League 2: Macclesfield Town vs Torquay United

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Wisconsin_gull
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Post by Wisconsin_gull »

Was out this morning and struggling to catch up with the game on phone - so was delighted to see we fought it back for a late point - the run continues :whip: :bow: :clap:
Good to see the pickler on the scoresheet at last...the flood gates will open now! :-/ (BTW - check out the photo of GB on the BBC - looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp!)
So, into the play off spots... :keepie: , now this is for real :clap: , todays result will be a huge boost going into the Cheltenham game - they will be pumped after their result today.
We will need the A team and a big old Tuesday crowd to roar us home. :scarf: :scarf: :scarf:
What a great week P3,W2,D1 F10,A4 Pts 7. That is a brilliant weeks work by PB and his merry men. :clap: :bow:
I do agree with royal's thoughts and would go so far as to say that PB is perhaps even thinking to bring MP in for the last couple of months and then sign him up for Div 1 - SG will be able to confirm this... :whistle:
Anyone know if MP has even warmed the bench at B&HA since Christmas?
Anyhow - happy with the point, delighted to be in the play offs and looking forward to being in 3rd spot by mid April :O
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ScouseGull
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Post by ScouseGull »

My sincere apologies to all the supporters who were disgusted by my big scouse mouth after I insulted Bevan this afternoon. If it's any consolation I was deeply ashamed of myself. I'm far too old to behave in such a manner,or so I thought. I was able to speak to Nicholson after the game and asked him to convey my regret to Scott and hopefully he did (I suppose I could have done so in person at half time when he was calling me all the foxtrots & tangos under the sun but that probably would have resulted in my jaw being broken - who's the ****house now you ask).
andygull
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Post by andygull »

Macclesfield is a funny old place, the rolling hills a beautiful backdrop to the Moss Rose and sheep in the field next to where i parked (150 yards from the players entrance). Parking is plentiful and you can even walk a section of the Macclesfield canal just up the road. Added to that i only live 35 miles away in Spireiteland. There ends my love in with the place. The Moss Rose is a souless place and although credit must go to the small band of loyal Silkmen on the home terracing behind the Star Lane end goal, there is just zero atmosphere and at times today i felt like i was either in a library, or a morgue!! Despite there being a healthy number of travelling Gulls, there was nothing in the vocals department. It was embarrassing. I don't know if it was because there was nowtto sing about or simply that they all felt so lethargic and depressed by the deadness of the atmosphere. It was bloody odd to tell you the truth. We did get a few 'yellow army' chants going as the game warmed up but thats it. Where are the fackin Ultras when you need them?!! LOL. Anyway the first knockings of the game were scrappy and i thought it was going to be a nil nil but then Macc took the lead. One oftheir players hammered in a scorcher from an angle at the edge of our box and it smacked the upright having looked a top corner pearler all the way. From the same attack they went ahead with a scrappy headed goal which we failed to deal with. At 2-0 i thought we were dead and buried and even at 3-1 i felt the same way. We exerted more pressure on them after the third went in and deservedly got a second from the spot. Credit to Robbo for keeping his head and tucking it away despite all the pathetic timewasting attempts by Macc. ( Veiga the keeper was at it all second half - until we levelled that is!! HAHA!! ). Funny how the ref Mr Salisbury, gave us a penno the last time i saw him ref us which was at Grimsby last season. The equaliser was a skimmed header at the near post by the pickler and my god he enjoyed it!! Stripping off and running to the jubilant travelling contingent. Guy didn't have a great game today but dug in there and i feel he has deserved a goal for his performances this season when i have seen him anyway. Overall i felt Macc had done enough to win the game, their second goal was really well crafted and well finished but if we are going to get automatic or a play off spot at the very least, we need to do a Man United now and again and grind out points from the most unlikeliest of circumstances sometimes. A dire first half followed by a much improved ( but quite poor still ) second half.
ferrarilover
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Post by ferrarilover »

Hmmm, not a massive advocate of pestering the boys, but since you seem capable of stringing two or three correctly spelled words together, perhaps you could find Scotty on Facebook and send him a message to apologise 'in person'.

