Torquay United Fans Forum

Whilst I agree overall we played well, we have to address the 20-minute spell in the second half where we lowered our tempo and allowed Barrow to gain some hope. During this time, our passing accuracy was awful and our decision making poor. Personally, I felt that we should have shown intent and brought on Kalala earlier to get the 4th goal and kill the game.

We could have easily found ourselves in trouble had Barrow managed to score during this time. We must learn to go out and bury teams when we get opportunities like this.

Another mistake at the back for the 1st Barrow goal with Kovolan and the defence indecisive in terms of taking responsibility for dealing with the ball - and not for the first time this season. There was no call from anyone. Taking nothing away from the Barrow lads finish, although how he got past two defenders at such a tight angle is a mystery.

Defensively I think we must improve in this area.

Yes, Trialist A was ‘Great’ in all aspects - scored two, good running off the ball and had good positioning for the goals. Looked fit and lively and Gary J had a long chat with him at the end - would like to see more of him before I make up my mind but looked good. Taunton trialist looked good too, plenty of energy and physical but we have to remember they are probably playing for contracts so they are going to put a shift in! We have to see consistency for a few friendlies! Yes Frankie Vincent played well too. New keeper went of with a bang to the head - nothing serious though. A good first outing all round

More on Great and how he got his name

I have purchased 2 tickets to the St Albans game but can't go now due to a family funeral. I paid £30 but will accept £20 or close offer. If you're going save yourself a tenner - I can email you the tickets as they have a QR code on them!

I have purchased 2 tickets to the St Albans game but can't go now due to a family funeral. I paid £30 but will accept £20. If you're going save yourself a tenner

Certainly the worst performance of the Johnson tenure.

Despite a few poor decisions by the referee, when you are losing and not playing well, you are frustrated and are far more likely to commit fouls. Had each player concentrated on improving his own personal contribution rather than getting too involved, we would have improved. This is a lesson we must learn quickly, especially against sides who spoil our game and want to bully us. I am surprised both sides ended up with 11 players.

All that said, we were very poor today and the fans were equally frustrated and of course, the referee is a target when things are not going your way. We shouldn't need to look to the referee in order to salvage something from the game. I would rather lose to Weston and get it out of the way than some of the more important forthcoming fixtures.

I believe some of our recent results have been a little 'flattering' and at this stage of the season, we cannot start getting sloppy or complacent. I don't know why but we either start or finish slowly/poorly and cannot put in a 90 min performance. Whilst we seem easily get to the opponent's area, we struggle to make space to have a shot, more often losing possession on the edge of the box.

A young group of players need to mature quickly and learn to play against 'pub teams' as well as those that play a similar style. Ultimately it is that ability to adapt that will win this league. I see a better performance against better opposition but defensively we were not at home today.

Having read the post the hypocrisy of the Woking fans is incredible. They clearly forget their visit to Plaimmoor and the conduct of their fans both during the game and more importantly afterwards when they were standing in the street goading our fans, trying to get them to fight. As the saying goes, "People in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones." Perhaps they should get their house in order first.

Asa Hall may very well have been our best player on Saturday and some might argue he has scored goals, but for me, the jury is still out on his 'overall' contribution. He may very well have age and experience on his side, but with this comes a lack of mobility. We appear now well, for the time being, to have creative midfield players. Too many times this season have I seen a defender clear the ball from a header, only for it to drop at the feet of an opposing midfield player. Hall can be clumsy at times and irrespective of whether Saturday's penalty decision was poor, experience should dictate that you should not be making challenges at this point in the game, certainly not in positions such as this. I believe we need a good experienced physical and mobile player in midfield and perhaps the same in defence. As Lucy says, in high-pressure games and when it is time to see a game through and preserve a lead, a calming presence in these areas of the pitch will prevail.

So where on earth is Opi ?? No word of him for weeks. I can tell you it does not take 6 weeks to recover from a thigh strain? Has he returned to BS - perhaps he does not want to be here? Happy to be enlightened!

Agree that our performance in the second half was much better. First half too many wayward passes. We need to ensure we do the simple things well.

I do need to say that St Albans were a really poor side and we shouldn't get carried away with ourselves. I am still concerned that whilst we have playmakers in midfield, we do not have a ball winner. Ugly though it is, a number of sides (as was the case with Billericay) will throw larger more physical players into the midfield to win the ball and I wonder if we will be able to compete.

Also agreed the scoreline could have ended up 6 or 7 if we could have stayed onside.

I think Concord will be a different proposition on Saturday after their 3-0 win this evening,

Well done Jamie Reid for working really hard this evening and your great finishes,

Any idea where Opi Edwards is!?

