by hector » 17 Nov 2013, 11:45
The award of MOM to Mansell by twitter voters was only beaten by the ironic cheers for Nathan Craig's shot, in terms of noise from Torquay fans. Mansell gave the ball away a fair few times yesterday.
In a way, the audible ironic laughter that greeted Mansell's name is a sad state of affairs when one considers the loyal player he has been for us. Whilst Mansell's first season was the one under Roberts, he is synonymous with our revival and five decent seasons until last year. He and Nicholson have given the club good service and it is sad to see them both barracked.
It may be true that they are both past their best but what are they meant to do? Refuse to play, if picked? The manager picks them (well Mansell, at least) and it is sad to see Mansell's form and popularity nosedive with the form of the team. It must be hard be captain of what clearly is a disunited team, players from the Buckle/Ling era and those of Knill's who seem to come and go so quickly that there is no chance of building any team spirit or cohesive play. Hawley and Mozika seem to sum up it up. Anonymous,journeymen, ineffective, run-of-the-mill players who will follow Knill to his next job at North Ferriby United or somewhere similar. They give not one hoot about TUFC in the way the older core of players appear to.
It may be that Mansell is past his best. It may be that his form has deserted him. But if you ask the question who is more likely to give everything for TUFC out of Mansell, Mozika or Hawley, then the answer isn't too difficult.
The award of MOM to Mansell by twitter voters was only beaten by the ironic cheers for Nathan Craig's shot, in terms of noise from Torquay fans. Mansell gave the ball away a fair few times yesterday.
In a way, the audible ironic laughter that greeted Mansell's name is a sad state of affairs when one considers the loyal player he has been for us. Whilst Mansell's first season was the one under Roberts, he is synonymous with our revival and five decent seasons until last year. He and Nicholson have given the club good service and it is sad to see them both barracked.
It may be true that they are both past their best but what are they meant to do? Refuse to play, if picked? The manager picks them (well Mansell, at least) and it is sad to see Mansell's form and popularity nosedive with the form of the team. It must be hard be captain of what clearly is a disunited team, players from the Buckle/Ling era and those of Knill's who seem to come and go so quickly that there is no chance of building any team spirit or cohesive play. Hawley and Mozika seem to sum up it up. Anonymous,journeymen, ineffective, run-of-the-mill players who will follow Knill to his next job at North Ferriby United or somewhere similar. They give not one hoot about TUFC in the way the older core of players appear to.
It may be that Mansell is past his best. It may be that his form has deserted him. But if you ask the question who is more likely to give everything for TUFC out of Mansell, Mozika or Hawley, then the answer isn't too difficult.
