Torquay United v Forest Green Rovers matchday thread

[brucie]

And there you have it - there is more than enough comments on here which suggest the blindingly obvious. If we had a proper goalkeeper we would probably be 10 points at least better off by now. Its a crying shame.
According to Hargreaves Bowman could have a thigh muscle tear. If that is the case we are going to have to get a loan striker in.
In fact if we are serious about getting out of this league we need to get a loan keeper in from somewhere as well.

[Swanny]

Not at fault for any of the goals?!? Megalolz. The ball traveled 40 yards for the first goal, landed 6 yards out and Rice never moved. It was his ball all the way. The hilarious thing is that 5 minutes later, he called for a ball 35 yards out with Downes in attendance.

We'd be top if we had FGR's goalie and he was hardly special.

Matt.

Yes I noticed that as well when Rice shouted "keeper" when Downes had control of the ball way outside the penalty area. Luckily Downes did not take any notice of the shout and cleared the ball himself. It's like Rice stays rooted to his line most of the time and then tries to later make ammends by dashing out when it is NOT his ball. He did similiar against Grimsby the other week by suddenly dashing out when he let the 2nd. goal in. Rice also fumbled a couple of routine shots / crosses today but luckily grabbed the ball at the second attempt. I thought after Forest Green's second goal, Rice looked a bag of nerves (as well as us supporters) every time the ball went near him and there were some unconvincing punches.

Forest Green's first 2 goals maybe were not obvious goalkeeping mistakes as such, but due to Rice's unconvincing decision making you really wonder whether he could have done better. I'm afraid after last season's personal improvement in a dire team he has been one of our weak links this season since our losing run.

[PaulR]

Ferrarilover is absolutely correct. Sitting in the Bench on the halfway line we were directly I n line with the flight of the ball. It was not moving at any great speed but floated over giving the man behind time to say "if Rice doesn't move that's going in!" And we all now what happened next!

[CP Gull]

Firstly, I have to say what a fantastic game of football.

A game we should have won but ultimately a draw wasn't the worst of results. A game we could have won but also could quite easily have lost. I have to say that I was mightily impressed by Durrell Berry on his home debut and in all honesty there were a couple of goal saving challenges that he made towards the end of the game that in other circumstances ( i.e if Tonge had of started) that would have led to us losing that game.

As for the match, I thought there were some terrific performances, but ultimately the greatest difference between the teams was the goalkeeping. I am not knocking Ricey for being at fault for any of the goals in particular, it is just that he didn't make the saves that he might have. Their keeper (Russell) made a couple of brilliant saves, from Young in particular in the second half, saves which made a difference in the ultimate result.

At the moment, it feels, to me at least, that EVERY shot on target at the moment ends up in the back of our net. That is not to say that Rice is at fault for EVERY goal .... of course not, but the reality is that he is just not making the saves you expect your keeper to make ...like Russell did for his team today.

I genuinely believe that if say we had a keeper of the quality of Bobby Olejnik in our team today we would quite comfortably be in the top 1 or 2 in this League. Sometimes, as a goalkeeper it is not about the mistakes that you make ... every keeper makes them from time to time ...but ultimately it is more about the saves you make and the goals that you keep out. At the moment sadly, for me at least, it just feels like that every shot that any team gets on target ends up in the back of our net.

[Gullscorer]

I've a feeling Chris Hargreaves knows that those players who need to show some improvement will do so, or they will be replaced in less than two months by new squad members. As to the exact timing, and who will be out and who will be coming in, much will depend on the progress of the team and of individual players, and on the club finances during the second half of the season.

[Forest gull]

Cracking game with a fair result. Their midfield took control with half hour left. Ricey didn't make any howlers for their goals, but a decent keeper etc etc.

Berry and Downes oozed class, as did Ajala up front. Only a top dave from Young in dying moments prevented a 4-3 win. Overall a good performance and four points in a week most of us would have doubted we could get. Well done United.

[arcadia]

Firstly, I have to say what a fantastic game of football.

