Post by Dave on Aug 21, 2009 18:58:58 GMT
Well here we are again and another week over work wise until Monday and a home match to look forward too on Saturday, it’s been a very hard week and I won’t be doing any more than I need too over the weekend.
As usual thanks for all your contributions over the last week, the mood on the forum has been good this week, mind you that was helped by our great win against Burton on Tuesday night.
I can’t wait to buy a programme at tomorrow’s game and I have decided to put up the two pages on Sunday, as it’s only fair everyone gets to see them, I think Leigh has done a wonderful job and I’m so glad he offered his services. So if you like our match day programme feature and would like to see your views in it, then get them down on the forum and it could be one of your posts Leigh will pick, along with others, for the next programme.
This week we have two members on the same highest votes that you have cast, so as we have done before, we will award the golden stars to both members.
One winner has been making regular posts on the forum and treated us to a great match report, one of many I hope, many thanks for writing it when you had not long been home from the game at 1.48am, it was great to get up and read your report.
The other winner is well known to us, he has treated us to many great photo threads and he also writes some the best posts you will ever read on any forum.
This week’s winners are littgull and Chris Hayes. Well done to both of you
Littgulls match report
Back home in Lancashire now. This sure is one very happy exiled Gull after a fantastic evening in Burton.
A highly impressive performance after last Saturday's showing. Full of character, team spirit, energy, tactical nous and more than a little skill.
The plan was clearly to come out the blocks quickly with high tempo. It worked wonderfully - we could have been 2 up inside 10 minutes with a little luck. Rendell and Benyon looked a pairing with great potential (shades of Jason Roberts/Rodney Jack came to mind) and Carlisle on the right flank with Stevens on the left took turns in running their full backs ragged on the counter attack.
Our first goal when it came was an absolute beauty. I'll try to paint a picture. Cast your minds back to that wonderful day in May at wembley and our 2nd goal by Sills. The move that resulted in Rendell's goal tonight was almost a carbon copy except that Carlisle's cross from Benyon's pass was low this time and Rendell's cool classy finish was with his foot - put away with supreme self confidence. The sort of finish that has opposition fans saying 'I wish we had a striker as good as that'. Rendell will score many more for us this season, of that I am certain.
Whilst Burton are no Dagenham they are also no mugs and although they carved out numerous chances our defending was excellent tonight. Todd in particular was spot on with his positioning against players with superior pace and Charnock gave a terrific performance.
Our 2nd goal was a testament to our determination. The second of 2 Nicho crosses into the box was slotted in from close range by Benyon and from that moment on the travelling contingent of approx 200 Gulls knew it was going to be our night.
Bevan made a wonderful stretched save 5 minutes before HT and looked confident all night.
Second half Burton had the lions share of possession and attacking play but we defended superbly closing them down to great effect. We still had a number of clear chances and were unlucky not to have added to our 2 goal lead.
Branston is a brute but an effective one but he really struggled with the speed of our counter attacking play tonight. I think we have ended up with the better player in Charnock who seemed to relish countering Branston's physical threat from corners.
Difficult to single out a man of the match for us as every player tonight played superbly but I would say Carlisle and Benyon would be worthy joint winners. Carlisle for his selfless team play and great technique. In the first half he was a maruding winger, second half tracking back and winning tackle after tackle. Benyon has developed immensley. In his first season with us I had concerns even though it was obvious he possessed an eye for goal and has that priceless quality of pace. He has improved physically and mentally. Compare for example his performance 2 seasons ago in the FA Trophy final (bottled a cast iron scoring chance and lacked the right decision making) to his performance in particular in the Play off Final (much more mature and better decision making). Apart from his excellent goal poaching ability he has developed a great vsense of timing for the'killer' pass. This is proving a big asset to the team. Additionally, he can handle himself much better physically against the most rugged of centre backs (a la Branston).
Also a word in support of Nicho (he was great all round tonight). We are all aware of his defensive frailties (lack of pace etc) but his statistics on assists are stunningly impressive. I believe we scored 18 goals last season from his assists and yet another tonight. We ain't gonna get the perfect full back at this level but another 18 assists will do nicely for me!
That's my second successful visit to Burton in the last few months and whilst I agree with the comment that a crowd of 2700 is very poor (particularly after a 5 - 2 home win a few days earlier) I have to give them credit for a complete lack of yobbery with friendly, intelligent fans and officials. Brilliant to receive comments from their fans as I exited the ground of 'your team have improved further from last season' and 'Hope it's a long time until we play you at your place'.
