Slough vs Torquay 26/08/23 15:00

[Southampton Gull]

Plastic pitches is also gaslighting. All players at this level know plastic pitches.

Plastic pitches are all different and play differently from each other, even those that are supposedly identical. I reference it just to explain to those less knowledgeable as to why I personally felt a point away today would have been a good result. To get 3 points has left me delighted. Anything wrong in that?

[Southampton Gull]

Paignton Community college South Devon college or whatever its called !!

They SHOULD be able to cope ! Why the hell not !

Pathetic excuses !

I am SOOOO grateful for a win at mighty Sough Town.

Dutch, I've made no excuses for anything because there's nothing to excuse. See my previous post, just explaining why I'm happy with 3 points. You're obviously unhappy.....

[teddiebear]

Thete is to the ones that relish losses. It makes em feel good

[Mr Tea808]

Fantastic win, glad Ash is up and running, and hopefully he'll get on a streak now, I thought we'd draw, but 3 points is very welcome..not sure how the performance was, but it's a win.

[Southampton Gull]

Fantastic win, glad Ash is up and running, and hopefully he'll get on a streak now, I thought we'd draw, but 3 points is very welcome..not sure how the performance was, but it's a win.

Stop it. We just agreed on something!!

[gullsgullsgulls]

Plastic pitches are all different and play differently from each other, even those that are supposedly identical. I reference it just to explain to those less knowledgeable as to why I personally felt a point away today would have been a good result. To get 3 points has left me delighted. Anything wrong in that?

Unlike grass pitches at this level which are all perfectly identical surfaces and certainly don’t have bumps, slopes and quirks which give home sides advantages…

[Stickingitin]

Plastic pitches are all different and play differently from each other, even those that are supposedly identical. I reference it just to explain to those less knowledgeable as to why I personally felt a point away today would have been a good result. To get 3 points has left me delighted. Anything wrong in that?

So do grass pitches.

[Southampton Gull]

Nothing to do with the question I was answering.....

[Mr Tea808]

To Southampton Gull , it's all good, I'm a Gulls fan just like yourself, I'm not going to get drawn on to GJ, he isn't for me, but I'll back the team, 3 on the spin and with senior players to come back in, it's not looking to bad, I do think that the league maybe tougher than when we won it, and Yeovil look like they are finding form, but let's just take one game at a time .

[Southampton Gull]

To Southampton Gull , it's all good, I'm a Gulls fan just like yourself, I'm not going to get drawn on to GJ, he isn't for me, but I'll back the team, 3 on the spin and with senior players to come back in, it's not looking to bad, I do think that the league maybe tougher than when we won it, and Yeovil look like they are finding form, but let's just take one game at a time .

Agreed

[Dutchgull]

Dutch, I've made no excuses for anything because there's nothing to excuse. See my previous post, just explaining why I'm happy with 3 points. You're obviously unhappy.....

Dave I am very happy with a win !

Teams have to play on all sorts of surfaces from 3g 4g 5g or whatever they are called ! Grass, mud heaps and pitches with a slope. its what being a professional is all about !

You cant deny that this club should be doing so much better on & off the pitch.

There does not appear to be any pattern to our of play and we are so easily out witted.

I want only the best for this club that is and has been a huge part of my life for over fifty years.

I get so annoyed by posters who make one or two word comments I would like to see them make a reasoned argument in defence of their point of view. If they are able !
Of course they are entitled to put what they want but it would make for a better forum if they could explain their point of view.

Anyway on to Braintree and hopefully another three points !

[Taelee73]

Just a comment on grass pitches being identical.

Nope.

Although there's not huge margins, for starters pitch dimensions have some wiggle room, so pitches can be longer/wider than others.
This also applies to grass length, longer grass obviously plays a little slower than shorter and there is a margin of grass lengths that are acceptable.
Then you add watering, or not, before kickoff, same reasoning as above.
Finally, a lot of today's grass pitches have artifical grass fibres woven in amongst the real stuff. So quite a few teams play on semi artifical pitches anyhow.

Anyhow, just wanted to say.

