Thought we showed good spirit to level twice, if Duane scores to make it 3-2, we shut up shop and take 3 points home.
GK saves and they go and score, game over.
Richards back pass slip could have happened to anyone but the lack of a proper CB was showing on the goals we conceded.
Maybe in training Richards looked the best at CB, he's certainly a better footballer than Harding!
If we had McDonald/Downes it would have been a different story, I do think it's time to look at a GK replacement for Rice, he simply isn't good enough.
Our discipline has cost us today, hopefully with the lads back next Saturday we can get back to winning ways!
tomogull wrote:
Get to bed Stefano. Your cocoa must be cold by now ...........
I really want to Tomo but when I am logged in to this site I keep getting what seems to be some marketing thing about dating Russians down the right hand side of the screen, and the presenters seem to be wearing next to nothing. How am I possibly going to nod off with those images in my head? No, you are right Tommo, log out, switch off, and get on the cocoa!
Well what the fork was that meant to be , we've just got buttforked on national T.V , not acceptable by any standards, sorry to say it, with the numpties left running our club we have no forking chance of ever getting back in to the league, things have to change and soon.
Is traveling up on the day a valid excuse, I don't know, those who think it isn't, try a 6 hour coach journey and then have a game of football, it's not physical tiredness it's mental, and the club can not afford overnight stops, yet we seem to paying extra medical staff to help the players try to avoid injuries. Can not be bothered to type any more .
Me and Russian Gull were among the 182 Yellow Army at the "Impact Arena". You know you've arrived at the Conference when you make your way down the field/path to the away end and get mugged off for £18 for entry. We were talking to the stewards brought in from a company in Nottingham and their brief was just to make sure the TV cameras at the away end didn't get nicked and their intelligence briefing said there were about 10 'likely lads' in the regular away support - whatever that means.
We were beaten and beaten well yesterday and it's just a shame Hawley didn't perform for the Gulls like he did last night. Inevitable that he was coming back to bite us on the bum and his interaction/banter with the Torquay faithful was justified - we were crap. The team selection has been discussed plenty in recent posts and I mirror the comments about Richards being out of position - he looked like a rabbit in the headlights and I just hope his confidence hasn't been affected by it. Rice has no command in his area, he's glued to his line at crosses and has probably dined out once too often on his recent clean sheets.
Massively disappointed on the drive home but not surprised.
Nice to see Thea give a wave to the TUFC faithful though, she should have brought her boots...
Strange, I had that starting line up as an option earlier in the week but was thinking of a back three of Tonge, Pearce and Cruise with a five man midfield. I never imagined he would go for Richards at Centre Half.
Like others, I really can't understand Hargreaves thinking about playing one of our best midfielders at the back and weakening the midfield as well as having someone out of position at the back when he has someone who is a specialist defender and paid to do that job who presumably trains for that position all week sat on the bench. I suspect if Hargreaves had decided to change things he would probably have put Harding back there as the next option. This begs the question why bother to waste a place on the bench with a defender he isn't going to use when the place could have gone to a more attacking option in Chappell.
I listened to Hargreaves comments on Radio Devon after the match and he is still moaning about the fixtures and being two games behind other teams when we kicked off. Get real Hargreaves and concentrate on getting it right on the pitch rather than moaning about what you can't affect (fixtures and travelling on the day). I suspect the players pick up on these sort of comments which can lead to them believing these things are major problems for us.
The sad thing is we've lost two away games in the last 3 weeks to the bottom two sides who we should be beating (not intending any disrespect but based on us being full time and us being in form before this). Win those two and we would be level on points with Barnet with a game in hand.
Rice was clearly pulled by the forward for the goal that the ref correctly disallowed. He's got a handful of Rice's shirt. No idea how he saw it but it was absolutely the right decision.
They replayed the incident later in the half if you're looking for it in the highlights.
Also, anyone suggesting going 3-5-2 with only one of the three being a centre back has been playing Football Manager too much.
Saying all that, it was a poor performance not helped by team selection. Let's put it behind us and move on.
People have very short memories as this is exactly what I remember it being like in the conference last time.
Nice to see the usual miserable doom merchants come out of of the woodwork again. This forum is so much better when they haven't got anything to moan about!
Gaviota_Gull wrote: You know you've arrived at the Conference when you make your way down the field/path to the away end and get mugged off for £18 for entry. Nice to see Thea give a wave to the TUFC faithful though, she should have brought her boots...
Please do not take this the wrong way, but why did you feel mugged off at paying £18 to go in at Alfreton, when it's £17 at Plainmoor, apart from the obvious £1 what the difference, why can we charge £17 and they cant charge £18.
And then we all must remember when Alfreton visit our ground their fans will be forced up into the bench and pay £21, so will their fans not have a just cause to complain,. Aimed at all, theirs no need for any hypocrisy over other clubs pricing policy, after all, we're all non-league all short of money and all just trying to survive the best way each club can.
And as for getting a wave from Thea, how thoroughly delightful, I personally think the 182 deserved their money back from our club after that no show, not a cute little wave.
Steve - are you a relative of Hargreaves or something. That was nothing short of pathetic. We were humiliated on national television so the supporters have every right to be angry.
Could not bring myself to post in the forum until now as such was the anger and disappointment from yesterday.
Big fan of Hargreaves but he got in wrong big time yesterday and refused to change the bleeding obvious which in the end cost us the game and much embarrassment on TV. Have not read the post match comments but hope he accepts the error, learns from it and does not blame tiredness or the travel for the performance.
Rice - looked so nervous yesterday and has about as much command of his box as the Tories have of their MP'S currently.
