Post by Dave on Oct 30, 2009 21:18:00 GMT
Our team sure needs a win and the forum really could do with that win as well. It’s a bit strange at the moment; we can’t really have a good moan, as the team has given everything out on the pitch. We can’t jump for joy either, because we have not won a game for a long time now.
If we win tomorrow I hope we won’t have forgotten what we are meant to do when our team wins, or how to post our joy on the forum as while it has not been negative as such on here, it has not been that upbeat and it would be great to see the forum buzzing with great happy posts.
On the thread I did the other day I talked about fans being more involved with the club, as things are now, a team that does not win games is a team that will see some fans giving up going to Plainmoor.
People work all week and look forward to the weekend off work, but we all know that if our team loses the game on a Saturday, it ruins our weekend. Keep getting to many ruined weekends and some will just decide to put a stop to it themselves and the easiest way is to not go to the games and find things to do that will bring a smile on your face and not something that makes your cat feel its best to listen to the results before you get home from the game.
It’s a TFF carvery matchday tomorrow, we will make it three wins out of three as we won both games when we have had a TFF carvery before and in both those games we scored two goals. But what ever the result I know I’m going to have a great day at the club, as my time there will be more than just watching 22 men kicking a ball around.
This week’s winner just piped our last winner Chris Hayes at the post, Chris put up a top match report with great pictures and it really was a top post. He has been a winner before and has been missed on the forum for a while, due to a new job, house move etc, but he is back and at his best as we expected. A top man and one who I consider a good friend and he is because of the TFF.
This week’s winner is tufc01, well done Rich
Two posts made by tufc01 this week
Having been a bit busy over the last 2 months i have just read all of the posts/threads over the last few days, and a very interesting and entertaining read it has been. This post has been done in some way to answer DTG saying in a previous thread that the Paul Buckle fans have gone quiet recently.
Seeing as it is the schools Half Term, here is my rather tongue in cheek way to look at Paul Buckles progress so far this season.
To the Parents/Guardian of Paul Buckle, please find enclosed a copy of Pauls Half Term report (1/3 season). Feel free to make any comments and return the signed slip to me as soon as possible. However, if you feel that his progress falls way short of your expectations may I suggest that you present a well balanced argument and make realistic suggestions, rather than just a throwaway line of “he is not good enough”, or words to that effect. Everyone should be capable of dealing with constructive criticism as long as it is just that, constructive.
Results C-
Overall I believe his results are slightly below our hopes and expectations. Some people had very high, and unrealistic, expectations and this has exacerbated the disappointment that some people are now experiencing, that said some of his performances/tests have not reaped the rewards that they have deserved. As for myself, I am slightly disappointed with the position that we find ourselves in and am looking to see what Paul can do to improve on this. He still has my full support and backing, but I would like to see further improvement in the results and in the transfer market area.
Tactics B-
This is a difficult subject to analyse in as much as the tactics do not appear to have been successful so far and the results sort of bear this out, however that doesn’t tell the whole story. There is an argument that Paul may be trying too hard and that is where his tactical problems may lie. It might be worth reverting back to a 4-4-2 system for a while, however you can’t knocking him for trying different formations/systems it’s just that I’m not sure if the present crop of players are capable of adapting to these differences/changes.
Another factor may be the UEFA licences that he is doing at the moment. Hats off to him for trying to better himself, however is he trying to use UEFA/Premiership tactics in league two with players not capable of doing what he wants. I definitely would not say he is tactically bad, naive maybe, but not bad. Naive in as much as he went 4-3-3 against Morecambe, which on paper was possibly the right thing to do but in reality it looked awful, but who’s fault was that?? His or the players inability to carry out those tactics?? If it is the players inability then in reality the blame still lies with Paul as he should realise that they are not capable of carrying out his instructions and set formations and tactics that his squad can carry out. In his favour he is not afraid to change things around if they are not working, unfortunately by this time we are usually chasing the game and I reiterate my feeling that the players are not capable of making the changes mid game.
Let us also not forget the final season of the ‘great’ Leroy. As tactically inept as anything I have seen. He cut a confused and lonely figure as he stood next to the dugout with his hands firmly in his pocket looking like he didn’t know what was going on. The chant most heard that season was “You don’t know what you’re doing”, and how right they were. He rarely made any changes and if he did it was in the last 5 minutes, hardly going to affect the outcome of the game.
