Successful Season?

[happytorq]

narrowly escaping relegation, but the run to the FA Cup final (Man U in the 3rd Round, Bristol Rovers in the 4th, Arsenal in the 5th, Exeter in the quarters, and Crawley on penalties after being 3-0 down at half time, equalising through a last minute freak goal when Nicholson belts it out of play on the half way line, hits Evans in the face (he'd venture out of the technical aea) and loops into the goal.) would more than make up for it.

What? It could happen...

[Plymouth Gull]

Happy, it was believable until you said Evans would venture out of his technical area - thats far too far for him to walk!

[stefano]

Well winning the league would seem unlikely as we have failed to do that since we have been in the Football League. The last time we won a league with our first team was 1926/27 winning the Southern League Western Section (interestingly Bristol Rovers finished 5th - and it wasn't their reserves either as that season their reserve team was in the Western League Division 1).

I was quite optimistic at the start of last season after our eight match unbeaten finish to the previous season although even I didn't expect us to win our first 4 games and top the table. We had a couple of wobbles during the season but I think overall we certainly deserved our place in the play-offs and perhaps a bit more concentration and luck going with us towards the end could have even seen us promoted automatically.

I was not too disappointed that we did not go up particularly given the teams that came down from League 1. A good season and yet another good FA Cup run even if it finished disappointingly in the 4th round one step short of Old Trafford.

This year so hard to tell with a new manager and at some stage some new players (could do with at least a goalkeeper by 6 August! )

We still have 7 of the starting line-up from the Old Trafford play-off and others who were on the bench, so if the additions are right and click with the existing players I would certainly hope for top 10 at this stage, with a very good chance of the play-offs, and an outside chance of slipping into the automatic places.

Entering my 49th season as a supporter of Torquay United I suppose I should know better but I have always been optimistic even when faced with the strongest of evidence as to why I should not be! Football is a magical game, and I have never entered any season or any individual game as a player, club official, or supporter not believing that my team will have a good season or will win the game. To me there seems no point otherwise ....!

[oxgull]

This will be my 43rd year as a supporter come to think of it. Mid table would be good as I think it will be a hard season for us. I cannot see another push for the playoffs or automatic promotion and the squad will go through a lot of changes in the coming 2 years. Lets just hope we can win more than we lose!! I'd say 10th/12th. I know, I know! we don't do mid table obscurity but I'd settle for it this time around

[Glostergull]

This will be my 43rd year as a supporter come to think of it. Mid table would be good as I think it will be a hard season for us. I cannot see another push for the playoffs or automatic promotion and the squad will go through a lot of changes in the coming 2 years. Lets just hope we can win more than we lose!! I'd say 10th/12th. I know, I know! we don't do mid table obscurity but I'd settle for it this time around

It's my 47th year of supporting the Gulls. One short of Stefano and one more than Oxgull. How many have supported for more and are still alive or even awake!

As long as we get entertained and the standard is good. with no flirting with relegation, well maybe a slight worry but not too much. I will be satisfied as we have had way too much upheaval for the moment. I would plump for the double over Rovers. Gatwick Town. Northampton. Swidnod. Plymuff. Oxford and of course our usual home and away thumping of Cheltenham. I have nothing really against Cheltenham even after how some of thier supporters disgraced themselves with crude and offensive telephone calls to their rivals at Gloucester some years ago and they have at least repaired some of that damage by offering them a home untill the new stadium is rebuilt. But i did so enjoy the way we seem to play against them and the results notwithstanding the entertainment provided by the fans of the last few years

[Glostergull]

This will be my 43rd year as a supporter come to think of it. Mid table would be good as I think it will be a hard season for us. I cannot see another push for the playoffs or automatic promotion and the squad will go through a lot of changes in the coming 2 years. Lets just hope we can win more than we lose!! I'd say 10th/12th. I know, I know! we don't do mid table obscurity but I'd settle for it this time around

It's my 47th year of supporting the Gulls. One short of Stefano and 4 more than Oxgull. How many have supported for more and are still alive or even awake!

As long as we get entertained and the standard is good. with no flirting with relegation, well maybe a slight worry but not too much. I will be satisfied as we have had way too much upheaval for the moment. I would plump for the double over Rovers. Gatwick Town. Northampton. Swidnod. Plymuff. Oxford and of course our usual home and away thumping of Cheltenham. I have nothing really against Cheltenham even after how some of thier supporters disgraced themselves with crude and offensive telephone calls to their rivals at Gloucester some years ago and they have at least repaired some of that damage by offering them a home untill the new stadium is rebuilt. But i did so enjoy the way we seem to play against them and the results notwithstanding the entertainment provided by the fans of the last few years

[ferrarilover]

Is this two sets of 47, Glos? I've met you, and, while you certainly LOOK old enough to have been a fan for 94 years, I refuse to believe you are actually that old.

