Torquay United Fans Forum

Like Skillsy, I have refrained from calling for the management to go but the head is now realising that the heart is right. Messrs Johnson and Downes seem unable to organise, discipline and motivate this bunch of so-called professional footballers and so must leave the job to a younger, fresher team.

Who they may be, God only knows. At the moment it seems like it would be a poisoned chalice for anyone and the list of potential applicants would probably be very short and lacking in much quality.

And nor do they have much to play with - unlike when Johnson arrived there is a dearth of real talent in the squad and a near-total clearcut seems inevitable. Forget the play-offs, the priority now must be to avoid relegation and rebuild for next season.

We are bottom of the form league - 5 losses in the last five games, the only club in the league with this record.

What an omnishambles we have become.

Archer - never stopped running and put his body on the line repeatedly
Halstead - made crucial early saves to delay the inevitable
Da Silva - made a difference when he appeared
McGavin - mainly for his shot that hit the post
Collins - really tried hard with little end-product

My take on yesterday's game (for what it's worth....) is similar to others. We started without any energy, any belief and any system and were totally outplayed by a Truro team who were set up to avoid conceding but realised we were there for a handbagging. For the first quarter we could hardly get out of our half and it was only Halstead with a couple of smart saves that delayed us conceding. The inevitable goal came...inevitably...from a corner, with Moxey comprehensively outmuscled by his opponent to give him a free header.

This was the cue for Truro to retreat into defensive mode which they adopted for the rest of the game, relying on occasional forays and Harvey's experience up front to relieve the pressure at times. This allowed us to get into the game and we had 3 late attempts on goal before half time with McGavin's drive, tipped onto the post and back into the keeper's arms, the closest to a goal. In fact that was as good as it got in terms of chances because, although we had most of the possession and 8 attempts second half, they rarely threatened an equaliser because the 5 on target were generally well marshalled by their keeper.

Worryingly for the return game Williams now looks like a potential long-term absentee with what looked like a hamstring pull. Like many of the newer, younger players - Archer and Da Silva - he looked lively second half and with the realisation that long-ball was not an option the team played some attractive football to maintain the pressure on Truro but the cutting-edge was absent and we could have played another 90 minutes and not have scored.

Finally, I don't know what happened at the end of the game but the chorus of boos and abuse was not justified, or at least not for the players, who really put on a spirited performance. What I think the game showed was that we are, with our current playing resources and management, a bog-standard NLS side - not promotion material at all. Indeed, I would fear for our future if we did manage to creep back into the NL behind Yeovil - the higher division is getting stronger each year it seems and we are getting steadily weaker.

Crikey, I know "highlights"/"lowlights" can be misleading but that looked like we hadn't a clue - repeated joke defending and a midfield which appeared non-existent. I think we must recognise now are a bog-standard lower-mid table team in a poor league.

Donellan - some thrusting runs caused the only panic experienced by their defence
Da Silva - our most threatening spell came when he joined the action and put over some excellent crosses
Lovett - made a couple of good saves to keep the score down but I thought he was slow to react for the third (may be being harsh here)
Hall - provided some bite in midfield towards the end but it may just have been the opposition easing off

No-one else

Just got home after another object lesson from the opposition on how to play football. Fortunately, despite their heavyweight forward power, lax finishing let us off with only a mini-thrashing. But really, although we had 8 attempts, 3 on target and the one goal we were just not at the races. Apart from the one flash of class - the finish by McGavin - we were generally awful. The worst culprits were Ash and Collins who, the harder they tried, the worse they got. The only players to come out of it with any real credit were Donnellan, Da Silva and possibly Hall. Forget any talk of promotion via the playoffs - with the lack of structure, belief and talent, mid-table mediocrity is all we can expect.

Moxey - dependable in defence
Halstead - great save from the penalty kept us in it
Lapslie - gave his all, all over the park
Tomlinson - best I've seen him play
Jarvis - but should have scored

Crikey, we were poor first half today - could scarcely get out of our half and gifted Maidstone chance after chance.

Fortunately they were unable to take advantage and we turned round at half time a man down and with only three attempts but two on target (lame affairs though). Second half we were better but the extra man eventually told and all four of our second half attempts were off target rendering Covalan an irrelevant spectator. He will have fewer more relaxing afternoons.

I think we will probably avoid being dragged into the relegation mire but this lot aren't capable of mounting a realistic promotion challenge.

Halstead - two fine saves early on and great distribution all game
Lapslie - non-stop effort and some quality passing at times
McGavin - for the worldie goal and a tidy display without setting the world alight
Stobbs - particularly in the first half he was roasting their left side of defence
Moxey - saved his defensive colleagues with his calm efficiency and experience

Very lucky to win this one. Chelmsford carved out chance after chance but inept finishing and our woodwork denied them at least a share of the points. I thought our midfield played with more confidence and cohesion than of late and I must congratulate Brett McGavin on a really wonderful strike - if only he could up his reaction time and work rate he would be a real asset to the team but as it is he is a bit of a 'luxury' player. Lapslie was energetic and, at times, showed real incisiveness - as did Stobbs. It is definitely in defence where we look most vulnerable - the centre halves had another poor game - although Moxey brought an element of stability, rescuing his fellow defenders on several occasions. Halstead made two fine saves, was generally tidy and his distribution, particularly to the left, was outstanding regularly getting the ball to Ash out wide. Unfortunately, he and Jarvis had off-days yesterday and spurned several good chances early on. In total we only had 7 attempts with one on target all game. But if we can stay near the top of the league whilst playing badly it bodes well for later in the season by when, I hope, we will have accumulated sufficient experience of playing together that we can kick on and start to dominate teams.

Stobbs - yes, the goal was fortunate but he had a generally energetic game with powerful surges down the right
Jarvis - great pen under pressure but the incident when he tracked back to snuff out a dangerous Braintree attack, recovered the ball and then advanced almost to the other end spoke volumes for his commitment
Donellan - put himself about doing the defensive work that his defender colleagues were incapable of
Halstead - some tidy saves and no chance with their goal
Da Silva - caused their defence lots of problems when he came on and hit the post

Whilst I was despairing at HT (6 insipid attempts, none on target), I was very encouraged by the second half fight-back (8 attempts, 5 on target, hit post and 2 goals). We were outplayed for much of the game in a similar fashion to Worthing but, unlike Worthing, Braintree were a horrible time-wasting and injury feigning team which got our team's backs up and stimulated a vociferous support from the home crowd. A combination of bloody-mindiness coupled with one or two excellent performances (Stobbs and Jarvis come to mind) saw the Gulls take all three points.

Looking forward though, our defensive frailties are obvious to all. Marshall and Tomlinson were awful at times and were only saved further embarrassment by their full-backs' covering and another good performance by Halstead.

Still a haul of 13 points from the first 6 games can't be sniffed at and I hope that as the injury situation improves and the two centre halves get more experience of playing together, we may start to impose ourselves more on opposition sides. I fear, however, that only a fresh influx of loan talent will guarantee a better defensive set-up.

Son of Keith - I think you have captured the difference between the two teams in a nutshell. Dinosaurs taken apart by skill and modern tactics rather than brute strength and superior fitness. We were truly embarrassing.

1. Halstead
2. Halstead
3. Halstead
4. Halstead
5. Halstead

No one else deserves a mention.