A game we should have won but ultimately a draw wasn't the worst of results. A game we could have won but also could quite easily have lost. I have to say that I was mightily impressed by Durrell Berry on his home debut and in all honesty there were a couple of goal saving challenges that he made towards the end of the game that in other circumstances ( i.e if Tonge had of started) that would have led to us losing that game.

As for the match, I thought there were some terrific performances, but ultimately the greatest difference between the teams was the goalkeeping. I am not knocking Ricey for being at fault for any of the goals in particular, it is just that he didn't make the saves that he might have. Their keeper (Russell) made a couple of brilliant saves, from Young in particular in the second half, saves which made a difference in the ultimate result.

At the moment, it feels, to me at least, that EVERY shot on target at the moment ends up in the back of our net. That is not to say that Rice is at fault for EVERY goal .... of course not, but the reality is that he is just not making the saves you expect your keeper to make ...like Russell did for his team today.

I genuinely believe that if say we had a keeper of the quality of Bobby Olejnik in our team today we would quite comfortably be in the top 1 or 2 in this League. Sometimes, as a goalkeeper it is not about the mistakes that you make ... every keeper makes them from time to time ...but ultimately it is more about the saves you make and the goals that you keep out. At the moment sadly, for me at least, it just feels like that every shot that any team gets on target ends up in the back of our net.

Your being to kind on Rice I don't think it's his goalkeeping, now it's his nerves. All keepers need to make saves after a bad run of games he was unlucky and did not make any.

[Dave]

It seriously does not matter if it's Joe Hart, Martin Rice and the lad who plays for his local park team, if you're a goalkeeper in a team where by you're being constantly exposed by some poor defending, you're going to concede goals.

This constant over analysis of every gord darn goal that goes in, one; it's getting boring now, two; has to stop. Calls for a loan keeper is complete flight of fancy, what actually might help Ricey is the thought the fans were behind him, we need him back and confident, no chance the way us fans are carrying on.

[Gullscorer]

Good points well made, Forever, but in the past the club always had two experienced professional keepers to compete for the first team spot and as back-up when needed. This season, apart from Ricey we have Seabright who may show promise but is barely out of school. Whether or not Ricey is in good form, the squad still needs a second experienced keeper.

[brucie]

I wasn't at the game but probably didn't need to be. Noone is over analysing goals that Rice lets in at all. But one of their goals apparently stemmed from him flapping at the ball and punching it weakly. If he is doing that consistently then it invites pressure and ultimately led to a goal because he didn't catch it and clear the pressure.
Whether he was ultimately at fault or not for any of the goals today is probably neither here nor there. The majority of comments on here are negative (as were the comments from the commentators all afternoon).
I know that Hargreaves only had a set amount of money to play with at the start of the season but not spending some of it on a better keeper was a major flaw.
I watched the Warrington v Exeter Cup tie on Bbc 2. Warrington had a young inexperienced keeper in goal. He was 6'5" and caught every ball that came into his penalty area. He also managed to getr something on everything that Exeter threw at him.
Now without a word of a lie had Rice been playing in goal that night Warrington would have ended up losing 4 or 5 -1
Thats the difference a decent keeper can make.

[Dave]

Not denying that for a second G/S, also well aware that good goalkeepers win points. There's a point that I've made constantly through out this season, the club let Michael Poke go for one simple reason, it could not longer afford to pay him, Rice was made no1 and Seabright was signed because that's the level of goalkeeper our club can afford.

Another point I've made to the point I've almost bored myself into submission, we're now in the conference, the time kick, shout and scream was last season, this is where we are now, our income has dropped, we lose the parachute payment next season, Thoughts of Knill's expensive flops moving on creating room in the budget for CH to go into the transfer market and bring a quality keeper and strengthen over positions, are in reality just pipe dreams, it simply isn't going to happen.

In reality, once the high wage earners from last season have gone, it will only serve one purpose, that's to bring the clubs wage bill into a more sustainable level. I'm expecting to see more Seabright type players turn up at the club, so what I'm saying is, unless CH gets lucky and finds and undiscovered freebie gem of a goalkeeper, Rice is where we're at, just as well back the lad as things aren't going to change in a hurry.

