Torquay v Macclesfield, National League, Sat. 11 Feb. 2017, 3:00 pm

[TUST_Member_Rob]

Another tome brucie ans wivelgull were wrong - always good!

Have to say it was my first chance seeing Hodgkiss at RB and it was so refreshing to see a natural full back who although not the tallest knows his position and was vocal throughout.

At times we looked very poor and Maccesfield passed all around us with little challenege however they rarely tester Moore and credit to Anderson who battled well agaisnt the tricky and dirty Jennings.

At times when we gave it a go we looked good putting great pressure on their back line however we lacked that link up from midfield to attack - this became more of a problem when Young went off.

A draw a fair result, disappointing attendance.

[Dave]

As always I try to be honest with what I've seen, that first half performance was simple not good enough, in fact near on disgraceful, spoke to a couple of other members at half time, we all pretty much agreed at that point, it was time for the gun to fired as far as Nicho was concerned, and I would suggest anyone who holds the view our team deserved any credit from that first half is beyond deluded.

No shape, no organisation, no leadership, no effort, no desire, and apart from Sparkes no ability, and as for Richards, I always given him credit for his work rate, but this is professional football, captain, give me a break, time he had his P45, personally don't think he could pick or complete a pass to another TUFC player if you gave him a postcode and a sat nav, and today if he wasn't running around like a headless chicken, he was stood in the middle of the park like a lost child, maybe we should be thankful for that to be honest, as when he did get involved, as said, useless.

It's not all bad though, the second half performance may just have saved the message boards going into meltdown, some credit is deserved, much improved after the break, and a cracking effort from Young, well saved by Macc's keeper seemed to be the catalyst for the gulls, who early doors after the break were on top and deserved to level the game.

But again some criticism due here, if it was bad enough that we'd started the game with two defensive minded players in the middle of the park, one barely half fit, the other in terms of footballing ability, a total half wit, when Young was lost to injury, the ball player in the middle, he gets replaced with Reid, come on Nicho please try to explain that one, defied all logic, and no surprise that all the attacking momentum was lost, thankfully Nicho seemed to realise this quickly and got Verma on, this led to strong finish for the gulls.

In terms of the overall game, on chances and possession Macclesfield just about edged it, but a very valuable point for us, which can't be underestimated.

[arcadia]

Thought it a poor first half, why we put long balls all the time to Williams I don't know but when you've got a formation as we did we should have been passing the ball. I felt we played the right formation but the wrong players in it.
I said at the last home game the position that Young is playing is to much for him at this stage of his recovery and now he will be out for a few weeks.

To play that kind of formation the players have to be closer front to back to give support to the lone striker. I thought Williams did well today and did not foul so much.

Second half a little better but we allowed their midfield to much space.

[desperado]

Happy with a point towards our 50 target, but need to be better up front to stay up. I would play Williams but he is not the player to be own his own up front, shame Keating didnt get longer as he looked as if he had something about him
Anderson did ok for his first game, and think I would agree with McGinty being MOM, I think donkey as someone called him is a little unfair, his first priority is to defend and get the ball away from the danger areas with his head or feet which he does, dont think are are many ball playing centre backs in the National League. Hodgkiss and Richards battled well.Dont know why we water the pitch, it suits the opposition more than us as they are the ones that pass and move it on the grass. Macc did this better than us though they didnt get through too many times
Considering the cold weather, rugby on tv and our poor form didnt think 1400 was too bad a crowd

[Dave]

To play that kind of formation the players have to be closer front to back to give support to the lone striker. I thought Williams did well today and did not foul so much.

Second half a little better but we allowed their midfield to much space.

Totally agree, was saying this at half time, the gap between the back and middle four was to close, as the our midfield was often sat to deep, so no support up top, and Macclesfield winning possession in midfield to cheaply.

Nothing wrong in being compact in my view especially away from home, however in a relegation scrap at home, like to see us have to go at the opposition, after all Macclesfield were nothing special, they were there to be beaten, a whilst it was valuable point, had our team started as they finished, who knows, and fingers are pointing all in one direction for that.

[Trojan 67]

Happy with a point towards our 50 target

No one this season at the bottom of the table is adrift or being beaten out of sight.

This season's points total for certain safety could be as high as 53/54 points.

I'm back

:whip:

[merse btpir]

I would agree with McGinty being MOM, I think donkey as someone called him is a little unfair, his first priority is to defend and get the ball away from the danger areas with his head or feet which he does, dont think are are many ball playing centre backs in the National League.

I called him that because he consistently gifts possession away by hoofing the ball instead of making possession a priority. In this day and age there is no justification whatsoever for doing that whatever level you play at....it's dinosaur football!

I watch a good deal of football on a weekly basis at levels lower than National League, attend training/coaching sessions too; and will say that this archaic and wasteful style of football is dying out and indeed is more than likely the reason for the team's preponderance to fall away in games and lose points because chasing the ball tires players out mentally and physically whilst making the opposition chase it has the opposite effect for obvious reasons.

At Maidstone recently; McGinty hoofed away possession from his own half straight from the kick-off down to the opposition keeper ~ why? Because he's a donkey!

Arcadia makes very good points about Young being used in the wrong way by Nicholson, at risk to his fitness and effectiveness to the team and I agree with him. Nicholson is not an accomplished coach ~ anyone with experience of either coaching or setting up a team can see that and that is why the team continues to struggle to achieve consistency over ninety minutes in just about every game they play.

[hector]

Just over 1300 home fans there today. Pitiful but utterly deserved crowd. The club have done nothing to warrant bigger crowds or our continued support.

And how many of that meagre gathering were season ticket holders? The club will be lucky if it made £5k Fromm that match.

