Torquay United v Boreham Wood TUE-22nd

[Dave]

Saturday came and our team got spanked, best forgotten and move on. Tuesday night see's The Gulls back in action with the visit of Boreham Wood FC, Tuesday will also be special occasion as we welcome supporters of Plymouth Argyle for a fans reunited day, I'm sure they'll get a great reception from our fans and club alike.

Boreham Wood FC, nicknamed The Wood, were formed in 1948 after an amalgamation between Boreham Rovers and Royal Retournez, Boreham Wood are the second of the newly promoted sides from last seasons NL south division , The Wood only came into the upper echelons of the non-league pyramid gaining promotion to the NL South as Isthmian league champions in 2010, last season saw Boreham Wood finish second in the NL south and gain promotion via the play-offs at the first time of asking, The Wood have a number of players with football league experience including Charlie MacDonald who played 5 games on loan at Torquay United in 2002, MacDonald went on to be a prolific goal scorer, most notably with Brentford.

Featured Boreham Wood player

Scott Doe;born 6th November 1988, position defender. Scott Doe began his career as a youth player with Swindon Town, but would make no senior appearances for Swindon, 2007 saw Scott Doe join Weymouth, Doe would make his debut on 25th September against Torquay United, Scott Doe would go on to make 62 appearances with Weymouth in the NL premier, however well documented financial troubles at Weymouth with players not being paid left them out of contract.

Scott Doe turned down a contract offer from Peterborough and joined League 2 Dagenham and Redbridge, something very rarely seen in todays football, Scott Doe went to be a virtual one club man, 6 seasons at The Daggers saw Scoot make 243 appearance's with 11 goals, Scott Doe joined Boreham Wood in the summer.

Boreham Wood top goal scorers and season stats

Harry Crawford 3
Junior Morias 2
Scott Doe 1
Charlie MacDonald 1
Graeme Montgomery 1
Ricky Shakes 1
Matthew Whichelow 1

HOME / AWAY ADVANTAGE
% Points (Home) 57% (Away) 43%
% Goals scored (Home) 58% (Away) 42%
% Goals conceded (Home) 56% (Away) 44%

Current form

Boreham Wood; D-L-L-L-L-L

29 Aug Boreham Wood 1-1 Woking
31 Aug Dover Athlet. 2-1 Boreham Wood
5 Sep Boreham Wood 1-3 Grimsby
12 Sep Lincoln City 3-1 Boreham Wood
15 Sep Boreham Wood 2-3 Bromley
19 Sep Boreham Wood 0-1 Wrexham

Last time out

Boreham Wood 0-1 Wrexham

01 Russell
04 Cox Booked (Morias - 63' )
05 Doe
08 Shakes
33 Devera
06 Reynolds
09 Howell
15 Hill Booked (B Clifford - 46' )
16 C Clifford
11 Montgomery
10 MacDonald (Whichelow - 85' )

Substitutes
02 Nunn
07 Whichelow
17 Morias
19 Crawford
20 B Clifford

Boreham Wood to go day time training three times a week

Chairman Danny Hunter said “I spoke to my management team of Ian Allinson and Luke Garrard about the pros and cons after the defeat against Bromley. They felt it was the only way to go if we are to survive and prosper. Of course it is not ideal to do this in September but after five losses on the spin, performances have dipped and results don’t lie”..

“This club costs me a lot of time, money and considerable effort and it’s at times like this that our supporters can expect their chairman to lead but lead with clear goals and clear objectives”..

“Some of our players, especially those who have been used to daytime training and full time football, have struggled with two evening training sessions a week and are hugely under performing. Some have struggled with doing a day job then rushing home, grabbing a bite to eat, rushing across London to train and are emotionally spent by the time they get here”..

“Others who don’t even have a day job, have struggled simply by being idle all day and just want to feel like they are full time footballers again.. Either way whatever the reason this change will give them all and our coaches the time to get out on the training pitch, to prepare properly in an unhurried scenario and to concentrate on winning football matches which is there job”..

“After speaking with the staff, the majority of our players and management team are hugely in favour of the switch. Even those amongst them who cannot commit to it all agree it will improve and help us considerably. Of course only time will tell if that is correct but on the downside it will almost certainly lead to some casualties and some players and staff will depart”..

Hunter went on “Going to a day time training programme three days a week, is tantamount to turning Meadow Park and Boreham Wood into a full time football club for the first time in our history.. There are going to be the obvious additional costs and expenses to take into account, from catering and catering staff, to additional coaches, playing personnel, cleaners, kit managers and of course the very important medical staff”..

“I now need to go away, revamp the budget in the correct way and see how best to move the club forward. I need to see how much more I can give the first team budget personally and I need to find a way for the club to move forward commercially to increase our budget across the board”..