Six points out of nine, a fabulous bounce back from last Saturday's game and well done to the lads and in particular Paul Buckle.
Great night out!
A few posts made by Chris this week
Match report
Only just got back. A much better performance tonight after Saturday's non performance at Dagenham.
Benyon for Sills was the only change to the line up. From the start we attacked them by playing quick balls into the feet of Benyon and Rendell who then linked up well with the two wide men plus Wroe and Hargreaves. The main difference tonight was that we got hold of the midfield from the first minute and never really let it go. Both Stephens and Carlisle were incisive with their running and passing. The ball stuck very well to Rendell and the very impressive Benyon.
We had one or two half chances from dangerous looking crosses when Rendell got his goal. The ball was crossed in from the right. Rendell had to search for the ball as it dropped behind him and then he swivelled and shot in the bottom left hand corner in one fluid motion. An excellent finish and no less than we deserved.
We continued to boss the game and then Benyon. A Nicholson corner from the left was partially cleared, the ball then found its way to Nico who hit a hard cross/shot which seemed to take a slight deflection. The keeper fumbled and then Benyon stabbed in over the line from a yard or so.
A 3rd goal would've been nice but we only really threatened towards the end of the second half. Burton pushed on in the second half and had quite a lot of possesion but never really looked liked scoring. Robertson kept the lively looking Phillips at bay. Todd (who was excellent) and Charnock (also excellent) were more than a match for Pearson and Walker. Stephens made a couple of surging runs in the second half but also did a lot of work making sure Nico wasn't exposed as badly as he was in the Dagenham game. Hargreaves played pretty well and sat a little deeper just in front of the back four in the second half. Bevan looked very assured on crosses and made a couple of decent saves in the first half at the right times.
About 200 Torquay fans made the journey up to Burton. Burton fans were extremely quiet all game but they didn't really get at us in midfield enough so they could stretch us and create some sustained pressure for their crowd to really get behind. Their possesion looked a bit laboured at times and we were quite able to keep a decent shape to keep them at bay.
All in all, a nice comfortable away win. All the players who had poor games on Saturday played well tonight. On a slightly sour note, Wayne Carlisle was subbed after it looked like he tweaked a hamstring. Hopefully this was a only precaution.
Man of the match. Well I would say Chris Todd.
Another post made by Chris
In a way I think its a good thing if another club in a higher league show interest or supposedly show interest in your manager. Although it's mere speculation again, at least it's a good indicator that PB is presently doing a good job with us. If nobody is interested in him then I take it that its a sign that he's doing an average job and no more.
If you take the Paul Lambert situation then he's left what looks to be a decent side in order to try and improve what looks to be a mediocre side which happens to wear the colours of a much bigger club. It's a big gamble on Paul Lambert's part. He resigned from Wycombe after being eliminated from the play offs and he took on the Colchester job where he guided a nearly relegated side to 12th place and this season they've had a great start. It's fair to say that if he does a good job at Norwich he'll use them as a stepping stone to greater managerial feats but if he fails his future will be consigned to the lower league sides for the remainder of his career unless an Aberdeen or a Dundee come knocking in the future.
The managerial merry go-round is still one of the more fascinating things in football. I never thought I'd see Gary Megson managing a premier league side let alone pit his ginger wits against the likes of Ottmar Hitzfeld in the UEFA cup.
As for his potential successors I'd rather have a Liam Daish rather than a Paul Sturrock. Would Chris Hargreaves one day make an exceptional manager? I think he would be a little like Bryan Robson insofar that he would find it difficult to make the transition from being a very charismatic leader of men on the field to a leader of men on it, when sometimes you have to step back and see the bigger picture. I found Roy Keane's comments interesting last week on Football Focus when he admitted that he's made and would make the mistakes every young manager does. Quite interesting to hear such humility from a man who was never short of self confidence when he played at the highest level and from someone who's already got a promotion on his managerial CV. He also said that he has trouble when players don't apply themselves to the standards he sets. I found a nice little quote on wikipedia from Keane about how Brian Clough told him to play football.....
"Brian Clough's advice to me before most games was: 'you get it, you pass it to another player in a red shirt'. That's really all I've tried to do at Forest and United — pass and move — and I've made a career out of it."