Woking fans, utter disgrace. Their behavior throughout the game was appalling. The club needs to investigate the stewarding for this debacle. There were more stewards in front of the Torquay fans than the away end. Why on earth did they not throw the little delinquents out of the ground? They kept letting them repeat their behavior.

At the end of the game, the scenes out on the road where the coaches park were equally bad. Spotty teenagers standing in the middle of the road goading Torquay fans for a fight. I was astonished to see one of the stewards with a high vis jacket stating Woking Steward - what on earth is that all about? Did Woking stewards self-govern their end?

The behavior of Gerring was equally unprofessional - but then again he probably thinks he is vindicated for being let go by TUFC. Still, no reason to behave as he did.

There seems to be no accountability by clubs for their fans and this is the second time I have witnessed behavior like this by players during the last 3 weeks (Weston) and nothing seems to be said or done and the club turn a blind eye. It is about time the league and clubs stand up and ban away supporters from troublesome clubs like this.

Quite frankly I am proud that the Torquay fans did not respond. The police should have taken a far tougher line and if that's how Woking fans behave, then I'm glad to see the back of them.

Yesterday it was clear that Evans in Midfield is a quality player who can create opportunities. Personally, I do not rate Asa Hall, he does not have the same awareness, creativity or the ability to retain possession. It was quite clear Billericay needed to do something to regain control of the Midfield. Tactically, an excellent decision was made by adding some height into Midfield (14 Cunnington) after half-time we were no longer able to control the game. Cunnington made a nuisance of himself which unsettled our defense. creating a real sense of panic at times.

The true value of this substitution became apparent as he scored both Billericay goals. We were woefully inadequate once this change was made. We need a competitive player alongside Evans. Either something similar to Lathrope in his better days or someone with a combination of height and competitiveness who can feed Evans the ball once won.

Brett Williams is not mobile enough and his first touch has been very poor in games he has played this season. I think his best days are passed. So I would be happy if he was replaced.

McDonald. Whilst having done very well deputizing for Bass, has cost us points now in a couple of recent games and there does seem to be a disconnect between him and our defense with panic and confusion setting in at times. His distribution yesterday was very poor as was his kicking. I lost count of the number of times in the last 10 minutes his goal kicks left the pitch at the opposite end when we needed to keep the ball on the pitch especially as their keeper was consistently wasting time. He doesn't seem to be learning. Personally, I do not have total confidence in him and I feel the players in front of him feel the same.

We need some stronger characters/warriors in our side who will compete with some of the more physical teams in this league.

There is a God after all

Whether you like it or not, if CO had not injected cash last season and this year we would not have a team to support. I am struggling to understand CO's strategy really. I can only assume that the idea is to diminish the support and interest in the club by supporters to a point where there will be little or no objection to redevelopment plans by councillors, primarily by driving the club into the ground. Hoodwinking councillors into thinking that they tried their best but ultimately it did not work out.

Then I stop for a minute and consider why have work done on the pitch pre-season? Then, of course, I considered the Truro ground share and the fact that they probably contributed significantly to the cost of this work.

It is this policy of selling an interest in the club to fans and justifying this with stories of development and investment in the club that ultimately I object to. Any investment will be recouped if their intentions come to fruition and I agree we have a responsibility as fans to not stand by and let our club enter administration or end up homeless. That said, it is clear almost all avenues of investment have been exhausted which is why we have ended up where we are. Any responsible and ethical business owner would not stand by and allow full-time employees commanding reasonable wages to continue to perform badly - unless you want them to of course.

Given the £150k and now more recent £300k investment, CO is not going to step down and lose this investment. The bigger question is why would you invest money in something that is clearly failing and why would you continue to allow this to happen, without taking any action or stepping in and trying to turn things around. Why? it is obvious I believe - this was the intention all along.

How as a fan base do we resolve this issue? I really don't know. Even a buyout of OC at this stage is going to cost nearly 500k and that is without the ongoing running of the club. We had the opportunity a few years ago to run this club properly and cut our cloth accordingly. We failed and the vultures saw an opportunity and started circling. It does feel like horse, stable door and bolted spring to mind.

I'm still up for a fight but the reality is that we are way out of our depth here. Generally, the way to directly impact people like CO is to hit them in the pocket. His safety net is the freehold of Plainmoor for redevelopment and we would be well served to concentrate all our efforts as fans to ensure that he does not obtain this.

Prior to today's game, I happened to speak with a friend who, in turn, is good friends with Jamie Reid. Those that know me, know I am not one to spread rumour or to gossip on something without foundation. I am reliably informed that a number of players including Reid himself have stated that Owers is by far the worst manager they have played under. The performances on the pitch and the lack of progress despite that we have the making of a good side that is not performing does make you wonder. It would certainly appear that the players are not playing for Owers at the moment.

Personally I am not a fan of his and I cannot see this changing anytime soon.