FL2: Torquay United v Burton 23rd Jan 2010

There appeared to be a definite change in tactics in the game on Saturday which surprisingly nobody else has mentioned.

Throughout the first half, the back four had clearly been told to play a short passing game to the midfield, and this, I feel, is where everything went horribly wrong. The vast majority of these passes went straight to Burton players and allowed them back into the game without too much effort on their part.

By the time our defenders reverted to the more safety first, albeit fruitless, tactic of lumping the ball forward later in the game, Burton had taken complete control.

The manager must now have concerns all over the pitch. Agreed, Michael Poke did look uncertain for much of the game, I didn't feel that he could be blamed for any of the goals. He was beaten by two cracking strikes after the defenders had allowed the scorers far too much room. The third goal was a super solo effort when Cleveland Taylor was allowed to run through unchallenged and hit a skimming shot powerfully into the far corner.

Poke's kicking, though, was very poor and I simply cannot understand why rolls the ball out and kicks off the ground rather than straight out of hand. Surely that is common sense ?

Mansell was too often left facing both Webster and Boertien with little or no help from Thomson. Robertson won almost everything in the air (not difficult against a team generally lacking in height), but his attempts at passing were woeful.

Charnock looked fairly solid in the first half but his concentration seemed to wane in the second. Smith was faced, and frequently exposed, by a winger with electric pace and sharp control who was probably the best player on the pitch.

Up front, Benyon ran around as enthusiastically as ever but hardly seemed to touch the ball. Zebroski and Rendell both found good positions on occasions but their control always let them down.

Zebroski is like a fish out of water on the left and must play in the centre where he is far more dangerous. Rendell has a good recent scoring record and wins a lot in the air, but is really quite clumsy when in possession.

For all the manager's statements about strengthening the back four and the strikers, midfield is really where the serious problems lie.

Thomson is an enigma, clearly better on the left where he can cut inside and run through defenders, yet he also has the ability to deliver inch-perfect crosses from the right. As far as tracking back for the team is concerned, however, he seems totally unable and disinterested. When Wayne Carlisle is absent, either Mansell or Smith are left to cope entirely on their own and this has to be addressed.

Many teams seem to come to Plainmoor with at least one, usually two, experienced hard working ball players who are neat, compact and very comfortable on the ball. On Saturday, I watched Russell Penn and John McGrath completely outclass Wroe and Hargreaves, and kept thinking how we would benefit from having players like that, but we never seem to get them.

It should be remembered that Penn and McGrath, in addition to Sean Harrad, are all ex-BSP players who have successfully adjusted to League 2, whereas our own club's policy now points towards offloading almost all such players as we still have because they have not adjusted. It does make me wonder what is the root cause of this.

Wroe had a shocking game on Saturday, almost every pass going astray, and Hargreaves put in a full shift but ran out of steam in the second half, which is usually the case these days. In any case, neither of them have ever been regarded as the Jason Fowler-type of midfield player which we so desperately need.

The lad O'Kane may prove to be effective given time, but certainly not at the moment against hardened and experienced opponents, while the other youngster from Tottenham may have exceptional skill, for all we know, but looks far too frail to be exposed to a relegation battle.

I don't doubt that Mr Buckle has searched high and low for the right type of player but has probably been met with a series of rejections. I don't believe, however, that many people would disagree that these latest acquisitions will probably not make the necessary difference.

Just when I was starting to think that the corner had been turned with several outstanding performances before Christmas, I have now been given a rude awakening by what I witnessed on Saturday, and feel that we are back in very worrying times. We really do need to move the deadwood out and replace them with players who are experienced at this level, but time is quickly running out.

From now until the end of the season, it may just be a matter of accumulating enough points to keep Grimsby and Darlington at bay, because we could so easily slip back into the bottom two if that dire and naive performance on Saturday is anything to judge by.

Funny ole thing merse wrote lots and i cant help myself from agreeing with the vast majority of it.
With no hargreaves in the squad tuesday i'm sort of apprehensive over tuesday nights game, no physical strenght whatsoever in the midfield,

I just hope the players want to play more than they did on sat, i found the number of times our players were waiting for the ball to come to them rather than going and getting it to be the most depressing thing from the burton game, i watched my boy play on sunday and they could show tufc a thing or two about antisipation!!!
By the way from where i sit i couldnt believe that poke missed the second one

Yes the family stand just up and to the right(My right) of the goal, stunned when that went in it must of looked like i was catching flies so long was it before i could shut my mouth and start moving again, i just couldnt believe the net bulging, with a bit of luck they all played badly in the same game,............................................ no harm in hoping tee hee