Matt.
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ScouseGull
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Post by ScouseGull »

Ferrarilover,

Had not thought of that.
Found him.
Thanks.
TUFC92
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Post by TUFC92 »

ScouseGull wrote:Ferrarilover,

Had not thought of that.
Found him.
Thanks.
I'm sure Scott will accept your apology, fair play to you though for being big enough to apologise to him, a lot of people wouldn't.
Trojan 67
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Post by Trojan 67 »

Wisconsin_gull wrote:BTW - check out the photo of GB on the BBC - looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp!
More a face that looks like a spanked arse. :whip:

Well it would in a Burton shirt, wouldn't it ? :nod:

Edit : that's Burton the FC, not Burton the fashion shop.
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tauntongull
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Post by tauntongull »

As a loyal Gulls fan who has driven all over the country for the last two seasons, and someone who reads the forum regularly but doesn't really contribute, I felt it was time this changed.

Having driven all the way to Macclesfield after the sat nav decided to take us via the most indirect route possible, I feel I just need to say a few things about the game. Firstly, there seems to be a lot of talk about Scott Bevan. I am personally a big fan of the big man but there are a couple of cracks in his game that keep reappearing. Firstly, for a keeper of his height, I feel he should make claim for more crosses/corners than he does. He does seem very reluctant to do this at times and there does appear to be an air of uncertainty in the relationship between him and his two centre backs. Whilst he can be a great shot stopper, his kicking and distribution are also inconsistent, not hitting a yellow shirt when kicking and failing to spot a running break on occasions. Instead, deciding to calm the game down and kick the ball from his hands which either comes down with snow on it or veers off at weird angles - not always just on a number of occasions. On Saturday, given the way that Macclesfield fancied packing the box with height which proved fruitful you would have thought this was a priority. Personally, I do not blame Bevan entirely, and the moron behind us in the stand that decided to shout profanities at Bevan blaming him for the 2nd goal was quite rightly chastised by the 'true' gulls fans. This barrage of abuse obviously rattled Bevan who, when the first half had concluded, quite rightly turned around at the same moron and told him what he thought. Needless to say when our first goal went in - we all turned around and he was nowhere to be seen. We all get frustrated when things go badly wrong but we equally all know that someone consistently shoving it down our throats is not going to motivate us to perform better is it?

Branston is arguably a very intimidating presence for the opposition, but this also appears to be the case for his own team mates. I do understand he is considered a leader and I regularly hear people say, 'that's what you get with Branston'. However, I regularly watch him berate Robertson (who I have to say is not one of my favourite players due to his inconsistency and failure to read the game on many occasions) even when he does something well - and we all understand the damage that destructive negative criticism does. Branston's distribution from the back is - and I would be amazed if anyone would disagree, appalling. He is strong and committed but turning and berating your own players when you are far from perfect yourself makes Robertson and Nicholson on occasions look like frightened school children.

Nicholson / Robertson are really my main areas of concern. Whilst Nicholson has a good throw, can take a cracking free kick, is more mobile this season than last after losing a few pounds. There are clearly issues with this side of the pitch, never more obvious on Saturday when Macclesfield got in behind him on numerous occasions in the first half. I saw Branston covering left back on too many occasions for my liking. Those gulls fans who love their stats - I would love to see the amount of goals we have conceded from the left hand side of the pitch - I think the result would be surprising. Many of the sides who visit Plainmoor always attack this side of the pitch with pace knowing I believe of this weakness. He was clearly out jumped for their second headed goal on the near post and this probably was the reason he was substituted shortly after with Rowe Turner.

I don't know why but I always seem to panic when I see Robertson with the ball, he always seems to give away possession at crucial times. He either takes too long on the ball and gets caught or gets drawn forward and is turned quite easily. He regularly thumps the ball up in the air and forward not knowing where it is going. I wish he had more composure on the ball and again his distribution was more assured. Whilst I like Mansell in midfield and I feel this is his better position, Robertson in right back doesn't work for me and I always feel more confident when Mansell is there.

All that said I thought we showed tremendous character to come back from 2-0 down to draw. Some will clearly argue we were lucky and in all honestly I have to say we were - despite Jake nearly winning it at the end. Although I didn't go to Bury I heard the live commentary and we certainly sounded equally as bad for 35 mins of the first half at Macclesfield. Teams are quickly realising that we do not play so well when we are put under regular pressure and closed down quickly. This is something we have to adapt to and improve. I wonder if this was the catalyst for the players coming out early in the second half and playing quick and short passing between themselves - I haven't seen us do this for a while. Equally, we must be more consistent with our tempo - we come out gunning for the first 15 minutes and then start to slow down - this then appears to offer team a chance to get back in the game. Our tempo shouldn't be so erratic and we should hold on to the ball and make teams work if they want to chase us and close us down so quickly - nothing saps your energy more than chasing the ball.

