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Pearce is lacking in confidence that has come from constant snubs from Hargreaves who has tried to force him out. How has a league one player two years ago gone to a player that can't get a game for a struggling conference side. And not forgetting he has had some fantastic performances for us which lead to him receiving the player of the year award, as the saying goes you don't become a bad player overnight and it's not as image isn't on his side ashes still young, this situation in poor form is down to low morale due to miss management which has resulted in being constantly overlooked and also he lost the captaincy.

I disagree with that Supergulls. Pearce was crocked in pre-season and so Hargreaves went with Downes and Angus who played well together in the early months of the campaign. Pearce has had plenty of opportunities to stake a regular claim in the side due to injuries and suspensions but simply hasn't taken his chance. He just doesn't look like he wants to be here in my opinion. And he was only ever a stand-in captain last season when Mansell didn't play.

At the end of last season, most of us doubted Pearce would even be here this season. He was head and shoulders above the rest last season, and it seemed inevitable he'd be poached by a league club. Having kept him, I felt sure he'd be given the captaincy, with the manager showing the faith in him he warranted. Instead he got cast aside for being 'one of Knill's boys'. By a distance our best defender, has become a bit-part player. And now, when the manager does need him, we're supposed to be surprised he looks like a shadow of his former self? You reap what you sow.

It could be down to just not having enough good players. This might sound bad but I don't mean it that way but if your good players are playing well then they can carry and inspire the rest to perform to their best of their limited ability BUT if those good players for whatever reason hit a bad spell (which all players do in a season )then suddenly the rot sets in and it is very difficult to get out of. At the start of the season it looked like Downes, Young and Bowman were superb to name three but it seems that has not been the case recently.
I say this because this is what I have seen with Rovers in the past 5 or 6 years where we have had some very good players but if they start to perform badly then the rot sets in and it seems that often the Manager just can't get them going again and the rest are not good enough. In truth as we saw 2 weeks ago against Eastleigh you just cannot afford five players to have their worst game of the season at the same time.
Don't know what you think on this but it is certainly strange the extent of the difference in performance and results from a team in the first half of the season where you looked certainly Play off definites to if you based it on your second half of the season results definite relegation candidates.
I definitely think you will stay up based on I can't see any of the bottom four overtaking you.

The reason Pearce didn't start the season as first choice was because he wasn't match fit. We kept eight clean sheets in our first 11 games with Downes and Angus at the back. That has been our best partnership this season in defence. If Pearce is sulking because he didn't get the captaincy when he was never actually captain of the club then he needs to grow up.

tommyg wrote:The reason Pearce didn't start the season as first choice was because he wasn't match fit. We kept eight clean sheets in our first 11 games with Downes and Angus at the back. That has been our best partnership this season in defence. If Pearce is sulking because he didn't get the captaincy when he was never actually captain of the club then he needs to grow up.

I didn't suggest he's sulking because he wasn't given the captaincy. I said that in my opinion, he'd have been the right choice - on account of him being 'the last man standing' last season, and having all the attributes a captain should have. Instead, rather than being treated as in integral player, he's been treated like an unwanted extra. It's not inspiring.

We all saw him as an integral player in the summer but his pre-season injury set him back. Hargreaves could hardly change the defence in those first 11 games. Pearce had to be patient and when he's been given chances he simply hasn't taken them. He wouldn't be in and out of the team if he played well. He's also been on the transfer list all season which may have affected Hargreaves' decision not to give him - or somebody like Downes - the captaincy. You can accuse Hargreaves of mis-managing certain players but I wouldn't include Pearce.

Pretty sure that Pearce has never been on the "transfer list". Of the contracted players for this season it was only him and Cameron (two of our better performers last season) who were exempt. The six on the "naughty step" we're Hawley, Tonge, Downes, Benyon, Harding and Chapell - with Chapell subsequently taken off it after a decent start to the season and with his wages being in line with our budget.

