rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Mar 18, 2013 20:24:31 GMT
So after a couple of good away results where we have put the hard yards in and upped the performance levels, we need to translate this to Plainmoor where we have a couple of matches that may just see us pull away from the dreaded drop zone!
The club are trying to attract a new fan base and as such it is Ladies night with STHs able to bring along a female guest using voucher A although seated fans will need to book the ticket in advance. Did I read somewhere there is also a BOGOF offer tonight as well?
So team news, Chapell will be making his home debut with Bodin away on international duty so does Knill go back to 4-4-2 with the returning Benyon or does he keep 4-3-3 with Craig in midfield? (my preferred option!) I think Downes is still out although MacDonald is doing a sterling job alongside Saah. The other recent change is Cruise at left back, will he make his second home start but this time in his favoured left back position? Also Knill is still looking to add another forward so slowly but surely, the starting XI is slowly evolving. As for Chesterfield, we have an expert member on the club so would be good if he can give his take on them. They are seemingly in midtable obscurity so maybe we can get that all important win but their recent 0-1 victory at Oxford on Saturday suggests otherwise.....
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Post by loyalgull on Mar 18, 2013 20:58:06 GMT
well all of us regulars are going to be there despite 1 win in 19,hoping this will be the start of 4 wins in 8.Giving them encouragement,lets hope our away form,although not cock-a-hoop,leads to a home win.9O minutes of giving it a go could end in victory,we know the consequences of an insipid 90 minutes.Nothing but victory will do,anything else will be considered a disaster,over to the lads now then to record our first home win since december 1st,which tells its own story too
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Post by Swanny on Mar 18, 2013 21:02:46 GMT
I know of a few more than normal who will be going as well regulars like me and my son. His under 14's football side will be entering the pitch with the players tomorrow night before the match so I'm really looking forward to that. We've got a special deal which includes a carvery before the match for all the boys and parents going.
As for the game, well this is as serious as it gets. Forget promotion matches or play-off matches, relegation battles to stay in the Football League is so much more important. We desperately need something from our next 2 homes in the next 5 days. I think by 5 O'clock Saturday we will be a lot clearer where we stand. It goes without saying we need to win at least 1 of them to have a realistic chance of staying up. After our last 2 improved away performances, there are finally signs we can do it. At last we showing some real fight, I hope to see that tomorrow. I haven't seen a decent home performances for ages, in fact I can't remember what it feels like!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2013 21:13:19 GMT
Thanks for that build-up, Rob. I'll try to live up to it!
The Spireites have underachieved this season and almost certainly left it too late to make it into the play offs, their results being characterised by inconsistency. As usual, they have been beaten at Accrington and Morecambe which suggests that small crowds are not to their taste, so maybe it wasn't a good idea to issue those 2 for 1 tickeets for tomorrow night after all.
Should Chesterfield win that would make three victories in a row for the first time this season. Usually, good perormances have been followed up with poor ones but at the moment Paul Cook seems to be building a team in the mould of John Duncan, with 1-0 wins the order of the day. Very surprisingly, the improvement in the team's defence has coincided with the return from oblivion of lanky centre half Neil Trotman, whose hopeless display against the Gulls in October led to him being (a) dropped and (b) put on the transfer list. The main man at the back though continues to be Tommy Lee, the PFA's best goalkeeper in League 2 in 2010/11. Tommy's recent haircut means that TUFC fans will probably not be treated to a rendition of "He's got long hair but we don't care, Tommy Tommy Lee".
There is no need for the Gulls to worry about Jack Lester, a very fine player in his day but now sadly past it and probably unlikely to make the trip. On the other hand Marc Richards seems to have got over the injury problems which have spoiled his season and he is probably the man most likely to score. As for players like Jay O'Shea, Richard Brindley, and Armand Gnanduillet, all of whom have arrived since I last saw the team play, I can't comment. Paul Cook has certainly stamped his own mark on the side, chucking out many of John Sheridan's players including Craig Westcarr, who cost £70,000 last season and scored in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Wembley but was given a free transfer by Cook and is now a part of Walsall's current good run a division higher up.
With probably the second highest wage bill in the division it's fair to say that expectations have not been met, but by and large the fans have continued to turn up in decent numbers. The removal of John Sheridan was broadly welcomed, while Paul Cook has a kind of rough honesty which everyone finds appealing in contrast to his predecessor's incessant grumpiness. Unfortunately, however, loyal as the crowd may be they also tend to behave boorishly and I hope they will be confined to the wing of Bristow's bench rather than getting the away end to themselves, since if they have to sit down they are likely to fall out with each other and fight among themselves rather than aiming insults at Torquay's supporters. Expect plenty of mocking "Going down, going down" chants though nevertheless.
I really wish I could be there for this game. I'd have to skive off work and get a train, and while there is one which would arrive in time and is only £22 from Sheffield, there is no way of getting back home again before the following afternoon and I'd have to pay a bleeding fortune to do so, so it will be an fraught evening in front of the live updates with my lad, who claims still to be a Spireite. I shall be wearing my yellow and blue scarf and if things don't go our way the little bugger will get a thick ear and be spending the night in the car.