Commitment A+
You cannot fault Pauls commitment at all. Having received offers from other clubs, bigger clubs, Paul has remained loyal our club. It must have been very tempting to jump ship when things were not going very well and add to that the abuse he receives from some in the crowd and it says something about his commitment to our club that he chose to stay.
Transfers D
This is one particular area where I feel Paul has been disappointing. Whilst we have seen the successful transfers of Carlisle, Wroe, Bevan, Sills and Benyon to a certain extent, we have also witnessed some transfers that have been less successful. Christie, Thompson (the one on loan from Bolton, I think), Williams to name but a few. Also, having witnessed all of the pre season games I was disappointed that we signed Joyce, but not Hatch. I said at the time that I felt Hatch would be perfect cover should Mansell get injured, and low and behold we lost one of our more influential players for the best part of the early season. I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but that was there for everyone to see. And the signing of Joyce appeared to be a rush job as it looked like we might be beaten to his signature by another league side. Joyce may well go on and become a decent player, I just don’t see it myself.
He has also been unlucky in this area, missing out on Branston so late was a huge loss and again with hindsight he might have been capable of shoring up the centre of defence that has leaked some awful goals so far this season.
However, I am hopeful that a team has been put in place to help Paul in his dealings in the transfer market, so further reassessment of his performance in this area can be done at the end of January.
Squad C-
At the present moment I do not believe that this squad is good/strong enough to cope with League Two football. Moves are under way to strengthen the squad and it remains to be seen how successful this will be.
Areas to Improve
Results: This is a results based business, so first and foremost we need to see the results improve. Whilst unbeaten in five is a good start it won’t be enough to see us stay in this division. We need to start winning games, no matter how we achieve this. Personally at the moment I don’t care if we play football the way it is meant to be played or we hoof it up the park all day. I don’t care if we are played off the park or score a lucky, undeserved, 94th minute winner. I just want us to win some games, get some points and move away from the relegation zone because as much as I enjoyed the 2 seasons of non league football I don’t EVER want to go there again.
Transfers: Another area to improve is the transfer dealings. Enough has been said about this already so I will just leave it as an area to improve.
What the future holds
The next few weeks are very important. The Vultures are waiting (well they have been waiting for over 2 years now) and many more poor results could see their calls for drastic change become a reality.
That said, the improvement in results over the last five weeks suggest that this will lead to better results and a gradual move away from the relegation spots. This season now has to be about survival and then another rebuild is required to cope with life in League 2 next season. As I mentioned earlier this squad is not quite good enough for this League and this process of squad rebuilding will become very important.
In Conclusion,
I am hopeful, and confident, that the results and performances will improve over the coming weeks. Paul now has a better backroom team to help him through this tough time, although things are already starting to improve, and this can only be a good thing. I would expect some new players to come in to boost the squad and bring further improvement on the results front.
There is no doubt in my mind that Paul will go onto bigger and better things. I think he has a bright future and I hope that for the time being that future is here at Torquay United.
Post 2
I just want to go back and expand on what I said I would like to see as half time ‘entertainment’.
The more I think about it the more I would like to see it happen.
Set up a mini half time league for kids/school football teams. Include all age groups and get a few games during half time at each home game. Add the incentive of a bit of prize money, even something as simple as signed youth shirts for the winning teams and/or a cash prize for the school that combines the most points from all of their teams throughout the season.
I am sure that during the course of the season the club will pay for some form of half time entertainment, so why not channel this through to make up the prize money, or even better still actively seek sponsorship. Surely someone out there would like to be associated with this. The Tesco Torquay United Halftime Youth League.
What would the club get out of it??
Half Time FOOTBALL entertainment at a FOOTBALL match. We all enjoy watching the kids playing football, don’t we?
Getting them involved at an early age (even up to under 16’s) can only help develop a bond between them and the club. I keep saying this but once they are hooked they stay hooked, I can testify to that with my girls who only went once and that was it. I bet the same can be said about most of us on here, with the exception of those that have moved to the area, I would strongly suggest that most of us were taken when we were young, got the bug and have never looked back.
They would play at half time, but once that is finished they would be free to watch the game. They might enjoy it so much that they become regular visitors, even going with their mates or bringing a parent with them.
