PREVIEW
Sam Jones
@samuellejones
SAM’S LOOK IN
Well, who saw us back in the NLS? After an incredibly frustrating season, the Gulls find themselves in the NLS for only the second time in their history. Despite a late rally, an awful start to the season meant the Gulls were relegated on the final day by just two points.
Now the dust has settled, it is clear why we were relegated. The summer recruitment was dreadful, which meant we spent the rest of the season trying to cobble together a squad that could at least be competitive, let alone win games. However, it wasn’t so obvious from the off. Looking back at last years Predictions article, the majority of TT said that McGavin would be our player of the season, Corrie Andrews would be our top scorer and the Gulls would finish in the National League Play Offs. Oh I wish that were true!
However, it’s fair to say that the squad we are starting the season with is a different class to last year. We’ve kept our key players from last season, whilst adding quality in all areas of the park. Will the Gulls perform a repeat of the 18/19 season and storm to the title? Let’s bloody hope so!
Team TT:
Once again, we asked our expert team of contributors to give us their predictions for the season. This year, we may actually get some right!
Thanks to the following contributors for their inputs:
- Andy Charles (AC)
- Chris Wade (CW)
- Dan Elliott (DE)
- Dom Roman (DR)
- Harry Salvidge (HS)
- Joe Uglow (JU)
- Jonny Jones (JJ)
- Luke Hunter (LH)
- Mark Hirst (MHi)
- Matty Hayward (MHa)
- Matthew Roberts (MR)
- Rachel Malloch (RM)
- Richard Heesem (RH)
- Steve Harris (SH)
- Thomas Kelly (TK)
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Q: WHO IS YOUR TIP FOR TUFC PLAYER OF THE SEASON AND WHY?
Winner: Aaron Jarvis
DR: “The best player at the club, expecting a big season from him.”
MR: “Assuming he stays for the duration, this is when he proves he’s not a one season wonder. With Collins, Stobbs and an emerging Jenkins-Davies, he should have some proper service.”
RH: “Because he will score the most goals.”
SH: “For scoring as many, or almost as many, goals as Jamie Reid did in 2018-19.”
Honourable Mentions:
TK: Bradley Ash – “Just seeing his style of play, chasing every ball like Lapslie does, fully embracing of the season ahead, I think he is going to score a bucket load of goals for us. Sure to be a fans favourite!”
MHi: Kevin Dawson – “Impressive in that short spell last season. Very astute positionally & carries the ball better than our other centre mids. Fitness is obviously the potential issue.”
MHa: Jack Stobbs – “Going to take the National League South (and the world) by storm. 20 assists, ten goals.”
How they voted:
Q: WHO IS YOUR TIP FOR TUFC *YOUNG* (22 AND UNDER) POTS AND WHY?
Joint Winners: Ollie Tomlinson/Will Jenkins Davies/Lewis Collins
DR: Lewis Collins – “I like this lad, purposeful and energetic with a good shot on him – surprised he’s come down to our level.”
JU: Will Jenkins Davies – “Comes with high hopes from Argyle, expect him to get plenty of game time given Hall, Dawson & Lapslie’s injury problems.”
LH: Ollie Tomlinson – “A youth prospect (of sorts) that finally has a chance of playing! Again, familiar with the level, and will be eager to impress.”
Honourable Mentions:
RM: Finley Craske – “The Cornish Cafu”
How they voted:
Q: WHO IS YOUR TIP FOR TUFC’S TOP GOAL-SCORER AND WHY?
Winner: Aaron Jarvis
HS: “His record in the National League was one of the best in the bottom half and he should fun in the NLS.”
CW: “Pure goal scorer.”
TK: “I don’t think there are many better forward combinations than JAsh! Both will score goals but Jarvis will want to set his stall out as soon as the season starts. Hopefully he stays the course of the season”
Honourable Mentions:
AC: Bradley Ash – “He’ll feed off Aaron Jarvis as long as he stays with us. Clearly has a strong nose for goal based on pre-season.”
JJ: Bradley Ash – “Proven at this level and already bagged a handful of times in pre-season.”
How they voted:
Don’t agree with TT? Have your say in the Yellow Army Poll here!
Q: MOST ANTICIPATED FIXTURE AND WHY?
Winner: Yeovil
DE: “Yeovil (a) has to be. Enjoy games more when we are away, that’s no slant on Plainmoor or being at home, I like the buzz of being in the away end and if we go to Yeovil and get a result there it will be massive for the season. Title rivals, local rivals and their chairman is active on social media, all the ingredients for a great season and rivalry!”
SH: “Yeovil at home; it will be the meeting of the two biggest clubs in the league and will also probably be a promotion ‘six-pointer.'”
RM: “Yeovil (deckchairs and gladrags)”
Honourable Mentions:
CW: Truro – “It’s always the festive games for me. So Truro.”
DR: Taunton (a) – “New ground and a big yellow army following ensured!”
MR: Bath (a) – “One of our few ‘local’ games on a Saturday. It could have consequences for the title and we’ll travel in good numbers which should make for a proper away day. More pubs than you can shake a stick at in the city as well.”
How they voted:
Q: ANY POTENTIAL NATIONAL LEAGUE DARK HORSES?
Winner: Worthing
JJ: “Can’t pretend to know too much about all the teams at this level but Worthing will be looking to go one better this season and they’ve signed some decent players.”
RH: “Sound like a well run club and did well last season.”
TK: “Their pre-season form has been terrible but I believe they will be up there come the end of the season. The whole club is run brilliantly and I think in the coming years they’ll be pushing for a place in the EFL.”
Honourable Mentions:
SH: Farnborough – “They have made a number of potentially very astute signings over the summer and I think they will build on their mid-table finish of last season and challenge for the play-offs.”
LH: St Albans – “One of the bigger teams at this level, I know, but I think they have recruited well and anybody other than ourselves or Yeovil will be considered an outsider this season.”
DE: Aveley – “Such a tricky question as it could be anyone, the league is expected to be won by either Torquay or Yeovil so I’m going to say whoever finishes above either of those teams would have had an incredible season! I think Aveley coming up may surprise a few teams and get some results that people would not expect from them!”
How they voted:
Q: LASTLY, WHAT WILL TUFC’S FINAL LEAGUE POSITION BE?
AC: Top. Champions again.
CW: 1st. No other option.
DE: Champions – they should have a chip on their shoulder for what happened last season and the fact the nucleus of the team is back, with a lot of passion, energy and experience this will fire us to the top of the league.
DR: 1st.
HS: 1st.
JU: 1st, anything else would be a failure.
JJ: I’ll go for first – but I think it will be a tougher battle than many think.
LH: 2nd – I see see Yeovil pipping us.
MHi: 3rd – I can’t forget that we were so tactically clueless for most of last season & not sure why it’ll be different this season.
MHa: First.
MR: I’d like to say first but experience tells us it’s never as easy the second time you drop into a division. Either we’ll win by a canter or we’ll be scrapping for a play off place in April.
RH: 3rd.
RM: Champions (nothing else will do).
SH: 1st
TK: I really don’t want to predict us to win the league as my predictions tend to be well off but I honestly believe we have the best side in the NLS at the time of writing. We’ve made good additions and have stability in the squad, something I think Yeovil will need time to find. I believe it will be between us for the title with us winning it. 1st place for the Gulls! All aboard!!
Average: 1.4
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I predict fourth and semi final play-off loss, plus getting to facup 1st round proper. And Don saying, “thanks gaffer for a fantastic season, and a brilliant cup run”.
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