Macclesfield Town v Torquay United, 14/01/12, League 2

[Dutchgull]

Cracking result for us !!

I want to hear Gordon Sparks cry on air as they go down. The embarassing clown!

[Dave]

what a cracking result, really cant believe the team are going so well , the team are just so, so far ahead of were i even dreamed they would be at this stage.

Martin ling's yellow army!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gullscorer]

What have you got against Gordon Sparks, apart from the fact that he's an Argyle commentator?

[yellowmonkey]

Still think we living on luck!

[tufc si]

Still think we living on luck!

Brucie in disguise?!....

Great result for the boys, onwards and upwards!!

[cambgull]

Still think we living on luck!

This isn't luck at all, it's good defending when we need to hold a lead. Promotion form if you ask me!

[AustrianAndyGull]

How they managed to score twice against Bolton and draw i'll never know and how we managed to win this game i'll never know. The game was so dull that i actually lapsed into a coma on three separate occasions only to be woken by the cheers for the three goals. There was zero atmosphere, there were no singers to latch onto so i took my place at the back of the terrace behind the goal. To be fair there were a handful of noisy Gulls sat in the seats who were vocal throughout but i think they were hammered. Credit to them though, they had a good go. I think the general apathy of the Moss Rose combined with a shocking game and sub-zero temperatures ensured none of us travelling Gulls could muster up any energy for a singalong.

The game was scrappy and we started slowly, sluggish and slow to the ball. Stevens began brightly and had a decent shot from the edge of the box saved by the 'shite and poor' Macc keeper Veiga. I called him this in an earlier post on this thread and a Macc fan came on and said he was great! He was shocking again, made a few howlers when fumbling and spilling the ball which we nearly profited from and he took 37 years to take goal kicks. A trend he set last season at the Moss Rose if i remember. The sad thing was Macc weren't even winning and time wasting 20 minutes in is just bizarre. Well he got some stick from a few of us.

The game petered out towards half time with nothing happening, nobody creating chances and the temperature dropping even further. Second half we had more of the ball without really creating, Eunan was trying to drive the team forward with bursting runs and then we took the lead. A cross came over to the back post and Stevens did well to head it back towards the unmarked Morris who nodded it straight in. A lot of us behind the terrace couldn't tell if the ball had gone in and there was a slight delay in us cheering the goal which was a bit weird but what the hell! We were a goal up from nowt! Our second goal was from Ellis, connecting with a cross on the edge of the box and executing to perfection a sort of improvised overhead kick that flashed past Veiga to make it 2-0. I'll have to see the goal tonight on tv to see what it was really like. We were cruising at 2-0 with the game as good as won. Stevens hit a cracker that came back of the post although prior to that Macc could have scored when a looping header came back of Bobby's post and gratefully back into his arms. Macc did eventually score to set up a nervy finish when a cross came over and Brisley was completely unmarked to plant a firm header past Bobby. Four minutes of injury time came and went and it was game over and 3 points.

We were so poor from an attacking perspective today that i honestly couldn't see us scoring. Tai worked hard but he always had the ball pinged into him with his back facing goal and he struggles to control a football. He gave us nothing whatsoever in temrs of runs, making space, movement, nothing. Like i said he worked hard but offered us nothing. Stevens drifted in and out of the game and that was pretty much it. I've got to say that although we won, if we had come up against a half decent side today we would have been absolutely battered. We were so off the pace for much of the game it was untrue. We defended resolutely once again despite giving away a poor goal by gifting their lad a free header 8 yards out. Not sure who was supposed to be marking him though. Macc were dreadful and only looked slightly dangerous after they had brought on Waide Fairhurst late in the game. He was busy and skilful and set up the crossing opportunity for their goal.

We are riding our luck massively lately and the stats say that we have got 10 points from our last 4 games but our lack of attacking potency today was so glaringy apparent and a bit embarrassing. Martin MUST bring in someone else to freshen up the attack, it is a priority. Howe will be back soon and we will be all the better for it. Tremendous credit to Martin and the lads again today though despite a below par performance to grind out a result and keep us ticking over nicely. For all my complaints regarding lack of strikers and options, the facts are we are still getting results.

