2013 Prediction League; Game 14 v Torquay Utd FC (home)

Div3North · 22-11-2013, 00:29

Accrington Stanley

V

Torquay Utd

2013/14 Prediction League – Game 17; v Torquay (home)

So; the “Sack the manager” season’s started (rather later than it started in Hyndburn!

) ………………… Scunthorpe’s Brian Laws went on Wednesday – a decision he described as “unwarranted”

, adding that he was “exceptionally disappointed”

– after successive home defeats to us, and Grimsby in the FA Cup, and the vultures are gathering, according to the rumours, over Alan Knill at the Gulls (who was only appointed on 7th May) and Aidy Boothroyd at Northampton (although neither have yet had the terminal “vote of confidence”

) …………To assist all three clubs, I’ve forwarded them DAV007’s contact details, since he can put them in touch with a manager who’s guaranteed to keep anyone in League Two, however small their budget is …………..Fact!

If you want to know why Torquay are in the mess they are in, you’ve only to look at the stats from last week’s home defeat by Snakefield; 2 shots, neither on target, and 1 corner

……says it all, really ……………..

The current club has its roots in a team founded in 1899 by a group of school-leavers under the guidance of Sergeant Major Edward Tomney; after a series of mergers, the last of which was a merger between Torquay Town and Babbacombe in 1921, Torquay Utd was formed as a professional club; at that time they played in light blue and dark blue shirts, which changed in 1927 to black and white stripes and again in 1954 to gold and blue (to reflect the “sun and sea” image of Torquay

). In 1927 they were elected to the Football League (Div 3 South), their first game being a creditable 1-1 home draw with Exeter (their goal scored by Bert Turner, which is a brilliant name for a 1920s striker; wonder what his image rights were worth?

), and their second game being a 9-1 smacking at Millwall ….. at the end of the season they’d won 8, drawn 14 and lost 20, and had to apply for re-election …………..

They lasted 80 years in the League, before going down to the Conference at the end of 2006/7; in 2007/8 they made the Playoff Semis, and held a 3-1 aggregate lead over Exeter part way through the second leg, only for The Grecians to hit four unanswered and dump them back in the non-League scene for another year; in 2008/9 they won their League place back, beating Cambridge 2-0 in the Playoff Final

Famous ex managers include Frank O’Farrell (twice), Bruce Rioch, Neil Warnock (who’s got more clubs than Arnold Palmer ), Roy McFarland and Leroy Rosenior; famous ex players include ………

erm …………….

Most appearances; midfielder Kevin Hill – 474 games between 1998 and 2008, scoring 67 (he’s now player coach of Exmouth); most prolific goalscorer Sammy Collins (219 in 379 between 1948 and 58) ………and …………..erm ………….Anyone remember Tony Bedeau? Ho hum!

A few left for pastures new in the close-season; RBs Joe Oastler (23) and Daniel Leadbitter (22) went to Aldershot and Hereford respectively; CB Brian Saah (26) went to the Daggers, CF Rene Howe (26) joined Burton, LMF Ian Morris (26) signed for Northants and CF Ryan Jarvis (26) for York ………. My assessment of that is that Knill doesn’t like 26 year-old players

, but I don’t know why

………… They signed several on loan, among them Anthony O’Connor, a 20 year old CB from Ewood, who teamed up with fellow CB Krystian Pearce (23) from Notts County, and RB Dale Tonge (25) who dropped in from Rotherham ……….Their other signings were CFs – 6 of them!

West Ham lent them Paul McCallum (19), Derby let them borrow Callum Ball (20) and Charlton did likewise with Adebayo Azeez, also 19; they signed Karl Hawley (31) from the Iron, Jordan Chappell (21) arrived from the Blades, and their former prodigal son Elliott Benyon (25) came home for a bit of fatted calf

but only found some Mother Hubbard

(one goal so far all season)

Their cup runs are over; they lost 0-1 at Swindon in the League Cup, 5-3 at home to Portsmouth on penalties after a 0-0 game, and 2-0 at home to Rochdale in the FA Cup ………. 3 games, no goals, and free to concentrate on the League

………….In that League their records are (home)W1 D4 L3 F7 (4 of them in 1 game) and A12, (away) W2 D1 L5 F10 A15; overall, P16 W3 D5 L8 F17 A27 for 14 points and 23rd place (on goal difference) ………….Their wins on the road have come at Northants (2-1) and Bury (3-1) with an August draw at the Globe, 1-1 against Morecambe ……….4 points from their first 2 away, since then 5 defeats in 6

……..the home success was 4-2 against Cheltenham …………They’ve scored 17 in 19 games, which have been made up of one 4, one 3, two 2s, 6 singletons and 9 blanks

…………..leading scorers are Jordan Chappell with 5, with Aaron Downes, Karl Hawley, Paul McCallum, Callum Ball and Adebayo Azeez each having two

Head to head is even; 2006/7 saw us win twice, 2-0 away and 1-0 at home, as they went down to the Conference; in 2009/10 we won 4-2 at home (goals from Edwards, Proccie, Luke Joyce and Bobby Grant) but lost 2-1 away (Michael Symes); 2010/11 saw a goalless draw away and a win by the odd goal in one at our place (Ian Craney getting it), in 2011/12 we lost 1-0 away, but won 3-1 at home (Bryan Hughes, Jayden Stockley and Kevin Long); last season we travelled more in hope than expectation, and lost 3-1, Podge getting the goal, and then contrived to manage just a goalless draw at home; P10 W4 D2 L4 F13 A9 Pts14 ………….

I didn’t mention it in the opening, but - in ascending order – the four teams with the most points taken from their last 4 games are Plymouth and Cheltenham with 8 each (joint third), Dagenham and Redbridge with 9 (second), and Stanley with 10 (first

, with a better record than Real Madrid currently have …………….

) Given Torquay’s form and place, this is a six-pointer par excellence, and somebody – quite possibly them – is due for a right thumping

at our hands, feet and heads (Maradona eat your heart out

). As always the deadline for entries is scheduled kick-off time, which is 3pm on Saturday 23rd November. Sorry and all, guys, but it’s every man for himself down at the foot of the table ……….and anyway, they’ve got other things to attend to;

TORQUAY United are thrilled to introduce our inaugural craft fair, which is basically an indoor boot sale without the car.

This terrific opportunity to pick up a Christmas gift or raise some extra cash to help Santa with his work will be staged on Sunday November 24 and then a week later on Sunday, December 1.