Torquay United Fans Forum

Great news to come home from work and find. Sounds like we have a good player on our hands, think Hereford possibly missed a trick and we've done well to poach him. Like the lads comments on the OS as well, thinking positive and looking to push on from last year. ML has slowly amassed a decent looking squad, one which i think can do a good job for us. I think the main issue will be giving them time to blend in together as there's quite a few new players involved, and quite a few who have been on the preripheries for a while. Will be interesting to watch. Hopefully we can hit the ground running though while Rovers struggle to mix and we can give Bucks some stick.

I also like that we've been giving out two year contracts. I know it can be a risk if you get stuck with players on long contracts who aren't any good but i personally think it shows faith in the players, and negates the risk of them having a great year and leaving for nothing, like Branno.

I like this signing. He'll be cheap, he's happy to sit on the bench, he knows the club and is happy to be here, and will do a job if he needs to. He'll possibly never be good enough to be a regular number one at this level, but very few teams have two goalkeepers who are both capable of doing the job all the time. Even top teams choose a clear number one and someone as back-up who they wouldn't necessarily want to use for a long period of time but will if they have to. In our case I think if Bobby gets injured, Rice will possibly have a couple of games at most and we'll look to get loan cover in for first choice.

I would love us to be able to afford two players in goal who can both be ceditable number ones but we'll never be in that position and it makes sense to save money here and use it elsewhere, or as we have possibly done, on extra wages for our first choice keeper.

Have actually been thinking something similar myself over the last few days. We lack great strength on the wings, and because we possess good fullbacks who can go forward, having them combine the two aspects would make a lot of sense to me. It would also negate the issue of which two of our three centre backs start each week. I reckon that team would do a good job at league two level and maybe something Ling may try out in one of the friendlies, though he apparently favours the traditional 4-4-2 formation.

My only issues in choosing it would be Nicho's legs week in week out, though LRT can come in, and the negative aspect of the formation. Personally I don't mind about those issues and would like to see this at least given some thought and a run out in one of our coming games.

Trojan 67 wrote: It may well be sooner than that. Whether it's exciting or not is another matter.

That's why I said hopefully, not sure how anyone can be excited by a second choice keeper though tbh. Would just be nice to have someone in for the role, although I do remember the day when 'big' Kevin Hill used to be our second choice (presumably cos he could jump the highest) and Sillsy was called in goal against FGR all becuase Bucks didn't want a keeper on the bench

Yeah, just a little bit Matt

When you look at some of the figures paid for similar players to Zebs then our deal does look an awful piece of business. A combination of a weak board and Buckle knowing that was the case after what happened with Elliot. I personally think that once a player has said he wants to go then the best option is to sell, but only if the price is right. For the money we've apparently recieved I think we should have said no, and kept him. Would rather have an unhappy Zebs, than no Zebs and 40k, though that is dependant on who ML can bring in.

Aims for the weeks;
1) Learn difference between Dover and Truro
2) Learn difference between Kent and Cornwall
3) Learn what football actually is

Then I'll hopefully post some sense again!

I am having a nightmare today guys! :Oops:
Already posted something about Kuffour on the Zebs thread. I have got my teams mixed and my geography. Bad times! Just ignore everything I say from now on! (Or maybe I subconciously just want attention!)

I'll correct myself, we're definitely not the best geographically ( ), though I still think we should throw our hat into the ring for him. We have some money about from the Zebs move and hopefully still some available from Elliot's tranfer in Jan.

Hopefully no more slip ups either. Oh boy it's gonna be a long week!!

Would love to see us make a move for Birchall, has a seriously good record for Truro. Already been bids accepted from Swindon and AFC Wimbledon, as well as now Gillingham. Might be worth us having a go for him as well cos we could offer less upheavel in terms of relocating so we might be in a favourable position

I don't think its feasible for a club like us, or indeed most in our league, to have two keepers capable of being a number one keeper. It would stretch the budget far too unneccasarily when most of us can agree we need to spend in other areas of the team. I think we should be looking at a definite number one, which we have in Olejnik, and a youngster or someone coming in from non-league, who we can develop for the future who is happy to be understudy. Obviously I am not saying we just take someone to make up the numbers, they need to be capable of coming in, but maybe someone who is decent and can become good enough for a regular starting spot, rather than someone who is good enough already.

Not sure if Rice is the player to do that, he didn't look great first time around at all so unless he has massively improved then I would rather give someone else a chance. I see Horsell got a trial with Yeovil recently. Maybe he would look to come back here. I personally thought he had some potential and was unlucky being thrown in at a time when we were in disarray. Either way I imagine ML will get this situation sorted by the end of the week and we'll hopefully be talking about an exciting new arrival!

Cheers Matt, my bad. Was in a rush earlier and don't know what came over me. Oops!

That's a decent midfield Bath have got, though I imagine Murray and Russell lack the legs nowadays to manage every game. I think it highlights how strong the BSP is that Bath can have the team they have whilst only being semi-pro still. I personally reckon in the not too distant future most of the BSP will be professional and there will be calls to add it to the football league or at least introduce an extra promotion place to league two. There are some decent sides, and some relatively large sides in that league, as we have experienced first hand.

Anyway, I have digressed from the point I came to make. I would personally love to have Kuffour back here. He was excellent first time around and imagine he could do a really good job for us, however I think the chances of it happening are slim to none. Firstly, as has been said countless time, we would struggle to match his wages. I doubt we would offer more than Yeovil did and he didn't fancy that move despite them being league one. Secondly, I think he's looking to head back london way which positively rules us out

Very glad to see a response from the club on the OS about the OS. Obviously shows they're listening to what we think. The idea of a centralised website design for all club makes a lot of sense as i imagine most clubs in league two, and probably league one, do not have the manpower to do it all themselves. That said however, it seems utterly ridiculous thatclubs cannot change player lists and profiles themselves as the article seems to say. Surely the people who know this area best are club officials and those in the know at each individual club, not someone central who probably has little idea who most of the clubs/players involved even are. I know it makes little difference as we the fans know who the squad are and that its completely wrong, but it looks pathetic and shows TUFC to be incompetent, when its not their fault.

I think Thomson is a good player, but as has been said, lacks the work effort. He could be a very good player at this level if he was willing to work harder, but some players just aren't willing. Apparently he is one of those. As for Rohan Ricketts, imagine he would be too good for this level. Maybe he's just trying his hand their whilst waiting for a chance elsewhere, or is willing to sign at this level to get spotted because no-one is willing to try him

Excellent news. We need some reinforcements up front, but glad ML is taking his time to get the right player than rushing out on anyone. Hopefully Atieno can put in some good performances in the friendlies as well, as ML has already stated the guy needs to find a home somewhere as he's never settled, and maybe we'll be the place for him

Wiki is good for some things, but most of the time is full of complete bull. I remember one time I happened to be browsing Mark Lawrenson's page (for the life of me I cannot remember why) and completely alone at the bottom was the line 'He also has the major disadvantage of being a complete tw*t' or words to those effect. Couldn't help but laugh!