PSF: Torquay United v Plymouth Argyle 7:45pm 19th July 2022

If Koszela is given a decent run and still fails to come up to scratch, rather than putting him out on loan yet again, he should be put out the door! 

Thanks and damn.

Going well I hear 😀

I thought Plymouth looked a very good side passing the ball well with good movement off the ball and our midfield was unable to get a grip and meaningful possession in the game and you can see why Plymouth were challenging at the top end of league one. They were able to find a lot of space and their two early goals came from playing the ball quickly out from the back, finding bags of space between our midfield and defence with their attacker then able to take the ball to the edge of the area and find the space to shoot right into the corner leaving Halstead absolutely no chance.

Not that we were going without any chances ourselves, after a foul on Jarvis, McGavin took a very good freekick destined for the top right hand corner that their keeper was just able to tip wide, Andrews was able to get a foot in between defender and keeper to chip the ball over him but unfortunately just wide of the post and from another free kick Marshall was able to head home but unfortunately was flagged offside.

In between all that Plymouth were still finding space, particularly on the left side in front of Bristows and maybe Hanson was guilty of being pulled out of position leaving Crowe exposed. Randall has continued to improve and now looks a very good player, Halsted was able to tip over a good shot from him but just before halftime the ball fell to him in the area and he calmly made the space to curl the ball into the bottom right corner again leaving Halstead no chance.

Second-half Goodwin came on for Andrews and he looks a real prospect, with a lot of pace, strong on the ball, able to turn defenders and perhaps unlucky not to score a couple goals and on this showing may well end up in the starting XI. At the other end Halstead was given a torrid time by the argyle supporters not helped by the fourth goal when he should have put his foot through the ball to clear but perhaps was caught in two minds with a half-hearted effort that was scuffed and came out to a Plymouth player who was able to fire home. They almost scored again but Halstead was able to collect the ball after hitting the post but the fifth came from an initial shot that was saved but again had no chance with the follow-up.

Lovett came on for the last 15 minutes after lots of changes and did well making a couple of good saves and think the keeping position is up for grabs and would like to see him start against Exeter to see how he gets on against similar level opposition.

Results are irrelevant at this stage of the season and see Torquay Fans stats tweeted the last time we went through two preseason friendly games without scoring was in 2008 and we all know what happened then! link

Though Halstead made some good saves , he was at fault for a couple of the goals and I doubt his substitution was a planned one. Lovett played well when he came on and there's real pressure on Halstead now for the number one spot.

Not a bad thing, that defeat and may well work out to be a beneficial "expectations" correction. Argyle are currently not the old Argyle of a few years ago when we could compete and beat them on their own patch. Its moved up more than a notch for them as we sank to the lower depths but eventually learned to swim again in recent seasons.
Last night we were simply out of our depth.
Financially and support wise we will never aver be able to compete with the city boys from Plymouth, that's a fact. All we can realistically ever hope to expect is that we can continue to improve and reagin our league status and hang on to their shirt tales to some degree though it does look as if they are going from strength to strength. I hope they do continue their rise as it could only be beneficial for us as a club as we can pick up some useful casts offs or take promising young players on loan.
Its important we learn from it but also appreciate where we are as a squad and team at the moment and we must remember that this is a completely young and new intake that have hardly played a game together.

If there's enough quality in the squad, and I believe there is, then we are sure to improve over the coming months playing against sides who are technically at our own level.

What does concern me is the moronic booing that occurred much aimed at our keeper Halstead. This is just the sort of thing that can ruin a players confidence and also cause personal issues for the targeted player. Totally unacceptable.
This years pre season friendly schedule has not been ideal and GJ suggested so much in interview with three high ranking opponents in just seven days.

Another heavy defeat this coming Saturday could have an adverse effect on confidence. The last thing any fresh young squad needs is to enter anew season on the back of confidence draining heavy defeats and another booing crowd.