Tonge - was nothing more than average today (if that)
Cruise - For future reference Tom - you are a defender and it is your job to throw yourself in front of the ball when the guy has a clear shot on goal from 8 yards. Other than that was ok.
Pearce - does he want to be here? Judging by that performance then no. Awful
Richards - was what was missing in midfield. Shame he was thrown into an impossible position and then left there to drown. Worse than Pearce (that is saying something!) but he was sold down the river today.
Wakefield - who? Was there someone else in midfield than Young? Must have missed that. Could have stayed on the bus and would have contributed the same amount.
Young - not his best game today but then was not allowed to play his game as he had to play a different role because he had no Richards alongside him to win the ball.
Cameron - Did not get into the game. An off day for him
Ajala - FOR GOD'S SAKE MAN - IF YOU KEEP FALLING OVER TRY A LONGER STUD. Was classy at times yesterday and real pace but missed a sitter in the first minute. Good game overall
Briscoe - Great first goal and followed in well for the second. Decent game but also shinned a clear goalscoring opportunity. Did alright and deserves to keep his place in the team.
Bowman - not his best day whilst on. Missed a couple of decent chances. Hopefully not out for long.
SUBS:
O'Archie - Caused a few problems
Yeoman - Did nowt but damage was already done by then
I hate to say it but Hutchings must have sat there yesterday and realised he is not going to have a pro career at Torquay. Sometimes you have to give a player a chance and yesterday was the prime time to do this.
We missed Downes and his experience massively yesterday and anyone who thinks Pearce should be ahead of him currently must be crazy! Back to Angus and Aaron and hope Pearce produces more fight to claim a spot back than he gave yesterday.
A awful day at the office (if you allow Hawley to score a deuce against you then you know that you have given an incompetent showing). We have to remember though we have a young inexperienced manager and squad and that these days will happen from time to time.
I have said my piece but happy to move on with the same faith in the squad and manager as I had before it.
Chalk this one off - not dwell too much on it, learn and come back stronger. We are still in a better position than we realistically thought come start of season so lets all push on together.
You're missing the point Forever, the comment was aimed at how much of a hole the stadium is. The descend to the away end was a joke. And the slope on the pitch was clear to see. (Saying that, their away end is much better than those at York and Exeter)
I was one of the 182 at Alfreton, unfortunately stood next to the couple who thought it was funny to repeatedly shout to the town goalkeeper that he was going to leave in an ambulance. Immature.
When the team selection buzzed onto my phone I was optimistic, it looked like a fairly strong side and I was one of those people who has been 'playing too much FM' and excited with the prospect of three in defence. When we lined up and I saw Richards next to Pearce I knew we were in for a sorry game.
Richards is great on the ball, passing across the field and even popping up with a shot every now and again, but Yesterday as at the Telford game it was also clear that he is far too easily bullied off the ball and can't deal with strong offensive players such as Telfords Poku. Why on earth he was chosen as a stand in CB I just cannot fathom. No height, seemingly no strength and the most appalling positioning. I like Richards and he's actually my man of the season so far, but what a dumb decision to play him there. Now, we can blame poor Courtney as much as we want, and justly too, however not once did I see Rice or Pearce tell him where to go, who to track, he was awful, yes, but unaided.
Midfield, rubbish. Young turned it on in the second half a bit, but heads went down when their third goal went in. Ajala needs some new boots and to hit the gym, too lightweight. Cameron was criminally underused, perhaps still carrying a knock. Wakefield showed a bit of ability but had a very quiet game.
Forwards. Briscoe has a shot on him and how he managed to keep going for 90mins I don't know. He showed heart today. Bowman has not impressed me this season thus far, doesn't make the runs and doesn't score. Crap. O'Achie came on and tried to make the runs but the rest of the team couldn't find him, he was obviously frustrated at Cruise shouting "No!" and pointing to where the ball obviously should have been played. I feel for him, he had no service, but at the same time he wasn't holding the ball up as well as he can.
Yeoman is not a winger, play him instead of the useless Bowman.
A word on the management now, CH let himself down today (and on tv too) by not utilising the subs we had available. Poor old Hutchings, destined for Bideford unless he gets a chance soon. Also, shout out for the Tongue throw-in, embarrassing.
Hey,supporting Torquay this season requires two things,patience and tolerance.We have the makings of a good side when all players are available and things are going well but we have a very small squad with very little expierence and we will win games we don't expect to win and loose games we aught to win,but that was allways the case with Torquat United.The manager comes into this bracket with yesterdays selction but he will learn.This season we will be ok and if we keep this side together with a couple of new introductions ,next season will be the one to see us fighting for our return to league football.Keep the faith and keep supporting Torquay for if you don't there wont be a Torquay United
To have concluded, presumably after a week of training and positional experimentation, that Courtney Richards ought to be able to man-mark Karl Hawley out of the game might not have been entirely fanciful. But in failing to act, when things were clearly going awry, and when an alternative option was available to him, the manager has demonstrated that he is either incredibly stupid or too stubborn to admit, mid-game, that he had made the wrong call. Neither attribute does him any credit, although the former is more forgivable in my view. In the process he may have shattered the confidence of two promising young players. Richards should hopefully recover fairly quickly, given an immediate return to midfield and the support of the home crowd, but it is difficult to see where Hutchings goes from here, given his manager's palpable lack of confidence in his abilities. If he did not merit selection in these circumstances then when? Is he our recognised defensive back-up or not? If not, what are we paying him for? All in all a very disappointing state of affairs, and one that appears from the outside to have been entirely avoidable. I hope that Hargreaves is strong enough, in the cold light of day, to concede this point. I for one will have considerably more respect for his managerial abilities if he can find it within himself to do so.
