Just my opinion...

[Fonda]

My thoughts on Knilly’s first pre-season at TUFC – ranging from the colour of our kit to our prospects of winning a game or two. I’m not ‘In The Know’. Anyone that knows me personally knows this to be the case. This is based on hearsay and guesswork, like all my posts. So could be nonsense, like all my posts. It’s probably a waste of everyone’s time, but I’m bored so will proceed. If easily offended or bored, best stop reading now.

A few words for Ling and Taylor. I’m one of those who had tired completely of the dross served up by the previous double-act. I wish Ling the best of luck for the future and hope his health problems are behind him. I’m also delighted that future is elsewhere. Had he been here another season, I might have started to look for other things to do with my Saturday’s such was the tedium.

I’m delighted Knill is here. From what I’ve heard of him, he’s an impressive character - a realist with plenty of determination, it’s a good combination. I’m looking forward to us ‘having a go’ at teams. I think with the attitude of the manager, we’ll have more fight about us this year. I predict teams will come to Plainmoor expecting a tough game. In our home games particularly I look forward to us trying to dictate to the opposition, rather than giving them the ball and hoping for the best. I don’t expect us to be overly fancy, and I certainly don’t expect us to be water-tight defensively. But I think we’ll try and win games, and that will add some much needed entertainment to all our Saturdays. We might take a few beatings along the way as I don’t see Knill as a ‘safety first’, risk averse character. But I like that.

The Departed: I made Knill right with every player he released. I said at the time I didn’t expect any of those that left to be playing League football this season. Macklin might prove me wrong on that, but he’s flattered to deceive previously so who knows. I was sorry to see Saah and Howe go, but they had their reasons and I respect them. So we move on.

New Arrivals: I like the make-up of the squad he’s putting together. Experience through the middle, youth and flair out wide. The first 11 looks stronger this year then last – if we get that last piece of the jig-saw up-front. Have to admit I’m surprised/disappointed not to have had that business done at this stage. We persuaded players in other positions to come down, so am wondering why it should be so difficult to get a striker? Are they notoriously more problematic? I understand players that score goals are in demand, but there are more players available than spaces, so surely there’s someone left for us? I’m sure it’s harder than it looks, and maybe we have someone lined up on loan. I hope so, because a front-line of Benyon, Yeoman and Bodin isn’t terrifying. To the opposition anyway.

Other nonsense: I like the shirt, even without the collar. But the white shorts/socks combo is a fashion faux-pas. But it’s not a fashion show, so not a massive concern in the grand scheme of things. Need to change the words to ‘Yellows’ though...I understand we’re training on the pitch because of the state of Seale Hayne? I predict we’ll be regretting that in January.

In summary: I’m eager for the off. I don’t expect us to fly out of the traps, but even the best team in the country rarely does that. It’s about where we are in May that counts, so if at the end of September we’re struggling, let’s not panic. I reckon by xmas we’ll begin to see the manager’s vision taking shape. And by the end of the season we’ll be comfortably mid-table. It’s really as much as we can hope for this season. We’ll be excited at times, possibly horrified on occasions, but ultimately satisfied. We’ll finish 11th.

[royalgull]

Fonda I agree with just about all of that.

Only thing for me I'm not quite buying the mass Knill love in just yet. Admittedly circumstances were extremely difficult last season, not as bad as when Atkins took over but bad nonetheless but we won 4 out of his 14 games in charge. An impressive spell at Bury would appear to not be the norm in terms of his win ratio being poor at Rotherham and Scunthrope and although briefly here as well.

What I will say though is I am fully supportive of his methods in terms of the way we want to play and as such I want him to do well as I also like him as a person in terms of his honesty and the interviews he's given have been good, towards the end of last season it was clear we were trying to be a bit more adventurous adn we had more options both on the pitch and on the bench to try and win games. I gave up on Ling at Oxford last season when we started the game with 2 players whose natural game was to attack, we then stuck one of them on the wing and played for a 0-0.

