Torquay United v Burton Albion - League 2 - 06/08/11

[Jeff]

Just seen the goals back on the Football league show (couldn't be bothered to stay up last night for it!)

On the face of it it looks bad for Oastler as he was involved for both of the goals. However Richards is a quick player and a good finisher so I think any of our back 4 would have struggled in that situation so no blame attached there. The second goal is just awful for all our defensive unit. Poor positioning all round to let their guy get so much space, bit of bad luck that the nothing cross that was produced reared up off Oastlers shins, and I still think Bobby should have done better in trying to claim the ball and Oastler could have made a bit more of an effort on the line. Maybe a little harsh but it was a poor goal to concede.

Our goals were sheer quality. Great passing for both goals, fantastic composure from Howe to take his chance. When was the last time we had a player who looked so calm in that situation? And great instinctive finish from Mansell. I remember in his first season with us (relegations season) when he played in central midfield and scored quite a few goals. He seemed to be making a lot of late runs into the box yesterday so I expect to see him troubling the scorers on a regular basis.

[Southampton Gull]

Just seen them myself and can't really blame Oastler, for the first he was never able to get into a position to make a challenge due to the speed of Richards and I still feel Olejnik should have done better for the second.

[tktufc91]

Don't think I could add much more than whats already been written, but one thing I will say is our vocal support was very poor.

I know in the second half, whoever was on the drum moved towards the half way line, and I didn't hear it at all throughout the second half. We did get a few songs going in the first half but they weren't very loud. We did try to get a rendition of Martin Ling's Yellow Army going for about 5 minutes, but it was far too quiet. The only time we were really loud was when we scored both our goals.

Thankfully our away support is much more vocal and with awayday at Bristol (and Southampton?) we can get a proper atmosphere going.

[gullno4]

There was a drum there? :L

[goodluckgull]

Yes. The singers and drum were at the far end of the popside, closest to the away end, for the first half. All their effort to create an atmosphere was wasted. The rest of the Torquay fans cannot hear them and therefore do not join in.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Yes. The singers and drum were at the far end of the popside, closest to the away end, for the first half. All their effort to create an atmosphere was wasted. The rest of the Torquay fans cannot hear them and therefore do not join in.

it doesnt work, move back to the middle

[cambgull]

it doesnt work, move back to the middle

Completely agree, in my only trip to Plainmoor last season (v Wycombe) it was awful with all the singers down the bottom end. I stood somewhere in the middle of the two groups and they were out of time with each other, assuming they were even singing the same song. It would be almost impossible to hear the away end fans in the family stand.

[Fonda]

Not been able to get on over the weekend. Probably all already been said by now, but a few musings…It was the first game of the season, so things are going to take time to settle in. We were superb in pre-season, but there is an obvious difference in friendlies. Having said that, we looked surprisingly disjointed. There was no fluidity to our play at all, and the petty squabbling between several players in the first-half was very disappointing to witness. The cricket term is ‘under-cooked’, and that is exactly how we appeared in the first half. A few ‘partnerships’ need some serious hours on the training ground. I’ve already jinxed Saah by suggesting he’d be our most impressive player this season – he was all over the place, nothing like as assured as he was in pre-season. As a result of that, Robbo looked increasingly panicked as the game wore on too. One of them needs to start talking. Up front, Howe and Kee are individually both fine – but they are both very similar. I said it previously, and still believe we’re going to miss not having a nippy ‘fox in the box’. Work to do there too. Down our left-side, Nico and Morris were on different wavelengths all afternoon. The only combination that fired for me, and the reason we nicked a point, was Manse and O’Kane. Their endeavour and quality (not to mention the formers goal), and some last-gasp work by Olejnik between the sticks, were the real plus points of the afternoon. Not the start I expected, but we showed some good spirit to come back from 2-0 down. Much work to do, but the talent is there. Just as we thought it was previously.

[Gullscorer]

Not as much noise as we would have liked, but perhaps it will pick up a bit further into the season. After all, it was sleepy summer South Devon siesta time. But it raises the question: do people expect the crowd to lift the players or the players to lift the crowd?

As to Billy Kee, I'm tempted to say I do not rate him as highly as many people do, certainly not quite as highly as Howe and Atieno, but, as Fonda says, it is only the first league game, and we should wait for a few games into the season before making any judgement. Kee certainly has ability and he, and the rest of the squad, can and will improve and become a formidable force (with our support of course).

And I'm beginning to be extremely happy that Mr Ling, rather than Mr Buckle, is now in charge.