“It will simply not be good enough for us to become a full time club, without having the necessary infra structure all in place. This is not a game we’re playing where we can afford to get it wrong. We must remember at present we are still not good enough on the park as is evident by our league position. As such we still need to bring in a few experienced but more importantly, hungry players into this group to improve us”..

“We will now see if the club I’ve re built these last 17 seasons and these players, will stand up to the rigours of being full time or if we’ll fall flat on our faces. To succeed we must all work harder than ever before but things must be and will be done properly from top to bottom”..

“The players and coaches will need feeding, they will need specialist coaching and will also need to be looked after medically.. They will need the proper facilities to train and rehab in everyday. We are lucky though that our facility now boasts recreation rooms, kitchens, medical rooms, 3G astro pitches and a rehab gym. We’ll also need the study suite’s to analyse games and that again is complete and in place”..

Hunter concluded “it sounds silly but we’ll also need a very good kit manager and staff to clean up after the lads and wipe there noses. Players do love a whinge and moan up if things aren’t exactly as they want and any excuse will do, again this is all in place”..

“This all takes sustainable finance and that will be the key to our success. As such I will need to find the money and ensure it is workable without putting the club in any danger of overspending. That is now my aim and rather than talking about it, it’s best I just get on with it and make sure I bloody well succeed”..

“We will begin day time training at the club as of tomorrow morning and the aim this week is to win on the road at Torquay on Tuesday, then follow that up with another win at home against Altrincham on Saturday. If we can do that then the whole club and the world will suddenly feel just a little bit rosier”..

http://www.borehamwoodfootballclub.co.uk/news/

From a Torquay point of view

Well what can I/we say about Saturday, over a day later does it feel any better, no it doesn't, some will say it's only a game, no, it's more than that. What went wrong Saturday, could have been a number of things.

Some will say that's been coming, others will say it was the Cox leaving effect, more worryingly there have been suggestions the players were listening to, two different voices Saturday, if that is the case my only suggestion would be, either Edwards put your suit back on and leave well alone, or take charge of the team and ask Ramshaw to leave the club. One voice, one way of playing.

I can't see any valid excuse to defend Saturday's horror show, off field, Paul Cox walking out on the club have nothing to do with it, when the players go over the white line and whistle blows they don't think of anything but the game, they looked Saturday as if they didn't know what was expected of them, more than half them looked like thy didn't want be here anymore.

For me three out and out centre backs, with two wing backs is not working, for this system to work, the wing backs have to be disciplined and cover back, the three centre backs have to be organised and shuffle across to cover either side, the midfield have to play their part defensively as well that's not happening, why I personally believe we're conceding so many goals. I'm not a fan of overly defensive formations, however, right now the team needs it's confidence rebuilding, right now I'd be thinking along the lines of 4 at the back, 5 in midfield and 1 up top, in a bid to stop the goals going in, to try and make our side in the first instance hard to beat, when that's achieved confidence and results will take care of themselves.

Torquay United top goal scorers and season stats

James Hurst 5
Alex Fisher 3
Tyrone Marsh 2
Dan Butler 1
Josh Carmichael 1
Exodus Geohaghon 1
Angus MacDonald 1
Joe Quigley 1

HOME / AWAY ADVANTAGE

% Points (Home) 40 % (Away) 60 %
% Goals scored (Home ) 31% (Away) 69%
% Goals conceded (Home) 48% (Away) 52%

Current form

Torquay United; L-L-D-D-D-L

29 Aug Torquay Utd 0-3 Cheltenham
31 Aug Eastleigh 3-2 Torquay Utd
5 Sep Torquay Utd 1-1 Guiseley
12 Sep Welling Utd 1-1 Torquay Utd
15 Sep Kidderminster 2-2 Torquay Utd
19 Sep Torquay Utd 3-7 Bromley

Last time out

Torquay Utd 3-7 Bromley

21 Lavercombe
02 Hurst
05 MacDonald
18 Smith
03 Butler
06 Geohaghon
04 Fenwick (Murombedzi - 83' )
10 Marsh
12 Carmichael
07 Briscoe (Bell - 60' )
24 Lavelle-Moore (Fisher - 70' )

Substitutes
01 Spiess
11 Murombedzi
17 Fisher
22 Quigley
27 Bell

John Ramshaw speaks

]Although I fully believe Dean Edwards made the decisions and should faced the media along side Ramshaw

"In being involved in football for a lot more than 50 years that's probably the worst defensive display I've ever seen," Ramshaw told BBC Radio Devon.
"It's certainly the worst defensive display I've ever seen from a team I've been in charge of."

United working hard to bounce back...



“It was as if everything Bromley touched turned to gold,” said Ramshaw. “There is no escaping the fact that we were very poor defensively today.

