FL2: Darlington v Torquay United 6th March 2010

Great to come away with the points in such an important game. The quality was never going to be great given the state of the pitch. The result was everything.

We rode our luck at times and to be honest were very fortunate to go in at half time two up. A smart finish from Ellis, who always looks dangerous at corners and an excellent run and very composed finish by O'Kane at either end of the first half. Inbetween was generally one way traffic as we stood off Darlo and failed to hold the ball up front. We more or less bypassed the midfield and it was real hoof ball, which probably frustrated Barnes, who may be used to better service. But for some powder puff finishing from Darlo we'd have been in trouble.

I expected the Darlo heads to drop in the second half and for us to take a strangle hold of he game - sadly we came out very sluggishly - Darlo had already been gifted two chances and wasted them - they put the third away aided by some shambolic defending. I'd need to see it again, but Bevs perhaps could have done better.

I agree that the two substitutions made a big difference - It was not working out for Barnes and he appeared to be getting more and more petulant. In his 35 or so minutes on Benyon asked far more questions of the Darlo defence. Muzzy looked fresh and Darlo couldn't cope when he ran at them as they pressed for an equaliser. Had he the same composure as O'Kane had shown for his goal then he'd have had a hat trick today - he looks like he is coming good though and his end product is improving.

Zebs worked hard and some fine play of his set up Muzzy for the clincher - Muzzy finished well - probably because it was the type of chance that he had little time to think about. After this we saw out the game without difficulty and should have extended our lead. Prior to our third, I don't think many would arge that Darlo didn't deserve an equaliser.

Unlike the previous match report, I can fully understand the nagativity around the continued selection of Rowe-Turner. His positional sense and distribution was awful again today. Pace is only an asset if you have some kind of mental undertsanding of how the game is going - this is why he finds himself out of position so often. His confidence is shot to pieces and I appreciate comments like mine will not improve that - do you want realistic match reports or fluffy, warm and moist stuff? Some on here think only Benyon can be critisised. Buckle needs to put an end to his public humiliation for the sake of his future career.

I think the results today more or less put Darlo down. A great stadium for the BSP. although I think the scrimped on the leg room - probably in full knowledge that there wuld be 23,000 empty seats most games. This match mirrors a couple that I have seen recently - Barnet and Cheltenham. Whilst lacking any kind of cohesion and quality we are deservedly grinding out results. Our finishing today was far more clinical and enabled us to come away with all three vital points.

Enzo - ref your comments below:

'Unlike the previous match report, I can fully understand the nagativity around the continued selection of Rowe-Turner. His positional sense and distribution was awful again today. Pace is only an asset if you have some kind of mental undertsanding of how the game is going - this is why he finds himself out of position so often. His confidence is shot to pieces and I appreciate comments like mine will not improve that - do you want realistic match reports or fluffy, warm and moist stuff? Some on here think only Benyon can be critisised. Buckle needs to put an end to his public humiliation for the sake of his future career.'



Realistic match reports, fluffy warm and moist stuff???
What the hell are you talking about? Up until your remarks about LRT you appear to have agreed with everything I have posted in my report. Regarding LRT I don't happen to agree with you. I can see that the lad has attributes and is worth developing - you can't. Cut the pointless insults and accept that opinions can differ. I also happen to think that Paul buckle would be a better judge of young potential than you.

What we want Enzo is for people to give their own honest views and I read every single report that gets put on here and I have never read one that I would say contained fluffy, warm and moist stuff. I have read plenty where view points on a player seemed miles apart and you then wonder if they are talking about the same player or even watched the same game. At the end of the day it all comes down to people seeing different things and simply having a different view point.

I was not at yesterdays game and so I can't comment on how Rowe-Turner played, I did see him play in the last two home games and gave my honest views that I felt he was very poor and along with Thompson was our weakest link in the team and not the player we need at left back in a relegation scrape.

I have just read all the reports from the last two home games and my views were shared by everyone accept Jmgull for the Accrington Stanley game and while jmgull felt in the Dag & Red game that Rowe-Turner was not as bad as everyone was making out, he ended up saying ".......hopefully we'll see Smith back before long"

Merse says "the reactionary and unreasonable instant judgement of the crowd such as that suffered by LRT since he was given his opportunity" The thing is merse has not seen him play or even kick a ball and those who have posted in their reports their honest views and I do not consider anyone has been guilty of reactionary and unreasonable instant judgement, but just told it as they saw it.

All young players have to learn the game and maybe Rowe-Turner will turn out to be a gem and a saleable asset for the club, but he sure is not that at this moment in time and fans only want to see players out on the pitch who are on top of their game and have something to give it as it fitghts to stay in this league and not trying to learn as they go along.

