Maidstone v Torquayunited 10/3/18

[Southampton Gull]

Yes of course it is. The squad was assembled by the previous manager and was the worst in living memory. Owers may have failed miserably but suggesting that Owers (or Osborne) deliberately got us relegated is just plain daft - if he had wanted to do that he would just have stuck with Nicholson.

Well he obviously didn't want to stick with a manager who had actually kept us up on a far inferior budget with little or no support for two successive seasons. Owers isn't fit to clean Nico's boots when it comes to sending out a side to battle for survival. We're limping into NLS, not scrapping like demons to avoid it.

Even you could see the difference between the two........................ perhaps not!!

[greb46]

Would it be possible if Nicholson had been given as many matches this season as Owers has that he could be as inept? Somehow it's doubtful that him or anyone could be.One things for sure any manager given such a chance as Owers and produced such pathetic results with not an inkling of an improvement would have been sacked long ago under normal circumstances.

[merse btpir]

......any manager given such a chance as Owers and produced such pathetic results with not an inkling of an improvement would have been sacked long ago under normal circumstances.

This club is not run under 'normal circumstances' though is it!

An absentee owner with not a shred of football knowledge or interest; a general manager appointed because of who he is not for what he brings to the table and the most mediocre of management teams imaginable with a squad comprised mainly of soft peddling old lags bolstered by an inordinately stupid number of inexperienced loanees...........a recipe for relegation.

[brucie]

Absolutely - it isn't a normal club is it?

The only person it seems who as any connection with the club who actually attends matches is Harrop and basically he is nothing more than a cartoon character.

[greb46]

True as far from normal as possible and the ideal recipe to kill any club ,I think even with my total lack of football knowledge on a par with CO I probably couldn't bring it down any quicker

[SuperNickyWroe]

I've spoken with Owers several times; there's no way he wants the club to be relegated.

no offence nickbrod, but are you taking the p155?
what do think he would say?????
and actions speak louder than words.
his record is far worse than Nicho's. He's almost as bad as Knill or Hargreaves.

[Teigngull]

TUFC....... TOSSERS UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB
All of you associated in a professional capacity should hold your heads in shame.
How any of you can hold your selves not accountable to the ineptness & amateurish way this club is run is quite frankly incredibly sad.
To use the word amateur is probably disrespectful to all amateur clubs who put a !ot in for little or no reward apart from the joy of being part of the game.
If anybody thinks of taking part in the player of the year vote think again I know my response,
"None of the above are fit for purpose....& that includes the totally uninspiring Luke Young".

[goody2449]

The point is let's see the squad Owers puts together in the close season and then judge him in National South. The initial squad before a new season starts is crucial.

I'm sorry but that's probably the worst thing I've read on here, and there a lot of Crap!!! He's brought in 22 players whilst being TUFC manager, 22, that's 2 full teams. We've won 4 games since he arrived. That's what sort of squad he would bring in!!

[goody2449]

Well you could have fooled me too Merse, because from my angle it looked like Owers set up the normal 5-3-2 defensive counter attack that we see both away and at Plainmoor week in week out with our backline a hotbed of indecision which never gets off the ground from minute one.

Before the match I thought to myself, is Owers really no more than a 'one trick pony' or can he break the mould and set a attacking formation. This game was crying out for a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 to allow our primary attackers to drive forward without having to wait for support from the midfield just to give us a smidgen of a chance to get the 3 vital points we needed. But no! Mr 'One Trick Pony' stuck to his tried and tested model of 'failure' the predictable 5-3-2. Now it was clear that this Maidstone team were no Dagenham or Sutton and were not going to outmanoeuvre us in any formation, even if they played till midnight. This team had not won a league match since Nov. since they beat Torquay's 5-3-2 formation - and OK they won a FA Trophy round 4-0 in Dec against Torquay's 5-3-2 formation. So why O' why stick to our failed 5-3-2 defensive counter attack.

As for it being all the players fault - I am not having that - the 40 players that have stepped through Plainmoors doors this season
cannot all be incompetent and inept (that also includes the 22 players Owers has signed) in fact I think some of them are half decent. If you wont to know why I think the 33 players selected to play this season consistently lose or fail to perform its because they play to position and managers instructions in a formation they have never got to grips with. If the process is consistently failing then it is down to our Managers atrocious lack of managerial tactical awareness and lack of game plan.

I await Owers response on todays game. No doubt he will have the audacity to lay all the blame on either the ref, the players, cancelled scouting trips, the fans because we deserve it or maybe the tea-lady for not putting two sugars in his tea. But rest assured he will not take sole responsibility (if any) for this total shambles.

Merse you were quick to plunge your venomous fangs into Nicho shortcoming after #greatescape2. (your entitlement to do so). But what of Owers? Other than the players, you lay no blame at his door in your match analysis for today's dismal display. Not a whisper! Surely you must see the dilemma - Owers arrives to a fanfare after our seventh defeat of the season, bottom of the NL table and already eight points adrift of safety, and now in his 6 months in charge he has subsequently made 22 signings, keep us in the relegation zone with the second worst goal difference in the league and now nine points adrift from safety. His record to date is to say the least - underwhelming. You may wish to defend him like Osborne as being the new 'Messiah' for next seasons Southern National League fixtures, but it is beyond me how he has clung to this job till now, other than the skin of his teeth being made of titanium.

