TUFC v Hereford United, Football League 2, 29/10/11

[AustrianAndyGull]

Cheers Danny for the report and the effort. Over the moon with the result today, and the performance and application of the lads. I thought we might draw today so to win and keep another clean sheet is superb; however, i'm not getting carried away with delusions of grandeur being the play offs. We aren't good enough or consistent enough to achieve this. I will be at Crewe on saturday and i am just hoping that normal away service will not be resumed whereby we don't want to go forward and play atrocious, pointless, negative football ala Shrewsbury, Bradford and Southend. I don't want to put a downer on celebrations after today but if we put in another shocker at Crewe then questions will be asked again. It will also compound the problem and maybe become a psychological block for the players when they go away from home they believe they will get beat and so don't compete and ultimately DO end up getting beaten. Anyway, enormous credit to Martin and the players for the 6 points this week, it showed great belief and courage to get these wins and at home too where the fans are there and can so easily get on the players backs. I am delighted that the effort and positivity of the performances have yielded 6 points and hopefully Ling will now begin to apply these types of performsnces away from home to give us a chance of picking up regular unexpected points. WELL DONE THE LADS!!!

p.s i do feel a little guilty for having a go at Martin and the players after recent defeats but i still feel in my heart of hearts that a few of the performances in terms of approach, application and positivity were simply not acceptable and i felt compelled to air my grievances. He and the players have gone someway to silencing myself and some of the other doubters with this weeks results and enormous credit for that; however, i am not convinced Martin is suited to management at Torquay IMO and he is not the manager i would put my faith in that he can get us overachieveing and reaching the play offs. I think he is a good enough manager to keep our heads above water but we will just have to wait and see what the rest of the season brings. I am not a fickle fan, i have never been happy with the appointment of Ling from the start or in agreement with some of the players he has brought in yet i think at the moment he is on target to achieve his remit of keeping us in the league with a bit to spare and we must thank him, despite a few ups and downs so far for keeping calm this past week when the pressure was on and the knives were out in some quarters. (I have never actually called for him to be sacked, i have stated that it should however be considered by the board if results and performances do not improve rapidly. They have this week so we should give the man a bit of peace. Even if we had drawn today i'd have been happy as it sounded like we went out to try and win the game and thats all you can do. Crewe next week. Please, please, please give us travelling fans an all out attacking performance that we can sing to!!! coyy!!!

[yellow]

Well I thought it was a thoroughly entertaining game.

Recent talk of our return to the Conference seems to have been premature on that performance. OK so Hereford aren’t world beaters but we seemed to have a shape and purpose to our game.

I thought Rene Howe was our MOM. The ball stuck with him today and he showed a combination of strength and subtlety in everything that he did. The other stand out was Mark Ellis who was all power and combatativeness at the back.

In saying that I don’t think anyone had a bad game. Even my nemesis Danny Stevens came to the party.

A very welcome 3 points to add to Tuesday night’s haul.

[AustrianAndyGull]

As one of Stevens most uncompromising critics i have to admit that his performances in some games this season have been excellent, almost shocking me as i didn't even think he was capable. He has tried to offer us an outlet and always worked hard even though most times he is infuriating with his consistency of choosing the wrong option in a build up. Good to see that he had another decent game today. Happy for Rene too as on the occasions i have seen him he has been bloody awful and i was beginning to have my doubts. Ellis solid and should be first choice always. I've said this since day 1 when i was amazed he was left out at the start of the season. COYY!!

[Plymouth Gull]

Massive thank you to Steve (exilegull) for inviting forevergull, Billy, Dave and myself along with him as match ball sponsors this afternoon - safe trip back to Switzerland.

I'll also thank Steve once again for offering me the chance today but unfortunately I couldn't make it. Hope you enjoyed it - and it was win number 8 for your record!

[Modgull]

This was another excellent performance based on a much more secure defence. Olejnic now looks more assertive and Saah seems to justifying his place. Oastler also had an excellent game today. The reason for this new stability is simple - Mark Ellis.

In midfield Lathrope was again an efficient holding player allowing Mansell and O'Kane to create opportunities for the front men almost at will.

Up front Howe was immense, continually beating the Hereford centre halves.

For me the spine of the team now looks fit for purpose - Olejnic, Ellis, Lathope, Howe.

So the only disappointment today was that we didn't win by more

Hopefully we can maintain the momentum against Crewe.

