Gary Owers

[arrywithanh]

WE ARE NOT RUBBISH ANYMORE - OK GARY!!

[westyorkshiregull]

Stick with it , out of last 6 league games I think we can say a improvement has happened. Keep believing

[Neal]

Just watched Owers post match interview. He looks like one VERY pissed off manager.

Look I don't know if he is good enough for the job or not. But results in the league at least have improved a bit. Is that enough, well we will know in May, that's football folks.

[desperado]

He always comes across as very down and uninspiring after a poor result, hope he is not like that with the
players, dont know what Kuhl is like but not the manner to lift and motivate the players, though its partly
up to them to motivate themselves

[wivelgull]

Mr. Owers is slowly but surely acquiring that haunted look that all managers get who are on a losing streak - or should that be hunted.

[gateman49]

Or ultimately shunted?

[tufcyellowarmy]

Or right royally punted .....

[Cruisinho]

With regards to Owers, I think he is better than Nicholson, and that was seen in the most recent performances (until yesterday). However, although he is a level above Nicholson (in my view), do we need a manger the level above Owers for us to survive? And a couple of thoughts on us waiting 4 weeks for him. Do people believe he was first choice from the start? If not, what number in line do you think he was? Would certainly explain the wait.

[JamieE]

I don’t doubt Owers’ ability to setup a team to win matches - I think we’ve seen that from the improved team performances, some results, and the relative improvement of the players that were already in the squad when he arrived.

However, I do doubt his ability to bring in players of the sufficient quality. Having watched the last 2 matches, Davey and Barnum-Bobb, in my opinion aren’t up to it. I think you can probably include Mcquoid (lost all of his pace), Murphy (not going to score goals) and Dowling (limited despite effort) in that too. Jury’s out on Andresson and Guy.

A lot of these signings are from watching U23 games this season, which is admirable in terms of effort from the manager, but they just aren’t good enough. Is that going to change over the next 3 months?

[Lloyder5]

Don't agree about Davey and Barnum-Bobb. Davey plays with more assurance than what we've got. Barum- Bobb good athlete, decision-making needs to improve, more than not diving in and getting sent off, some of his passing in the Gatehead match with the wind behind, was pretty dull.

[merse btpir]

Don't agree about Davey and Barnum-Bobb. Davey plays with more assurance than what we've got. Barum- Bobb good athlete, decision-making needs to improve, more than not diving in and getting sent off, some of his passing in the Gatehead match with the wind behind, was pretty dull.

I saw Davey play with total assurance and effectiveness in the central position of the back three at Sutton; he passed it as well as Gowling does and was more mobile and a stronger header of the ball too. Could it be that his recent 'struggles' have been the result of having to play on the right to accomodate Andresson now that Efete is injured and who himself is a 'left biased' player playing in the middle and now the unit is unbalanced?

Barnum-Bobb? OK when I saw him and an improvement on Higgins defensively; but yes his decision making on that final ball is somewhat 'inexperienced' to say the least ~ in the politest terms.

You rarely get the finished article coming in when you are a club of the status we now are; we have to accept that and undersand it......that's not to say players can't be developed and improved as the examples of MacDonald and Smith (when on loan from Port Vale) show.

Even the teams at the top contain a number of this type of player. It's a fact of life when you are a National League club and it's only natural in the food chain that is the football pyramid.

[Yorkieandy]

I wonder if there are any studies on contributors to forums, I guess there has been.

The first question is:

why bother at all?
what is the motive for posting? I aint got a clue why I do
Are contributors to forums like this one a bit odd or normal. Mmmmmm

Well my observations are these:

Some people like to prove they are in the know, and basically everyone isn't
Some people like to try and exert some control
Some people like the sound of their own keyboard
Some people think they are special and everyone else should listen

Now why did I post all that?

Anyway I think the team has improved, improved enough to avoid relegation, who the f knows

I think football forums in general are slowly dying a death with many younger fans now choosing alternative social media sites as a medium for communicating about their club and football in general. As a consequence i'd hazard a guess that a large percentage of forum users across the clubs now are either older or have been established on their particular forum for donkeys years which also makes forums quite intimidating for new users wanting to get involved. Which is a shame.

There have been quite a few instances of newbies posting things on here and instead of receiving welcoming comments, they have immediately been rounded on. On balance though this happens on other forums that i have visited so it's not exclusively a Torquay problem.

Why bother? Well i guess for me it was the main way of communicating with others about the team i support(ed), even more so when you are (were) an exiled fan. It developed into something i really enjoyed and i wanted to really participate and get involved in which i did, hence the huge post count of my previous username. I can see now and accept now that when you post lots of things on a regular basis and force your opinions across then without necessarily meaning to come across as annoying, to some people that's exactly what is going to happen. The frustration comes when this is and has never been intentional but i personally have learned that not all fans that don't like what you post wouldn't necessarily not like you as a person. There is a distinction. The internet blurs things and things get misconstrued.

Basically if you are going to post your opinions about anything on social media, even respectfully, then expect to get abuse and resistance. This is the modern world and it's pretty f*cked in the head IMO.

Of course, football forums are simply a microcosm of society in general and simply reflect who is inside a football ground. If we sat 3,000 Torquay fans around a huge Alan Partridge-esque extender table for a chinwag then you'll get fans of all natures. You'll get fans who have strong passionate opinions but who are friendly and can accept others views, you'll get fans who won't accept others views. You'll get fans who study the game and are quiet and won't want to say much or get involved on social media. You'll get fans who use social media exhaustively as a tool for self promotion. Like those young lads who always seem to have a twitter profile picture of them wearing a grotesque skin tight white townie t-shirt with gold chain round their neck, clasping a bottle of beer in a pub with their arms wrapped around their mates like they are somehow the most important person in the whole world when in actual fact it's quite the opposite.

I respect the opinions of Merse (obviously he is the person these posts are aimed at) and agree with many of Merse's opinions. He is obviously a very knowledgeable man about lower league football and TUFC and this has to be respected however i don't get a sense of humbleness about the manner in which he delivers his posts and this is what i personally find abrasive and disappointing. I doubt he is bothered in the slightest anyway or even aware of it which i would find sad if this was the case but from his point of view, nothing bothers him so fair play.

Be more Harry Kane and less Joey Barton i say. =D

[merse btpir]

I respect the opinions of Merse (obviously he is the person these posts are aimed at) and agree with many of Merse's opinions. He is obviously a very knowledgeable man about lower league football and TUFC and this has to be respected however i don't get a sense of humbleness about the manner in which he delivers his posts and this is what i personally find abrasive and disappointing. I doubt he is bothered in the slightest anyway or even aware of it which i would find sad if this was the case but from his point of view, nothing bothers him so fair play.

You're right; I don't bother about it....

...but don't worry yourself Andy ~ I am aware of it!

[arcadia]

The defence is ok the midfield has been ok we need a couple of strikers and maybe a right wing back if we stick to the same formation. Last Saturday was shocking in every way selection and the new striker needs to get some work ethic as he cheated for best part of the game we need effort.

[kevgull]

I have read that Owers has won only 18% of the games that he has managed, not very inspiring if true.
From now until the end of the season it needs to be closer to 50% if we hope to avoid relegation.