FL2: Torquay Utd v Macclesfield 25th Sept 2010

A long post by Budleigh although how on earth a 3-1 home defeat by Macclesfield is seen as a good result to our long term benefit is beyond me. Mind you neither can I see that Paul Buckle will ever be a premiership manager.
I sensed some annoyance in the managers tone in his after match interview and it has been suggested on here that maybe a few dressing room teddies were being thrown out of prams.
Buckle made the point in his interview of how well the players have done, and of course that is correct with the resuts last season and the start of this.
Had this result come on the back of our winning run this would have been relevant but in fact we are now on a bad run so this actually was a far poorer result taking this into consideration.
Budleigh makes the point about Buckle developing players like Ellis for example - I would suggest that he underused Ellis last season.
In fact the view that Ellis has developed alongside Branston is one I wouldn't necessarily agree with. Personally I would say that Ellis is making Branston look good - in fact I have my doubts whether Branston will be capable of sustaining his good form throughout the season.

Newsflash!

....Lge 2 player in "unable to sustain good form for 10 months" shock

btw......steady on a bit Terry, your Ellis fetish is starting to reach "bedeauesque" levels

I watched the goals on the BBC this morning. The slightly overhit/misdirected pass from Senda was a bit unfortunate for the lad but he seemed to panic a bit after skillfully avoiding two challenges in possession. Their lad might have hit it well but unless it moved considerably in the air then I think Bevan might be disapointed as it wasn't placed right in the corner of the net. I suppose he's a big tall chap and he is vunerable to low shots from distance (Port Vale, Dagenham away) or perhaps he's still carrying an injury.

If he's disapointed with the first goal then he must be distraught about the second goal. I'm all for goalkeepers taking command of their 6 yard box but he had to come out to the very edge of the 6 yard box and come through Branston and another of our players to get the ball. As a result he only got a weak punch on it. Surely (and again hindsight is a lovely thing) it would've been better to let Branston deal with it rather than not get a good punch on the ball.

Our goal was a nicely worked one and their third was your typical break away goal when the other team is pushing for an equaliser.

That's what a forum is all about... opinions. What would life be but totally boring if we all had the same thoughts and perceptions.
I may be wrong, I may be right. I only go on what I see and hear and base my views on that, as I'm sure you do.
I, for one, respect that you have your opinion and I'm always willing to read it and understand where you are coming from.

I'm going to do something I have always told myself I wouldn't as I'm not someone who feels comfortable with revealing who I talk with and what is discussed. It is done in this instance to give some justification to my statement that the loss may, in the longer term, have some benefit, and is done without the need to reveal the content of the conversation.

On Saturday evening, sometime after the game had finished and away from Plainmoor, I had a fairly long chat with Paul Buckle about various topics, one of which was the game just passed. I will not put down what was said excepting to say that he had picked up on one or two things before, during and after the game which, in hindsight, could have been dealt with differently and which went some way to explaining why the result went against us. Nothing was done ‘wrong’ as such, just that as the season is evolving so the way certain aspects of the matchday is run need to be changed slightly so as to operate more smoothly and allow each staff member to concentrate on their area of expertise.

As he spoke it became clear that events through the day had given him a good grasp of what now needs tweaking, both on and off the pitch, to make these improvements. It was quite an eye-opener to hear how much of what occurs off the pitch, from the moment the staff first arrive at the ground, dictates the way in which the match itself will pan-out.

No one wants to lose, least of all Paul Buckle. It was the way he is prepared to use what he personally learns from a disappointing day's events that prompted me to suggest that set-backs such as Saturday can often prove more beneficial in the longer-term and the loss may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

More often lessons are learnt in defeat than in victory as analysis tends to run much deeper. The person who can grasp this and use it in a beneficial way will always improve both themselves and the situation. We are lucky that in his term as manager of Torquay United Paul Buckle has been able to see ‘the bigger picture’ and hasn’t been afraid of moving things forward both for the benefit of himself, the club, his staff and his players, even if at times it may seem to those of us on the sidelines that there is a move backwards.

I apologise if some may feel that I’m doing the ‘I know more than you’ scenario, but please be reassured that is not the case, I only place this down on the forum because having re-read my views in my original post perhaps I should justify my reason for thinking so.

He's 29. The same age as Owen Hargreaves who's also also been out for more than two years. I guess Sir Alex has a few more players to call on before he can gently introduce him back into football again.

Not sure we can go so far as to call it 'inside information'?!

I think the question of a balanced look to a team pays more attention to left or right "comfort" rather than "footedness".

Unfortunately, a significant number of players feel out of their comfort zone playing on either the left or the right ; and that is the manager's primary concern.

Would you not think that Carlisle for Senda was an attempt to "push on" from the right back position given the need to take the game to Macclesfield? I don't know, I wasn't there; but it sure sounds like it to me...................and Gritton for O'Kane ~ an attempt to go two up front and one less in midfield, but c ompensated for by Carlisle's inclusion ~ again I was not there so you tell me if you feel that was the case.

That it "didn't work" is irrelevent really...............managers and coaches engage in all sorts of "positional chess" in some games in an attempt to gain the upper hand. Sometimes it works, others it doesn't; that's football and always will be.

My son was sent to play up front from his left flank position yesterday as the player who was sticking to him like a limpit in midfield also possessed the ability to let a powerful shot go, so he was put there to see if the lad would follow him into areas where his shooting would be of less danger...................he didn't as it happened and Anthony was soon put back into midfield but onto the right. Of course "The Limpit" returned, and Anthony had to work extra hard to nullify his shooting opportunities.

You can't deride coaches for being pro-active in trying to change things.