[Southampton Gull]

This was another excellent performance based on a much more secure defence. Olejnic now looks more assertive and Saah seems to justifying his place. Oastler also had an excellent game today. The reason for this new stability is simple - Mark Ellis.

In midfield Lathrope was again an efficient holding player allowing Mansell and O'Kane to create opportunities for the front men almost at will.

Up front Howe was immense, continually beating the Hereford centre halves.

For me the spine of the team now looks fit for purpose - Olejnic, Ellis, Lathope, Howe.

So the only disappointment today was that we didn't win by more

Hopefully we can maintain the momentum against Crewe.

I disagree, I actually think it's more to do with Lathrope being played in the holding role, a number of times today he covered for our defenders and broke play up just in front of them. In doing that it allows Mansell and O'Kane to play further forward and for us to retain possession which in turn reduces pressure at the back, full marks to Martin WinLing for recognising it.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Excellent analysis Dave. Although i didn't go to the game but forming a view from the other posters,I myself as a huge Ellis fan would have put our solid defensive display down to him organising and galvanising the back line; however, you offer a different view which is interesting and probably true based on previous games i've seen where Ellis has not been so good. I believe Lathrope freeing up O'Kane and Manse in more advanced roles to smother the opposition and keep possession of the football means that there is less work and less pressure for Ellis and Saah to deal with so they can be composed and more confident.

[Southampton Gull]

That's how I saw it today, Andy. It's all about opinions though and after todays experience in the Family Stand I can sure understand how it changes your perspective by being in a different part of the ground to others. Ellis did have a pretty good game today but I wouldn't go as far as to say he's the sole reason we've just won two games, I think that has more to do with our shape and the retention of the ball, Howe put in a great shift today and held the ball up well which brought Eunan into the game a lot more. We had so much possession in advanced areas today it could have been 20-0. God only knows what game the Hereford manager was watching, he thought his team came at us in the second half, it was more a 5 minute spell towards the end, his team could have been embarrassed bigtime today.

[Lloyder5]

Ellis is not an organiser, but he is a powerful defender who wins his personal battles more often than not. Hopefully with Lathrope screening the defence stopping teams running at us and Saah picking up the bits and pieces, this run will continue

[AustrianAndyGull]

Sure Lathrope contained Hereford today but he is still learning the game. How do you guys think he would get on doing the same job at home to the bigger, stronger, quicker teams in the division. As well as the boy did today, its an awful lot to expect he can be this effective most games. It was only Hereford after all. I don't want to be negative but if the plan falls short against some of the 'big boys' then thats when we are gonna need Ellis and Saah to stand strong under pressure which hasn't really happened so far this season.

[shaunicus]

I disagree, I actually think it's more to do with Lathrope being played in the holding role, a number of times today he covered for our defenders and broke play up just in front of them. In doing that it allows Mansell and O'Kane to play further forward and for us to retain possession which in turn reduces pressure at the back, full marks to Martin WinLing for recognising it.

Spot on. Big fan of this 4-3-3 formation - offers solidity when we don't have the ball and gives us plenty of options going forward. The players look comfortable too - no square pegs in round holes.

Where are the doom-mongers anyway? I thought we were at crisis point and there was no possible way we could win our next two games?

[Southampton Gull]

Spot on. Big fan of this 4-3-3 formation - offers solidity when we don't have the ball and gives us plenty of options going forward. The players look comfortable too - no square pegs in round holes.?

Where are the doom-mongers anyway? I thought we were at crisis point and there was no possible way we could win our next two games

Some of us had more sense than to write the management and players off after such a short space of time

[gullintwoplaces]

Jamie Pitman is slagging off the referee, who apparently is to blame for his side losing yesterday. I thought it was due to the fact that we scored two goals and they scored none, but what do I know? I thought the referee was first class yesterday.

[tufcbrett]

I agree with you there Dave. I have always liked a anchor man sitting infront of the back 4. Breaks down the play before they get to far or cover the defensive if they get caught out. Its giving the back four less pressure so they can play as well as they are now. Good all round.

[Southampton Gull]

Jamie Pitman is slagging off the referee, who apparently is to blame for his side losing yesterday. I thought it was due to the fact that we scored two goals and they scored none, but what do I know? I thought the referee was first class yesterday.

I heard his post-match thoughts and find it more than mildly amusing that he can have any complaints other than with his own players, they could easily have been beaten by a cricket score yesterday, such was our dominance in the middle of the park. If we'd shown more composure/guile/class in front of goal it could have been double figures.