Tiverton Town v Torquay United Tonight.

[desperado]

Re Holman - Gary actually mentioned him by name in his comments so presumably that's why Dave Thomas did.

[desperado]

Beat me to it Mellow !

[divingbboy]

Re Holman - Gary actually mentioned him by name in his comments so presumably that's why Dave Thomas did.

Ah, that explains it. I haven't seen GJ's comments and they weren't mentioned in the article. I thought it was odd, but that makes sense. I wonder if he's now been signed.

[CourtierGull]

If he’s playing well and fits into our system then I’m all for it, but everything online seems to suggest Holman has retired to focus on his mental health based company and with only 1 goal in the last 2 seasons and that’s for brackley town I can’t say I’m overly impressed

[brucie]

Pity he wasn't here last year he could have enrolled Fraser Kerr for his course!

[Sporty60]

Was on fire for GJ at Cheltenham and his goals got them back into the league.
Then picked up a niggling ankle injury, lost his mojo and hasn't done much since.
Similar story to Billy Waters really, but if he can get really fit a short-term contract could be worth the risk.

[happytorq]

Sounds as though Holman is a character that Johnson feels he can trust, and given the kind of squad spirit he's looking to build, that's probably an important thing.

Heck, maybe his off-field business can be helpful for some of the players too.

[Teigngull]

Who cares if Holman WAS retired, semi retired, claiming disability or disillusioned with football ,.
If he can do a job for us by sticking the ball in the net on a regular basis then what's not to like ?
Weve been down the road of bringing in still wet behind the ears U23 forwards who tbh can't cut it in mens football & couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo !
Holman has experience, looks as if he may want to give it another go at professional football, and if GJ thinks he's up to it then I'm all for it, he's 31 not 51 & may just be what we're after, you can't beat experience & if it doesn't work out then so be it, forwards ( especially good ones ) at any level are hard to find.
At the end of the day we are Torquay United, we just dont have the money as the likes of the Wrexhams Stockports it Notts Counties of this division but neither did Barrow or Sutton in the last 2 years.
Let's just see where this season takes us, it's going to be bloody hard to replicate last season & no doubt if we get an indifferent start th6s knives will be out, dont forget we hammered Hartlepool at their place last season & look where they ended up !

[brucie]

No they didn't but Wrexham, Stockport and Notts County will all have better teams than they did last year.

In fact these three teams were far better equipped to go up than either Sutton or Hartlepool.

Realistically its going to be nigh on impossible to replicate last season.

[Nick Potkins]

As Torquay United fans we have had a great last few seasons. Better than maybe we could have dreamed of. This season will be tough, it will be hard to replicate last season and we as true fans need to accept this, support the club we love, Gary and the boys.

For me a top seven position is my target. This puts us in the shake up, then who knows. If we can stay in the top ten through Xmas and push from there I will be happy.

Some on here need to accept we are Torquay United, not Manchester City or the like. Support the club we love, it may be a tough season.

[Dave]

With Teigngull on this one. For me we shouldn't be hung up on how many goals Dan Holman scored at his time with Cheltenham, other than it proves the lad has the ability to be an explosive goal scorer, nor do I, or we should care that much about his recent history in the game, could be for many reasons for that.

All I'm bothered about is what can Dan Holman do for TUFC in the now, the season coming, the past is the past. You don't go from being a good player at any level to being a bad player, with age you may lose a bit of mental/Physical sharpness, what I saw of Holman once he'd settled into the game against Plymouth, was a player who got up well on more than one occasion to win ariel headers , I saw a player who's movement off the ball was good, he was also unlucky not to score with a close range header that narrowly went over the crossbar.

But all that said my/our opinions as fans count for nothing, only the opinion of Gary Johnson counts, he was right to offer Holman a trial, GJ will know if Holman is mentally and physical ready to return to full time football, if he is, we'll sign him, if not we won't, GJ will look elsewhere.

The point about resources is a good one, simple fact, TUFC does not have the resources of Notts County, Chesterfield, Stockport, and now Wrexham, TUFC can not go out a pay for the likes of Mullin, but in Holman there is a player who potentially could score as many goals if he's ready, the only difference is while Wrexham brought from Amazon, we could potentially have the same product from Wish, so Holman was worth looking at, and with GJ saying the time for the trialists is up, we won't have long to find out.

As for being much harder to compete next season, of course that's a given, but is it really going to be impossible, Barrow, Harrogate, Sutton ( Barrow length of time outside the EFL) all promoted, Hartlepool the only genuine ex league club, to be promoted in the last two seasons, those big clubs were in the mix, we finished higher than all of them last term without the backing they had, so why can't TUFC compete again this season.

As for us fans, the majority will get behind the team, like we've always done, but TUFC are no different to every club we have a minority of stupid people following us, and you can't fix stupid. Proof came after the Plymouth game, we only needed a real basic knowledge of football to know the three match difference in pre-season schedule, was going to make a massive difference between us and a team 2 levels higher, we really didn't Gary Johnson to come out and say it, to either have known it or believed it, yet we saw sad and pathetic reaction from small few, and they know who they are to the performance in that match.

[happytorq]

As for being much harder to compete next season, of course that's a given, but is it really going to be impossible,

I think this is probably the first time that so many clubs have so many resources. Stockport and Wrexham are throwing genuinely silly money around. Notts County are also building a large squad (packed with - let's face it - mostly NL quality players) and Chesterfield have been active in the market as well. Throw in Southend & Grimsby, it's a very packed season.

With that said - why not us? I don't think we'll be ten points clear at any stage of the season, but we've seen before that a well drilled team can do very well in this division. I think expecting us to win it is hugely optimistic, but a top 5 challenge is possible. Once you're thereabouts, who knows? I fully expect at least one of Notts, Wrexham and Stockport to fail spectacularly this season. I've got the popcorn ready!

Oh, (this is an edit) - wanted to add. I don't think it'd be as much fun supporting a side where you're expected to win something. That's the kind of environment that can quickly turn toxic. Even in our NLS winning season it wasn't like that for us, because we started so badly and having GJ come in and turn it around was a breath of fresh air. Better to have aspirations for playoffs and hopefully exceed it that expected to win a title and be calling for the manager's head on a stick when you're 8th after ten games (See earlier comment about a team imploding)

[gullintwoplaces]

As for us fans, the majority will get behind the team, like we've always done, but TUFC are no different to every club we have a minority of stupid people following us, and you can't fix stupid. Proof came after the Plymouth game, we only needed a real basic knowledge of football to know the three match difference in pre-season schedule, was going to make a massive difference between us and a team 2 levels higher, we really didn't Gary Johnson to come out and say it, to either have known it or believed it, yet we saw sad and pathetic reaction from small few, and they know who they are to the performance in that match.

Well said, the same people were moaning for much of last season about the training, the injuries, how badly player a or b was playing etc, etc.

[Louis]

Highlights