It's going to be a tough run in with our remaining games. I have always questioned (predominantly because I read between the lines in Buckles comments) whether the club was really pushing for promotion this season. I felt that the club would be happy to stay in League 2 for another season, grooming our young squad and pushing harder next year. I regularly hear that we are exceeding expectations for such a young squad - well we must remember we have chosen a young squad by choice - and I do incidentally support and understand the financial necessity to adopt this model of business. But as is this case in all walks of life, there needs to be balance.

A new league, 1400 fans a week, a stadium/stand that needs updating and the inevitable requests for pay increases by players playing a higher league of football is going to put a lot of pressure on an club already placing restrictions on spending in a tough economic climate. Personally I believe that if you are in any football league, the whole ethos of a club is built on improving performance and getting promoted and this shouldn't be undermined by fear. Nobody ever achieves anything by not taking a risk. If the club is managed effectively and we work within our available funds there is no reason why we cannot be just as successful in League 1 - I hate to hear us Buckle saying 'We are playing beyond our expectations' - my expectations are Championship football for the club. Have you ever heard the phrase 'Shoot for the moon and you'll hit the stars!'

Come on your gulls for the run in - we'll certainly be right behind you. You can do no wrong in our eyes - however frustrating it is at times. Those of us who have played football at a reasonable level will know how tough it really is.
May not be the original, but I am the best 'TauntonGull' .... See I can do signatures too, coz I am a real boy!
royalgull
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Post by royalgull »

Good post buddy and I share your concerns to an extent. What I would say in fairness to both our full backs but in particular our left side, Nicho is often isolated with defensive duties. Mansell or Robbo usually get Zebs putting a shift in to help out on the right but be it Stevens or now Robinson on the left their focus is the final 3rd and not so much what happens behind them. The fact we arent' really playing with wide midfielders again leaves your full backs isolated, especially if the oppsition is playing a standard 4-4-2.

I suppose with the way we play Nicholson is discouraged from going too far forward as we would then have nothing left defensively but for me he's a better attacking full back than a defending one, and if we could get him in the final 3rd of the pitch more we'd get more goals from that wand of a left foot he's got.

With Branston as you've highlighted what you see is what you get and I'll say this for the record, I wouldn't trade him for any centre back of his type in this league. He is a monster and I don't think having standards that are high should be frowned upon. He's part of the backline that if others make silly mistakes is punished all the same. We saw what happened at Bury when Branston moved out of his comfort zone, I'd rather see him shank it out the ground than try to be something he's not. He's a League 2 centre half, head it, kick it, stop it going in, if he was better than that he's be in the PRemier League or something similar. You need communication, you need drive and occasionally you need a few words to people to 'wake them up' if you want. Robbo and Ellis, much of a muchness. Decent league 2 defenders, I think Ellis is probably the better of the 2 but right now Robbo deserves his place and Ellis hasn't been at the same level he was at back in August - December. He's a young player, first real full season so you tend to get that.

As for the goalkeepers, I mentioned Bevan's horrendous injury and I've always wondered if it does cross his mind, it must do surely when he has to go through lots of traffic to collect crosses. He does seem reluctant. I think i've seen him drop 1 cross in about 3 years, when he does go for them he gets them. With the size of him I agree he sould collect just about every cross within that 18 yard box, someone like Potter simply physically can't. Potter's kicking is a million miles better than Bevs but it is probably the least important area of the keepers armoury. Important yes, but it's more important to make good decisions, to catch things and stop shots going in the goal. I'd favour Bevan in these 3 areas he is usally pretty dependable. I like both our goalies but I think Poke for an example is better than the pair of them and if there's a chance of him coming back next year whether it's League 1 or 2, I'd have him here in a heartbeat.
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Post by chippygull »

Two very intelligent and considered posts, if I may say so!!
Fate: A police dog called Bryn bit Torquay player Jim McNichol and the time while he was receiving treatment was added onto the end of the second half.
tauntongull
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Post by tauntongull »

Just wanted to say many thanks ChippyGull, RoyalGull and SuperNickyWroe (who personally messaged me) for your kind words about my post and for the welcome to the forum. It's great to be on board and I look forward to contributing to a fantastic board with great participants in future. Oh, and the tears and joy that will no doubt surround us all during the next 10 weeks.

Best wishes to you all.

Alan.
May not be the original, but I am the best 'TauntonGull' .... See I can do signatures too, coz I am a real boy!
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Post by Plymouth Gull »

Glad to have you on board, Alan. Excellent post, and I hope you enjoy it here

:)
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Post by ferrarilover »

Bloody hell Alan, you go on a bit... :~D

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