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I went, with Matt (Ferrarilover) to Plymouth on Sat. Wanted to go to a match but could not, in Pauls words, "Be arsed" to travel 500+ miles to watch a non committed, dismal performance by TUFC.

Plymouth lost the game 1-0 (To Swindon) but they played pretty well and were unlucky not to get a point from the match. They never let their heads drop and each player, and I mean each player, gave 100%. They commited as a team and the supporters were behind them (Not saying that our supporters are not behind TUFC) for the whole match, the reason being that the fans could see the players were trying their hardest to get the right result. With that sort of effort, from players and fans alike, Plymouth may still be relegated, but it wont be for the want of trying.

One downside to mention. It was my first visit to Home Park and nice as it was to get a free paring space right outside the ground, the 45 mins it took to get out was not so good. In the time it took I could have been home!!

I couldn't care less what players say on Twitter, and yes, they might just switch off when they get on the coach, or if they aren't in the side.

They might tweet about Football Manager, or Fifa12, or where they are going that night. Does that make them worse on the pitch? No, a lack of effort and commitment whilst training or playing is the only thing we should really be commenting on.

The tripe being served to us at the moment is hideous, and in Rene Howe, I've not seen a striker so out of shape since Akinfenwa, no chasing down of defenders, no busting to get into space, and it shows. If we can't hold the ball up and keep the pressure off by holding onto possession, then we will lose a hell of a lot more games than we win. Howe needs to be told to either lose some weight and improve his fitness, or he'll be out of the side and we will sign a replacement.

The other problem, as I see it, is that in McPhee, Rice, Lathrope and all the kids, is that they are so far off the pace, and quality needed to compete in league 2. Our back ups have not got the ability to change things round, and we look like once we pick up a few injuries, we'll have a team that wouldn't pick up results in the league below.

Letting the kids(Yeoman/Spear/Palmer) go, letting McPhee and Stevens, and Atieno go, and Howe if he can't be bothered to get himself in shape, and replacing them with 2 or 3 quality players would be a far better use of resources. We look as if we have a couple of promising trainees, people like Niall Thompson to come in if we were caught short, but with only 5 subs this season, that is highly unlikely to happen.

Leaving things as they are for too much longer, could just put us in a position we may not be able to recover from.

so far this season, i've tried not to enter into too many of the debates over performances of the team and individuals, for the simple reason that i haven't been to a game since the win at Rovers. i just haven't had the time.

however, i have read on with interest, and there is a very common theme amongst the topics and posts on here. and it's probably the same discussions that are going on at a number of club forums around the land, for those clubs struggling a bit at the moment, and finding themselves at the wrong end of the table.

i for one do not like seeing clubs anywhere, changing manager too frequently. sure, if a manager isn't performing, it needs to be looked at, but is Sir Alex a bad manager now because they got humped at home by city yesterday ?? no, of course he's not. Is Wenger a bad manager because Arsenal got walloped 8-2 by the very same Utd that lost 6-1 yesterday ?? no, of course not, but it didn't stop people saying Wenger should go.

all i'm saying is, EVERYONE on the payroll needs to look at themselves and ask if they can do their job better. judging from what i've read, i'd say there's not many TUFC players/coaching staff/etc. that are covering themselves in glory right now.

we're a small club, with limited resources. we have a diamond in the pack, in the shape of Eunan. Is he playing well at the moment ?? it doesn't sound like it. and 2 months ago we were worried about him moving on to bigger and better things. I get the impression too, that Manse is probably the one who really is trying to lead by example, but there is no surprise there, having watched him for a few years now, you know what you get from Manse. so why aren't the rest doing it ?? are they not trying, are they off form, or are they just not good enough ??

again, going on what i've read, maybe the mistake that Ling is making at the moment, is sticking with his mate Saah. maybe he'll have to bite the bullet, and drop the guy, and see if we improve.

yes, you would seriously hope he's looking at who is available in the loan market, even if it is just to shake things up a bit, bring in someone who might change the atmosphere in the dressing room, much like Branno did when he first arrived. and if they go on to contribute on the pitch in the way Branno, Stanley, Robinson, Tomlin etc did, then great. Even if we were doing better, you'd hope the manager would be looking at ways to improve, and for clubs such as ours, the loan market is a must. we were doing ok last year, and then we got some of the aforementioned loanees in, and kicked on to a playoff final.

