Torquay United v Morecambe - 27/10/12

[SuperNickyWroe]

was hoping for back to back wins and back to back good performances aswell, got the win, the performance today from the team was poor, slow, poor passing equally hopeless finishing, a performance that lacked any spark and didn't get out of first gear, truely dissappointing.

As stated however the game was won, three points bagged so happy days.COYY

thats all that counts dave - the 3pts. a good performance is a bonus! =D

[Dutchgull]

ER WE WON WE GOT THREE POINTS !! SO WHAT IS THERE TO MOAN ABOUT OUT !!!!!!
Games like this happen !!!

[Glostergull]

ER WE WON WE GOT THREE POINTS !! SO WHAT IS THERE TO MOAN ABOUT OUT !!!!!!
Games like this happen !!!

I suspect MArtin Ling won't be totaly happy. Yes we got three points but if the play was disapointing in his eyes then the players will be in for serial training for the nexr week or so. I doubt he will let them off the hook so easily as you want to. But then that's what he's paid for. he knows you know.
As long as we keep on winning then most will be happay but I have to admit I would like entertainment once in a while.

[Lloyder5]

The main problem was the tempo. We passed the ball reasonable well just didn't stretch Morecombe becasue everything was so slow. Despire that, based on chances, a 2 or 3 goal margin would not have been unreasonable. What is does say to me is that there is more to come if we go on a run and confidence builds.

[Dave]

Agreed Chris, 3 pts is the primary concern and we got them, and Dutch me old mate, we are happy yes we won, however nobody can bury their heads in the sand the performance was poor, the team made a complete meal of winning the game. And if we look at everyones motm votes we see that our central defensive pair Downes and Saah are pretty much have been agreed on as the man of the match pairing, does that not tell a story all of its own.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Extremely pleased with the result and i'm not going to start being critical of the performance because i wasn't there. Just to say from accounts of people at the game the performance is worrying. 3 points in the bag though so happy. I feel we can beat Hyde or Harrogate at home regardless of how we play and then we face a resurgent Barnet at Underhill which doesn't worry me anymore as i fully expect us to go there and to play poorly therefore any good performance and result is an absolute bonus. Again i'm not being negative just for the sake of it but our away form this season plus yesterday doesn't say we can go to underhill and suddenly play like Brazil. I've been to games this season full of expectation and hope and got nothing in return so if i go to Underhill (if i go) and expect a poor display and maybe a draw at best i may come away pleasantly surprised hopefully. All in all though, look at where we are in the table and you can't really grumble too much. Well done Martin and the lads.

[gullintwoplaces]

Again, a comment to balance out some of the negativity. We did NOT play badly yesterday for the whole game. In truth we were lucky to go in at half time 1-0 to the good, but we were the better side in the second half by some way. There were a number of positives:

- defensively we were excellent (apart from the cockup early in the first half), particularly Saah and Downes.
- the goal was well set up and taken.
- we created (and missed) several good goalscoring opportunities.
- our passing in the second half was quality for the most part.

It wasn't great entertainment, but that had been provided only a few days before against Gillingham. These are the games that will matter at the end of the season. 24 points from 15 games is a good return, and would see us in the play-offs if we continue at that rate. The idiotic moaners sitting near me in Bristow's bench should get a life. And Billy Bodin was not that bad (see my comment on the Bodin thread), I would be far more worried if he wasn't getting into good goalscoring positions. Lingy's comments on local radio after the game were spot on. And finally, the referee, the best I have seen for some time, why can't they all be that good?

[Lloyder5]

Again, a comment to balance out some of the negativity. We did NOT play badly yesterday for the whole game. In truth we were lucky to go in at half time 1-0 to the good, but we were the better side in the second half by some way. There were a number of positives:

- defensively we were excellent (apart from the cockup early in the first half), particularly Saah and Downes.
- the goal was well set up and taken.
- we created (and missed) several good goalscoring opportunities.
- our passing in the second half was quality for the most part.

It wasn't great entertainment, but that had been provided only a few days before against Gillingham. These are the games that will matter at the end of the season. 24 points from 15 games is a good return, and would see us in the play-offs if we continue at that rate. The idiotic moaners sitting near me in Bristow's bench should get a life. And Billy Bodin was not that bad (see my comment on the Bodin thread), I would be far more worried if he wasn't getting into good goalscoring positions. Lingy's comments on local radio after the game were spot on. And finally, the referee, the best I have seen for some time, why can't they all be that good?

I agree. As I said before, tempo was the problem. In the second half the sun was their biggest threat. I thought Bodin's work rate was fine. He got into good situations. His confidence is low, that could be seen in his reaction to missing his third good chance. Based on that performace I do think that a couple of % points improvement will result in us really kicking on.