I blame 'Stella' fellow League 1 lad. A bit of a "Bungle in the Jungle" all round.

LittGull

You appear to have taken my fluffy, warm and moist comments personally. That was not meant as an insult to you - it was more a reflection of some of the previous comments on here about how young the lad is, how he is playing his first league games..........how he needs to be supported, nurtured and developed for next season - All very worthwhile stuff, but not what we need at the moment in our current position - if we were in mid table safety, I'd agree, give him a chance. We are not and, in my opinion he was a liaibility yesterday

You mentioned in your post that you could not understand the negativity about Rowe-Turner. I can - Thats all I was saying. I'm sorry if you took that as a personal insult. Of course I accept that opinions differ and my point was to outline how mine differed to yours - my fluffy warm and moist comments was based on my appreciation of the fact that I recognise his confidence is shot to pieces and my critisism will only be counter productive. Having re-read my post, I can see why you took it more personally. Perhaps if you look at it again you may now be able to see the context that the comment was meant, and perhaps you may be less sensitive about it As you point out, the rest of our reports are spookily similar. Paul Buckle may well be a better judge of young potential than me - most managers are better placed to judge a club's players. Does that mean supporters cannot debate the merits of players?

Merse - yes, if you want to state the obvious, Buckle will also see Rowe-Turner in training and have knowledge of his history and will no doubt discuss his development with other coaching staff. He does that also with Benyon, but that does not stop you questioning his role in the side and his development as a player - and quite rightly so. Similarly, Buckle saw Mo Camera in training and discussed matters with coaching staff when picking a hopelessly out of shape player not fit for purpose in our current position. No doubt Buckle also did his homework on the attitude of Thomson and the attributes of Barnes and Macklin before bringing them in! Unfortunately, life does not happen that way. We have been panic signining for some time now and carrying several players - I appreciate it is difficult for you to get to games, but your rhetoric is not based on experience of watching these players. Mo Camara, Macklin and Rowe-Turner are the signings which blow in the water your long held theory about how meticulous Buckle is about bringing players to the club. We got these players because it either suited their parent club or nobody else wanted them.

I have seen first hand Rowe-Turner's reaction to the experience. Have you? He is playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders and panics when on the ball. Anyone would when asked to do something that is so clearly beyond them at this stage in their career. As I outlined earlier, I am all for developing players for next season - get the timing right though. The reason we are still in this mess is because someone complacently felt we were safe after a couple of decent results in December - have you ever seen a club do so much chopping and changing in January? Stable clubs do their business in the close season and tinker in January.

Enzo... Thank you for taking the time to explain your point of view and the context of your earlier post. We will agree to differ regarding LRT whilst no doubt both being happy to see him prove his doubters wrong.

I do feel that Merse gives a well thought out and informed perspective on the manager’s role at a club like ours. I enjoy reading it. Probably the biggest learning point from this season is the decision to start the season with virtually the same squad that got us promoted. Though I can fully understand why the board opted for that approach. Paul Buckle, I am sure, knew before this season started that some of the players since released (e.g. Sills, Todd, Hargreaves age/wear and tear not his ability) would struggle to deliver in League 2. Sills for example had twice previously failed to deliver in League 2. But it was a question of balancing the cost of getting better replacements in at the start or running with what we had and reappraising in January. There are so many factors that come into play such as our ‘remote’ location making it difficult for proven players to uproot etc. I really do believe that PB has intelligently evolved the tactics and playing style and has gone about acquiring players who can be developed to deliver results. Success, in my view at the moment being achievement of a lower mid table position - we can then move on from there next season.

We are never going to be able to sign many players who are the finished article for League 2 especially given our poor gate money receipts along with the other factors. Hence the emphasis in the long term of producing some quality from the youth scheme.
I think the mistake many Gulls fans make is the assumption that a club like ours can just readily go out and acquire players who are the finished article.

Look at the picture from an outsiders perspective and what you see is a young new manager that possibly let his heart rule his head at the beginning of this season and a lot of fans were perfectly o.k with his descision to keep the promotion squad in tact until we all noticed that some of the guys were not up to league 2 level, by that time it was too late and we had to wait for the window to make signings. Bucks has admitted he is not perfect and makes mistakes every day but is learning and taking on board what he learns. It`s my belief that it takes about 4 or 5 seasons in any particular league to learn that league properly, two seasons plus his previous seasons in the Conference were probably just enough for him to get his head around that level of football, to be then thrust into another level with a whole new learning curve wasn`t going to be instant, if you thought it was then you are niave to say the least, with our budget and rookie manager at this level survival is a good result and will bode well for building on next season provided things don`t change!