Thanks CP, wasn't aware of that. Still doesn't alter my opinion, though.

tommyg wrote:We all saw him as an integral player in the summer but his pre-season injury set him back. Hargreaves could hardly change the defence in those first 11 games. Pearce had to be patient and when he's been given chances he simply hasn't taken them. He wouldn't be in and out of the team if he played well. He's also been on the transfer list all season which may have affected Hargreaves' decision not to give him - or somebody like Downes - the captaincy. You can accuse Hargreaves of mis-managing certain players but I wouldn't include Pearce.

I think you are way off with that comment.

tommyg wrote:We all saw him as an integral player in the summer but his pre-season injury set him back. Hargreaves could hardly change the defence in those first 11 games. Pearce had to be patient and when he's been given chances he simply hasn't taken them. He wouldn't be in and out of the team if he played well. He's also been on the transfer list all season which may have affected Hargreaves' decision not to give him - or somebody like Downes - the captaincy. You can accuse Hargreaves of mis-managing certain players but I wouldn't include Pearce.

Take that point. But the whole team was playing much better then. We were dominating teams, as we still had something of an ex-league team aura. Teams were sitting back and hoping to take a point from us, early on. But as soon as teams got braver against us, our defence crumbled.

Most clubs, at whatever level, have players that when fit are in the side. And Pearce is one of the few that maybe warranted that kind of treatment at Plainmoor. It's perhaps not always wise to pick individuals based on the performance of a team. Pearce is a more relaible defender than either of the others.

Well, after supporting the club for 15 plus years, I feel compelled to write on here after finally witnessing what has to be the worst performance ever at Plainmoor or LWS (or whatever our ground is called).

How on the earth did it get to this?
Lets be fair, if Chris Hargreaves hadn't of played for Torquay there is no way he would of got the job in the first place. This is his first job!!
Not only to do I see a side with no confidence but I see a side who don't know what there jobs are.
Did anybody see Hargreaves venture out from the dugout encouraging the players or was he too worried about getting his suit dirty?!!
As for Bowman, his reaction says it all when he got taken off.

I will encourage the team week in week out and I will be there again on Saturday but it has come to point where something needs to change drastically. 10 points of the relegation zone is not alot when you have a team that aren't scoring and conceding goals left, right and centre.

Few things I've noticed:-
- Kenny Veysey is our goalkeeping coach but doesn't sit on the bench anymore. Surely Ricey needs some words sometimes from a reassuring source?
- Hargreaves doesn't come over and clap the fans for their support. Thanks!!

I would hope the club would drop the prices to encourage fans to come on Saturday and as a goodwill gesture for the unacceptable performance of last night.

Oh, I bet the board wish they had taken back Martin Ling!!

tommyg wrote:I disagree with that Supergulls. Pearce was crocked in pre-season and so Hargreaves went with Downes and Angus who played well together in the early months of the campaign. Pearce has had plenty of opportunities to stake a regular claim in the side due to injuries and suspensions but simply hasn't taken his chance. He just doesn't look like he wants to be here in my opinion. And he was only ever a stand-in captain last season when Mansell didn't play.

You can disagree all you like I know facts what has gone on a what has been said to Pearce and I can guarantee he has been lied too and made promises that then haven't materialised. I'm not going with my opinion or what I think might have happened I know the truth. I agree with your point that he got injured pre season but the player was told on numerous occasions that once he was fit he would be straight back into the team.

http://www.offtheoche.blogspot.co.uk/

This basically in my opinion of course.

supergulls wrote: You can disagree all you like I know facts what has gone on a what has been said to Pearce and I can guarantee he has been lied too and made promises that then haven't materialised. I'm not going with my opinion or what I think might have happened I know the truth. I agree with your point that he got injured pre season but the player was told on numerous occasions that once he was fit he would be straight back into the team.

Presumably, if it's a 'fact' you actually heard Hargreaves tell Pearce this then? Otherwise you're just going on what you've been told. I would agree that Pearce probably is our best defender but he has under-performed when given the chance this season and hasn't done enough to be an automatic starter, although saying that nobody else has either!