Torquay v Chester Tue 10th

[arcadia]

I'll start with a positive - we were better than Saturday although that's not saying much! Thought we deserved something from the game but we lack quality and confidence in the final third. I didn't have a great view of the goal but our defence didn't cover themselves with glory. I think Downes and Dawson were too deep and played Chester onside when the ball came into the box, before it was tucked low past Rice into the corner. This came after Bowman missed another golden chance at 0-0 (how many times has that happened this season?) and Young watched a deflected free-kick cannon off the crossbar. Second half we were better with Young doing his best to drive the team on but we never had Chester on the ropes and they saw it out quite comfortably in the end.

Rice 7 - few saves including one excellent stop in the second half. Given MOTM for the second game running.

Dawson 5 - played out of position and has no left foot. Better than Saturday but still unconvincing.

Downes 5 - slow to react and not as commanding as usual.

Pearce 5 - gone from our best player to a liability. No coordination and his distribution makes Branston look like Beckenbauer.

Gueguen 5 - looked like a centre-half playing at right-back. Caught out of position a few times but is at least good in the air and a decent passer. Was absolutely distraught at full-time.

Ajala 7 - didn't stop running. Our biggest threat going forward. Doesn't always come off but he at least is brave enough to run at defenders.

Harding 5 - has another different haircut although as we only see him once in a blue moon I'm surprised he's not got a ponytail. One good pass in the second half. That was it.

Young 7 - first half poor but was back to his best after the break. Tried to push the team forward and was very unlucky not to score. Best 45 minutes he's played in a long time.

Chapell 4 - nothing came off for him tonight. No end product which is why the rest of his career will be spent outside of the FL.

Briscoe 6 - probably has the best first touch in the squad. Controls the ball well and tries to link up play but he can't run with it. I'd stick with him up front though.

Bowman 2 - that's being kind. It was like playing against 12 players. One of the worst performances from a centre-forward I have ever seen. I'm honestly not exaggerating.

Richards and Yeoman were blah but only had about 20 minutes. Can't remember Campbell touching the ball.

I thought it was a decent team selection from Hargreaves. I would have started Richards instead of sicknote but I was happy with the line-up. What disappointed me was his substitutions. I know Briscoe does struggle to complete a full game but he wasn't breathing too heavily tonight and should have stayed on. Bowman must have some kinky pictures of Mrs Hargreaves in his locker as that's the only explanation I can think of for why he wasn't taken off. Cameron should have also replaced Chapell who needs to spend every training session working on his crossing. Regardless of the subs, they should have happened much sooner. Hargreaves just doesn't seem to be able to change a game when it's not going our way. Might struggle to get four figures for the attendance next Tuesday night.

[portugull]

In my view this was a very spirited performance and the team fought hard and deserved a point.

When a team is on a bad run in football they never seem to get the run of the ball.

Chester were a decent side very fast to counter attack. Martin Rice well deserved his man of the match award.

We just lack real quality in the final third. We create an opening but then fail to make the final pass. Players at all levels when on a bad run make the wrong decision or shoot when they should pass and vice versa.

After Rice Toby Ajala was the best outfield player. Huge commitment.I like Gueguen and I think he will get a contract for next season.

On a nice winter evening 1221 gate is poor but not surprising given 5 wins from the last 24 Conference games. Really hard to understand after our start to the season

[Mattpuma]

Apparently the play offs MAY now be out of reach reading the Herald Express!!
I think the phrase " no shit Sherlock" sums that up pretty nicely.

[Southampton Gull]

Look I know there are going toi be people moaning after another defeat but actually it appears that Scott and Southampton gull were right and not actually talking bollocks .
Lets take the positives - it was only a narrow defeat and Ricey is improving at last as he got man of the match. Ok we may be 15th but this league is alot harder than last year's league 2.
I mean there are some bloody good teams above us. Look at Chester,Altrincham,Dover, Lincoln and Kidderminster for starters. We are punching above our weight if we are expecting to be able compete with this lot.
It won't be long before Chris turns it round. I mean hes brought in some bloody good loan signings John "I'm obsessed with scoring" Campbell will soon be banging them in and that Jamie Reid looks a blinding a player as well.
Even Bowman might do something if Chris leaves him on the pitch for much longer. So it won't be long before the wins start coming - I'm sure of it.

On the other hand you could take the opposite view that Hargreaves is a fecking liability who may well achieve the impossible and get us relegated, and Scott and SG are a pair of Horses Arses after all

Or you could look at the ratings of tommyg and see that 4 of the lower scoring players are senior pros that were already here before Hargreaves took over. The top 5 contain 4 of his signings and Ricey who according to brucie isn't fit to play for the club. Nothing like watching brucie make himself look like a total bellend

[Gullscorer]

You can lead horses to water but you can't make them drink.

Same goes for donkeys and footballers.. :}

[Burnhamgull]

Didn't look like 1200+ to me tonight, I can only assume they've counted every season ticket holder as having been present.