OLEJNIK - Made a couple of decent saves but was generally anonymous as the Macc attack were so unproductive.

NICO - Typical Nico, solid, dependable, hard working. Got himself in a couple of positions in which to shoot but chose to pass/cross. Crossing a tad poor sometimes.

ROBBO - Solid, dealt with most things.

ELLIS - Solid, dealt with most things and popped up with a 'wonder strike' .

OASTLER - Solid, good distribution but looked more lethargic than usual.

MANSELL - Busy and industrious, getting stuck in. Clever enough to pull his leg away second half when he lost the ball then lunged at their player in the penalty area. Didn't quite excel as an attacking threat but solid.

LATHROPE - Ok but not one of his better games.

O'KANE - Second half he was great, all over the place , coming for the ball and making bursting runs through the middle of the park.

MORRIS - In and out of the game. Did the simple things but not able to make any impact on the game. Scored a header from a Stevens knock back. Wasn't a difficult chance to put it away but he did so CHEERS IAN LAD!!!

STEVENS - Drifted in and out of the game as so often is the case. Had a couple of cracking shots including one that came back off the post. Set up the goal for Morris.

ATIENO - Felt sorry for him a little bit as he kept battling away and was constantly having to deal with the ball pumped up to him with his back to goal. His ball control though is atrocious and his movement was non-existent. If he had only bothered to be a bit more inventive and adventurous and make some runs down the channels and things then he may have created some opportunities for himself and others. As it was he was effectively there just to knock down balls lumped up to him. I've seen Tai a few times now and i really think he is poor. He has that languid style about him sort of Zebroski-esque but just doesn't look interested half the time. I actually would prefer McPhee. He worked hard but thats it.

ROWE - TURNER - Looked off the pace and distribution was poor. Came on for Stevens.

LING - Mr Midas, we can play like turkeys and win. Just hope it lasts!

FANS - Well done to the travelling gulls today although there was nowhere near as many as made the trip last season for our 3-3 draw. Very quiet and subdued.

REF - C**ksucker on this occasion.

UP THE GULLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SDYellow]

Andy, I don't mean to be rude, i know watching the game is completely different from listening to radio devon. But the prospective i got was we looked a threat, and to say you couldnt see us scoring, well we scored 2 hit the post and forced good saves, manse hit narrowly wide and had 15 shots according to beeb. But ok i can understand the game was boring but no scoring? not sure.

[usagullmichigan]

Also the radio said Oastler was outstanding.

[AustrianAndyGull]

What i meant was we weren't creating chances with any regularity. We had a couple of chances which were missed by Danny and Eunan but to say we looked a real threat is just embarrassing and the bloke on Radio Devon wants his head looking at. Danny hit the post from a pot shot and Morris scored due to poor Mac defending. Most of the shots '15 according to the beeb' were high wide and handsome. Just because you have 15 shots doesn't mean to say you are surging forward in wave after wave of attack. I take your comments on board SDYellow but IMO we scored our goals from absolutely nothing not through quality, penetrative attacks.

[Jeff]

Andy, I can't agree with some of the points you raise.

The first half wasn't the greatest spectacle, but we battered them second half, and I actually thought it was an entertaining second half - although very low on quality. The action got quite end to end at times, and in one passage of play we had about three clear cut chances to score (O'Kane, Atieno and Oastler all had a go). Although Veiga wasted time like I've never seen before for a team who weren't winning, he was forced into 3 or 4 good saves. Not to mention Danny's superb effort which thumped the post. They also forced Bobby into a couple of good saves as well as hitting the post.

I think you are being way too harsh on Taiwo too. He's not Howe, yet he played the Howe role quite well today I thought. The formation we play leaves him isolated, but I thought his movement caused Macc problems, pulling their defence this way and that. His hold up play was adequate, and I thought on a number of occaisions his touch was superb. He retained possession, and linked up with O'Kane on a number of times well. He makes some bizarre runs (or in some occaisions non-runs) and is far from the finished article, but I was quite satisfied with how he got on today. He doesn't bring the goal threat that Howe does, but he brought other players into the game and caused problems.

