FL2: Barnet v Torquay - 6th Nov 2012

It's the way you tell 'em Rob ;D

i wonder if the squad were in today for a bit of square bashing and to introduce themselves to each other,as it didnt look like they knew each other yesterday.
Cant make a prediction on this game,as already stated,it depends if starcross second 11s play or the paid professional players for torquay.
A few things for sure,they owe it to lingy,us fans and themselves to at least perform with pride and intent.
I can stomach a loss,but the way that loss culminates is of interest.
Our away form of late has been disastrous anyway,rovers away dreadful,wycombe away dreadful,why barnet away should be any different i cant answer,other than please just give it a go players and dont sit back and invite the opposition to play,a dangerous game indeed,especially on the slope of underhill

darren deadman reffing it,gawd help us

2 points to make after Saturday.

1. We have been extremely wasteful in front of goal most of this season and the first half of Saturday we could/should have been 3 - 1 up. Goals win matches and this is were we need to improve. We are limited in options but you can not command a place week in week out if you cant put the ball in the net. Others deserve their chance.

2. We have failed to dominate in midfield this year and hence too much pressure on the defence. I dont know whether we have the answer from within, but I do know it is not working and either a change of player or formation is required.

The most frustrating part of all this is the fact that there are very few good teams in this league and if you can get your act together you can shoot up the league and promotion.

We have had the Saturday wake up call now its over to Lingy and the players to sort it out!

I for one, still feel up for a fight and its 36 hours later!
Off to get my boots out of the loft, at least I could throw them at Bodin and I might score.

Confused confused confused, well I most certainly am and I bet anyone else reading this forum who has not seen us play this season, would be confused as well. On the one hand I have read match reports about a team that only went and beat the league leaders and also came back in one game from three nil down, to win by four goals to three.

Now come on, that’s the sort of team we all want to watch and support as both games sure were packed with effort determination and real entertainment. But wait!!! What this I’m now reading? “Worst ever performance, boring to watch, can’t beat a bunch of part timers, surely they can’t be talking about the same team?

But it seems they are and can we put it all down to just the sort of things that happen to any football team? I read on here we are not putting away our chances we are making, true, but I’m not reading we are not creating any, that would be a big worry. I read we are not winning the battle in the midfield that might be a bit of a worry as many games are won or lost in the middle of the park.

I’m not reading there are any problems in defence, now that is good news and any good team is built on a solid defence. I’m reading our home form on the whole has not been too bad, but our away form is nothing to write home about. I’m reading the team almost picks itself and we have a rather weak bench, that is also a concern as players need to fight for their places in the starting eleven and you can do with having a match winner or two on the bench.

I suspect the problem is the club does not have the money to splash out on new players, does not have the money to greatly increase the playing budget. Losing that FA cup game sure has not helped that situation, we really could have done with reaching the third round at least. But we are out and it’s in the past now and we can moan all we want about it, but it’s not going to change a single thing.

Yes we are still in that Devon Bowl but it’s hardly going to earn the club a penny and anyway since it stopped being just for the three professional teams in Devon, for us it really is a Mickey Mouse cup, first round game against Liverton confirms that.

So all we have left to try and earn some honours at least, is the league itself and I’m still a bid saddened that we did not go up last season as it would have been so fitting to see first division football played in front of the Bristow Bench.

We were good enough, but we simply ran out of steam and many felt that was because we did not bring in a few extra players in the January transfer window. Are we good enough this season? It does seem on our day we can beat any team in this league, what we are lacking is some consistency.

Its up to Martin Ling to get that little problem sorted, I’m sure he can, but there is an even bigger danger this season, we will run out of steam again and it might happen much earlier than it did last season. It probably won’t if the squad can be added too, but we already know that is going to be much harder to do now we are out of the FA cup.

I’m sure Martin Ling said some very harsh words to the players after Saturday’s cup exit and would have made some very strong demands as far as what he expects from them against Barnet. Thankfully nothing to much as been made of the alleged Lee Mansell incident after the game, but if it happened, then that is telling me our Lee was deeply hurt by the defeat.

We need every single player to also feel that deep hurt and then in the next game do something about it. They all know how important the FA cup game was, they know what it has cost the club. They all know the fans felt very let down and it’s in their hands to put that all right.

It’s good this game has come so quickly after that defeat, that hurt and pain will still be in them all and they do not have to wait until next Saturday, to show just how good they can play. It will be interesting to see which Torquay United team turns up; we can only hope it’s the one that did beat the league leaders.

Football fans thankfully have short memories most of the time, a good convincing win and they will soon forget last Saturday and start looking forward to the next match. It has to be a win as I fear the posts we might get should we lose, might not be too kind or polite.

Its one of those banana shin type games again, the team in seventh place taking on the team at the very bottom. If we believe we are were we are in the table on merit, then we have to believe Barnet are where they are because to date this season, they have been very poor indeed.

Barnet have had had a bit of a mini revival of late and will want to try and keep that momentum going, they would have looked at our result last Saturday and taken encouragement from it for sure. I happen to think so much is going to ride on who scores the first goal if it is us then I can see the confidence retuning to our players, if it’s them, I just hope our players do not let their heads drop.

I would like us to not go there with the away team mentally, let’s go there as if we are the home team and try and keep the ball in their half. Positive attacking from the first whistle to the last and no sitting back deep if we do take the lead.

Whenever a result was bad and hurt like hell, our team has in so many cases gone on and won the next x number of games. Now would be a good time for that to happen again and we all need to just try and keep the faith in the players and in Martin Ling.

I like a few others on here had a good old rant about that FA cup exit; we were more than capable of winning that match and should have. Having clamed down and having time to think about everything, it was just one game and I think we need to try and look at the bigger picture.

Since we came back into the football league, we have been one of the top sides, sure we missed out on promotion, but we were mightily close. It is a remarkable achievement and there are a good number of fans from other clubs, who would have swapped what we achieved for what their own club managed to do. Maybe we do expect too much at times, but its only natural when you taste some success, you want more and more of it.

I’m not going to start one of those debates about how good the football was back sometime in the past and how it is now. But I will say this; we do have a club to be very proud of for so many reasons. As someone who was there back in some of our very darkest days, I’m glad I can be here now enjoying seeing our club run the way it is now.

We are little Torquay United, we never have and never will do things the easy way, we will share some tears of joy and happiness, but along the way we will share so many tears of sorrow of what might have been. We will have days on here when it seems it’s the end of the world because the forum is full of doom and gloom. But every now and then this forum will be rocking as our team goes and surprises up again.

It’s all on here to be read at anytime; match day threads that make you wonder why you love football so much, Wembley threads and pictures of great days gone by. Supporting Torquay United is a roller coaster of a ride, you have to be brave to stay on it at times believe me. You will have some of the biggest highs of your life and also some of the lowest points in it as well.

Welcome to the ride, hold on tight and don’t fall off, the rewards will be worth it in the end and of that I’m sure.

Go and win this game lads, wear that shirt proudly and bring some of that pride back to Devon for us all.

If you are going to the game please consider writing a report and share your thoughts and views on the match etc.

Thanks in advance

Dave

i hope leadbitter survives any mini cull and plays tomorrow,he was pretty good on saturday and was angry at our loss,nothing wrong with that emotion,shame others werent as upset as him

I read that Billy Bodin hit a bus on Monday morning while driving to work.

Maybe his luck is changing.
That will put his strike rate up!