[Tq2Yellow]

Can I just echo the above Two comments, yes we weren't great but we got 3 points and that is as they say the sign of a good team that gets 3 points when not playing to their best.
Morcombe were shocking and we should have put many past them if we'd upped the tempo, but the ground is bobbly for passing.
Bodin wasn't as bad as everyone makes out, yes perhaps he should try the simple passes first and he is lacking in confidence but he is getting in some great positions.
The referee was excellent yesterday.
And will the moaners please stop, yesterday we went 1-0 up and the very next attack went astray and numerous people started moaning at Stevens and the team - put a sock in it and get behind the team - constructive criticism is fine but stop the slating!

[AustrianAndyGull]

Appreciate your balanced viewpoints both, like i said i'm trying to form an all round opinion in my head from posters on here and other sources and so i presumed we had played badly again with a degree of lethargy so forgive me if i am passing comments that aren't wholly accurate. I certainly don't wish to come on here and criticise when i was not even there. Thanks for the views anyway.

[Plymouthgull]

It is a very long time since I posted, partly because I wanted to give Ling and the team time to show what they are capable of this season.
I have been to almost all the home games this season (including yesterday's). Overall, I think we are one of the better teams in the division and I think we have the best striker in league 2 by far. However, I do not think we played very well yesterday. The tempo of the game was slow and we gave the ball away far too often against a a team that looked very ordinary with the result that at times we put ourselves under a lot of pressure. We were hanging on at the end and Morecombe nearly scored at the death.
I was not impressed with Bodin or Stevens yesterday. Both did not consistently offer the width necessary to effectively play a 4-3-3 formation. One result of this, AND I am sure that others have noticed, is that Rene is trying to make up for their deficiencies with the result that he is having to do too much. Once he went off yesterday I did not think we offered any threat at all (Jarvis is NOT a replacement for him).
I did think the defence played very well and I was really impressed with Leadbetter and Craig played well in patches.
I know some will say I am just being negative because after all we did win. My fear is that this formation when applied to away games (I have not been to any this season but listened on the radio and read comments on here) I can not see us picking up very many points. 4-3-3 ends up as 4-5-1 with us surrendering possession for the vast majority of away games and it seems the home team increasing the the pressure until they score (away games must be awful to watch) I think this formation might well cost us a play off place come the end of the season.

[AustrianAndyGull]

It is a very long time since I posted, partly because I wanted to give Ling and the team time to show what they are capable of this season.
I have been to almost all the home games this season (including yesterday's). Overall, I think we are one of the better teams in the division and I think we have the best striker in league 2 by far. However, I do not think we played very well yesterday. The tempo of the game was slow and we gave the ball away far too often against a a team that looked very ordinary with the result that at times we put ourselves under a lot of pressure. We were hanging on at the end and Morecombe nearly scored at the death.
I was not impressed with Bodin or Stevens yesterday. Both did not consistently offer the width necessary to effectively play a 4-3-3 formation. One result of this, AND I am sure that others have noticed, is that Rene is trying to make up for their deficiencies with the result that he is having to do too much. Once he went off yesterday I did not think we offered any threat at all (Jarvis is NOT a replacement for him).
I did think the defence played very well and I was really impressed with Leadbetter and Craig played well in patches.
I know some will say I am just being negative because after all we did win. My fear is that this formation when applied to away games (I have not been to any this season but listened on the radio and read comments on here) I can not see us picking up very many points. 4-3-3 ends up as 4-5-1 with us surrendering possession for the vast majority of away games and it seems the home team increasing the the pressure until they score (away games must be awful to watch) I think this formation might well cost us a play off place come the end of the season.

Nail head well and truly hit Plymouthgull, ah and love the avatar mate!

[coley in stripes]

It might be 3 points but we should be beating sides like Morecombe by 2-3 clear goals especially at home. If we get through the first round then beat Barnet away it might boost morale. Yes, currently in a play off position but we are still not convincing enough to push for top 3.

[AustrianAndyGull]

I think the key thing is that we currently don't look anywhere near a team who should be where we are in the league and for the most part we haven't looked like a top 7 team for much of the season. The very fact that we ARE in the top 7 currently indicates that we do have a good squad and i wouldn't say morale was low coley. However, we are capable of much more imo and it's just how Martin goes about trying to get that bit more out of the players, some of which aren't either putting it all in or operating per managers instructions. Again, like i said on the loan players thread, i don't feel we need anyone else as we have a perfectly adequate squad, we just need a few more performances like Gillingham at home and to start really competing on our travels. And i MEAN REALLY competing and posing a constant attacking threat. Sort the away hoodoo out a little bit and there is lots and lots to look forward to.

[gullintwoplaces]

It might be 3 points but we should be beating sides like Morecombe by 2-3 clear goals especially at home. If we get through the first round then beat Barnet away it might boost morale. Yes, currently in a play off position but we are still not convincing enough to push for top 3.

Whose morale is low then? Ling's isn't, just listen to him on the radio. I don't think the morale of the team is low, although the confidence of one or two players might be. A few fans might have low morale, but I don't understand this as their team is in the play-off zone, but perhaps these fans would have low morale even if we were top. I think we need to get real here. Now Plymouth Argyle's morale, that is a different story ha ha.