NL: Torquay United v Woking 3pm 30 August 2021

link Woking team is out, they have a couple injuries which may help us…..

Looks to be a strong line up with Asa and Connor starting and both wingers on the bench along with Lapslie.
Looking sparse in central defence - what would we do if Lewis became unavailable? - wouldn't be surprised if GJ makes a signing in that dept soon.

One or two rested after a tough and draining encounter and a long journey home - we must be ultra cautious with tight and not fully recovered muscles today.

Very fortunate to go in two down. Woking could and should have had six.

Were you ever optimistic petef? 😉😉

About 54 years ago when we dominated a season, nearly got promotion from the old division three to what is now the Championship and threw it away in the last weeks of the season.
The following season we lost many of our best players to Bournemouth, our manager to Leicester City - the rest is history.

Could be another fifty years we have to suffer this league or lower that's the reality of missing the boat a few months ago.

A total and utter shambles today as bad as anything I have ever witnessed at Plainmoor. You cast your mind back to other pathetic displays I have seen like the 7-3 defeat when Dean Edwards was in charge for one game But this was when the club had no money and was trying to survive for its very existence. But this is with Gary Johnson as manager and I guess he has had a reasonable budget to build a team. The club might be over £3 million in debt but it is fairly stable. So what I witnessed today was inexcusable. Torquay were 2-0 down after 4 minutes and it should have been 5 or 6 in the opening period. There were several other last ditch saves by defenders and keeper. Yet again we went down to 10 men for the second successive game in the first half so the game was effectively over after 23 minutes. I lost count of our number of bookings and players like Little were a little fortunate to stay on the pitch.

Woking absolutely murdered us and they have a team of giants and they can play a bit. We are a bunch of has-beens with their best days behind them or youngsters who are trying to find their level. There are no players in their prime, we are too physically small and weak, we have little flair or pace, and so we just resort to lumping the ball up to Wright. It is dinosaur tactics to watch this season. Our keeper is not tall or commanding enough like Covolan, he did improve as the match went on and ended up as sponsors MOTM. But it is a big, physical league and not the type of keeper for this level.

The only bit of quality today was the run and shot from outside the box by Rogers that crashed off the crossbar. At least he offered something other than utter dross when he came on. The same could be said of O'Connell who made some decent runs when he came on. Lolo at least tried when he came on as anything was better than semi-retired Holman who does not get a look in. Perhaps that is a little harsh as the strikers were having to deal with long aimless ball all afternoon. Little is no captain material.

Johnson should hang his head in shame for that sorry performance. It showed to me that the Altrincham loss was not a one-off. If the season carries on like this his position will be untenable. I cannot think of one player he has brought in this season that has improved the squad. What awful and lazy recruitment relying on players that did the business a few years ago with Cheltenham. It is a squad totally ill-equipped to handle this league.

Off the pitch is just as bad. What an awful decision it was to stop selling tickets an hour before kick-off. Is it any co-incidence that our two home gates so far have been average at best. It is obvious this decision is turning hundreds of casual supporters away. People have other things to do in their lives as well, you know, and if there is hassle getting tickets they simply won't go. There was a really ugly incident in the Family stand as well. Some Torquay fans just cannot take to losing. There was a really nasty looking Torquay supporter mouthing off at some Woking fans nearby and urging the stewards to remove them. My understanding speaking to someone at half-time is that a family with both Torquay and Woking allegiances paid a lot of money to buy a box in the family stand and I dare say the Woking supporters supported their team. This went on for quite a while in the first half with the stewards unsure what to do. It all got ugly and unsavory. A young boy near me was crying and moved seats with his mum. I cannot see them coming back. Torquay supporters need to grow up a bit and take losing better instead of aiming their frustrations at anyone connected to the opposition in a nasty way. The previous game there was abuse and name calling aimed at Altrincham's directors. I don't mind banter but this is unpleasant.

After reading on this forum what some supporters were shouting at Cameron at Notts County and also what I witnessed at Ashton Gate with the Hartlepool fans invading the pitch at full time and goading us and hurling missiles I fear a nasty element in the supporters has returned. Or has it ever gone away? I thought this sort of thing belonged to the 1980's but clearly not. Sport should be for entertainment and supporting your team as well as being generous in defeat. Now we have come out of lock down and attending matches again I have probably forgotten all this nasty stuff and naively thought that going to a football match is fun.

Well putting this all together I will not be attending Plainmoor for a while. I go to matches to see Torquay giving a good account of themselves on the pitch and to enjoy a reasonably friendly atmosphere. I have better, more enjoyable things to do on my Saturday afternoons. I will not be returning until there is a marked improvement both on and off the pitch.