Matt.

[Glostergull]

Ratbag
I meant to edit and I now notice that it has copied it instead. typical! And the one with the gay car highlights my age too. :na: :na: :na:

[Trojan 67]

Official Trojan 67 guess :


" I guess we'll finish where we finish. "

[Jeff]

I could have posted this in a number of threads, but seeing as this is a current popular one its probably best in here.

Given the turmoil that we've seemingly found ourselves in this summer in losing our backroom and some of our better players, I don't think we've got too bad a core of a squad to work with at the moment.

We're told that Ling sticks religiously to 4-4-2, so on that basis if the season was to start tomorrow our starting 11 would look something like this:

GK - some youth team kid
RB - Mansell
CB - Ellis
CB - Robertson
LB - Nicolson
MR - Stevens
MC - Oastler
MC - Lathrope
ML - O'Kane
FW - Zebroski
FW - Kee

Subs: ?????, LRT, Palmer, Macklin, Halpin, Yeoman, Spear

Leaving all the obvious gaps aside, that not a bad side for a team who openly need 6 or 7 players. Focussing on the positives:

- Forward line - Zebroski we all know about and is one of our stand-out players, a forward who has a little bit of everything. Kee is still very much un-polished, but does have the key attribute in he is probably the best finisher at the club. There are A LOT of areas of his game he needs to work on, but the potential is there. That isn't the best strike force in the league by any stretch, but it would prove a handful

- Midfield - I chose it like that to get the best 11 players on the pitch. You could of course put O'Kane in the centre and one of Macklin or Halpin out wide as a variation. In that case, the centre of the park is the same one that was solid enough against Shrewsbury (although wilted against the much more powerful Stevenage side) so can hold their own at League 2 level. In my opinion, Craig Stanley leaving was the best thing to happen to O'Kane, as towards the end of the season he recovered his best form. He has upped his strength and is much more of a complete Centre Mid. Either Oastler or Lathrope can do the holding role o.k. Stevens on the wing can provide that impact (on occaision)

- Defence - Three-quarters of the one that was so solid last season. O.K we are missing a big part of that, but we'd replace Branston in that line up with someone of fair quality in Ellis. For a while now we've looked upon Robertson as the junior member of the back-line, but lets not forget he's got 5 seasons under his belt. There will be sides in this league who have a far less experienced central defensive partnership as their first choice. The full backs are a solid, known quantity who are both Torquay through and through

So, working with that core Ling says he wants to add 6 or 7 players. I'd hope it would go something like this:

Goalkeeper - O.K its obvious we need 2! In terms of a back-up, we don't need someone as experienced as we had last year. Consulting the givemefootball list shows up 3 ex-Argyle young stoppers in Chenoworth, Sandercombe and Saxton. All young, local lads and unproven - i.e. cheap. Surely, the promise of regular reserve team football, a place on the bench every week and the prospect of JPT games, all in their home county and for a years solid money would entice someone like that? As for first choice, there is still plenty to choose from. Jake Cole would be ideal, dare I suggest Jonny Brain (who was at Walsall last season, so there's a Ling link!) and a few others. Even Steve Collis would do as a solid choice

Defense - For me we need a Centre half and a dedicated Right Back. The smart money seems to suggest we're looking at Brian Saah, who would be a good signing. Getting in a dedicated Right Back would allow Mansell to go back to Centre Mid, and leave us more than covered there.

Midfield - Ideally I'd like to see us sign 2 wingers. Could be someone just released from a Premier/Championship reserve side, someone with pace and skill but a diamond in the rough. This would allow us to pair Mansell and O'Kane in the centre, which will be a pretty tidy partnership, with Oastler and Lathrope providing the cover. And this of course doesn't mention any role that Aggy could potentially play. His legs probably won't allow us to get more than 30 games out of him (if he signs), but an O'Kane - Aggy - Mansell - (new winger) midfield could be as competitive as many others in the division

Forward - We still need one more, and we're kind of blessed in that we can go with either of the 2 recognised kinds of Forward. Zebs - on his day - can hold his own as an out and out centre forward, winning aerial challenges for a nippy support striker to get on to. Or, he's mobile and quick enough that he can be that support striker himself playing off a target. So we could get in either a target man or a nippy, smaller striker and it would make the squad stronger.