On the face of it I like Knill's transfers, it's still massively early days and pre season is never a good judge but hopefully the young wingers can add a bit to us from an attacking threat although it is a gamble having 4 youngsters out there with none really proven in this league over the long haul, it's easy to look good in pre season or a loan spell not so after a few bad games and the crowd are on your back, ask Bodin. With the likes of Tonge and Harding coming in we've got some proven League 2 players there in positions we struggled in last season. When was our last good right back? Was thinking about this yesterday, in Tonge I'm hoping we've solved that. Hopefully the Pearce deal will be done and he again seems a very good replacement for Saah. The biggest issues we have obviously is up front but secondly is depth of squad. Knill seems to have put a few quid down on players that will improve our starting XI but we look pretty vulnerable to a few injuries. This will of course be the case for a lot of sides in this league but I'm hoping Deaman is decent and signs as he covers two bases without us being solely reliant on a 17 or 18 year old being thrown in too early.

i think the overall signs are positive though, i'm looking forward to the start of the season and to judge where we are really at but if we can get a decent centre forward and Pearce signed then I'd expect us to be a lot safer this time around and not looking over our shoulders.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Agree with all of that Fonda. I'd just like to add that I AM 100% with the Knill love-in Royal, how can we not be as we haven't kicked a ball yet and we have yet to see a team of HIS perform over the course of a season. I'm sure he will get to know about it soon enough if he is doing really bad but we've nothing to go on so we must try and get rid of our doubts.

Fonda, you summed my expectations of this season up perfectly by saying that we will generally go out to attack, will suffer a few maulings but be good to watch although unpredictable and that we'll finish mid-table. All this would be pure bliss for me. Knowing that i'm not going to be driving to Accrington on a cold winters day whilst ill, spending money I haven't really got, arranging childcare and using up a full day of my life to watch 11 players try and defend a 0-0 really gets me excited to be supporting Torquay again.

I don't think people realise just how close Ling came to putting even the most hardened fans off going to watch us on a Saturday.

[PlainmoorBob]

Agree - I had a book full of free tickets as a birthday present last season and even though it was costing me nothing I really struggled to motivate myself to go on several occasions - Barnet and Bristol Rovers aside (wasn't able to be at the Aldershot recovery - typical) it came close to making me fall out of love with the club - never thought I'd ever feel that! That Barnet game was like a stolen dirty weekend with an old lover! Haha

[Dave]

Good post Shane, I do not see anything in there that is likely to offend anyone to be honest, in fact think the majority will agree with most or all of what you have said.

I agree with most of what you say, it is a shame that AK has not added a striker as yet, but with the players already here, I do not think it is quite the desperate situation some think. I do understand why the team are not training at Seale Hayne, if the pitch there is as rock hard as we are told, then a wise move not to use it to much, even with soft studs in, injuries do/can often occure on rock hard ground, aswell as the bounce of ball being all over the place.

I am looking forward to this season, I pretty much completely had enough by November of last term and for the first time in 7 years was seriously considering not renewing my season ticket, once the change of management had been made I did not think twice and did renew.

I am expecting a much more attacking style of play, and yes there will games where that will not work and backfire on us, think League 2 is a lot stronger this year so do not expect a top 9 finish alltough that would be nice, do expect us to be more competative though.

[brucie]

Blimey is it sensible post week or not. Accurate summing up - the only problem is we are way short of good players in key positions - could change by the start of season - it needs to though or we are in trouble.

[AustrianAndyGull]

We won't be in trouble. We won't be in a position to maximise or our attacking opportunities granted but we won't be anywhere near trouble.

[hector]

Fonda I agree with just about all of that.

Only thing for me I'm not quite buying the mass Knill love in just yet. Admittedly circumstances were extremely difficult last season, not as bad as when Atkins took over but bad nonetheless but we won 4 out of his 14 games in charge. An impressive spell at Bury would appear to not be the norm in terms of his win ratio being poor at Rotherham and Scunthrope and although briefly here as well.

What I will say though is I am fully supportive of his methods in terms of the way we want to play and as such I want him to do well as I also like him as a person in terms of his honesty and the interviews he's given have been good, towards the end of last season it was clear we were trying to be a bit more adventurous adn we had more options both on the pitch and on the bench to try and win games. I gave up on Ling at Oxford last season when we started the game with 2 players whose natural game was to attack, we then stuck one of them on the wing and played for a 0-0.