There is also the strong possibility that we could uncover a gem of a footballer. It is possible that one of the ‘scouts’ could spot a raw talent that the club could develop. Now that would be something.
If we win tomorrow I hope we won’t have forgotten what we are meant to do when our team wins, or how to post our joy on the forum as while it has not been negative as such on here, it has not been that upbeat and it would be great to see the forum buzzing with great happy posts.
On the thread I did the other day I talked about fans being more involved with the club, as things are now, a team that does not win games is a team that will see some fans giving up going to Plainmoor.
People work all week and look forward to the weekend off work, but we all know that if our team loses the game on a Saturday, it ruins our weekend. Keep getting to many ruined weekends and some will just decide to put a stop to it themselves and the easiest way is to not go to the games and find things to do that will bring a smile on your face and not something that makes your cat feel its best to listen to the results before you get home from the game.
It’s a TFF carvery matchday tomorrow, we will make it three wins out of three as we won both games when we have had a TFF carvery before and in both those games we scored two goals. But what ever the result I know I’m going to have a great day at the club, as my time there will be more than just watching 22 men kicking a ball around.
This week’s winner just piped our last winner Chris Hayes at the post, Chris put up a top match report with great pictures and it really was a top post. He has been a winner before and has been missed on the forum for a while, due to a new job, house move etc, but he is back and at his best as we expected. A top man and one who I consider a good friend and he is because of the TFF.
This week’s winner is tufc01, well done Rich
Two posts made by tufc01 this week
Having been a bit busy over the last 2 months i have just read all of the posts/threads over the last few days, and a very interesting and entertaining read it has been. This post has been done in some way to answer DTG saying in a previous thread that the Paul Buckle fans have gone quiet recently.
Seeing as it is the schools Half Term, here is my rather tongue in cheek way to look at Paul Buckles progress so far this season.
To the Parents/Guardian of Paul Buckle, please find enclosed a copy of Pauls Half Term report (1/3 season). Feel free to make any comments and return the signed slip to me as soon as possible. However, if you feel that his progress falls way short of your expectations may I suggest that you present a well balanced argument and make realistic suggestions, rather than just a throwaway line of “he is not good enough”, or words to that effect. Everyone should be capable of dealing with constructive criticism as long as it is just that, constructive.
Results C-
Overall I believe his results are slightly below our hopes and expectations. Some people had very high, and unrealistic, expectations and this has exacerbated the disappointment that some people are now experiencing, that said some of his performances/tests have not reaped the rewards that they have deserved. As for myself, I am slightly disappointed with the position that we find ourselves in and am looking to see what Paul can do to improve on this. He still has my full support and backing, but I would like to see further improvement in the results and in the transfer market area.
Tactics B-
This is a difficult subject to analyse in as much as the tactics do not appear to have been successful so far and the results sort of bear this out, however that doesn’t tell the whole story. There is an argument that Paul may be trying too hard and that is where his tactical problems may lie. It might be worth reverting back to a 4-4-2 system for a while, however you can’t knocking him for trying different formations/systems it’s just that I’m not sure if the present crop of players are capable of adapting to these differences/changes.
Another factor may be the UEFA licences that he is doing at the moment. Hats off to him for trying to better himself, however is he trying to use UEFA/Premiership tactics in league two with players not capable of doing what he wants. I definitely would not say he is tactically bad, naive maybe, but not bad. Naive in as much as he went 4-3-3 against Morecambe, which on paper was possibly the right thing to do but in reality it looked awful, but who’s fault was that?? His or the players inability to carry out those tactics?? If it is the players inability then in reality the blame still lies with Paul as he should realise that they are not capable of carrying out his instructions and set formations and tactics that his squad can carry out. In his favour he is not afraid to change things around if they are not working, unfortunately by this time we are usually chasing the game and I reiterate my feeling that the players are not capable of making the changes mid game.
Let us also not forget the final season of the ‘great’ Leroy. As tactically inept as anything I have seen. He cut a confused and lonely figure as he stood next to the dugout with his hands firmly in his pocket looking like he didn’t know what was going on. The chant most heard that season was “You don’t know what you’re doing”, and how right they were. He rarely made any changes and if he did it was in the last 5 minutes, hardly going to affect the outcome of the game.