Regarding Gary in/out or to blame or to save us. It's a very difficult one to truly answer. If by the end of the season we're promoted, I really won't care how it happened.

The truth is this is our level now, is it unacceptable when compared to all those years as a Football league club, of course. But this is were we are, tbh NL now feels like it might be as good as it gets for us.

[Southampton Gull]

Dutch, I back up all my statements with reasoned argument but as you well know it fires a few up. I gave a valid reason for my thoughts that a point would be a great result today based on playing on a plastic pitch. It's not making excuses it's knowing that it favours the home team especially playing a side with a few aged players and a few carrying knocks. In light of all that I'm delighted with 3 points and if we follow that up with a win on Monday we will have put ourselves in a great position to kick on. That's it as far as I'm concerned. We are where we are and whatever the reasons for it, and it's more deep rooted than just Gary Johnson, 3 points today is good enough for me. Part of my role on here is to read every post and I'm probably the only one who does so 3 points should have made that task more pleasant that usual but instead people are still unable to accept last season is over and we still have the same management team. That decision was made early yet still it's more important to some than a precious away win. I find that hard to believe. I'm used to brucie playing armchair critic and his game summary based on the random testimony of others but look at the league table. Are things perfect? Of course not but are they for anyone? I'm used to seeing Saints fans going off on one and being fickle but we have a manager who has proved he knows how to get out of this division and divisions above it. I'm happy enough with that when taking into account who owns the club. Nothing you've said is wrong but you should know by now that following our club is full of more downs than ups. For now I'm looking up, the down has passed us by....... I hope.

[Enzo]

That was another difficult watch and I agree with the other comments that Slough would have been out of sight by half time were it not for Halstead. I’d have to check the highlights to see if he stood any chance with their goal as I was at the other end. I don’t think he did, as it seemed a fine strike. The ball should never have got to him mind and it was a poor goal to give away. Other than that it was the best goalkeeping display I have seen for a long time - shot stopping, handling in difficult conditions and distribution. He may have saved GJ’s job for another week or so as our first half display was shockingly bad and the anger from Gulls fans present was very evident as many walked around in disbelief at half time.

I’m not a fan of artificial pitches and this one seemed to accentuate our technical deficiencies in simple controlling and passing the ball. We never got going and looked vulnerable throughout the first half - the most positive thing was that we couldn’t play any worse and we were only one down. We have no creation or guile in the current team and when Stobbs and Collins are not at it we are totally reliant on an opposition error to creat anything.

Sent out early for the second half and things improved. Stobbs and Collins seemed to get more joy, but we were still not creating any clear cut chances. Pressure was finally being applied, but it was pretty gentle stuff. Then Ash created something out of nothing and slotted home from an angle - it was a cracking finish. The game was well and truly in the balance and we forced a couple of other half chances whilst still looking vulnerable at the back. With about 15 of regulation time left Colin’s put in a fantastic cross and Ash met it with an equally fantastic header back across the keeper. Two cracking finishes from Ash. Not everything has come off for him since the start of the season, but he is never short of effort and there is a player there - he is a good signing for this level and you could see confidence return on the back of those finishes.

A couple of other points - it has been noticeable in the games I have seen that Jarvis is not getting any protection this year. He is no angel himself, but he is constantly being held and manhandled and never seems to get the 50/50 calls. I am obviously biased, but I could not see how the incident which led to his head injury could have possibly been given against him.

Nice set up they have in Slough - horrible ground to park at unless you get in the club parking, but once in the stadium, a very welcoming and friendly set up. Nice bar and food areas - all fully accessible to away fans. That is the first time I have seen a live band in the bar pre-match with souvlaki being served as a food option - unless I’d stumbled into a wedding in a function room!

Yes, we were fortunate, but three wins on the bounce is something to feel good about. We can’t continue to ride our luck, but hopefully things will click and we can get some of our players back and reinforcements in soon. I can’t see Johnson going whilst we squeeze out these results, but you sense that the finger can’t be too far away from the trigger with performances like our first half today.

[Louis]