FL2: Bradford City v Torquay Utd 8 Oct 2011

Unfortunately, I went to the game yesterday and wish I hadn’t. Fortunately it was only £5 to get in.

This was a dire performance, and the concerning thing for me was the lack of fight and energy from our players. Martin Ling talks repeatedly about ‘passing with a purpose’, but there was no purpose to any of the passing yesterday. This repeated passing it around from side to side in the first half of the pitch is bloody infuriating, and if this is the sort of ‘style’ Ling has the players believing gets results then it’s very worrying indeed.

Bradford went down to 10 men early on for what looked like a soft tackle on Stevens. Prior to this they had one or two chances, and if their forwards had had more composure we’d have been one or two nil down early on. Bradford took a deserved lead before half time due to a defensive mix up resulting from indecision and a lack of concentration. There would be more of that throughout the game.

I was prepared to give Saah the benefit of the doubt early on in the season at Bristol, Aldershot and Dagenham, but he isn’t good enough. He’s hesitant, indecisive, not big or strong enough and out of his depth. Why is he first down on Ling’s teamsheet? That isn’t to say the rest of the defence were any good. Oastler is not a right-back and I’ve seen Robertson have far better games. Only Nicho did his task well.

The midfield was woeful yesterday. Sloppy mispasses from Mansell and O Kane (who had a shocker), scuffed shots, zero service for the front men and a general lack of urgency against a team of 10 men. Danny Stevens was as a lively as a he can be, and was unlucky with a shot that flew just over in the first half. He was rumbled by the second half though, as Bradford doubled up on him when they worked out that the only thing he does is cut inside. The fact that they were able to double up on him with 10 men shows how inept and non-existent the rest of our midfield was.

I was bitterly disappointed with Rene Howe. The man has skills, but his physique is a disgrace for a professional sportsman. He played most of yesterday in centre-midfield as he tried to create something for himself. I don’t remember him having a single shot on target for the entire game. Atieno was no more effective, but can at least say he isn’t two and a half stone heavier than he should be. That Ling thought Chris McPhee would be more effective in the last 20 minutes says everything – McPhee is one of those nothing players we used to have making up the numbers during the lowest points in the Mike Bateson era.

The game was summed up for me on 90 minutes when it was announced that 4 minutes of injury time would be played. Olejnik came up for a corner, clearly not convinced by his teammates’ ability to make something of the opportunity. He managed to get more of the ball when he stayed up for a second corner than any of the rest of our team, despite standing there in his luminous orange kit! Earlier on, Olejnik was fortunate not to have been lobbed earlier on in the second half when some defensive miscommunication resulted in him becoming stranded outside his box.

Ling says yesterday wasn’t good enough, and that’s nice to hear. But words mean nothing if no action follows them. Why is Saah still in the team? Why is Renee Howe allowed to be so preposterously overweight? Where are our goals going to come from? Why is a our defending so awful? Why did the team show no fight or urgency against of team of 10 men? Let’s have some answers please, Mr Ling.

I thought we'd been lucky---2 weeks without a crap post from the North Devon muppet!! How many more times?? When will you realise TUFC have got a limited budget and are going through a massive transition period.
As has been mentioned we are still doing ok and I know many Grimsby,Luton,Wrexham fans who would swop for our situation.
I am sure if you have got no interest (your words!!)---then stay away

Saah definitely wasn't solely to blame for the goal, but as a centre-back facing an aerial threat he should have done better. His hesitance and poor positioning was a factor imo.

i agree mate but hate these doom and gloom, it's the end of the world posts. If we can afford it, we need a centre back and a centre forward. my suspicions are that Eunan signed a contract extension to attract a bigger fee in January (thanks Eunan). then we can sign a couple and bank the rest

never thought of you as doom and gloom but someone from North Devon It's not great at the moment but over 34 years I've seen alot worse but not alot better. we are a team that could go either way at the moment and need some positive action.