taunton_gull wrote:My only gripe is that we have swapped like for like, we have released several players who are yet to be replaced. You'd have thought Bucks will have other options otherwise he wouldn't have let Hemmings go - I hope we see some loan additions in the near future.
The released players were released for a reason:-
Carlisle was on a short term contract to prove his fitness (but didnt by the look of it).
Ditto Senda.
Gritts was also short term to see if he still had the attributes.
Hemmings seemed to be a bit of a one trick pony (bit like Carayol a couple of years ago) and pace is no real use without end product.
I think all (apart from Hemmings possibly) were viewed as extra to the core squad requirements and as such, wouldnt need to be replaced.
For quailty over quantity is the key for a club our size and with our budget,in the evnt of mulitple injuries or suspensions there is the loan or emgerency loan market.
I agree with royalgull,for me a specialist right back is a must,not knocking Robbo who has be fairly solid in that position,however both he and Mansell are not right backs,last nights game highlighted something for me,the drastic drop in form of Ellis.
We have a centre back pairing of Ellis-Branston that picks itself at the moment because there is no one else,the addition of a right back would mean Robertson is availible to return to the centre,and the cetre backs can be rotated if one needs a rest,or time out to re-focus which could be the case for Ellis,it would also leave Mansell in midfield which is what he does best.
I see what you're saying Fletch but last night we looked worryingly short on ideas and had absolutely no options on the bench to change things around. If when things are going badly in future our only answer is to bring on the likes of Halpin and Lathrope I really fear for the second half of our season. In my opinion we definitely need another striker and possibly cover at the back. We also looked incredibly lightweight in midfield. I understand we aren't going to have like for like replacements in terms of numbers but as it stands I fear for the quality in the squad beyond our strongest XI.
Yesterday, I was feeling quite hopeful about the situation and thought we had got a good player in Stanley and a decent replacement in Robinson. By the sounds of it, Robinson will be a very good player and could make all the difference but I really think Buckle needs to get a couple decent squad players. We've somehow gone from having 3 guaranteed subs coming on to having no real replacements at all.
I'd be happy with a decent top half finish, with the squad we currently have and the financial situation, we are nowhere near ready to gain promotion, we'll be annihilated in L1. I'm just worried that we are now starting to lose ground on the teams challenging for the play offs, let alone the ones in the play offs. We're now only 2 points off where we finished last season, if we finish 17th or lower, I'd be pretty gutted as it means we have gone absolutely nowhere considering the start of the season.
It's about time Bucks bucked his ideas up so we can holt this gradual slide down the table. Whether this means going back to basics or getting the board to allow him a bit of wage budget for loanees til the end of the season. All it shows though is that we have, maybe, 12 players he actually wants to use. That's pathetic and I think we'd really struggle to find another team with such a small squad. Even my local team, St Neots Town (with the beast, Stefan Moore up front! Ex Villa youth I believe) have a larger squad of players used regularly and they're 5 tiers lower than Torquay!
