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i'm really impressed with the way Ling is going about his business. many of us were getting anxious about lack of signings, and the amount of departures from the club, but you've got to give Ling credit for the way he's putting his squad together. many have questioned the calibre of the players being brought in, and keeping Danny etc etc, but none of us REALLY know how McPhee has developed as a player, or how good Atieno is, and many are assuming Saah is a fantastic signing along with Bobby, but the truth is, we just don't know yet.

my opinion is that Ling knows what he's doing, he's putting together a squad with what resources he has available, and also has quite a few versatile players on the books now (McPhee can play in many positions, as can Oastler, LRT, Manse........) and i am really looking forward to the season starting.

Given the way things looked a few weeks ago, i'd say it's already a successful season, as people who were convinced we were doomed before a ball had been kicked, are now far more optimistic.

No matter your feelings towards any of our players, try getting behind them and giving them your support, instead of getting on their backs for what they've done in a past life. They're our players, they want to play for the club, and good luck to them - it's time to forget those who couldn't wait to get out.

League Goals last season

Benyon - 14
Zebroski - 15
Robinson - 7
Tomlin - 4
Kee - 9
Murray- 1
Gritton - 0

Rene Howe - 7 (6 for Rushden 18 games, 1 for Rovers)
Taiwo Atieno - 5 (5 for Luton)
Chris Mcphee – 17 (17 Kiddiminster)

In all fairness our only real natrual goal scorer i would say was Benyon. Benyon got one less goal than Zebs in half the season.
Zebroski i would never say he was a natrual goal scorer but still managed to get 15 which was good.
Billy Scored 9 goals last season, which thinking about it is not bad for a guy playing out of position. Play him in position and there no reason why he cant score 15+

I feel Rene Howe, being in one team and getting game he will score more goals and could help out.
The other 2, Atineo and Mcphee i dunno what i reckon they will do.

We are screaming out for a Benyon as such, but i feel Kee could be Key for us this season (sorry ) I still would like to see one more striker in even if it was someone on loan.
If Ling can bring in a decent left winger with goals in him and the rest of the team chip in there no reason why goal wise we could do simular.

yeah, i agree brett. would be nice to have a 20+ a season out and out goalscorer, but i think we'll be a team with lots of different names on the scoresheet this season. i expect mcphee and o'kane to get a few between them, and kee, howe and atieno (if he signs of course) to grab a few. i wouldn't be surprised to see 4 or 5 getting 10 or more each, rather than one person getting 20 odd.

we will be at the bottom half of table fighting a relegation battle...i know that sounds negative but i cannot see it any other way....this year the league seems tougher with stronger opposition and we have a weaker side.....i hope to god i am so wrong as i would love to see us mid table or above...

History tells us we are not a mid-table team. Currently - It's is more likely that we will flirt with relegation than with promotion.

then i predict a relegation battle....including Plymouth

How bad would it be if Exeter end being the only Devon club in league football

kingsgull wrote:we will be at the bottom half of table fighting a relegation battle...i know that sounds negative but i cannot see it any other way....this year the league seems tougher with stronger opposition and we have a weaker side.....i hope to god i am so wrong as i would love to see us mid table or above...

agree 100%, there are some very good sides in this division this year. however, there are a reasonable bunch of poor teams too, so i can see there being a big battle at the top, involving 6-7 clubs, and the same at the bottom end. i genuinely feel we'll be comfortably in between the two.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing for us to brace ourselves for a possible relegation battle. Indeed, the board's rationale in appointing Ling was for that very prospect during the 'transitional phase' we’re going through on and off the pitch.

The signings seem sensible in creating a committed squad able to - at the very least - keep us up. Such a modest starting ambition may be too negative an approach to accept, but I think it's important to remember we were 14th after the Hereford defeat on 1 Feb, just 8pts off bottom, and this despite the remarkable start to the campaign (12pts from our first 4 games). Thankfully a few loan signings reinvigorated our season, but the fact remains we were teetering between a play-off push and a relegation scrap.

Factor in the 'projects' Ling has ahead (making our wingers genuine threats in League 2; turning our strikers into settled goalscorers; creating a unit out of a back 5 with 3 new additions), and I think the Burton opener is a key game for us. The rest of August looks very difficult, especially if we face mounting pressure to get our first win.

For what it's worth, I actually do think we'll have a rare season of mid-table mediocrity in 2011/12.

Regiment wrote:
agree 100%, there are some very good sides in this division this year. however, there are a reasonable bunch of poor teams too, so i can see there being a big battle at the top, involving 6-7 clubs, and the same at the bottom end. i genuinely feel we'll be comfortably in between the two.

Come on Brady - you know that just is not the Torquay way!

I predict drama (what form this drama takes, I do not know, but drama there will be!!)

ha ha, no, i guess it's not the TUFC way, but the new boss just seems to exude that "somewhere in the middle" feel, neither boring nor dynamic, and i think that's how our season will pan out too !!

It's very difficult to guess at this stage because our squad is (hopefully) not yet complete - and neither are anybody else's, but i just have a feeling this might be a difficult season. I don't blame the board (you can't spend money you haven't got) and i won't blame the manager (he has a lot to contend with). Out of necessity, Ling is building a squad from 'mis-fits' - Mcphee who has failed here before, Atieno who has been a serial failure, Howe who has had more new clubs than Lee Westwood, not to mention having to re-sign Danny Stevens, who's had about half a dozen moments of quality in his entire career. You can't expect to knock all the rough edges off of so many players in such a short space of time and create a winning team. I think we're going to find goals hard to come by, so will be particularly reliant on not conceding too many in order to accumulate points. I fear the season will lack excitement - with 0-0's more likely than 3-3's. I'm just hoping there are two teams sufficiently worse than us than it won't be too nerve-wrecking towards the end. My money is on a finish somewhere between 14th and 18th. And i'm afraid it's probably as much as we can realistically expect. Anything higher than that i'll be impressed.

I guess thats why we got a really good keeper, We are expecting alot of action for him.

Is L2 this season really that much stronger than L2 last season? Last year was only weak because the big players (Northampton, Gillingham, Bradford, Port Vale and Rotherham) failed to perform - they all had strong sides on paper before the season began.

3 Strong promotion candidates to replace the 4 that went up - Swindon, Bristol Rovers and Crawley.

Plymouth - more likely to do a Stockport than a Southend. Far worse state than what Stockport were in - people are being disillusioned by the fact they're a big club to realise just how bad their situation is.

Wimbledon and Dagenham could go either way. I can see strong parallels though with our relegation from L1 and promotion from BSP with those sides though - and I don't remember our following L2 seasons being too pleasant.

Northampton, Gillingham, Bradford, Port Vale and Rotherham will all have promotion winning sides on paper - but did last year as well - so nothings changed this season in that respect. People were impressed by Lincoln's squad on paper and were widely tipped as dark horses- and look where they ended up.

This season L2 being stronger is reliant on all teams performing as well on the pitch as people expect. They won't because this is L2 - a strong squad on paper is often meaningless. The players that show quality in this division are here because they are inconsistent - players can go from being amazing at one club to a despised donkey at the next (and visa versa)- and this is what we see year in, year out. I see next season as being no different.

usagullmichigan wrote:How bad would it be if Exeter end being the only Devon club in league football

Oi ! NO !