Two minutes with… Rotherham United

Better late than never are the views of Rotherham fan, Danny.

Pre-match

Had you been to Underhill before?

Yes I had been before.

How did you get to the game?

I got to the game by coach.

The match

Whereabouts in the ground did you sit/stand?

I stood in the away section of the East Terrace.

What did you make of the game?

It could have been a good game, but unfortunately it was spoilt by the referee.

Who (from either side) do you think deserved to be man of the match?

It’s hard to choose a man of the match, to be honest. I’d have to go for Pringle (Rotherham)

Post-match

Was the score line a fair reflection on the game?

Yes, I think so.

Who do you play next, and how do you think you’ll get on?

Since playing Barnet, we have played Oxford at home where I was expecting a 3-0 win [Rotherham won 3-1], our midweek game with Accrington was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, and I was expecting a win against York in the Yorkshire derby [York 0-0 Rotherham].

Ratings

Cost of match day ticket:

£16 for an adult ––– 10/10

Purchases made at ground

I bought a cheeseburger and a Mars bar. The burger was pretty good and a bargain at £2.80 ––– 10/10

View

The view was pretty good from the terrace ––– 8/10

Quality of football

We didn’t play at our best and Barnet didn’t look very good either ––– 5/10

Overall experience

It was just average – not the best away day, but by no means the worst ––– 7/10

Total ––– 40/50

And you can follow Danny on Twitter, @Danny23Gray

Fans’ season preview 2012/13 – part four

Rochdale

Tom – @Lange88

24^th in League One – “Never seen worse”

Honestly, after last season we didn't have any key players! All our ‘key’ players left the summer beforehand along with our manager! We had a massive clearout and we've brought in a few good signings though. Ryan Edwards is a highly rated defender from Blackburn and looks excellent so far. Tutte in the middle will be a great player some day.

After last season I'd be happy simply seeing good football and passionate players. That's what I've seen so far so I'm encouraged. A play-off push will be a bonus but one I think we're well capable of.

Bradford away is one of my favourite away days, as is Wycombe, so I'd say those two. I'm looking forward to going to York too

Rotherham United

David – @davidrawson

10^th in League Two – “Early promise unfulfilled”

There's been a huge flow of players arriving and leaving over the summer, but most of the players who left in the summer were players that the new manager decided he didn't want. Lewis Grabban, last year's top scorer, was one player it looks like we wanted to keep, but he was keen to move back South, so Bournemouth have the benefit of his enigmatic, but occasional brilliant, talent. Personally, I think we might regret releasing Ryan Cresswell, who joined Southend: if he can stay clear of injury, he's potentially a very good defender, who weighs in with his fair share of goals, too.

I'm not sure that we've got one player who'll net the twenty-odd goals that Grabban did, but there seem to be more goals in the squad as a whole. The central midfield players look particularly impressive, especially Icelandic international Kari Arnason, who, in pre-season, has looked as complete a midfield player as I've seen for many years in the fourth division. Some of the interplay in midfield and the movement of the side has been really good.

Expectations in general are pretty high. Our new ground, the New York Stadium, is terrific and is even better in comparison to the sterile Don Valley Stadium, and that alone has fuelled optimism. The general standard of the players arriving is pretty good and the pre-season performances have been impressive. Promotion, if not expected, is at least a realistic ambition.

Personally, I wonder if we've quite got the efficiency in front of goal to tip the tight games in our favour and there's a question about whether there's enough cover in central defence, if suspensions or injuries really bite. Overall, I think we should be one of the four or five sides in the mix for the automatic promotion places and a top three finish is probably achievable.

I think the games against the more local teams will be the stand out fixtures, especially because I think both Bradford and Chesterfield are likely to be right up there. The Bradford fixtures have a little extra spice, given the mass brawl at Valley Parade, when our manager's former team, Crawley, turned up there last season. Disappointingly, our seaside trip to Fleetwood is on a Tuesday in November.

In truth, though, it's the home fixtures that excite. After being exiled in a half-full athletics stadium for four years, the New York Stadium, where you're right on top of the action and right in the middle of town, is a thrilling experience. We're justifiably proud of it and, for this season at least, it'll probably be more of a highlight than any of the away trips coming up.