[SuperNickyWroe]

I'm sorry but that's [highlight=yellow]probably the worst thing I've read on here[/highlight], and there a lot of Crap!!! He's brought in 22 players whilst being TUFC manager, 22, that's 2 full teams. We've won 4 games since he arrived. That's what sort of squad he would bring in!!

not probably.
it is.
total bo11ocks.

[merse btpir]

I agree; Owers is not the man to take the club into another season; just as Nicholson was not the man to take it into this season; but as we know, Harrop has form in these sort of errors and it wouldn't surprise me if he compounded his error of last close season and repeats the error if he is not repeating it already by not making his moves NOW for the next management team.

Then we are pretty well certain that Owers was the preferred choice of Osborne but for that I would read Hedges as I reckon that is the man he recognises as his 'football man'.

For the record he was at Maidstone yesterday along with Harrop rather than fulfilling his described function of 'Head of Recruitment' or watching Tuesday's opponents Leyton Orient. Being that entitled person does not of course mean he never gets to see the first team in action, so he certainly got a close up of the inherent failings of Owers' squad of less than inspirational signings and left overs from the Nicholson regime.

To claim that what will remain of this squad would attain 'top half' status in National South under this management is to betray a lack of football knowledge in my opinion.

[brucie]

I watched an excellent game in the North Devon League yesterday - a hard fought encounter on a heavy pitch. I honestly think some of our squad would struggle to shine at this level let alone NLS.

I suppose Harrop is doing exactly what Osborne tells him to do. Personally I think Owers will be here next season as he has experience of managing in NLS and I doubt that Osborne will sack him.

Mind you is there actually one player in this bunch of losers that we would want to keep? - If every single one of them disappeared we would be hardly be any worse off.

Perhaps we could go for Lee Hodges? he's done well at Truro and has all the charisma of a plant pot - wasn't he almost a legend when he was here as a player?

I'm resigned to Ben Gerring leading us out come August and I dare say Fallon could be tempted out of retirement.

[Teigngull]

To be honest we could put out Doddiscombsleigh U9's for the rest of the season & still come out with the same result.
And that in no way is meant to be disrespectful to Dodiscombsleigh its just a measure of how far we've fallen under the jumping sock puppet aka the general manager.

[MellowYellow]

...where my analysis differes from yours is that you see it as 5-3-2 whereas I say they were set up to win with 3-5-2. A 3-5-2 that unravelled and became 5-3-2

And that is the crux of the matter since Owers has been here - Is it a 3-5-2 or a 5-3-2? Formations are blurred at the best of times, but we can at least say there is a discernible back three and two wing-backs. Even if the intention is to start with a 3-5-2 to win, as you say it "unravelled and becomes a 5-3-2" - which more often than not lose. It has been evident to me for some time now that Owers persistent tactical formation is bad for Torquay, simply because to use a 3-5-2 formation you really do need a very talented squad. The central defender must be dominant in the air and happy to move forward with the ball—if he isn't positionally perfect, none of them are. It's flawless, or it's tragic - always the latter in our case. Hence why I have commented on a number of occasions that our backline is a hotbed of indecision which never gets off the ground from minute one. I mean if the 3-5-2 were that perfect and became mainstream in the National League , then limited defenders who simply tackle and clear, would be in danger of becoming redundant.

A 3-5-2 formation should be flexible, accessible and refreshingly different, allowing wing backs to unleash their attacking potential and reduce the strain on their defensive duties. As you saw yesterday this does not happen, and why we capitulate after minute one into a defensive counter attacking 5-3-2 formation - and lose!. We have used this formation 3 times now against Maidstone this season and lost on every occasion. Will the 'One Trick Pony' Mr Owers never learn. Is it no wonder we have the second worst goal difference in the league.

So to recap: to implement a 3-5-2 formation with maximum success you must possess players who are capable of thinking quickly in terms of positioning and distribution. The complexity of the formation, particularly when it comes to covering team-mates and beginning attacks, demands not only a certain kind of player but a certain blend of players and Torquay do not posses players of that calibre. So why cannot Osborne's 'Messiah' see that too. True to form his response to yesterdays game was “We’ve got no-one but ourselves to blame.” - the royal 'we' yet again! As were down anyway (unless your a Torquay 'Opiate' fan) what has Owers to lose in breaking the mould and playing a attacking formation that may be a bit more entertaining for us 'the fans' for the last 10 games - we may even win!

P.S. I was not implying you defended Owers just suggesting you may wish to defend him based on your absence of criticism on his managerial ineptness in your initial post. Whilst suprised you rose to the bait, am nonetheless glad it sharpened your fangs, and will even buy into your Nicho is rubbish if you accept Owers is even worse :}

[desperado]

Agree its time for Owers to abandon the 3-5-2/ 5-3-2 . He knows we are down so should be thinking ahead
to next season as unfortunately he will be our manager then, and using the 4-3-3 , 4-4-2 , 4-3-1-2, whatever
he plans for next season, he surely to God wont use 3 centre backs in the NLS !
Just a point on SNW's comment that 'Owers is nearly as bad as Knill and Hargreaves', Guess he was being funny.
Hargreaves team got 61 points !