A poor first half, better second half but still not good enough and when will CH drop Bowman for a couple of games? Defence were attrocious, Rice got MOTM......How?

There should have been a fan of the match award.....when the players came out, the announcer could have introduced the fans to the team, never mind the players to the crowd.

The club is in a shocking state of affairs and I just want this season to end so I can escape from TQ1 for a bit. I won't be renewing the ST next year.

[Dave_Pougher]

Whoevere said managers live and die by their decisions? I wish someone would point out CH committed suicide months ago because he's obviously unaware.

Will we ever score again?

[6667GULL]

Chester looked fitter, faster and were able to pass to each other.
If our players had put in half the effort that McBurnie who played upfront for Chester we might have got something out of the match.
If the players were surprised at the size of last nights crowd then wait until next Tuesday it will be worse.
No Cup Final tickets to be won next week!!
I look forward to another performance of blood and thunder and Rice being MOM for the third home game in a row.

[Neal]

I love being proved right.

I said on here last season Chappel had no end product and there was no point in him. At that time plenty on here thought he was bloody great because he looked tricky.

[Forest gull]

That was weak last night. How can so many players look so goddam slow? If this continues we will be lucky to get crowds above 500

[goodluckgull]

The Chester fans were singing "you're ground is too big for you". This was a miserable sound and must have been heart breaking for Thea. If you care about Torquay United then please keep attending this season. The club needs its fans more than ever.

Just a footnote, but I believe Duane picked up an injury during the Wrexham game and that's why he hasn't featured since.

[kevgull]

If Blood and Thunder was the order of the night, we certainly did not see it on the pitch. 1260 odd fans turned up to watch a slightly better display from Torquay however we did not, collectively, show enough character or bravery on the ball in order to win this game.

We are bereft of any style or system, no doubt we will continue to create or be handed a few chances in the 11 games to follow however it is far from the wide expansive football we were promised.
After Saturday’s performance and the post-match board bashing that followed, I thought CH would put out his best players (team), in their preferred positions, and have a right go at Chester. In reality we ended up trying to nullify the away team for large parts of the game. Chester played 3 up front, the lad who scored his 1st ever goal was the number 2 shirt? At every opportunity Chester tried to get the ball out to their Right winger who caused no end of problems all night. Their counter attacking play and closing down, coupled with shear effort got them over the game line with plenty of room to spare. You know the saying “We could have played all night and we would not have scored” comes to mind.
Naturally, there were Boos after the game however a large group of us stood and clapped them all off. You can see that as a group of players they are desperate for a win, as we all are. At one point I thought Gueguen was going to cry!
Being a Torquay fan you are always expecting highs and lows however these are now our darkest days and I fear there is more pain to come.

Most of us have expressed our recent anger at the club for one reason or another, some like me are starting to make the transition from the “Angry” stage and are now feeling a sense of numbness and bewilderment. All I can do now is turn up, drink some anaesthetic in the bar pre-match and do my best to control my frustrations during the match and support MY team.

My stubbornness (loyalty) has now truly kicked in and therefore I’ll be back for the next game!
When life gets a bit sh*tty there’s an old saying I think of, it came to my mind during the silent drive home last night.

You can crack me!….. I’m a rubber duck!

[tomogull]

1260 odd fans turned up

Hey - it's alright having a go at the manager and Board, but why the hell are you calling us loyal fans who turned up last night 'odd' ??? But seriously Kevgull, good post. Yes - we have to keep the faith. The good times will return ....... eventually.

[kevgull]

Hey - it's alright having a go at the manager and Board, but why the hell are you calling us loyal fans who turned up last night 'odd' ??? But seriously Kevgull, good post. Yes - we have to keep the faith. The good times will return ....... eventually.

[torkie_buoy]

I too thought that the attendance did not look like the twelve-hundred we supposedly had. I felt really sorry for the players last night. It was clear to me they hadn't been given any sort of instruction as to what to do with the ball; they quite clearly did try for a good duration of the game, but as I said it just doesn't seem like they've been told what to do where and eventually you would start to feel what's the point actually.

Maybe we're lacking tactics because CH broke his board to put them on

In all seriousness though, tactically, the competence of Hargreaves' decisions are disgraceful. Bowman doesn't look like he could finish his dinner and is flat footed for large period of the game. Briscoe won more headers than Bowman throughout the game, despite being 5 inches smaller and fatter; I'm a little fed up of what Bowman has to offer. We have two new strikers on the bench, one of which is "obsessed" with scoring goals and yet he decides to bring on our super prospect Yeoman- who quite frankly lacks any sort of balls to get really stuck in and at his age (in this league) should be producing what they called the best finishing in the team but hasn't, so its wasted cash really. I said I would make my judgement on Hargreaves AFTER last night's game based on the changes to the team and the tactics he'd implicate. I can't say he's the answer to getting out of this now, purely because he doesn't seem to know what to do.