Dave
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Post by Dave on Nov 16, 2008 8:35:50 GMT
Many fans would have been happy, to get a point from Saturdays game against York, probably because York have not been beaten at home so far this season. Bucks put out a team with one aim and that was to win the match and not settle for a draw. Wanting to keep the run going, to try and beat the clubs unbeaten run.
So the game against Lewes on a Tuesday night up at Plainmoor, could be the game we see that record of the number of games without defeat, be broken.As in any game of football, the result can't be guaranteed, Lewes will come and fight all over the pitch, trying to get their season, back on coarse.
Our players need to focus their minds on only worrying about winning the game and not be concerned about any records. Yes they want to break it, be part of Torquay United history, but it must not distract them from the job in hand.
Enzo feels that if e don't get a large crowd, then all the Bateson talk of the Torbay area not deserving a football league club will appear true. Enzo states a gate under 2800, then his case would be proved correct, I do feel based on our gates so far and the fact that Lewes will not bring many fans, plus being a Tuesday night game, that such a figure is far to high to expect.
We have gone through all the reasons we feel the gates are low this season, most of those reasons will not really change, just because the clubs unbeaten record could be broken, while there may not be any football on the TV, a damp and wet night in the Bay and some fans will not want to be standing in Plainmoor, to watch Torquay play the lowly Lewes.
For the reasons stated above, i believe a gate of 2300, should be considered a good gate and would still be an improvement on other gates this season, had it been a Saturday game, i would have gone for 2500.
The point Enzo is most of Torbay have no real interest in Torquay United, yes a day in a cup final at Wembley and more of the Bay would go and support the team, but such support is only a one off and only because it was a big day for Torbay, having its team in a final.
Most also will not really be aware a club record might be broken and while we as true fans get excited about that happening,to the rest of Torbay, it really is no big deal.It is not anything that will wake up the desire in those who would only go to a real big game and make it a miss not game.
On to the game and I think Ellis has to start, he earned that right up at York, but as too who else plays where and what formation, will be anyones guess, I'm looking for a good attacking game and hope we get an early goal, to settle the team and the fans down. Then we can go on and finish the job off.
Good luck to the club, all the players and I hope as a fan, I will be part of a crowd, that leaves Plainmoor on Tuesday night, happy and pleased for everyone associated with Torquay United, that the record has been broken.
Then every game thereafter we may see a new record being set and one that future teams will have to aim for, as records are always there to be beaten.Tuesday night can't come quick enough for me, I would love Enzo to be the one who guessed the gate correctly, but I will settle for a win and a new record.
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Post by ohtobeatplainmoor on Nov 16, 2008 11:34:27 GMT
I think that Enzo (although Enzo should feel free to correct me!) meant that if the crowds do not start to really increase then bateson's comments about Torbay not supporting the local club is starting to ring-true - not that they would be correct if we didn't get 2,800 on Tuesday!!
I would also be happy with a gate of 2,300 Dave. It takes a long time for the Plainmoor crowd to build-up numbers after it lumps due to results and performances......
As has been covered on another post - look at the crowds we had in 97/98 up until January or so. It might take some decent performances over the festive period (when there are nearly always more "floating fans") to consolidate better crowds.
There isn't a single team at this level that wouldn't come to Plainmoor with the intention of "grabbing a scalp - Lewes will be no different. In our position, I'd always feel satisfied with a tight performance and a 1-0 win.
I doubt that Carlisle will be fit or next Saturday (let alone Tuesday), perhaps it will be too early for Carayol as well.....
It is a hugely different match to the York game - Lewes are bottom of the league and will pose different questions to a team
that was unbeaten at home and pushed us all the way over our last six games against them.
Will we go with 3 centre-halves again? I don't think that we will, perhaps Ellis will replace Hodges and we will see Danny S come-in on the wing and return to the 4-4-1-1 that has worked so well for us in recent times.
With the whole team chipping-in with the goals it doesn't matter that our strikers haven't notched many league goals to date (Sills has scored probably less than half the amount of goals that he did at this stage last season - but I don't think that he has been less effective) - we have 12 different goalscorers to date - impressive given that we haven't had that many more players starting a league game for us.
Grind-out the results and we'll all be happy!