“All we can do is get back on the training ground and start rectifying the faults of today – at least we have another home game coming up straight away to get this out of our system.

“We have to draw a line under it, show character, mental toughness and togetherness in order to respond in the right way.

“You can be sure that we will be working extremely hard in order to achieve this.”

Read more at http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 3iX1KO7.99

Head to Head

I know of, no previous meetings between the two clubs.

[AlexGulls]

They are no better than us. We need a reaction from Saturday against a team in as bad a form as we are. Hopefully we can get a decent attendance and back the lads going to go for a 1-0 scrappy win being optimistic.

Didn't we beat them 5-0 in the FA Cup many years ago?

[tomogull]

I posted before the Welling match that we should get 7 points from the next three matches (Welling, Bromley & Boreham Wood) and if we didn't get at least 5, it might be time to become a little concerned. Much has happened since that posting and the maximum number of points we can get is 4. Things were bad but i never dreamt they could become as bad as they are now. I feel sorry for the players and for the hard core of fans who have supported TUFC brilliantly this season.

[Gulliball]

We simply need to win. You can off-field issues and survive, on-field issues and recover, but being in crisis on and off the pitch is too much. We're not in the bottom four yet, that is the nature of this league - we just need to stay slightly better than four other sides until we can recover off the pitch.

Stop the rot, get a new manager and build something new.

[Scott Brehaut]

Let's see how we get on with Ramshaw in sole charge.

[gullno4]

as bad as boreham wood are, I can still see them giving us a hiding. 0-4, Angus Macdonald to get sent off.

[kevgull]

We are staring into the abyss, you can stay away and moan (understandable) or you can turn up and give what's left of TUFC your full support!

We need the money and a result or we will slowly die and fade into Administration.

COYY!
1 nil Torquay

[Dave]

With all the off field rumblings and the events of last night being confirmed today, it's easy to forget we have a match tomorrow night. The resignation of Dean Edwards kind of makes part of the opinions I've shared in this preview null and void. So we will have John Ramshaw in charge tomorrow night at least that should give the team some continuity, will there be a change of formation if big EX isn't fit, doubt it if he is, although think the majority will feel it's time to forego those long throw ins, Lavercombe or Spiess. ?
I know I've suggested 4-5-1, however with out Richards and Heslop that possibly wouldn't work, as they're the two midfielders we have with defensive qualities, so the team would look something like this.

Spiess
Hurst-MacDonald- Smith- Butler

Fenwick- Carmicheal

Bell-Briscoe-Shepard

Fisher

My concern there would be, could Fenwick and Carmicheal carry out those defensive duties, and would Bell need to be in the middle, as I don't see Briscoe being fit enough to play out wide, any thoughts?

[gullno4]

in that lineup i'd swap marsh for fisher, would be harsh to drop him after his 2 goals. other than that I agree

[Dave]

That's a very good point, and Marsh did play well, in a one up top though you are looking for someone to hold things up, but as said without Richards and Heslop a simple 4-4-2 with Marsh and Fisher perhaps.

[nickbrod]

Yeoman back from Truro loan? According to story in WMN Yeoman's in the squad for tomorrow's game.

[tommyg]

Playing Hurst at right-back is suicidal. He's brilliant going forward but doesn't track back and has no interest in defending. But then I'm struggling to think of another alternative... Perhaps Smith/Angus at right-back and Odofin thrown into the deep end? He can't be any worse than our defence on Saturday and if he's not going to be given a chance when we're down to the bare bones, then what's the point of him bring here? That would free Hurst to play right wing and I'd like to see Murombedzi on the left. Carmichael in the middle with Bell as Fenwick was abysmal against Bromley. Fisher alongside Marsh up front and Spiess back in goal.

[PhilGull]

With Cox and Edwards gone and Ramshaw in charge and after Saturday I am expecting some big changes.
Lord only know what he's going to do with the 'keepers. Speiss was wrongly dropped but does Lavercombe need faith showing now he is in there? Will Ex start? Will we keep with 3-5-2? I'm expecting a change, maybe a back to basics flat back four. Can't see a 4-4-2 though as I can't see a midfield partnership who would be solid enough so I'm expecting a 4-3-3.
5-0 to the Gulls.

[tomogull]

That's a very good point, and Marsh did play well, in a one up top though you are looking for someone to hold things up, but as said without Richards and Heslop a simple 4-4-2 with Marsh and Fisher perhaps.

...... or maybe Quigley & Marsh? I think that is a partnership that could work well.

[arcadia]

Forever you replied to me that we did not have the players to play four at the back when I said that after 20 minutes I would have changed the formation on Saturday. WHOOPS!
I admit when I'm wrong but Saturday was rubbish and I felt Ramshaw just ignored Dean and made him look an idiot.