Eastleigh v Torquay 19:45 25/10/16

[tufc si]

Same old story, getting really bored of it all now.

[Gulliball]

I was encouraged by the performance tonight. We matched them in the first half and were the better side from 47 to 87 minutes. Eastleigh were wasting time from the 50th minute and it was us making the better chances rather than them pushing for a second.

We looked ten times better going forward than we did on Saturday, and our makeshift defence looked ok for the most part. First goal was a clinical striker taking a half chance, second the ref gave to them on a plate and third was too late to matter as we tried to get something back. 3-0 was not a fair reflection of the game at all and we could easily have taken something from it. Ref didn't help us by missing a handball in the area and then killed us with the decision for their second. Moore never lost control of the ball between his save and picking up the loose ball, to call it a back pass looked crazy from my view.

Positives to take into Saturday. A win there is important, and if we do then 4 points from this week would be a good total. We need to win the home games against the lower sides to keep the total ticking over and us safely in mid-table.

[Southampton Gull]

The performance definitely didn't deserve that result. We lost through a couple of moments of indecision at both ends of the pitch.

Moore was outstanding again. The defence coped fairly well for most parts but were eventually undone through a bit of class from the Eastleigh front line.

We might have lost 3-0 but that scoreline doesn't reflect the game as a whole. Once we were one down we chased the game and had a few half decent chances where a little more composure might have reaped some rewards.

I didn't expect much, would have bitten your hand off for a 0-0 but I'm not too unhappy with that performance, we'll beat most of the sides around us if we keep battling away like that.

[CraigUnder]

Drawing to an inform Aldershot and losing unjustly to a play off chasing Eastleigh with a team thats positions look to be picked from a hat every time the line up is chosen due to injuries etc is the way it is and to have at least a point from the two games is more than I thought we'd have. 3 points on Saturday is a priority but realistically a point and a clean sheet would be a success right now.

[ferrarilover]

I wasn't there, so can't say too much about the 90 minutes, but...

With the manager at LB, a LB at CB, a CB who hasn't trained at RB, a child on the right wing, a hobbled centre forward who hasn't trained, half the starting XI out and a bench made up of some kids from Watcombe's reserves and Chaney playing a side with 12 men and probably somewhere in the order of 500 FL appearances to their name managed by the biggest name in the division paying the kinds of wages usually reserved for L1, away, on a Tuesday after an equally though Saturday fixture and losing in the manner that we did, I simply cannot believe that some people are upset about anything other than the apparent injustice of it all.*

1-1 sounded as though it would have been a fair result. Have a look at Eastleigh's teamsheet and tell me it's not a superstar XI put together with no cause for budgetary accountability. Then look at ours and say that we didn't put out not only our only fit 9 players plus two who weren't, but also that they aren't with us because it's better than signing on.

People need to realise where we are as a club. We have a Conference South budget and mostly Conference South players. I tell you this, if we get Salford in the Trophy, they'll beat us about 6-0, home or away.

We aren't the club we were 12 years ago. We aren't even the club we were 5 years ago. We need to accept that 18th in the Conference represents success and that we're going to lose 25 games a season. To come so close to getting a point away at free-spending Eastleigh is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Well done to Nico for once again getting the whole to add up to more than the sum of the parts. I can but do my best to support your efforts and encourage others to do the same.

Matt.

*I'm working on my sentence length. What do you think?

[markypoos77]

Same old story, getting really bored of it all now.

came on here to say exactly the same thing...so depressing being a supporter these days...ive grown up with torquay being a competitive league club since 1997 and to see us matched up against these teams like North Ferriby, Eastleigh, Woking, etc and not only losing badly to them but going into the match expecting to lose, i just cannot believe the plight of this club.

People ask me if my 3 year old will be a tufc supporter...more often than not these days i ask myself why should i inflict this type of pain onto my son?

I know this might result in some abuse coming my way and i get that but this is simply how i feel....

[markypoos77]

I wasn't there, so can't say too much about the 90 minutes, but...

With the manager at LB, a LB at CB, a CB who hasn't trained at RB, a child on the right wing, a hobbled centre forward who hasn't trained, half the starting XI out and a bench made up of some kids from Watcombe's reserves and Chaney playing a side with 12 men and probably somewhere in the order of 500 FL appearances to their name managed by the biggest name in the division paying the kinds of wages usually reserved for L1, away, on a Tuesday after an equally though Saturday fixture and losing in the manner that we did, I simply cannot believe that some people are upset about anything other than the apparent injustice of it all.*

1-1 sounded as though it would have been a fair result. Have a look at Eastleigh's teamsheet and tell me it's not a superstar XI put together with no cause for budgetary accountability. Then look at ours and say that we didn't put out not only our only fit 9 players plus two who weren't, but also that they aren't with us because it's better than signing on.