[Neal]

I was down in Torquay on business, had a couple of meetings Saturday morning, had lunch in town and had a choice, goto the match or drive home, I drove home and Im a season ticket holder and supporter of 35 years plus through thick and thin. Got no enthusiasm now owned by GI. So not surprised others have made the same decision. I think it will only get worse.

[Goody2514]

As mentioned by everyone else, very poor first half, improved second. Totally agree with comments about McGinty and hoofing the ball, rarely directed for a tufc player. Courtney Richards is an abysmal footballer, and should not be anywhere near the first team, passing completion of less than 10% throughout the whole game, Williams tried hard, but looked isolated upfront until Reid came on and got somewhere close to him. Anderson did well on debut.

If they can play like they did in the second half from the start of matches they will hopefully survive, but there is some much needed training and soul searching in the summer if this squad is ever going to move up the table.

[SteveDeckchair]

Got to admit, I was sat there in the first half wondering what on earth these players get up to in the week because it clearly isn't football training.

So many aimless balls hit in hope and no cohesion between defence and attack. I say attack, but I really mean lone ranger, such was the gap between him and the rest of the team.

Anyway, second half we came out and looked much better. Got the ball down, used the width of the pitch and started playing football with intent. What a difference.

Don't get me wrong, we weren't great, but such was the dross in the first half, I was just happy just to have something to watch that didn't make me want to take a swim in Torquay harbour.

For what it's worth, I thought Anderson played well at CB and the right back was also solid. Second half, Sparkes down the left had his man beaten every time and put some dangerous balls into the box.

Fair result in the end, although their keeper made more crucial saves so we definitely could have won this game.

[SBP]

I ve missed the last 4-5 home games so yesterdays game was the first for a bit.
Some observations, again they continue to water the pitch before KO? Why do they do this when we the home side don't play the ball on the ground.
First half, absolutely shocking, I counted 1 move of over 5 passes. They caused LRT no end of trouble on their right . I thought we were extremely lucky to go in 1 down. Is Mcginty able to ever just take the ball on his chest and complete a simple pass rather than just head it away. What was Brendan Moore doing just standing there with the ball?? Also has he been told never to roll the ball out to our fullbacks or whoever??
Second half, well something must of been said at half time because they came out a completely different team. I thought Sparkes played well and provided some real quality crosses. Williams disappoints me, he s too lazy, you have to at least make an attempt to get onto these crosses. Sparkes was probably our best player imo and had the beating of his full back ever time.
After watching the first half I could never see us getting anything out of the game so to get a point is good.

I m disappointed with Nico's tactics and how the team is set up and how we play. Our passing is dreadful, we cannot keep hold of the ball. I just don't see any progression or improvement.

[Willowgull]

The conditions weren't great but that cant excuse the shocking first half performance (one of the worst iv seen but I have been saying that a lot lately!!). No desire, no commitment and very little skill.
McGinty is a good solid stopper and arguably that is what he is there to do. But, he has absolutely zero ability with the ball at his feet. How Man U were ever interested in him I don't know.
What was Moore doing giving away an indirect free kick inside the area? That's now the second timer ive seen him do that. The Macclesfield forward did absolutely nothing wrong.
Courtenay - time to go and should never be captain.
LRT - Like your new boots but shame you cant use them. Positioning again leaves a lot to be desired.

The second half was an improvement to some degree. At least we tried to play football even if it were only for a short period.
I thought Anderson looked really promising on debut, good solid display. Keating came on for the last 5 minutes and he put himself about. Reid had a good start to the season but he is looking really poor lately.

Its going to be the home form that keeps us up and judging on yesterdays performance it will be a struggle. All in all, a point gained but are the players good enough and do they have the fighting spirit?

[torq2u]

It was bloody freezing.
Far too much end to end football, from goalie to goalie, in that icy wind.
Anderson was calm, sensible and solid, and distributed well.
Hodgkiss also calm and sensible.
Keating moved more in 5 minutes than Williams did in 85.
Thank you McGinty for scoring a straightforward goal, but please hand the MOM award to Hodgkiss or Anderson.

[tomogull]

What I was going to post has mostly all been said. I will post anyway. Defence did okay. Hodgkiss looks a competent player. Anderson okay, especially as he must be lacking match practice, but is he any better than Gallifouco? I don't think so. But his signing could allow GG to play in midfield where I think he would be more effective. Rowe-Turner - the usual good and bad. McGinty - as others have posted, defends well and puts his body on the line but his distribution is awful. There was a prime example in the first half where he had plenty of time to play the ball but he chose to lump it over the Pop Side stand.

Midfield - sady, Lathrope is not the player he once was. Spent most of the afternoon chasing shadows and would not go in for tackles which was once his strength. Verma shuold not have been left out. Richards - first half, awful. Second half he got his act together a bit and was going in and winning tackles and breaking up Macc's attacks, and his passing improved. Luke Young worked hard but he is not back to full fitness and I expect he will be out for a match or two with a groin strain. Sparkes - probably our most consistent player. Fitzpatrick has been a good loan signing - sorry to see him leave. And then there's Brett Williams. He's never going to be a lone striker. He can't head a ball to save his life ! And yet we humped the ball 50ft in the air to him all afternoon. In Leroy's side, with Fowler and Russell, Williams would have been brilliant. Even last season with Raachi and Rees he would have been a better player because he likes the ball at his feet. Quite honestly, the hump it up in the air football we have to endure week after week is no better than you could see at King George V Playing Fields.

Will we stay up? Yes - I think so. Just. But I wouldn't put any of Brucie's money on it. The last home match against North Ferriby is looking more and more a 'must win' match. Who would have thought it would be that bad?