what transpires thereafter.

The budget, or lack thereof, is a poor excuse.

Ok brizzle will have loads more than us but they are an exception. How many part time teams have beaten us this season?

Bowman, Briscoe, Richards, Young and Ajala - all Hargreaves signings - would have been well beyond the means of most clubs in this division; and that's before you consider those he inherited Pearce, Harding, Tonge et al. Our budget is definitely not small - don't believe the hype.

[Dave_Pougher]

bring back Ling, he's got influence.

Whose going to come here and do the biz for Hargreaves? he dose not have the contacts which play a big part. I agree everyone has to start some where, just not here Chris, sorry.

That's not as ridiculous as it may have sounded a few months ago, but we have to remember although Ling was sacked he did leave us little choice due to his no show because of whatever illness had befallen him. If he were to move down here, permanently, (and wanted to come) then yes I think he could salvage something from this joke our club is slowly becoming.

Whilst we're being honest let's face it CH is now toast, the novice experiment has failed in spectacular fashion, whether he stays or goes someone else needs to take charge of first team affairs. After promising a reaction (to be fair to him he didn't state what kind of reaction, we just assumed it was going to be positive!) he's blown it. Time for an experienced head to save something to build on.

[Burnhamgull]

I'm sick of hearing how CH has struggled because he's been tied by financial constraints etc.

He has struggled because he cannot motivate a team. Simple.

I've said it before on a previous thread. At this level you need to be a good coach and work with what you have, not go out and spend money bringing in new players because you can't improve the players you have. This is where CH has failed. He has a number of youngsters who have shown sparks of ability at various times this season but I truly believe CH thinks he's better than he actually is and has a stubborness about him that reminds me of Buckle. The difference with Buckle was that he was a good coach and got his team playing a system that worked.

CH is now desperately trying different systems because after 18 months in charge (lets not forget he's also had three transfer windows) he still doesn't know what his best team is or what his best system is.

Time to go Chris and admit that this job was not for you.

[SuperNickyWroe]

I'm sick of hearing how CH has struggled because he's been tied by financial constraints etc.

He has struggled because he cannot motivate a team. Simple.

I've said it before on a previous thread. At this level you need to be a good coach and work with what you have, not go out and spend money bringing in new players because you can't improve the players you have. This is where CH has failed. He has a number of youngsters who have shown sparks of ability at various times this season but I truly believe CH thinks he's better than he actually is and has a stubborness about him that reminds me of Buckle. The difference with Buckle was that he was a good coach and got his team playing a system that worked.

CH is now desperately trying different systems because after 18 months in charge (lets not forget he's also had three transfer windows) he still doesn't know what his best team is or what his best system is.


Time to go Chris and admit that this job was not for you.

[Gullscorer]

I agree, the team's problems are not simply due to the manager's zero playing budget. Some of the players are decidedly chubby and unfit, some are undisciplined, some don't seem to have mastered the basics of football, many of them give up too easily at the first sign of adversity, most of them are too young and don't have enough experience. Surely the manager is experienced enough to see all these things for himself..

Oh, wait..

But give him time..

[Sunnysideup]

Correct. The fact he gets little if any service is why he hasn't scored more.

And yet isnt that exactly the same problem we had last season?
The problem with 4-4-2 that Greavsie is wedded to (and seemingly Knill before him), is that it requires the wide players to create dangerous balls into the box area for the strikers to convert. Neither Cameron, Chapple, Ajala or anyone else thats played there (or Bodin last season) seem to be able to produce much in the way of end product apart from a few weeks at the start of this season. If Bowman was able to convert 50% of reasonable chances created for him in a game, he'd still only be scoring once every other game (and as good a finisher as a La Fondre or similar).
The trouble is, unlike someone like Howe (regardless if you thought him lazy, selfish or carrying too much weight), Bowman isnt likely to create his own goalscoring chances and is reliant on others to do it. It was exactly the same last season with Hawley and Benyon. Most of the games I watched, they were trying to convert goals from 1 or 2 chances between them in a game. Some games, they didnt even have one credible opportunity to score, yet they got relentlessly slagged off.

Until we can find someone who can regularly create chances for the strikers to finish (like Wayne used to), we're going nowhere with a 4-4-2.

[wivelgull]

Money. Decent players. That's all.

[Gloomy Gull]

I'm sick of hearing how CH has struggled because he's been tied by financial constraints etc.

He has struggled because he cannot motivate a team. Simple.

I've said it before on a previous thread. At this level you need to be a good coach and work with what you have, not go out and spend money bringing in new players because you can't improve the players you have. This is where CH has failed. He has a number of youngsters who have shown sparks of ability at various times this season but I truly believe CH thinks he's better than he actually is and has a stubbornness about him that reminds me of Buckle. The difference with Buckle was that he was a good coach and got his team playing a system that worked.

CH is now desperately trying different systems because after 18 months in charge (lets not forget he's also had three transfer windows) he still doesn't know what his best team is or what his best system is.

Time to go Chris and admit that this job was not for you.

VERY

[PhilGull]

In an interview when he was first appointed manager 14 months ago, CH presented his vision of expansive, passing, flowing football. A commendable ambition, if perhaps naive for a new manager in the lower divisions of football.

Today, in a preview of the Chester game, he admits the reality of the Conference: ‘A lot of the teams we’re playing are getting success by doing the ugly things and that’s the league we are in. We’re trying to do things that are sometimes a bit naive.’
http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 26203.aspx

Of necessity working with young, mostly free-transfer, players, he also perhaps understands that these youngsters, who tend to get easily discouraged when something goes against them in a game, need older, experienced heads playing alongside them to instill a calmer but tougher, more determined, never-give-up approach into their collective subconscious. Perhaps the Guy Branston type of player. These older players will not work here for free. They cost money which is currently not available to the manager.

The current season will have been a massive learning experience for CH, and the squad will finish in a safe enough position, but it will be well into next season, following the summer’s activities, budget decisions, new signings, and any changes suggested by Kelvin Thomas, before we see a new direction and change in fortunes for the club and improvements in the team. In twelve months time we should be either seeing the beginnings of some new success or be able to confidently foresee a brighter future in 2016.

Until then, the only sensible thing for the club and supporters to do is to continue to fully support CH in the work he is doing.

I agree with Gullscorer!