People need to realise where we are as a club. We have a Conference South budget and mostly Conference South players. I tell you this, if we get Salford in the Trophy, they'll beat us about 6-0, home or away.

We aren't the club we were 12 years ago. We aren't even the club we were 5 years ago. We need to accept that 18th in the Conference represents success and that we're going to lose 25 games a season. To come so close to getting a point away at free-spending Eastleigh is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Well done to Nico for once again getting the whole to add up to more than the sum of the parts. I can but do my best to support your efforts and encourage others to do the same.

Matt.

*I'm working on my sentence length. What do you think?

good post - i guess my problem is i find it so hard to accept the part underlined/bold above!!

[ferrarilover]

It comes to us all.

Those who make the most noise (in all things, not just football) are those with no idea of history.

Man Utd fans are presently the best at this. Compared with where they were in 1975, 5th in division one represents a huge improvement, but to those making all the noise, Man Utd's history extends as far back as about 1997. They are the same people who say that the national team is as bad as it ever has been. They've no idea that we didn't even qualify for USA '94.

It's just the same for us. We have been royally spoilt over the last few years. L1, Leroy, Buckle (the bloke's a cock, but you can't argue with his football), Lingy, O'Kane, Olejnik, Ellis, Robertson, Howe all in one team. Winning 5-4, 4-3 (from 3-0 down), Wembley, Wembley, Old Trafford.

That's more excitement than a huge number of clubs around us have enjoyed in 50 years, let alone a dozen. At the moment, we're in a bit of a lull. It's our lowest point in our history and we aren't looking like arresting that any time soon. Our society doesn't allow for the answer, 'just be patient'. I'm no less guilty of it than anyone else. My dear old mother will tell stories of having to call the card issuer to get authorisation for payments over £50. I got grumpy in Sainsbury's the other day because I had to, of all things, take my card from my wallet and put it in a machine to pay for my delicious can of tangy pop.
We live in a world where we can enjoy instant gratification. The idea of waiting a week for the next episode of Black Mirror is lost on the Netflix generation. That sort of thing simply isn't possible in football.

We were told at the start of the season that one of Mourinho, Pep or Klopp would be sacked if they didn't win the PL or the UCL. Madness. Only one team can win the title, only one team can win the CL. It might take 5 years to get to that point. History tells us that it took even Alex Ferguson that amount of time to actually achieve anything.

It will take Nico two or three seasons to get us where we all want to be. This is why he has the contact he has, to give him that security and us some protection. We can't afford to sack him, even if he's on a 6 month deal, so we might as well give him three years and let him assuredly plan for the future. Shorttermism is the cancer which kills sustainability in business.
This is half Exeter's problem, they refuse to take a long term view. They live hand to mouth, boom to bust. This is how a side receiving the sort of unaccounted for income that they do ended up going to the PFA for a loan some few months after earning at least £750,000 that they didn't account for. That's why they haven't used that money as a springboard to success. They've instead frittered away the money on paying unsustainable contacts to the manager (think of all the people you know who earn £125,000/year, are they A) at the top of their game, among the elite in their industry or B) scrabbling about generally being pretty useless at the equivalent of L2 level?) Short term, giving Titsdale a massive contract instead of, say, refurbishing the bogs in the away end was a great idea. Those making that decision rode the crest of a wave in a land of milk and honey which could never end. Until it did. City were relegated back to L2 and, but for yet more almost unbelievable fortune in the FA and League Cup draws, they would have been back in the Conference and probably odds-on to be in the BSS the year after. Suddenly they have not anything to show for their profligacy except an unmanageable debt, an ongoing liability which they have no hope of servicing and a ground which poses a public health risk.

The older they get, the better they were.

We must take the alternative view. A long term approach. Sign a team of kids and use skill and a little bit of luck to develop them into a good squad and/or saleable assets. The money generated by this must then be reinvested into a project which will generate more of the same. We must use our first £250,000 excess to reopen the academy, NOT to sign a couple of players on silly wages in the hope of making it up a division.

This long term planning and execution is at odds with the modem way, which is all the Facebook generation have ever known. This is why they whinge and bleat and abuse, because they know no different. Those with the benefit of history must ignore these voices and plough the hard, unpopular furrow.
We're in a bear club in a bull market. Our time will come, history promises as much.

