Torquay United Fans Forum

Wolborough wrote: ↑17 May 2023, 07:08 Ash is an underwhelming acquistion who will not set the world alight. Perhaps on a par with Keating?

GullsUnited wrote: ↑09 Mar 2023, 12:15 Quick question, you think GJ was given the budget to replace Cameron, Nemane, CLE, Lewis, Armani, McDonald, Ben Wynter, Whitfield etc? My guess would be no, unless given the budget to hold players down for multiple years we face the same thing every year, we lose players to better sides and then have to bring in the players who have a 50/50 chance of being good enough, I imagine if we could've held the players down from last year and then got paid by those clubs we'd have had a budget to go and compete again.

Until the owner really throws money to a manager (I'm not suggesting GJ) to go and build a squad decent enough for the level then we can't blame managers for not bringing the best players

LikeaPatOutaHele wrote: ↑29 Jan 2023, 00:29 Firstly, Crole missed out because of the 5 loan rule and, based on his cameo as substitute against a tiring 10 man NL South team, he is no where near ready for this division.

Todays game.
A mediocre match played by two poor sides, of which Torquay were marginally the better just about deserving the win.

The most significant threat for Torquay, by a mile, came from Da Silva (my MOM) who was causing Maidstone nightmares down their left, beating their left back time and time again. A pity he was playing wing back which restricted him having to get involved, too often, in defensive duties.
Jarvis lead the line well on limited ball and looked the only likely scorer. Without these two, we are lost. There are no replacement options.

Alongside Jarvis, Fadahunsi had a quiet game, again with limited service. He did look strong and lively. There could be potential there and he did supply the ball to Jarvis for the goal.
At the back Moxey and Donnellan were solid. How Donnellan has grown through the season. A midfielder who is one a our better defenders.
Halstead too, was solid catching a string of crosses. Today his kicking was rather off but I will allow him a large degree of slack given his contribution in many games this season.
Lawrence did not impress, being continually beaten in the air, several times by the Maidstone number 10 who must have been about 6 inches shorter than him. He did improve a little as the game progressed. Lapslie, who ran his socks off, was seldom able to get forward in true box to box fashion, being limited by having to do the covering work for Evans (shows skill but has no end product) and Aguiar (a poorer version of Evans, adds nothing, lightweight, gives the balls away to easily). Aguiar may well have talent but he is not ready for a relegation battle and we don't need players learning on the job. Agree with a earlier comment, the combination of Evans and Aguiar is not viable.
The much critiscised Hanson did the job required when coming on as sub, probably making a more significant contribution in 15 minutes than Aguiar did in his 75.

Overall, the fact is we struggled to beat the side at the bottom of the division who have failed to win in their last 8 league games. Neither Goodwin nor Wearne have been replaced with equivalent standard players. I could add Ellis and Ness asd well. At present I doubt we are good enough to be competitve against any of the better teams. I fear for the season without Duke McKenna/Sinclair Armstrong level additions.
Please, let the Woking and Notts County games prove me wrong. I will be delighted to receive a torrent of abuse in a weeks time for my pathetic judgement.
Today, a win is a win. Perhaps this is a step nearer putting a significant run together. Perhaps the return of Hall, McGavin and Martin in the near future can balance the side to make real progress to survival. Perhaps!