I was massively impressed by Oastler. He was up against Colin Daniel, who last year ran rings around Mansell and was one of their outstanding threats. Today, barely saw anything of him and I think that you have to credit Oastler for that. Although he didn't get up and down the line like a true full-back, he made some incisive runs inside and could have got himself a goal if it wasn't for that save from Veiga in the second half. I would rate him above Ellis today, as although Ellis generally won everything in the air and scored a great goal, he made 3 errors in key areas by heading the ball point-blank in front of him. Each time he could have dealt with it better, and each time it cost us possession in the final third. Oastler I felt was flawless today.

And I don't think Mansell was "clever" to pull his leg away in the box at the end of the second half - he was stupid to even think about dangling a leg out and got lucky that the Macc player didn't play for a penalty.

I do agree that I can't see how Macc held Bolton last week. That must mean Bolton are horrendously bad! I don't understand how Macc's left back got MOTM, he didn't do anything! Macclesfield were very poor, sloppy in possession and didn't give Donnelly any service up front. Amusingly, their fans kept shouting "shoooooot" every time Mendy got the ball after his wonder strike last week, but that really was a one-in-a-million effort as he was dire. The only thing in Macc's favour was they broke quickly and got men forward on the counter, but their decision making was poor and wasted a lot of good numerical advantages. And credit to their centre half, it was one hell of a header for their goal.

I'm well happy with the win today. 10 points from 12 without our number 1 forward, good performances from a number of the side and we're looking well placed. Question for me is, I've been happy with how Atieno has played of late but I'm a big fan of big Rene. So next weekend, do you reward Taiwo for decent form and keep him in, or bring Rene back? 4 weeks ago it would have been a no brainer, but Atieno has done nothing to warrant being dropped. Tough call for Ling but I have faith he'll do the right thing.

Now do I go to Morecambe or not?

[Gullscorer]

At the end of January we will be in fourth place with fifty points, on the verge of an automatic promotion place, and Martin Ling will be made Manager of the Month. And then.. ?

[AustrianAndyGull]

I take on board what everyone says about Oastler, maybe i'm doing the boy a disservice. We all have differing opinions and to me he just didn't stand out as much as he has done in other games. I gave him MOTM away at Vale Park, he was immense that night. I'm happy to concede that maybe he played a lot better than i gave him credit for. I have to disagree with you Jeff on two points. Firstly Tai. He was making runs today AFTER the ball had been booted upfield to try and get there. It was effectively chasing the ball. He didn't make runs BEFORE the ball was played in order to pull off defenders or get in behind. Yes he does get isolated by the way we play but he should be more of a threat instead of just being merely an outlet. Secondly i strongly disagree that we battered them second half. Yes we had lots of possession and stroked the ball around comfortably at times as well as having a couple of decent chances. I don't think that constitutes a battering though. Hey,thats what football is all about Jeff, the debate and cheers for your input. And you shall go to Morecambe! I was actually asking myself the same question as i have an event to go to at 7 ish so i'll be cutting it fine. I'll probably go though, oh and did you by any chance today wear a black leathery type jacket, jeans and white trainers Jeff?

[Gazzableedsgull]

I think any kind of result away at Morecambe would be a huge achievement! I'd be happy with a battling draw, remain unbeaten and be confident for the 2 home games, I would maybe go 4-4-2 against Morecambe, this could give Tai extra confidence if howe can bring him in to play more frequently. This system could suit us for next week because I'm sure Morecambe will of seen the way we have played over the last 4 games and will be preparing for our current system. We do seem to concede when we have a 2 goal cushion for some reason, Although defensive efforts are brilliant at the moment, I can see if we concede first, like at Accrington then we could be riding our luck. Massive well done to the Lads once again .. If we score first we win it seems so I say, try 4-4-2 next week, get a decent result and give us the best possible chance of 6 points from the next 2 home games. Any thoughts?

[brucie]

Do you really think Ling is going to change the system? 8 wins out of 11. 10 points out of the last 12, against the likes of Oxford and Swindon. Can't see Howe getting back in either.