TorquayFans.com | Torquay United Fans Forum

Teigngull wrote: ↑17 Jan 2018, 15:17 Please enlighten me with the dross Nicholson inherited from Knill & Hargreaves because I'm pretty sure he inherited Paul Cox's squad ?

Gulliball wrote: ↑17 Jan 2018, 21:04 The squad Nicholson picked up from Paul Cox, following the 7-3 defeat against Bromley had three players that went on to play any part in our survival (MacDonald, Smith and Butler). The other eight starters were Lavercombe, Hurst, Geohaghon, Fenwick, Marsh, Carmichael, Briscoe & Lavelle-Moore - possibly two of which in Hurst and Marsh had some talent but wanted away, an eighteen year old Lavercombe in goal with potential but right at the start of his career, but the rest needed to be cleared out. The rest of the squad was the same (Heslop, Bell, Quigley, Murombedzi...).

The last line-up before Owers took over (also a defeat against Bromley) contained Dorel, McGinty, Young, Higgins, Efete, Dowling, Reid, as well as Gray, Pittman, Keating, Anderson. I think most people would rate this season's squad as far better than that which began 2015/16 - which is the basis of the now famous "lottery winning" comments from Nicholson after his departure.

Inheriting 27 players is also a bit misleading, given how many were non-contract and one month loans. For the defeat at Woking under Herrea we had 10 contracted players to fill 10 outfield positions, and everyone else was injured, on loan or non-contract. 5 strikers were forced into the starting 11 in a 4-2-4 formation because there was literally no-one else to play.

I sympathise with any Torquay manager over the last few seasons, given the off-field issues they've had to work with, but Owers has had a comparatively good situation to inherit in that he had time to assess the squad, get rid of any loanees/non-contract players he didn't want and then form a side of his own. Considering that there were a number of good players in the squad when he arrived, and the backing he's been given to sign 12 players, going from 8 points adrift of safety to 11 points adrift in his 4 months in charge is underwhelming to date.

One of the biggest problems is that 9 of the 13 players to feature last weekend were players he inherited. The other 4 (O'Sullivan, Balatoni, Fletcher and Mitchell) are all recent signings, so too early to judge - but all previous players Owers has brought in are yet to make any impact - which is a polar opposite to the additions Nicholson made in 2015/16.

Gulliball wrote: ↑17 Jan 2018, 21:04 The squad Nicholson picked up from Paul Cox, following the 7-3 defeat against Bromley had three players that went on to play any part in our survival (MacDonald, Smith and Butler). The other eight starters were Lavercombe, Hurst, Geohaghon, Fenwick, Marsh, Carmichael, Briscoe & Lavelle-Moore - possibly two of which in Hurst and Marsh had some talent but wanted away, an eighteen year old Lavercombe in goal with potential but right at the start of his career, but the rest needed to be cleared out. The rest of the squad was the same (Heslop, Bell, Quigley, Murombedzi...).

The last line-up before Owers took over (also a defeat against Bromley) contained Dorel, McGinty, Young, Higgins, Efete, Dowling, Reid, as well as Gray, Pittman, Keating, Anderson. I think most people would rate this season's squad as far better than that which began 2015/16 - which is the basis of the now famous "lottery winning" comments from Nicholson after his departure.

Inheriting 27 players is also a bit misleading, given how many were non-contract and one month loans. For the defeat at Woking under Herrea we had 10 contracted players to fill 10 outfield positions, and everyone else was injured, on loan or non-contract. 5 strikers were forced into the starting 11 in a 4-2-4 formation because there was literally no-one else to play.

I sympathise with any Torquay manager over the last few seasons, given the off-field issues they've had to work with, but Owers has had a comparatively good situation to inherit in that he had time to assess the squad, get rid of any loanees/non-contract players he didn't want and then form a side of his own. Considering that there were a number of good players in the squad when he arrived, and the backing he's been given to sign 12 players, going from 8 points adrift of safety to 11 points adrift in his 4 months in charge is underwhelming to date.

One of the biggest problems is that 9 of the 13 players to feature last weekend were players he inherited. The other 4 (O'Sullivan, Balatoni, Fletcher and Mitchell) are all recent signings, so too early to judge - but all previous players Owers has brought in are yet to make any impact - which is a polar opposite to the additions Nicholson made in 2015/16.

Gulliball wrote: ↑17 Jan 2018, 21:32 One other stat from players used this season was that 21 different players got on the pitch in the 2 cup games we played this season - which given the relatively short time between them seems pretty incredible. That, probably more than anything else, summarises where we've gone wrong this season - and when the obituaries get written in April it will be letting Nicholson build a squad, sacking him after 4 games, letting caretakers have 6 games in charge and make their own signings, then bringing in Owers to make his own, that must take centre-stage. It's not even something that you need hindsight to see, but either Nicholson should have been sacked last April or he should have been backed to build and manage his side this season. We've ended up paying him off and then backing the new manager, just to end up with a disjointed and ever-changing squad.

We've already used 35 players this season, which doesn't yet include the last signing Ashley Barnes, and given what we face to survive, there will surely be many more to come as well beyond that.

Scott Brehaut wrote: ↑17 Jan 2018, 18:13 Ok, ok, we get it, you don’t like Merse. Your crusade to pull apart almost every post he writes is, frankly, boring. Can you not just move on?

Scott Brehaut wrote: ↑17 Jan 2018, 18:13 Ok, ok, we get it, you don’t like Merse.

Your crusade to pull apart almost every post he writes is, frankly, boring. Can you not just move on?

MellowYellow wrote: ↑18 Jan 2018, 01:52 So were all agreed then - bring back Nicho