Matt.

Did this on m'phone, errors are the fault of whichever Singaporean peasant nailed together this hateful Sony.

[Gashtufc]

Gutted about the result but not about the performance thought everyone gave 110% and deserved much more from the game

[PhilGull]

Well said that lover of Ferrari.

[devonboy]

Yep, good to have him back. OTT but good entertainment! Livens things up a bit...

[lucy6lucy]

It comes to us all.

Those who make the most noise (in all things, not just football) are those with no idea of history.

Man Utd fans are presently the best at this. Compared with where they were in 1975, 5th in division one represents a huge improvement, but to those making all the noise, Man Utd's history extends as far back as about 1997. They are the same people who say that the national team is as bad as it ever has been. They've no idea that we didn't even qualify for USA '94.

It's just the same for us. We have been royally spoilt over the last few years. L1, Leroy, Buckle (the bloke's a cock, but you can't argue with his football), Lingy, O'Kane, Olejnik, Ellis, Robertson, Howe all in one team. Winning 5-4, 4-3 (from 3-0 down), Wembley, Wembley, Old Trafford.

That's more excitement than a huge number of clubs around us have enjoyed in 50 years, let alone a dozen. At the moment, we're in a bit of a lull. It's our lowest point in our history and we aren't looking like arresting that any time soon. Our society doesn't allow for the answer, 'just be patient'. I'm no less guilty of it than anyone else. My dear old mother will tell stories of having to call the card issuer to get authorisation for payments over £50. I got grumpy in Sainsbury's the other day because I had to, of all things, take my card from my wallet and put it in a machine to pay for my delicious can of tangy pop.
We live in a world where we can enjoy instant gratification. The idea of waiting a week for the next episode of Black Mirror is lost on the Netflix generation. That sort of thing simply isn't possible in football.

We were told at the start of the season that one of Mourinho, Pep or Klopp would be sacked if they didn't win the PL or the UCL. Madness. Only one team can win the title, only one team can win the CL. It might take 5 years to get to that point. History tells us that it took even Alex Ferguson that amount of time to actually achieve anything.

It will take Nico two or three seasons to get us where we all want to be. This is why he has the contact he has, to give him that security and us some protection. We can't afford to sack him, even if he's on a 6 month deal, so we might as well give him three years and let him assuredly plan for the future. Shorttermism is the cancer which kills sustainability in business.
This is half Exeter's problem, they refuse to take a long term view. They live hand to mouth, boom to bust. This is how a side receiving the sort of unaccounted for income that they do ended up going to the PFA for a loan some few months after earning at least £750,000 that they didn't account for. That's why they haven't used that money as a springboard to success. They've instead frittered away the money on paying unsustainable contacts to the manager (think of all the people you know who earn £125,000/year, are they A) at the top of their game, among the elite in their industry or B) scrabbling about generally being pretty useless at the equivalent of L2 level?) Short term, giving Titsdale a massive contract instead of, say, refurbishing the bogs in the away end was a great idea. Those making that decision rode the crest of a wave in a land of milk and honey which could never end. Until it did. City were relegated back to L2 and, but for yet more almost unbelievable fortune in the FA and League Cup draws, they would have been back in the Conference and probably odds-on to be in the BSS the year after. Suddenly they have not anything to show for their profligacy except an unmanageable debt, an ongoing liability which they have no hope of servicing and a ground which poses a public health risk.

The older they get, the better they were.

We must take the alternative view. A long term approach. Sign a team of kids and use skill and a little bit of luck to develop them into a good squad and/or saleable assets. The money generated by this must then be reinvested into a project which will generate more of the same. We must use our first £250,000 excess to reopen the academy, NOT to sign a couple of players on silly wages in the hope of making it up a division.

This long term planning and execution is at odds with the modem way, which is all the Facebook generation have ever known. This is why they whinge and bleat and abuse, because they know no different. Those with the benefit of history must ignore these voices and plough the hard, unpopular furrow.
We're in a bear club in a bull market. Our time will come, history promises as much.

Matt.

Did this on m'phone, errors are the fault of whichever Singaporean peasant nailed together this hateful Sony.

Another good post I'm not on commission agreeing with Matt, but when he writes post that don't cross the mark, he makes a lot of sense. Bloody hell if only we had beat Crawley that season in the FA cup

[ferrarilover]

nope. I've been back a month now. but going back again later. although some would say I'm always in a state

Haha. I'd agree with those people.

Jag still running?

Matt.