Torquay United Fans Forum

Gullscorer wrote:Perhaps you mean Subophobic? :~D I think I heard that Subo* is appearing in Torquay sometime soon; next year?

Anyway, I agree with you, Andy. Many managers make substitutions which are too little and too late to give the subs a chance to have any effect on the game. Alan Knill seems to be no exception, except that when vital changes do need to be made he usually remains inactive until it is too late, like a rabbit, or should I say squirrel, caught in the headlights of a car.

* (Susan Boyle) o:)

I am very Subophobic, can't watch her on the telly as I find her worrying. I also have Celineophobia, as Ms Dion makes me want to run outside and scream.

forevertufc wrote:Thing is Andy, over the weeks quite a few have had a go at AK for making substitutions that were only like for like, so not sure he is a subaphobic.

Yep, take what you're saying on board Dave and also if memory serves me right some complaints once that he made a triple sub that cocked everything up? I can't remember which game it was now, definitely at home. It just seems that of late especially away he reacts to being behind by either bringing on a like for like as you say but that being the only sub, or he brings on further subs but in the dying embers of the game that could have been salvaged with earlier decisiveness.

It is almost as it he has gone from making loads of subs at the start of the season to hardly any at all now when it is quite obvious we have needed them. That really was my point and it probably was more relevant to away games.

I came on these pages 20-Feb. saying Knill will keep you up ..... blah blah blah..... which indeed he did ...... but I issued a caveat saying he has a reluctance/inability to change things around through the course of a game.

Now I'm not the sort of Shaker to say ' see what I mean' - BUT - see what I mean?

Good luck staying up Gulls - so long as it's not at Bury's expense that is!

Thing is Andy, over the weeks quite a few have had a go at AK for making substitutions that were only like for like, so not sure he is a subaphobic.

Perhaps you mean Subophobic? :~D I think I heard that Subo* is appearing in Torquay sometime soon; next year?

Anyway, I agree with you, Andy. Many managers make substitutions which are too little and too late to give the subs a chance to have any effect on the game. Alan Knill seems to be no exception, except that when vital changes do need to be made he usually remains inactive until it is too late, like a rabbit, or should I say squirrel, caught in the headlights of a car.

* (Susan Boyle) o:)

Not sure subaphobic is a real word but if not I'm patenting it. It may be an irrational fear of submarines or large bullet shaped sandwiches but for now i'll presume it didn't previously exist.

Look, we all know this bizarre method Alan has about trying to change a game by NOT bringing subs on. Not once , not twice but nearly every week. It is a glaringly obvious flaw in his management methods and one which should be simple especially when you're 2 or 3 down. My opinion is you just chuck attackers on and risk a 4 or 5 nil loss in order to try and salvage something. On the flip side when things are tight and he decides to actually make a sub he still makes senseless decisions that help turn the game in the oppositions favour so we're on a lose/lose with this.

So, is this an illness or can anyone out there with a more serious opinion about this anomaly please educate us all as to why Alan is choosing to do this?

We can all blame the players for not doing x,y and z but when they look for decisive action they are met with indifference and disinterest and offered no help from anything Knill does on the touchline. His truly strange subaphobia being one such thing.

This just doesn't make any sense to me for a team at the bottom and from a man grasping at anything to get a result.