On the face of it I like Knill's transfers, it's still massively early days and pre season is never a good judge but hopefully the young wingers can add a bit to us from an attacking threat although it is a gamble having 4 youngsters out there with none really proven in this league over the long haul, it's easy to look good in pre season or a loan spell not so after a few bad games and the crowd are on your back, ask Bodin. With the likes of Tonge and Harding coming in we've got some proven League 2 players there in positions we struggled in last season. When was our last good right back? Was thinking about this yesterday, in Tonge I'm hoping we've solved that. Hopefully the Pearce deal will be done and he again seems a very good replacement for Saah. The biggest issues we have obviously is up front but secondly is depth of squad. Knill seems to have put a few quid down on players that will improve our starting XI but we look pretty vulnerable to a few injuries. This will of course be the case for a lot of sides in this league but I'm hoping Deaman is decent and signs as he covers two bases without us being solely reliant on a 17 or 18 year old being thrown in too early.

i think the overall signs are positive though, i'm looking forward to the start of the season and to judge where we are really at but if we can get a decent centre forward and Pearce signed then I'd expect us to be a lot safer this time around and not looking over our shoulders.

I agree with much of this. Judging Knill on his recent record, then it doesn't offer an enormous amount to feel optimistic about and I am slightly concerned that his contacts book but doesn't appear to be as extensive as we were lead to believe. However, other than a lack of a forward (I refuse to accept that Benyon is a remotely adequate replacement for Howe), especially if Pearce is confirmed, I am encouraged on the whole by his signings.

I'm not going to say I am optimistic about the season, I think a season of struggle is more likely than a promotion push but perhaps mid table is more realistic. The signing of a decent, proper, forward and perhaps things will seem a lot brighter.

[Fonda]

I don’t think the intention was ever for Benyon to be a ‘replacement’ for Howe. Ideally, Benners would be playing alongside someone like Howe, and such a combination would likely prove fruitful. I’m a Benyon fan, but he’s destined to struggle if played up front on his own. Get a partner, get the delivery right from wide positions, and he’ll do the rest.

[Richinns]

A good read this Shane and an honest prospective of where about we are. I think the feeling with the fans is a lot more positive and hopefully we can help project this at Plainmoor this season. A key player missing at the moment but hopefully he will be here shortly.

There is always a couple of teams who over achieve from expectations and if we get the right striker/s in then I have a sneaky we could go quite well this year. The loan market may have to be utilised at times but Knill is savvy enough to identify this as and when it is needed.

[brucie]

Although Benyon and Howe are not like for like players, Benyon is just as good a signing as Howe is. There isn't actually anything to suggest that Benyon won't be effective as he was when he was here before.
I think people have actually forgotten how good Benyon actually was when he was here before. The issue is that we need someone else to play up front with him. I am not actually that bothered if it isn't a big bloke either.
If its another quick small striker partnering Benyon they will still cause problems.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Well we should go with Yeoman and Benyon then up top and see how it pans out. Yeoman must be given a chance surely? Don't see the point of signing another diminutive attacker when we have plenty already. IMO he MUST be a big bloke.

[miltonkeynesgull]

Well we should go with Yeoman and Benyon then up top and see how it pans out. Yeoman must be given a chance surely? Don't see the point of signing another diminutive attacker when we have plenty already. IMO he MUST be a big bloke.

I was at the Bristol Rovers home game Andy and, if I'm honest, I wouldn't be particuarly impressed if we had to go with those two as our first choice pairing to start the season.

Ok, we scored three goals in that game (one was from a corner, one was from a huge free kick lumped forward from our own half, and the other a brilliant finish from Benners after Oastler and, I think, Lathrope combined on the right), but in my opinion they were far too lightweight to both work together, offered us little in the way of ball retention, didn't hold up the ball for any length of time and generally didn't give us any physical presence.

On their own, I'm a big fan of both players (especially EB), but I'm not sure they work together. Of course, no harm with giving it another try while we wait for the loanee (we can probably all guess who that'll be by now) or the permanent signing to arrive.

[royalgull]

Although Benyon and Howe are not like for like players, Benyon is just as good a signing as Howe is. There isn't actually anything to suggest that Benyon won't be effective as he was when he was here before.
I think people have actually forgotten how good Benyon actually was when he was here before. The issue is that we need someone else to play up front with him. I am not actually that bothered if it isn't a big bloke either.
If its another quick small striker partnering Benyon they will still cause problems.

Agreed. Dont' care if the striker is 5'5 or 6'5 just better than what we've got will do.

Yeoman should start the season, either that or Bodin up front with the two new wingers. We do have options, I wouldn't want 4-5-1 in the first game at home against a team similar to us in all honesty.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Cheers for that Miltonkeynesgull, I only went with Yeoman as we've nobody else (at the moment) who COULD go up there and i'd rather have Yeoman up than Bodin for obvious reasons. I wouldn't be confident though but if that's what we've got then we have to cross our fingers and see what happens.