As has been said elsewhere on here, we had a really tough summer, and by the time Ling was brought in, he had to quickly assemble a squad before the season kicked off. i don't think he panicked with his signings, but we needed players, and with the budget constraints, we didn't exactly have players queueing at our door. could the club as a whole have done things better, knowing that Buckle was leaving ?? From the outside, i'd say they definitely could've done things better, and faster.

as for our form, i can only comment on the last game i saw, and personally, i didn't think we played particularly well against Rovers. we all got wrapped up in the result, but i don't think we played that well. And lets be honest, despite the fact most people thought Rovers would be romping games with the players they have, they are struggling too, so we didn't beat a good side.

i could be shot down in flames here, and that's fine, but i do believe we have good enough players, maybe not strength in depth, but players capable of getting better results than we are managing at present. i also believe Ling is not a bad manager, and think it would be a mistake to replace him after just a few months in the job. i'm not trying to make any excuses for anyone, especially if they don't appear to be putting in the effort, but we have lost to teams that we would expect to see near the top of the division. so, i hope to see/hear things improve in the next few games, against teams we would ordinarily expect to do well against. if not, then i'll accept things are as bad as some of you have said they are !!

i don't think we should read too much into what the players say on twitter etc. players all over the world, at all levels of the game do all that nonsense, and play FIFA with their mates. it's just the way things are now. i'd rather they were doing that than partying with school girls in hotel rooms, or getting bladdered on a friday night etc etc. whatever they do in their private life is up to them, provided its not those activities that are affecting their performances on the pitch.

anyway, my next game will be the away game at Crewe, so stick with it boys and girls, and hopefully i'll see you all there.

i was at the game on saturday and i am afraid to say that no-one played well except bobby and i think even he could have positioned himself better for a couple of goals. when i say no-one i mean no-one. just because some players apologise on twitter, throw their arms around in frustration on the pitch and wave frantically at the fans at the end of the game seems to suggest to some fans who weren't at the game that they played ok, well i can assure you they didn't !!! in fact they were more to blame than our centre backs who appear to be continuously blamed.

What happened to the team that played Rovers who showed passion, pride and the wanting to win?

Well tonight I am now going to Basingstoke V Staines Massive (by complete chance this is the 3rd time I have seen Staines in as many games now), I did get offered tickets to see Aldershot v Mancs, but I am taking my daughter and I didn't really want her in the terrace at grimshot.

Hopefully TUFC will get some fight back into them soon.

For the first time in a long long time, I couldn't be bothered to listen to the Southend game. I was pretty tired anyway with virtually no sleep on the friday night, plus I had to work an early morning shift, but I tuned in 30 minutes into the match and switched off when we went 3-0 down.

If we lose tonight, I think I may see my local club East Preston play then rather listen to Torquay on Saturday. I know we cant win every match and we all go through tough spells like this, but why should I pay a lot of money to travel to places such as Bradford to watch the majority of the team get rolled over without a fight. Like awayday has said, where has the passion gone from the side who beat Bristol Rovers. The team that fought brilliantly at championship table toppers Southampton. I feel sorry for players like Bobby and Manse because they almost all of the time are the best players on the pitch.

I'm hoping that things change tonight. I expect the crowd to be be just under 2,000, depends how many AFC fans travel. I will be listening in, hopefully to the start of our revival up the table.

nicktufc wrote:I couldn't care less what players say on Twitter, and yes, they might just switch off when they get on the coach, or if they aren't in the side.
They might tweet about Football Manager, or Fifa12, or where they are going that night. Does that make them worse on the pitch? No, a lack of effort and commitment whilst training or playing is the only thing we should really be commenting on.

The tripe being served to us at the moment is hideous, and in Rene Howe, I've not seen a striker so out of shape since Akinfenwa, no chasing down of defenders, no busting to get into space, and it shows. If we can't hold the ball up and keep the pressure off by holding onto possession, then we will lose a hell of a lot more games than we win. Howe needs to be told to either lose some weight and improve his fitness, or he'll be out of the side and we will sign a replacement.

The other problem, as I see it, is that in McPhee, Rice, Lathrope and all the kids, is that they are so far off the pace, and quality needed to compete in league 2. Our back ups have not got the ability to change things round, and we look like once we pick up a few injuries, we'll have a team that wouldn't pick up results in the league below.

Letting the kids(Yeoman/Spear/Palmer) go, letting McPhee and Stevens, and Atieno go, and Howe if he can't be bothered to get himself in shape, and replacing them with 2 or 3 quality players would be a far better use of resources. We look as if we have a couple of promising trainees, people like Niall Thompson to come in if we were caught short, but with only 5 subs this season, that is highly unlikely to happen.

Leaving things as they are for too much longer, could just put us in a position we may not be able to recover from.

Nicktufc. To be honest I have no intrest, as such, as to what the players say on Twitter. The point that I am attempting to make is the, apparant complete, lack of comcern about an uninspiring performance a matter of, maybe, 1 hour prior. A lot of them seem more comcerned about other, trivial, matters, and it's that which is annoying me.

I don't know about you, but when I leave a ground, at the end of a game where I have seen very little comittment or passion from the men in yellow, (And I have the prospect of a 200+ mile journey in front of me) I can't help but think about the preceeding 90 mins. What could we have done differently, who played well. who did not play well, who took the game by the scruff of the neck and WANTED to win. The last thing on my mind is how many points (or whatever it is they get) have I got on a bloody football computer game!! I'm already thinking about the next game and will we be able to pick up 3 points, to keep us out of the dreaded "drop" zone. Much as I quite enjoyed the BSP I do not want to go there again. :aww:

Anyhow that's my take on it and if I have to concern myself with my teams performance, then I think the players who play for my team, should as well.
I have no qualms with them losing, that happens, but I do have issue's with the manner in which they lose.