TALKING POINTS

Dom Roman – @DomRoman

Dom discusses the key points

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THE GULLS IN A SLUMP

Being 10 points behind the league leaders at the start of November is definitely not something I expected from Torquay United this year. Whilst the 24-25 squad was flawed, we had a battling mentality that saw us lose only 7 games during the entire season and it felt like Paul Wotton was steering us in the right direction. Keeping most of that squad whilst adding the likes of Louis Dennis, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Matt Worthington looked like smart business, and I felt that we were well stocked to push for the title. Well, it certainly isn’t over yet, but having lost 5 games already, we look unlikely to find the required consistency. We have a manager who is under-fire and under pressure heading into two away games – more defeats and the calls for his dismissal will undoubtedly get stronger. Tense times at Torquay United.

SHOW US YOUR BOTTLE!

So often away from home this season the home teams have wanted it more and that’s just not acceptable. Paul Wotton has mentioned about players not enjoying away trips, and that’s clear to see from the dreadful performances. Whilst the manager needs to get his team in the right frame of mind, organised and ready for the challenge, the players also just need to take responsibility. Play with purpose, push hard to win the second balls, work together and reward the Yellow Army’s continuing commitment with a display that is befitting of playing for our club.

THE LINE-UP

Dylan Morgan and Sonny Fish were both lively on arrival last Saturday and I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or even both of them thrown into the starting line-up. They are two pacy guys who could cause Farnborough problems on the counter and let’s face it, with United goals in short supply (apart from three against Chippenham), it may be worth a go! Whilst Worthington and Everton are good players in their own right, it does feel like we’ve been too soft in the midfield area (a real shame Sundire suffered his injury), but with Dan Hayfield, who had a disastrous first against Dorking, the only other option, it’s unlikely anything will be altered in that area. There’s no doubt we are missing Cody Cooke upfront, however a squad that includes the likes of Jordan Young, Louis Dennis, Matt Jay and Callum Dolan should have the quality to do better.

THE OPPOSITION

Spencer Day has been manager of Farnborough FC since 2011, and whilst his team looked like promotion candidates at the start of last season, they are now struggling towards the bottom end of the NLS, sitting in 18th place with 13 points from 14 games. Upfront they have two ex-Ebbsfleet NLS title winners in the form of Rakish Bingham and Dominic Poleon who could cause United problems, whilst the one ex-Gull on their books is the memorable Ali Omar, who has struggled to find a place in Boro’s team. In a similar way to pretty much all of Torquay’s away games this season, we have the better quality players on paper, but whether we can over-power them in real life is another matter altogether..

COYY – DOM

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