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Enzo
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Post by Enzo on Nov 16, 2008 12:16:16 GMT
Interesting thoughts fellas. To be honest the 2,800 figure was one that I plucked out of the air without too much thought - I didn't realise people actually read what I post! That said, I really think that if the team continues to be in or around the top spot the Board deserves to see 2800 fans coming through the turnstiles on a regular basis. You are correct in that with only a handful for away support, the possibility of inclement weather and the current financial uncertainty for many then 2,300 is a more realistic figure to aim for. This still means we have lost a considerable chunk of support from last season..............what happened to all the people that said that Mike Bateson had driven them away from Plainmoor? Have they lost interest again?
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Nov 16, 2008 12:44:27 GMT
Enzo why would we not read your posts mate ;D
Batson made such statements when we were a 2nd division side, he also made then when we went up to div1 and gates never got to the levels he expected. he called the club a small town club, in a small town.
Last season are gates were better than most felt they would be, down to two main reasons in my view. One the new board effect and the end Of the Batsons days for some, the other the very good start we made to the season.
The start that had many believing we would be going back up to div2, but we know how our season ended. the new board effect has gone, despite how lucky we are to have the board we have now, the reality is we are a small club, now playing in a lowly league.
A league where gates have never been high, some teams that have come down, maintained a good gate, but all these clubs have lost some of their supporters.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Nov 16, 2008 13:47:05 GMT
what happened to all the people that said that Mike Bateson had driven them away from Plainmoor? Have they lost interest again? A lot of people stop going as life circumstances change, but don't like to admit it. Mike Bateson was a good excuse. "I'm not going because of Bateson" sounded o.k. You could still play the "I am a really committed fan and wear the trousers in my house" card without having to bother to attend matches. "I'm not going because my wife doesn't like me going", "I really need to look around a garden centre", "My borders need weeding", "I couldn't be bothered" do not sound quite so good. The new excuse on the block is "I'm not going because Bateson knocked all the loyalty out of me". |
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Post by ohtobeatplainmoor on Nov 16, 2008 14:02:00 GMT
Not "all" Dave - "our friends up the A380" steadily increased their gates to be the consistently best that they have been for a long time. Their "kids for a quid" scheme has made a real difference - they have moved upwards due to the foundations that the club has made. I think that we are looking to Exeter in many ways - and it is very good to see the close ties that we have with their board. Despite the "we 'ate ex'ter" attitude (I like to see them lose but at the same time admire how their new board have transformed a club that was in the end-stage of terminal decline) they are a club to learn from. I remember some time ago that someone on .net mused "It's very much like people who say "I'd mow the lawn if it wasn't raining"! For whatever reason people come-up with the excuse that they would be there but for reason X Y or Z - but they probably just aren't that interested in attending anymore - sad as it is. <<EDIT>> - Jon beat me to making the point (and he did it better as well!)! The team do deserve at the very least a crowd of 2,800 - but I would settle for 2000 every week if we drew a "big" premiershi£ club away that meant we could afford it for another season and each of those 2,000 got right behind the team and didn't jump on them when things went wrong. Having having even an extra 50 people who gorge themselves on Sky Sports / Radio 5 from their armchair and have been indocrinated by the likes of Andy Gray and Alan Green and think that Alex Ferguson "hair drier treatment" at a player who makes an honest mistake does anyone any good. I think the fantastic start to last season without a doubt had an effect on the gates. This season is very different - but it is totally irrrelevant to compare like-for-like league positions / points / goals scored etc with the same point we were at last season. I think most people would agree that for whatever reason we stumbled well before the finishing line. The only important outcome is where we are come the evening of the play-off final and there is plenty of football to be played before then. Anyway - back to the match on Tuesday - seeing as we played so well with the York City YOUTH TEAM's shorts (see the excellent chargreaves.blogspot.com/ "chewing toffees" - what a classic!!), I think we ought to go for the same approach on Tuesday - it's like "lucky boots"! |
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NickGull
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Post by NickGull on Nov 16, 2008 18:06:43 GMT
To be totally honest, I'm a bit surprised and dissapointed that, considering the run we've been on recently, our attendances haven't been around the 2500+ mark. We've got over the bad start, the team have started to gel, but yet we're still getting just over 2,000, which should be better, in my opinion. Tuesday night games with horrible weather - yes, I would expect it to be lower, but still over 2,000. Saturday afternoon games and no rain against ex-league opposition, I would expect 2,500+.
I'm sure that if we were top at X-mas, the fans would start to come back and we'd be getting 3,000+ fans back in to each game. As you'd expect, if we were pushing for the title at the end of the season, attendances might even reach around 4,000 if we're in with a good chance of the title.
