FAC: prem- Aldershot v Torquay United 25 October 2014

I don't know why but I can't create a new thread. Anyhow, I have to say I don't think I have ever been so annoyed about the Luke Young incident at Home Park where he did the half time draw. I have never heard the likes of it before. Why wasn't he at Aldershot for a start? Didn't the club know? Who authorised it? In 52 years of loyal support I am absolutely amazed at this monumental faux pas. With the two subs sitting in the dug out at half time and the needless bookings and sendings off we have amassed makes me think there is a serious discipline and attitude problem at this club. Can Mr. Candy offer any plausible explanation about these events. It may seem minor to some but I am really angry about this and seriously considering going less often. I show loyalty, if the players can't even be bothered to show respect to their fans and their employers why should we turn up. I feel sorry for the fans who went to Aldershot. I never thought my faith in Torquay United would be dented to an extent where I would contemplate not going to home games but it has now.

I dare say that the majority of us feel the same way as you Sam regarding the Luke young incident.

Having listened to CH's interview post match, it is clear he is upset...would have liked to have been in the changing room after the final whistle. Whatever his shortcomings may be as a manager, I console myself with the fact that CH loves the club, I just wish that could be said for some of the players and that they had just a quarter of their manager's commitment and desire. I am not saying that none of the players care, but certainly on what I saw yesterday, some don't seem too. It's just my opinion but at least, Duane, Angus, Briscoe, Richards and Ajala seemed to be trying yesterday and, of course, seabright who had a solid debut.

Who's it to be then, Stefano?

Up the A38 for the Chiefs; or the other direction for the Albion? Newton Abbot doing well these days; a fine win against Exmouth yesterday.

But what's this? South West One (West); Ivybridge top of the table (although defeated for the first time yesterday). I think I'm right in saying this is one step above Torquay Athletic.

Speaking of whom, Tics beat St Ives 66-0 yesterday. The visitors ninth defeat out of nine, mind. But you can only beat what's in front of you.

Keep in touch, Stef!

I had a disturbed journey home on the 1846 from Woking last night. Not due to the usual drunks returning from a day trip to London - they were mercifully conspicuous by their absence - but more by what I'd seen at Aldershot yesterday afternoon.

You'll know by now that I'm something of an enthusiast when it comes to non-league football. But I guess that's always been from the perspective of the outsider looking in. And, to all intents and purposes, that's how it was to be a Torquay United supporter last time we were in the Conference. It was never a pub league; it was never our right to cruise back into the Football League. But we were always "set up" to give it a go and, aside from a short blip at the start of the second season (rectified by the first week in September), we were always in the frame. In my perverse way it was an adventure I hugely enjoyed.

I was under absolutely no illusion about this time. I knew it would be different. My expectations were muted; I joined in with the widespread sanguine anticipation of a mid-table finish. I suspected we'd have a mixture of decent and not-so-decent players. I wasn't quite sure how we'd achieve that unspectacular middle-placing; in a relatively straight line or in a series of fits and starts? Yet I vaguely accepted there would be a point when we realised we were now on the inside looking out.

I watched yesterday's game with the same old school friend that I'd last seen at Fratton Park in February. He saw a couple of games after that but this was the first time he'd caught up with Torquay United this season. He lives in Surrey; he's a Stamford Bridge season ticket holder. Chelsea had a game the day we were at Dartford. If he'd seen us then, I think he'd have been underwhelmed. Yesterday, in his measured way, he was quietly shocked. I did my best to tell him about the better performances we'd seen this season.

Now, as it happens, my mate is one of the shrewdest observers of football I have ever encountered. His former occupation also means he is accustomed to handling evidence in the most forensic way imaginable. He's certainly not a man to make rash judgements. He doesn't "do" the Internet so he's always intrigued (and staggered) when I tell him about the enormous quantity of online conjecture and information which has surrounded to club these past twelve months or so. When we meet up, it's like starting from basics albeit with a very eager listener.

When pressed, the most I could tell him - for sure (well, I think so anyway) - is that there are financial difficulties at Plainmoor. Precisely why this should be, and the magnitude of, I'm not certain. I offer the thought that, in shorthand terms, the club is either seeking to "tick over" or - more worryingly - in "deep survival mode". I'm unable to offer any assurances about a definite "return to the Football League" strategy. I tell him some people are going much, much further with their analysis. This interests him - I tell him their thoughts and revelations are often compelling - but, in his world, it's somewhere (at the moment anyway) between hearsay and circumstantial evidence.

But we're not impressed by what we see at Aldershot; we're not hugely encouraged in our hopes for the immediate future. We talk about the number of young players in the team: how they are inconsistent; how they need managing. And, in some cases, how good are they ever going to be to be? We also reflect that we last met shortly after Chris Hargreaves became manager of Torquay United. What of the intervening period? Hardly a straight line; more a case of fits and starts. A couple of periods of hope; two more of concern and anxiety. If that makes four cycles to date, what of the fifth? I offer the thought that, with Chris Hargreaves so far, there's not been much "in-between". It's either been very good or downright awful.

The old boy, for he is my age, heads off for the train to Walton-on-Thames. I'm left with feeling that a line in the sand has been crossed. I sense we're now inside non-league football looking out. That's not to say it will always be thus: the club could change; the Conference may alter around us. But, tonight, my mood is different. I tell myself I'm frequently wrong. That, in football, things often start to improve just when they look to be fatally deteriorating. To make the judgement last night, or even this afternoon, almost amounts to indecent haste. It may be that I bore people forever more by saying "it was after Aldershot. That's when we really became non-league". Or, not for the first time, I could be thinking (and speaking) complete and utter cobblers. What, I wonder, lies around the next corner?

This is rather harsh. It would only make sense if the player has defied the club in not travelling to Aldershot; neglected to inform the club of his visit to Argyle (if contractually obliged to do so) or has been deceitful in his actions. Other than that, I'd be surprised if any football club would either deem this to be a disciplinary matter or to put a block upon it happening. Football clubs, in their relationships with each other, cannot afford to go about their business in the way we do ours.

I'm not aggrieved by this episode but it does strike me as rather clumsy. If Luke Young was long-term injured, and we were playing at Gateshead yesterday, it wouldn't have been worth a comment. But because (a) he was suspended and (b) we were playing relatively close to home it inevitably draws attention. If he's done it without the club's awareness, that makes it interesting. But still not necessarily a problem unless there is deviousness on the player's behalf. A possible angle, of course, is that he was only invited to make the draw after arriving at Home Park. Text Chris Hargreaves for permission at 3pm? Probably not.

The question, of course, arises as to why Luke Young wasn't at Aldershot yesterday. Did he specifically ask permission not to travel or did the club automatically not ask him to attend on the simple grounds that he wasn't available for selection? Further to that we may each have our own ideas about what constitutes captain's responsibility in football. Ultimately I guess that varies between managers, clubs and circumstances.

The concern, as I say, is the clumsiness of the matter which, who knows, could backfire on Luke Young. I sense the explanation is innocent; whether it's quite the thing to be seen doing is open to conjecture. A lesson to be learned perhaps?

I sense that, from now on, everything may depend on how far this story develops. It may remain purely an Internet sensation which passes by many of our supporters; the type of tale you have to explain to the person next to you at the subsequent home game. Or the tale gets into the media; the club and player make statements. It's either going to quickly die; come to a simple resolution (or otherwise); or fester. But it'll not cause me to vent my spleen.