Rayner Pushed Out

To be honest he had to give his all as he knew he was in the shop window and needed a new club during the summer. Dropping clangers and not being a good pro wouldn't have got him a decent move.
I think Evans is quite right to say we don't look as good as last season, but he's a mug if he truly feels we won't be up to much ! A week is a long time in football...lets hope its been a good one at the racecourse.

Why is it just an extension of Steve Evans mind games? As you point out, he has not said anything that people didn't know? He said more or less exactly the same thing as he said when he first signed for them. I think you have lost you objectivity with regard to this issue and think Rayner handled the matter, in public at least, the same way as the club. As for the timing of the issue..... It was bound to crop up again in the run up to this game. I couldn't give a toss about who was right or who was wrong in the whole issue - had we secured an adequate and, more importantly, permanent replacement the whole Rayner issue would have been dead in the water by the end of November. We didn't and it cost us. Rayner can't be blamed for that and sooner or later you are going to have to accept that Buckle and the current set up do actually make mistakes..........and just because fans call some decisions into question it does not mean people's opinions are any less valid. It could be argued that the club was unprofessional (or at least nieve) when they left themselves open to the recall clause. Have we done it again this season?

It will be interesting to see what reception Rayner gets tomorrow from traveling fans. I think it will be quite good. With the pressure building, a clash with Rayner could not have come at at a worse time for Buckle. Rightly or wrongly, many fans see the Rayner / Rice / goalkeeping issue as one of Buckle's short comings last season - maybe a bi-product of the clubs 'professional' in house approach to the matter. Another performance like Monday and some fans will use the presence of Rayner to get at Buckle.

On a more general point, during the games against Histon and Ebbsfleet one could clearly sense that many fans have lost patience with Buckle. Quite an amazing turn of events considering last season. In my experience Torquay fans are not normally like this and something has gone badly wrong..............we have been reared on dross for years and, generally, tend to put up with it until the point of no return. I normally put up with it, but I must admit that our general lack of tactics is testing my resolve. If tomorrow is as poor as Histon or Ebbsfleet, I will not come across again for a while. No manager in 25 years has managed to do that - Not Webb, not Saunders, Compton or Cornforth. If I am feeling like this, then there will be an awful lot of fans on the verge of drifting away.

Good post enzo and some excellent points made, I do wonder If its partly to do with the whole mood in our country, playing its part. I know we are all unhappy about the football, but all this doom and gloom about rising bills, job worries etc, could they be playing a part in peoples moods?

Maybe its the fact that he did not show very much passion in his interview after the game on Monday, what ever it is, like you I have never seem fans react so soon into a new season. I think he will be praying before he goes to bed tonight, lets hope someone hears is prayers.

The three games you highlight................Salisbury, Histon and Ebbsfleet were effectively reduced to wars of attrition with the elements and thus (I feel) any attempt at tactical superiority over and above that battle had to take second place.

Sometimes all the tactical thought and preparation work done by the management goes down the toilet under duress (such as battling against the elements) by players doing the unaccounted for such as bumping into one another, slicing clearances, being indecisive, making the wrong decisions.....................you name it, we certainly see it. Football management is not like driving a remote controlled racing car, there is no total control over the vehicle.

I think a lot of the problems last season was that as the campaign wore on certain players showed tiredness, staleness and became increasingly prone to errors of judgement and decisiveness. We didn't have the strength in depth to deal with that and by the time that the play offs came around we were (in horse racing terms) going backwards whilst the dreaded rivals up the road were coming up on the rails. there's only going to be one winner in those circumstances as we all know.

I entirely agree with the second point of your I have highlighted, but feel that objectivity has been sacrificed through hurt pride and extreme disappointment that we have lost bragging rights with our local rivals, and thus there is an over whelming sense of immaturity about much of the criticism raining in this week.

As you so rightly point out Enzo, when one has put in so many years as you and I; we can surely take setbacks philosophically and with a sense of dignity. Quite frankly a lot of this crescendo of dissent and disrespect towards the manager has been sickening to me. Sickening, because a lot of it is a result of the aforementioned intense personal hurt of the dissenters rather than any informed opinion that could not possibly be arrived at after just three games..................only one of which has been lost by the way.

Just as the management and team cannot afford to dwell on last season (which is of total irrelevance to a lot of them by the way) neither should the fans.....................why on earth let LAST season spoil THIS season?

To reference today's game, seeing as Toddy is out injured I would expect to see Robertson take his place as per the other night, with Hodges taking over Hargreaves' spot as he is the natural left footer that the manager craves for that part of the defence. Whether Greavsie then gets a midfield spot is conjecture, but I would be surprised if Stevens held his place over Caryol and would hope that Green gets a start alongside Sills.

I would want something to be done about the likening of Thompson and Wroe for taking the same role once out on the field as I'm sure the manager didn't really expect that from them.

This team IS a work in progress(as indeed many are at this stage of the season) and we do face three games in six days................so I would expect to see some interchanging over the period.

Just a forty mile journey for me, and the rare luxury of still slopping around in my dressing gown right now!