TT BLOG

Clive Hayward – @Byehorse

Clive blogs about Paul Wotton’s latest presser

The press pack was down to the bare bones at Plainmoor this afternoon, only Dave Thomas, Alan Richardson and me being available to ask Paul Wotton about the forthcoming match with Hornchurch and last Saturday’s big setback at Dorking.

HORNCHURCH

The Manager acknowledged that Hornchurch is a big game, pointing out that the Torquay remain unbeaten at home and the league leaders are unbeaten full stop. He is obviously keen to get a result and hopefully eat into the visitors’ lead at the top of the table:

“Those gaps become too big, don’t they.”

He’s not surprised at Hornchurch’s excellent start, saying that they are another squad with lots of experience and that they recruited well in the summer.

DORKING & THE GULLS’ AWAY FORM:

“IT’S VERY EASY TO SIT HERE AND SAY IT WILL CHANGE. IT WILL. IT HAS TO, AND 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 WHEN SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE, IT DOES.”.

Dave Thomas kicked off our questioning about Dorking. Understandably, Wotton prefers to look forward (“the future is the only thing you can change”), but he fairly acknowledged the concerns.

“It was a huge disappointment, first half especially. I’m not a huge believer in looking backwards…I’ve got full belief the away form will change. I believe in myself and the players.”

Wotton felt there had still been a chance of a comeback, despite conceding the early goals:

“Even at 2-0 you’ve got half a chance. The goal to concede the third on half time is really poor”.

In his post-match interview on Saturday, Wotton (having first accepted that his plan hadn’t worked) had been critical of at least some of the players. He had had this to say:

“If you’re not prepared to run & fight & bite & scratch…you’re not going to win many football matches.”

I asked him about this. Did he think this was something that is likely to improve in future games?

“I know it will, because the players were hurt by the first half performance as well, and when players are hurt they tend to respond.”

I asked him whether he has seen evidence of “leaders” in the squad (this was something he has previously said he felt our new recruits would bring). This was his answer, which went on to give his overview of the recent away performances:

“After the game I did, yeah, definitely. I don’t think we can let the first half performance derail us. I thought Salisbury was better, Chesham was a little bit better and then we’ve gone a step back massively in the first half at Dorking, I think we all agree and there’s no getting away from it. It’s very easy to sit here and say it will change. It will. It has to, and 9 times out of 10 when something has to change, it does.”

INJURIES & SQUAD DEPTH: “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT UNTIL YOU’VE LOST IT”

There are no new injuries. The squad has recovered from bumps and bruises.

Munashe Sundire continues to rehab after his serious knee injury. It’s going well. He is getting some “small wins” at present, and he may be a little ahead of schedule, but the Boss confirmed that he’s likely still to be at least three months away: February is a best-case scenario. But Nashe is a positive influence in and around the training ground.

Cody Cooke is not going to be back very soon either. Three weeks after admitting defeat to his pelvic bone injury he is doing strengthening work with Regan the physio and the pain is now subsiding. There isn’t a definite timeframe for our talisman to return and it’s very much a situation that can only be reviewed one week at a time.

Regrettably, therefore, we are going to have to continue without Cookie for some time to come. Cian Dillon’s loan has expired and although we didn’t mention him specifically this afternoon the strong implication seems to be that we have seen the Irish youngster in a yellow shirt for the last time.

There was also no news of a replacement:

“Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got til you’ve lost it. We’re not imminently close (to getting a replacement),,,there’s lots of phone calls happening. With a player like Cody, every team wants one and when they’ve got one in the building they’re not going to let him out.”