You see. Football Management is a doddle. You get the impression that John Still at Dagenham keeps things very clear and simple. Look what happened at Barnet when he moved upstairs and let Tony Cottee take charge of the first team. I'm quite glad he did though!
As usual thanks for all your contributions over the last week, the mood on the forum has been good this week, mind you that was helped by our great win against Burton on Tuesday night.
I can’t wait to buy a programme at tomorrow’s game and I have decided to put up the two pages on Sunday, as it’s only fair everyone gets to see them, I think Leigh has done a wonderful job and I’m so glad he offered his services. So if you like our match day programme feature and would like to see your views in it, then get them down on the forum and it could be one of your posts Leigh will pick, along with others, for the next programme.
This week we have two members on the same highest votes that you have cast, so as we have done before, we will award the golden stars to both members.
One winner has been making regular posts on the forum and treated us to a great match report, one of many I hope, many thanks for writing it when you had not long been home from the game at 1.48am, it was great to get up and read your report.
The other winner is well known to us, he has treated us to many great photo threads and he also writes some the best posts you will ever read on any forum.
This week’s winners are littgull and Chris Hayes. Well done to both of you
Littgulls match report
Back home in Lancashire now. This sure is one very happy exiled Gull after a fantastic evening in Burton.
A highly impressive performance after last Saturday's showing. Full of character, team spirit, energy, tactical nous and more than a little skill.
The plan was clearly to come out the blocks quickly with high tempo. It worked wonderfully - we could have been 2 up inside 10 minutes with a little luck. Rendell and Benyon looked a pairing with great potential (shades of Jason Roberts/Rodney Jack came to mind) and Carlisle on the right flank with Stevens on the left took turns in running their full backs ragged on the counter attack.
Our first goal when it came was an absolute beauty. I'll try to paint a picture. Cast your minds back to that wonderful day in May at wembley and our 2nd goal by Sills. The move that resulted in Rendell's goal tonight was almost a carbon copy except that Carlisle's cross from Benyon's pass was low this time and Rendell's cool classy finish was with his foot - put away with supreme self confidence. The sort of finish that has opposition fans saying 'I wish we had a striker as good as that'. Rendell will score many more for us this season, of that I am certain.
Whilst Burton are no Dagenham they are also no mugs and although they carved out numerous chances our defending was excellent tonight. Todd in particular was spot on with his positioning against players with superior pace and Charnock gave a terrific performance.
Our 2nd goal was a testament to our determination. The second of 2 Nicho crosses into the box was slotted in from close range by Benyon and from that moment on the travelling contingent of approx 200 Gulls knew it was going to be our night.
Bevan made a wonderful stretched save 5 minutes before HT and looked confident all night.
Second half Burton had the lions share of possession and attacking play but we defended superbly closing them down to great effect. We still had a number of clear chances and were unlucky not to have added to our 2 goal lead.
Branston is a brute but an effective one but he really struggled with the speed of our counter attacking play tonight. I think we have ended up with the better player in Charnock who seemed to relish countering Branston's physical threat from corners.
Difficult to single out a man of the match for us as every player tonight played superbly but I would say Carlisle and Benyon would be worthy joint winners. Carlisle for his selfless team play and great technique. In the first half he was a maruding winger, second half tracking back and winning tackle after tackle. Benyon has developed immensley. In his first season with us I had concerns even though it was obvious he possessed an eye for goal and has that priceless quality of pace. He has improved physically and mentally. Compare for example his performance 2 seasons ago in the FA Trophy final (bottled a cast iron scoring chance and lacked the right decision making) to his performance in particular in the Play off Final (much more mature and better decision making). Apart from his excellent goal poaching ability he has developed a great vsense of timing for the'killer' pass. This is proving a big asset to the team. Additionally, he can handle himself much better physically against the most rugged of centre backs (a la Branston).
Also a word in support of Nicho (he was great all round tonight). We are all aware of his defensive frailties (lack of pace etc) but his statistics on assists are stunningly impressive. I believe we scored 18 goals last season from his assists and yet another tonight. We ain't gonna get the perfect full back at this level but another 18 assists will do nicely for me!
That's my second successful visit to Burton in the last few months and whilst I agree with the comment that a crowd of 2700 is very poor (particularly after a 5 - 2 home win a few days earlier) I have to give them credit for a complete lack of yobbery with friendly, intelligent fans and officials. Brilliant to receive comments from their fans as I exited the ground of 'your team have improved further from last season' and 'Hope it's a long time until we play you at your place'.