The League table shows that if Torquay can handle the Daggers and Southend there is no need to fear Chesterfield. If the Gulls perform as they did against Wycombe they will almost certainly lose but I believe that Howe and Benyon will find Hird and Trotman easier to play against than Port Vale's McCombe and Purse and from this distance it does look as if Alan Knill's side has improved since I was last at Plainmoor. We can do this, chaps!
Come On You Yellows
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Mar 18, 2013 23:02:06 GMT
Chapell will be making his home debut with Bodin away on international duty so does Knill go back to 4-4-2 with the returning Benyon or does he keep 4-3-3 with Craig in midfield? It's a shame we can't keep the same team. The "easy option" is to bring back Benyon for Bodin. That would mean sticking Craig out on the left - although he'd probably be the one to "tuck in" to make the three as Jarvis was doing from the right. Leaving the midfield work to just two men is a recipe for not getting a grip on the game, but you just know Craig would cop a load of abuse instructing him to stay on the wing. I'd rather leave Craig in the centre and bring in Macklin (or even Stevens) to play Bodin's role. Benyon would be a good last 20 minutes bench option.
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rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Mar 18, 2013 23:20:58 GMT
Thanks Wildebeest, hopefully there will be a few match reports to get your teeth into.
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JamesB
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Post by JamesB on Mar 18, 2013 23:42:51 GMT
Losing track of all these matches so apologies for the delay. This should be our last proper midweek game of the season
To give you the usual head-to-head stuff, Chesterfield currently lead 16 wins to 9 with 13 draws. The last Torquay-Chesterfield match at Plainmoor was just under 2 years ago and it finished 0-0. Our last league win over them (which of course misses out last year's FA Cup win) was at home in August 2009, our first match back in the Football League, with goals from Rendell and Mansell. That's our only league win over Chesterfield in the last 19 years, although there have been 6 draws in that time
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2013 11:20:07 GMT
I still think we are too lightweight up front, so I don't see us scoring tonight! As long as we can keep them from scoring I think a draw would be acceptable against a team with an outside chance of promotion.
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Post by Ditmar van Nostrilboy on Mar 19, 2013 14:10:20 GMT
They have the 2nd most miserly defence away from home in the league but their ability to score away (fnar fnar) is also miserly (the worst in L2). Looking good for 0-0 then?
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petef
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Post by petef on Mar 19, 2013 17:08:14 GMT
Biggest game of the season as each will be until our fate is decided one way or another. A little disappointed we haven't yet been able to reinforce our attacking options, along with many I reckon we could still do with an target man /alternative to Rene who is bound end up with another suspension. York have just boosted their forward line taking Shefield Utd forward Richard Cresswell on loan for a month and we will more than likely be facing us on Saturday. We also lose Billy Bodin who is at long last looking more like the player we paid good money for. Question is who will replace him? We need to keep the same balance so I woud go like for like and keep Benyon on the bench and perhaps play Danny / Macklin / Jarvis / Thompson. What ever team is chosen I hope that every single player realises the importance of each and every game.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2013 17:46:09 GMT
Biggest game of the season as each will be until our fate is decided one way or another. A little disappointed we haven't yet been able to reinforce our attacking options, along with many I reckon we could still do with an target man /alternative to Rene who is bound end up with another suspension. York have just boosted their forward line taking Shefield Utd forward Richard Cresswell on loan for a month and we will more than likely be facing us on Saturday. We also lose Billy Bodin who is at long last looking more like the player we paid good money for. Question is who will replace him? We need to keep the same balance so I woud go like for like and keep Benyon on the bench and perhaps play Danny / Macklin / Jarvis / Thompson. What ever team is chosen I hope that every single player realises the importance of each and every game. Never mind Richard Cresswell, Pete. 99.9% of Blades fans will be happy never to see him at Bramall Lane again, and besides, he was playing for York before the Millennium so it's fair to say that he is past his best now. I suppose if our Fairy Godmother offered us a win and a defeat this week we should choose to lose tonight and win on Saturday but it's just as likely to happen the other way round. My goodness, this season hasn't half been an education.
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Post by frankfurt gull on Mar 19, 2013 17:49:45 GMT
Two hours to kick off and I am sat in front of the monitor already!
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Post by Ditmar van Nostrilboy on Mar 19, 2013 17:56:14 GMT
The floodlights are yet to be switched on Frankie so dont peak too early... And the lights are now on
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Post by hullgull on Mar 19, 2013 19:16:59 GMT
Hi all,positive bout tonight,goin for 3 points,lets get on one of our winning runs to end of season........c'mon you yellows
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rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Mar 19, 2013 19:24:04 GMT
Torquay United 01 Poke 02 Oastler 05 Saah 16 MacDonald 21 Cruise 07 Mansell 24 Labadie 25 Chapell 08 Jarvis 09 Howe 26 Benyon Substitutes 13 Rice 03 Nicholson 12 Leadbitter 06 Lathrope 19 Stevens 20 Craig 14 Macklin
Chesterfield 01 Lee 05 Trotman 06 Hird 12 Darwikwa 17 Brindley 31 Cooper 33 Townsend 08 Togwell 25 Talbot 34 O'Shea 09 Richards Substitutes 40 Barrington 07 Henshall 10 Whitaker 23 Randall 14 Lester 41 Clark
Right, off to the ground!
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