Torquay vs Wimbledon 1/1/13 15:00 (new years day)

[divingbboy]

I have a real problem with Lingy today. All clubs have the odd supporter who probably moans too much at times, but it has been quite pathetic recently and Ling and Taylor both need to show more class with supporters.

I am not sure Lingy is handling the pressure well at the moment, and behaving in an uncouth way is neither proffessional or fair to all those other supporters who have supported the club during Lings reign.

He needs to man up a bit before he losses the support of the majority. He was certainly not today's man of the match

To be fair to Lingy, I think the fan walked past the dugout and laid into him with abuse but, yes, he really should rise above it.

[Dave]

Was going to say words fail me, sadly however they don't. Must start with some praise Howe, Yoeman, and Mansell all worked their socks off , Mansell played with a winning mentality, Howe kept coming deep and atleast tried to get things going, Yoeman bright lively through out.

Thats where the good news ends. Wimbledon have got be quailty wise the worst football team I have ever seen at Plainmoor and they have just won at our ground, simply not good enough not even close, Please spare us the we are tiny little Torquay, we have no money clap trap, what do Wimbledon have.

We lose to a top team and you get oh what do you expect they have more money us, we lose to a bottom team and we get, we allways seem to badly against bottom feeders, mentality, when are we going stop feeling so god damn sorry for ourselves and start playing some football. I am a season ticket holder and allways will be, however I have to say, I am getting fed up to the back teeth of watching one dire, garbage performance after a another.

No balance in the team, we are all out to the left or the right, how many times did we see the ball drop in to the middle right to three dons players not a yellow short in sight, we have a creative player one who can pick the pass, we stick him on the wing and when its not working we take him off..jeez, my mate there is no answer to this on the bench, my reply was, he was already on the field playing out wide and nows he is the bench.Time and time again wrong decisions were being made, worst of all why did Downes feel the need to challenge a Dons players going wide, we just robbed a point we did not deserve and go and give them a stick on penatly.

Yep we have injuries to alot of attacking players agreed. However the money for some loan signings has been there all along..please before its to late because I am not sure right now we are even a midtable team, can we have some attacking options, and can we stop fannying around and start shooting at the other teams goal.

[Plymouthgull]

Inept performance today, in fact, I cannot remember the last game where I saw us play really well (I think it was Accrington). We tried hard but really did not pressurize a very poor Wimbledon side. It is interesting to note that after we score a late equalizer at home it is the oppostion who press for the winner and get one ! We appear have lost the mindset for winning and start with the attitude that we will not lose.
I do not understand why Ling plays Craig out wide as he is ineffective there and we are esentially playing with 10 men. I do not think Mansell and Easton in the same team works and Nicholson was very poor to day and needs a rest. I do not agree with our tactics and more importantly they do not seem to be working! I am also not impressed with Ling's alleged reaction to a fan at the end of the game. I have a feeling it will be a long and hard second half to the season. No chance of getting anywhere near the playoffs.
On a positive note (as I would hate to be accused of being only negative) I thought Rene played well to day as did Downes (I forgive him for the penalty). Yeoman also had a good first half.

[divingbboy]

Downes (I forgive him for the penalty). Yeoman also had a good first half.

To me it looked like Downes did nothing wrong and that the Wimbledon player just slipped. Admittedly, I didn't get the clearest look at the incident, mind.

[MidDevon]

We cannot complain at all about the penalty, we were close and it was clear cut, Downes just mistimed his tackle and shinned the Wimbledon lad.

[Dave]

Aaron Downes reaction said it all, he knew what he had done, the lack complaints from our others players suggest they did aswell. That said Downes has been fantastic all season so thinking about it, I can forgive him that one aswell.

[MidDevon]

Have to agree with that

back to the midfield, personally I would drop Mansell to the bench and give Craig and Easton more space perhaps with Lathrope just behind them.

Thought Easton had another great game today but Mansell, and I say this with all respect to the lad, well.....there is no other way of putting it.......simply got in the way

Another option, for those who cannot imagine a Torquay team with Mansell, would be to drop Oastler and stick Mansell back in a full back position until he gets back his passion/fitness/stamina (delete as appropriate)

[ferrarilover]

That was probably the single worst "football" match I have ever seen. Not once in 90 minutes was the ball genuinely under anyone's control. What I've just watched, essentially, is an hour and a half of a ball bobbling about. Wombles are just about the worst side I've ever seen. They had 3 shots on target and a penalty today, despite being gifted possession, absolutely free of charge, at least 100 times. At one stage, Pokey passed the ball straight to their striker, 35 yards out and with only one defender back and they STILL contrived to fail to so much as test the aforementioned.
Wimbledon didn't have a plan, they didn't have a system, they were devoid of any discernable skill or bent for the game. They couldn't pass, shoot, head, jump, throw or control even at a schoolboy level. And you know what? They weren't the worst team on show.
If it wasn't blatantly obvious before, it must be now, the Playoffs are well gone for this season. We are now fighting for every point we can get to keep us away from the grave danger of being sucked into a relegation battle which we may not survive.