Six points out of nine, a fabulous bounce back from last Saturday's game and well done to the lads and in particular Paul Buckle.
Great night out!
A few posts made by Chris this week
Match report
Only just got back. A much better performance tonight after Saturday's non performance at Dagenham.
Benyon for Sills was the only change to the line up. From the start we attacked them by playing quick balls into the feet of Benyon and Rendell who then linked up well with the two wide men plus Wroe and Hargreaves. The main difference tonight was that we got hold of the midfield from the first minute and never really let it go. Both Stephens and Carlisle were incisive with their running and passing. The ball stuck very well to Rendell and the very impressive Benyon.
We had one or two half chances from dangerous looking crosses when Rendell got his goal. The ball was crossed in from the right. Rendell had to search for the ball as it dropped behind him and then he swivelled and shot in the bottom left hand corner in one fluid motion. An excellent finish and no less than we deserved.
We continued to boss the game and then Benyon. A Nicholson corner from the left was partially cleared, the ball then found its way to Nico who hit a hard cross/shot which seemed to take a slight deflection. The keeper fumbled and then Benyon stabbed in over the line from a yard or so.
A 3rd goal would've been nice but we only really threatened towards the end of the second half. Burton pushed on in the second half and had quite a lot of possesion but never really looked liked scoring. Robertson kept the lively looking Phillips at bay. Todd (who was excellent) and Charnock (also excellent) were more than a match for Pearson and Walker. Stephens made a couple of surging runs in the second half but also did a lot of work making sure Nico wasn't exposed as badly as he was in the Dagenham game. Hargreaves played pretty well and sat a little deeper just in front of the back four in the second half. Bevan looked very assured on crosses and made a couple of decent saves in the first half at the right times.
About 200 Torquay fans made the journey up to Burton. Burton fans were extremely quiet all game but they didn't really get at us in midfield enough so they could stretch us and create some sustained pressure for their crowd to really get behind. Their possesion looked a bit laboured at times and we were quite able to keep a decent shape to keep them at bay.
All in all, a nice comfortable away win. All the players who had poor games on Saturday played well tonight. On a slightly sour note, Wayne Carlisle was subbed after it looked like he tweaked a hamstring. Hopefully this was a only precaution.
Man of the match. Well I would say Chris Todd.
Another post made by Chris
In a way I think its a good thing if another club in a higher league show interest or supposedly show interest in your manager. Although it's mere speculation again, at least it's a good indicator that PB is presently doing a good job with us. If nobody is interested in him then I take it that its a sign that he's doing an average job and no more.
If you take the Paul Lambert situation then he's left what looks to be a decent side in order to try and improve what looks to be a mediocre side which happens to wear the colours of a much bigger club. It's a big gamble on Paul Lambert's part. He resigned from Wycombe after being eliminated from the play offs and he took on the Colchester job where he guided a nearly relegated side to 12th place and this season they've had a great start. It's fair to say that if he does a good job at Norwich he'll use them as a stepping stone to greater managerial feats but if he fails his future will be consigned to the lower league sides for the remainder of his career unless an Aberdeen or a Dundee come knocking in the future.
The managerial merry go-round is still one of the more fascinating things in football. I never thought I'd see Gary Megson managing a premier league side let alone pit his ginger wits against the likes of Ottmar Hitzfeld in the UEFA cup.
As for his potential successors I'd rather have a Liam Daish rather than a Paul Sturrock. Would Chris Hargreaves one day make an exceptional manager? I think he would be a little like Bryan Robson insofar that he would find it difficult to make the transition from being a very charismatic leader of men on the field to a leader of men on it, when sometimes you have to step back and see the bigger picture. I found Roy Keane's comments interesting last week on Football Focus when he admitted that he's made and would make the mistakes every young manager does. Quite interesting to hear such humility from a man who was never short of self confidence when he played at the highest level and from someone who's already got a promotion on his managerial CV. He also said that he has trouble when players don't apply themselves to the standards he sets. I found a nice little quote on wikipedia from Keane about how Brian Clough told him to play football.....
"Brian Clough's advice to me before most games was: 'you get it, you pass it to another player in a red shirt'. That's really all I've tried to do at Forest and United — pass and move — and I've made a career out of it."
You see. Football Management is a doddle. You get the impression that John Still at Dagenham keeps things very clear and simple. Look what happened at Barnet when he moved upstairs and let Tony Cottee take charge of the first team. I'm quite glad he did though!