[tomogull]

It seriously does not matter if it's Joe Hart, Martin Rice and the lad who plays for his local park team, if you're a goalkeeper in a team where by you're being constantly exposed by some poor defending, you're going to concede goals.

This constant over analysis of every gord darn goal that goes in, one; it's getting boring now, two; has to stop. Calls for a loan keeper is complete flight of fancy, what actually might help Ricey is the thought the fans were behind him, we need him back and confident, no chance the way us fans are carrying on.

<3
I disagree that Martin Rice has been 'constantly exposed by some poor defending'. All in all, I thought the defence coped well today against a strong attacking side. A successful side needs a reliable 'keeper and although Rice is a good shot stopper, he does not take command of his area. Their first goal, for example - most 'keepers would have come out and claimed the cross. Rice stayed glued to his line. The second goal I think it was - leading up to the free kick (which was a shockingly poor decision by the way), Rice punched the ball out when he could and should have caught it. I'm sorry, but the defenders don't seem to have full confidence in Rice and the fans won't get behind him because they haven't got full confidence in him. The stark truth is that we won't get out of this league whilst Martin Rice is our No. 1 'keeper. It's as simple as that.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Not denying that for a second G/S, also well aware that good goalkeepers win points. There's a point that I've made constantly through out this season, the club let Michael Poke go for one simple reason, it could not longer afford to pay him, Rice was made no1 and Seabright was signed because that's the level of goalkeeper our club can afford.

Another point I've made to the point I've almost bored myself into submission, we're now in the conference, the time kick, shout and scream was last season, this is where we are now, our income has dropped, we lose the parachute payment next season, Thoughts of Knill's expensive flops moving on creating room in the budget for CH to go into the transfer market and bring a quality keeper and strengthen over positions, are in reality just pipe dreams, it simply isn't going to happen.

In reality, once the high wage earners from last season have gone, it will only serve one purpose, that's to bring the clubs wage bill into a more sustainable level. I'm expecting to see more Seabright type players turn up at the club, so what I'm saying is, unless CH gets lucky and finds and undiscovered freebie gem of a goalkeeper, Rice is where we're at, just as well back the lad as things aren't going to change in a hurry.

Spot on Dave. You have been correct in your concerns about relegation from day one and you accept that Ricey is the best available on the budget available. Others can't see this and want Buffon in or even would be happy chucking a green jersey at Peter Shilton. When they finally wake up they may realise that in the conference you cannot have 2 solid experienced keepers. Firstly because you have to pay them and secondly because you aren't going to get a decent experienced understudy in this league.

The team and club are stabilising after a year of extreme turmoil, it is in the position in the league most would have been happy with the day after relegation, Barnet have just been beaten and there has been some really entertaining wins by all accounts this season and STILL people whinge about stuff and whinge about Ricey.

It's **** beyond belief. I saw the defending v Barnet and if that is the chaos that Ricey has had in front of him all season then I'd forgive him a few errors.

You'll be in the play offs come the end despite all the odds, despite having an inexperienced and conservative manager, despite having to still pay and play some of squirrel man's cast offs and despite errors from Rice so enjoy it and embrace it instead of whinging about minor women's whiplash.

(Had to chuck that one in Ben! )

[Dave]

To be fair Tommo the reason we're unlikely to get out of this league anytime soon runs a lot, lot deeper than our goalkeeper, when I say constantly exposed I was referring to the whole season, difference earlier in the season Ricey had the confidence carried over from last season and the standard of teams we faced wasn't as good as the current run of fixtures is throwing up.

Not disagreeing with the sentiment in your post, or Brucies, but I feel we've got ourselves into a position where by us fans are looking at every goal that goes in against from every angle to find a reason to blame Ricey for it , so yes, I'm afraid we are over analysing the goals we concede.

And when we say us fans wont back Ricey, that goes right against the point I'm trying to make, he is our keeper, he's going to be our keeper at least until the end of season, and likely beyond that, so surely what other choice do we have but to back him, because there is no one else, and there's going to be for some time to come.

[Dave]

Spot on Dave.

I know Hi Andy hope you're keeping well, still wish you'd refer to Torquay as your team, once a fan always a fan..