So ideally I'd like to see us line up against Burton as the following:

GK - new keeper
RB - new Right back
CB - Robertson
CB - new Centre Back
LB - Nicolson
MR - new winger
MC - O'Kane
MC - Mansell
ML - new winger
FW - Zebroski
FW - new forward/Kee

In a nutshell, although its been a pretty stormy summer so far, Ling has a decent core of players. If he can make the right calls, and make the right sorts of deals with the budget he has, then we might have a pretty strong squad. The key is to get those players in as soon as he can, and give them a chance to gel pre-season and hit the ground running. When all this turmoil was kicking off I was as down in the dumps as anyone, but with the right players added to the mix I can see us being solid, maybe with an outside shot of the playoffs.

[happytorq]

In a nutshell, although its been a pretty stormy summer so far, Ling has a decent core of players. If he can make the right calls, and make the right sorts of deals with the budget he has, then we might have a pretty strong squad. The key is to get those players in as soon as he can, and give them a chance to gel pre-season and hit the ground running. When all this turmoil was kicking off I was as down in the dumps as anyone, but with the right players added to the mix I can see us being solid, maybe with an outside shot of the playoffs.

I've highlighted the most pertinent part; both of these are really big "Ifs" - Obviously the outfield squad now is not one that would fill anybody with confidence - a few of these guys would be ok as reserve or 'squad' players, but nobody would feel too confident if they were starting every week. I am starting to get a little concerned about the lack of movement on the playing side, despite the fact that many players will still be on vacation and I'm sure Ling is working hard behind the scenes.

I think it would just give everybody a lift to log in and see that we had signed a player who is an improvement on what we already have - it's getting a teeny bit depressing to come on and just see threads about ex-players, accounting issues and the like. And of course the Bristol Rovers dummies make things worse. I'm not expecting Messi, but just....do something!

[Enzo]

I fear we will struggle - if we can stay out of real danger then I will settle for that. No reflection of my opinion of Martiin Ling - I just think League Two will be pretty strong next year with the likes of Crawley, Swindon, Rovers, Shrewsbury, Rotherham, Port Vale making the running - I also think Bradford and Northampton will show a big improvement on last year - although they could not be much worse. AFC Wimbledon and Plymouth may well be competitive also. However, there is hope and we still have the basis of half decent league two side. If we can keep Zebs and more importantly Eunan and supplement them with signings like Oastler then I think we should be ok.

At the moment we have the basis of a solid lower mid table side. Big season coming up for the likes of Billy and Mark Ellis. I think our Play Off position flattered the team and Buckle massively last season. There were certainly plenty of very good performances like those against Wycombe and Shrewsbury. There was also a huge amount of of dross served up - much of it at home, but also the games at Accie, Aldershot, Gillingham and Southend. The performance at Rotherham was probably one of the worst I have seen in years.

With the noises about low expectations coming from the board and the off field financial commitments (I can't help thinking that the training facilities at SH were another cock up by the club) that the club has then I'll setle for safety by March. Anything more would be a bonus.

[tufc si]

25th (probably!)

[Colorado Gull]

I think we'll finish at 11th - 14th and I think if we get there we'll look back on it and think it's a good achievement. I just hope we can have a good cup run this year.

[yellow]

I fear we will struggle - if we can stay out of real danger then I will settle for that. No reflection of my opinion of Martiin Ling - I just think League Two will be pretty strong next year with the likes of Crawley, Swindon, Rovers, Shrewsbury, Rotherham, Port Vale making the running - I also think Bradford and Northampton will show a big improvement on last year - although they could not be much worse. AFC Wimbledon and Plymouth may well be competitive also. However, there is hope and we still have the basis of half decent league two side. If we can keep Zebs and more importantly Eunan and supplement them with signings like Oastler then I think we should be ok.

At the moment we have the basis of a solid lower mid table side. Big season coming up for the likes of Billy and Mark Ellis. I think our Play Off position flattered the team and Buckle massively last season. There were certainly plenty of very good performances like those against Wycombe and Shrewsbury. There was also a huge amount of of dross served up - much of it at home, but also the games at Accie, Aldershot, Gillingham and Southend. The performance at Rotherham was probably one of the worst I have seen in years.

With the noises about low expectations coming from the board and the off field financial commitments (I can't help thinking that the training facilities at SH were another c**k up by the club) that the club has then I'll setle for safety by March. Anything more would be a bonus.

That seems a totally realistic assessment of where we are at and I agree with your observations on Lucky Buckle . Survival by March sounds good to me.

Just need Rovers and Gargoyle to struggle and it won t be a bad season.... :devil: