Torquay United Fans Forum

Oastler cant play right back, far too many mistakes, just watched the replay of there 3rd goal. Nico nowhere in sight. Another problem. Mansell has to go back to right back, although i thought Leadbitter played ok in defence.

Decent solid debut, added some steel in the middle and was fairly calm, got to agree now, if a loan right back is not an option then Mansell back there that how bad things have become, that was about as bad a right back performance as I have ever seen today.

I thought he had a solid game, made good tackles, however never managed to influence the game in attack. Made the keeper make a good save from his free kick.
Agree with above. Craig has to come in. Mansell back to right back!

Labadie and Craig in the middle is needed, but Mansell with never be dropped.

I think today's game showed that he is no miracle worker but then who really expected us to attract that level of talent. Only the giants that are Barnet can do that (Edgar Davids)!

brucie wrote:Why on earth are people on here bleating about Nathan Craig and Ian Morris. We have only got one decent midfielder and that is Mansell.
Morris is an ok player but has been out all season injured. Craig has played umpteen games and got taken off in every one. Craig's problem is that he plays like his legs are encased in wellington boots full of concrete.
Can't personally see Craig getting another start this season and in my book I am not bothered.

Regarding Mansell - sorry but not the player he was! Lots of endeavour / running/ chasing etc, but passing seriously astray and generally no end product.

austrianandygull wrote:Never mind Joss Labadie, i'd take Joss Stone in at the moment! She's from Devon i believe so no relocation issues.

At this moment in time i'm that desperate that if it's human, has two legs and a pulse then get them in. :~D

Hey Thats a god idea. I could sit just behind and provide support from the rear. even with my stick.

austrianandygull wrote:This might be a daft question but would Joss be likely to start on saturday and perhaps bring him off later in the second or the other way around do you reckon? In my opinion Knill should just stick him straight in there and suck it and see.

Stick him straight in. He's not been signed as injury cover, we have plenty of fit midfielders, he's here because they're all playing crap.
And if (if) he is going to be the League Two Yaya Toure (which is what I'm reading between the lines of what people are saying about him) then he could be perfect for us.

This might be a daft question but would Joss be likely to start on saturday and perhaps bring him off later in the second or the other way around do you reckon? In my opinion Knill should just stick him straight in there and suck it and see.

yeovilgull wrote:
Picking up on Jerry`s comments about bookings, I have had a quick look at Soccerbase and this shows he is on 4 bookings for the season so far. Does the 5 booking= suspension rule still apply or has that time passed?

Depends when he has picked these up, the cards are wiped after the turn of the year(or there abouts).

On the face of it this seems a good signing and the sort of player weneed at the moment.

Picking up on Jerry`s comments about bookings, I have had a quick look at Soccerbase and this shows he is on 4 bookings for the season so far. Does the 5 booking= suspension rule still apply or has that time passed? His goal stats are 16 goals from 70 appearances which isn`t a bad return for a midfielder and most of these have been at a higher level than ourselves.

I agree with Brucie as well. Craig can pick a pass better than the rest of our midfield, but he more often tries the Hollywood ball and puts it into touch! His positional sense is also poor (understandable as he is still very inexperienced). He obviously has potential but isn't what we need in our current situation.

Someone said that Labadie picks up a lot of bookings. Good, about time we had someone prepare to get stuck in. Apart from Rene's stupid bookings we never seen to get many yellows, not a good sign in a side who should be scrapping for their lives.

On paper this is a decent signing, sounds like he has a bit of pedigree, big and strong (something we are seriously missing in midfield) and can get goals to.
We have had consistent quality in goal, at centre half and upfront all season, but there's no doubt if you look at our entire midfield, Mansell, Lathrope, Morris, Craig, Bodin, Stevens, Macklin, Easton, Halpin, for one reason or another every single one of them has failed to deliver to their full potential this year (Admittedly maybe a bit harsh on Morris who's missed so many games and Craig who shows potential but has been player out of position a lot of the time). That and the full backs have been the major disappointment and those are the areas we need the biggest clearout in the summer.
Anyway, very happy we've made a signing, hope there may be one or two more in the pipeline, still keeping an element of faith.

Quite often don't agree with brucie, but the above post is spot on. I'd heard all this hype about Craig, but have seen far too little from him. Ok fair enough he's been played out of position more often than not, but so was Eunan when he first came to us and he showed far more ability than Craig.

Why on earth are people on here bleating about Nathan Craig and Ian Morris. We have only got one decent midfielder and that is Mansell.
Morris is an ok player but has been out all season injured. Craig has played umpteen games and got taken off in every one. Craig's problem is that he plays like his legs are encased in wellington boots full of concrete.
Can't personally see Craig getting another start this season and in my book I am not bothered.