Matt.

[PlainmoorRoar]

also singing 'you don't know what you're doing' to Martin Ling

Helpful

[Colorado Gull]

I'm getting sick and tired of watching this dire football every single week! It's not rocket science Lingy!? 4-4-2, Thompson, Craig, Mansell, Stevens then Yeoman and Howe! It's bloody simple!

The game today was again rubbish, we may as well not even turn up if Easton is in the middle playing and Craig is on the wing. I don't think Easton is the worst player in the world, but the simple fact of the matter is we're too defensive and Craig and Mansell are better players. Nath is in affective on the wing but taking him off, our most attacking play making midfielder when we are losing to Wimbledon (who are bloody terrible!) 2-1 at home is just ludicrous!

I could say may more but I won't bother, I'll leave it with a some sort of positive a very impressive performance by Yeoman today.

[tktufc91]

Lingy saying to Radio Devon how we haven't got the budget to bring in anybody over the transfer window and how we've overachieved the last two seasons and this season we are underachieving.

I really hope there is something in the budget because a new signing or two may kick start some performances from players who aren't cutting it at the moment.

I do agree with Ling on the fact we have overachieved the last few seasons and with the departure of some of our better players over the summer, I would have been happy with a mid-table finish and then hopefully push on next season. Still, no excuses for some poor performances from the team as of late. Improvement needed.

[Dave]

Well Martin Ling wants to make his mind up, not 4 days ago he said this on the O/S.....http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 64244.aspx Mixed messages maybe.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Mansell getting abuse on Twitter now, we are good supporters

[Modgull]

Another very disappointing performance, indeed a highly unprofessional one.

First observation involves the pitch. It seems clear now that the construction of the Bench has seriously affected the drainage of that side of the pitch and today it looked and played as badly as those pitches in days gone by when reserve matches were also played on them - it must now be among the worst pitches in the football league.

Second observation was the attendance - 2,600 was exceedingly poor for a New Years Day and is probably explained by the consistently poor quality displays in recent displays. Goodness knows where the resources for the January window may come from.

Next, there was the defending - pathetic at times against a very poor Wimbledon attack. Where was Nicho for the first, Oastler for the second and, worst of all, what was a player as accomplished as Downes doing scything down a player who was heading away from the goal for the third? And as for Poke calmly stroking a goal kick directly to a Wimbledon attacker!

But to lose a goal in the final few minutes for the fourth match in a row was just plain unprofessional.

Now to the midfield - what was Craig doing on the wing? Surely the management realise that he has no speed, no close control and no confidence to be a threat to his opposite full back who had him in his pocket all game. Stevens was a little better but not much and Mansell and Easton were swamped when we went to 424 later on.

Only Howe and Yeoman provided any real quality. Young Ashley really looked the part but unless the midfield and back four can up their game the manager will have to resort to 451 by dropping him and moving Craig inside alongside Mansell and Easton/Lathrope.

My player scores for anyone who is interested are as follows:

Poke 7/10
Nicholson 6/10
Downes 7/10
McDonald 7/10
Oastler 5/10
Stevens 5/10
Mansell 7/10
Easton 7/10
Craig 4/10
Howe 7/10
Yeoman 8/10

Thompson 5/10
Halpin 6/10
Lathrope to late to assess

Referee 8/10

[Dave_Pougher]

Lingy saying to Radio Devon how we haven't got the budget to bring in anybody over the transfer window and how we've overachieved the last two seasons and this season we are underachieving.

I really hope there is something in the budget because a new signing or two may kick start some performances from players who aren't cutting it at the moment.

I do agree with Ling on the fact we have overachieved the last few seasons and with the departure of some of our better players over the summer, I would have been happy with a mid-table finish and then hopefully push on next season. Still, no excuses for some poor performances from the team as of late. Improvement needed.

Did he really say that? Not that I doubt you it's just didn't think I'd hear Buckspeak at Plainmoor again.