Commitment A+
You cannot fault Pauls commitment at all. Having received offers from other clubs, bigger clubs, Paul has remained loyal our club. It must have been very tempting to jump ship when things were not going very well and add to that the abuse he receives from some in the crowd and it says something about his commitment to our club that he chose to stay.
Transfers D
This is one particular area where I feel Paul has been disappointing. Whilst we have seen the successful transfers of Carlisle, Wroe, Bevan, Sills and Benyon to a certain extent, we have also witnessed some transfers that have been less successful. Christie, Thompson (the one on loan from Bolton, I think), Williams to name but a few. Also, having witnessed all of the pre season games I was disappointed that we signed Joyce, but not Hatch. I said at the time that I felt Hatch would be perfect cover should Mansell get injured, and low and behold we lost one of our more influential players for the best part of the early season. I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but that was there for everyone to see. And the signing of Joyce appeared to be a rush job as it looked like we might be beaten to his signature by another league side. Joyce may well go on and become a decent player, I just don’t see it myself.
He has also been unlucky in this area, missing out on Branston so late was a huge loss and again with hindsight he might have been capable of shoring up the centre of defence that has leaked some awful goals so far this season.
However, I am hopeful that a team has been put in place to help Paul in his dealings in the transfer market, so further reassessment of his performance in this area can be done at the end of January.
Squad C-
At the present moment I do not believe that this squad is good/strong enough to cope with League Two football. Moves are under way to strengthen the squad and it remains to be seen how successful this will be.
Areas to Improve
Results: This is a results based business, so first and foremost we need to see the results improve. Whilst unbeaten in five is a good start it won’t be enough to see us stay in this division. We need to start winning games, no matter how we achieve this. Personally at the moment I don’t care if we play football the way it is meant to be played or we hoof it up the park all day. I don’t care if we are played off the park or score a lucky, undeserved, 94th minute winner. I just want us to win some games, get some points and move away from the relegation zone because as much as I enjoyed the 2 seasons of non league football I don’t EVER want to go there again.
Transfers: Another area to improve is the transfer dealings. Enough has been said about this already so I will just leave it as an area to improve.
What the future holds
The next few weeks are very important. The Vultures are waiting (well they have been waiting for over 2 years now) and many more poor results could see their calls for drastic change become a reality.
That said, the improvement in results over the last five weeks suggest that this will lead to better results and a gradual move away from the relegation spots. This season now has to be about survival and then another rebuild is required to cope with life in League 2 next season. As I mentioned earlier this squad is not quite good enough for this League and this process of squad rebuilding will become very important.
In Conclusion,
I am hopeful, and confident, that the results and performances will improve over the coming weeks. Paul now has a better backroom team to help him through this tough time, although things are already starting to improve, and this can only be a good thing. I would expect some new players to come in to boost the squad and bring further improvement on the results front.
There is no doubt in my mind that Paul will go onto bigger and better things. I think he has a bright future and I hope that for the time being that future is here at Torquay United.
Post 2
I just want to go back and expand on what I said I would like to see as half time ‘entertainment’.
The more I think about it the more I would like to see it happen.
Set up a mini half time league for kids/school football teams. Include all age groups and get a few games during half time at each home game. Add the incentive of a bit of prize money, even something as simple as signed youth shirts for the winning teams and/or a cash prize for the school that combines the most points from all of their teams throughout the season.
I am sure that during the course of the season the club will pay for some form of half time entertainment, so why not channel this through to make up the prize money, or even better still actively seek sponsorship. Surely someone out there would like to be associated with this. The Tesco Torquay United Halftime Youth League.
What would the club get out of it??
Half Time FOOTBALL entertainment at a FOOTBALL match. We all enjoy watching the kids playing football, don’t we?
Getting them involved at an early age (even up to under 16’s) can only help develop a bond between them and the club. I keep saying this but once they are hooked they stay hooked, I can testify to that with my girls who only went once and that was it. I bet the same can be said about most of us on here, with the exception of those that have moved to the area, I would strongly suggest that most of us were taken when we were young, got the bug and have never looked back.
They would play at half time, but once that is finished they would be free to watch the game. They might enjoy it so much that they become regular visitors, even going with their mates or bringing a parent with them.
There is also the strong possibility that we could uncover a gem of a footballer. It is possible that one of the ‘scouts’ could spot a raw talent that the club could develop. Now that would be something.