For example, in 2003/04, we were 4th behind Huddersfield, and the last few home games were getting 5,000+ fans for each one. Okay, so the away teams had a few more fans those days, but even against Kidderminster in the final home game, they only had about 250 fans, so that meant like 4,900 of Torquay. I'm not expecting us to reach those sort of attendances this season (unless we get the 3rd round of the FA Cup and draw a big team or we need to win/draw for the title), but I feel we can and should be beating the 2,500 mark each and every home game.
Come on Gulls fans, show your support for a team that has equalled your clubs record, and could break it on Tuesday. Lets give them the credit and support everybody at Torquay United deserves!
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rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Nov 16, 2008 21:52:09 GMT
For various reason the attendance has been poor but I suspect that there will be nothing like sitting pretty at the top of the league to induce those varying degrees of "occasionals" and the "stay aways" to support their team on a more regular basis. I suspect the formation will revert back to a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 etc. I don't know the state of play with Carayol or Carlisle but if neither are fit then think that this time Stevens will step up to the mark. Although defensively, he is not up there, cannot see us having to spend large parts of the match protecting our flanks against wave after wave of Lewes attacks  (despite never having seen them play  ) I think his pace and passing will be a great asset in trying to break them down. Would therefore like to see the following team as per ohtobeatplainmoor: Bevan Mansell Woods Ellis Nicholson Stevens Wroe Hargreaves Dsane Sill Thompson |
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joebarlow
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Post by joebarlow on Nov 17, 2008 20:50:38 GMT
This wont be an easy game though I think we will win 3 - 0. Lewes may be at the wrong end of the table but they will be a team that will be tight togethar and will look to keep our players out of the box.
With Muzzy and Carlisle possibly being back I think we will over power them in the end. Stevens I hope will get a game as I think he needs a game and will add something to the game.
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NickGull
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Post by NickGull on Nov 17, 2008 20:59:43 GMT
Bevan
Mansell
Woods
Ellis/Hodges (tough choice - glad Im not making it!)
Nicholson
Carayol/Carlisle/Stevens
Wroe
Hargreaves
Dsane
Thompson
Sills
Torquay 4 - 1 Lewes.
I just think we'll overpower them.
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midlandstufc
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Post by midlandstufc on Nov 18, 2008 14:07:00 GMT
Sills
Mansell
Woods (never thought I'd write that again!)
Ellis
Nicholson
Stevens
Wroe
Hargreaves
Hodges
Dsane
Benyon
Sills needs match practice so I'd give Bevan a rest.
Hope it's not too muddy as you may have to throw Danny a lifeline when he's up to his knees.
See how Hodges does in the midfield for a change.
Roscoe's found his shooting boots (who nicked 'em!) so he can partner his pacy young friend up front. Pace kills weaker sides!
Also bring Brough on at half-time (with the oranges).
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Post by ohtobeatplainmoor on Nov 18, 2008 17:03:09 GMT
It's been pretty glorious weather down here today - so no mud tonight, Midlandstufc!
Looks like Carayol and Carlisle could feature (according to the HE) although I would have thought it would be too early for Carlisle to start.
Didn't realise that Scott Taylor, Anthony Barness and Danny Cullip were playing for them - they've got a bit of pro experience there.
The record breaking win against Cardiff back in 1998 was a very tight game when we might have expected to have given them a good pasting. I just hope that the crowd are patient tonight
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Nov 18, 2008 18:14:44 GMT
Just about to set out over to Plainmoor, yes I know I only live in Paignton, but tonight I'm having a new first time experience. You see in all the years I have gone to watch TUFC, it has always been the same, arrive at about an hour and a quarter before the game, wait until the gate opens and go in. When he was young I took Ant to the games, but when he got a car, he always took me, until some time earlier in this season. "Dad you will have to make your own way to the game, I'm meeting a mate, save my place on the popside., " he told me. So I have been in the ground one hour before kick off, no one to talk to and getting cold, yet I found out yesterday what he has been up too. While I was there so lonely, he has been living the high life before every game in the players lounge  So I have had words and that is where I'm now setting off too. You would think I was Steptoes old man, you know the one the son called "you dirty old man" I say that because Ant has been going on that I must dress up smart, if I'm to go in there with him, thanks Ant. |
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Post by capitalgull on Nov 18, 2008 19:50:25 GMT
Turn on the radio and the first thing I hear is us hitting the bar. The second thing I hear is 1-0 Sills!!
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Post by stewart on Nov 18, 2008 19:52:24 GMT
Feel really sorry for Mark Ellis and still don't like this one up front against, on paper, a very poor team.
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(despite never having seen them play 
) I think his pace and passing will be a great asset in trying to break them down.