Southend United

Gareth – @Bucket_Spade_fc

4^th in League Two – “Very heart breaking”

We haven’t lost any key players in my eyes yet others would disagree with the possibility of losing Bilel. The one summer signing who stood above the rest must be Rotherham captain Cresswell (future Southend captain).

It’ll be another season where on paper we look strong and above 90% of the other teams in League Two, but I can see it being no different to last season so I will say play off spot.

Well the game I was looking forward to was The Wombles, but that's on a Tuesday night now. So I would have to say the only three grounds I haven’t been to in League Two which are Rochdale, Fleetwood and York.

Torquay United

5^th in League Two –

Wycombe Wanderers

Tracy – @Bluebellewwfc

21^st in League One – “Bugger not again...”

The only player I was sad to lose was Ben Strevens, but it was the right decision for both parties. We’ve got some decent players in such as Matt Spring, Gary Doherty and Sam Wood and I expect them all to do well. Got three other new players Richard Logan, Dennis Oli and Lee Angol. If by some miracle we keep the ginger genius, Stuart Beavon he'll do very well I'm sure as will some of the players who came through our Youth system (Anthony Stewart, Charles Dunne, Jesse Kewley-Graham and Josh Scowen).

Expectations aren't that high considering we were recently taken over by our Supporters Trust as money is tight and the focus is very much on stabilising the club. Upper mid table flirting with the playoffs will do me fine.

I'm most looking forward to going to Dagenham in September to meet up with a couple of very good Twitter mates.

York City

Tom – @ycfc_sisso

4^th in Blue Square Premier – “Wembley, trophies, promotion”

We lost James Meradith to Bradford City which was a blow as he’s a talented left back and actionable midfielder; however this loss will open up a place for other defenders like Danny Blanchett. Lee Bullock came back to us as an experienced player. We’ve gained a few strikers and they’ve been playing well in the pre-season matches. Jonathan Smith also came back to York and brings experience with him, John McReady, a midfielder from Darlington is a player to look out for next season, as is Michael Coulson (winger/striker). 

My expectations of next season are good – I personally think the team is strong enough to challenge for a play-off place.

The team I am looking most forward to playing is Oxford United, as we lost to them the last time we got to a play-off final. Fleetwood Town is another team I am looking forward to as they were promoted with us last season and win against them in the Football League would be great. Doncaster in the Capital One Cup is a third, largely because they were the team to send us down to the Conference eight years ago. To play Doncaster in our first competitive game as a League Two club since then seems fitting.

Pre-Morecambe thoughts (17.03.12)

So for those of you that don’t know, from time to time I get the opportunity to interview the Barnet captain to get his thoughts leading up to our next home game. It’s been a great chance to showcase some of the skills I learnt whilst studying for a journalism degree, as well as doing something that not only interests me, but is also a passion of mine. I started helping out last season, when our captain was Glen Southam. This season, our captain is Mark Hughes. Here is my first instalment for Look Black n Amber – seen in the match day programme for the Morecambe game last Saturday.

"It seems a while since we played Rotherham at home, with a couple of away games in the meantime. I thought we started that game well, creating chances and we got the early goal through Byrner. At the end of the first half though, having such a narrow lead always means you’re prone to throw that away, and had we been further ahead at the break, I think we would have got all three points. With Ricky and Izale in the side, always going forward, we had a fair few opportunities to extend our lead. As it was, Rotherham had a good spell in the second half, getting that equalising goal, and once we got reduced to ten men the game clearly swung in their favour. It was definitely a game of two halves. At the end of it though, I think we were all happy to get a point – they put us under the cosh a fair bit – but I think we played well with a man down, especially given the way we capitulated against Bradford previously.

We went into the Gillingham game the following Tuesday feeling positive and confident. Again, I believe we started well and created chances – when you have players of our quality going forward, you’re always more than capable of getting goals! Again we went into the break with a narrow one-goal lead, despite having chances to kill the game off before half time. Gillingham are a good side going forward, and there always seems to be a hatful of goals in their games. Once they got their equaliser quickly in the second half, we flapped a bit. Our heads didn’t drop when they got their second, but after scoring a third in quick succession it was definitely game over! Like the rest of the squad, I was frustrated at the end of the game because we hadn’t played badly, in fact I think it was one of our better performances of late – the scoreline definitely didn’t reflect the way we played!

We went into Saturday’s game against Port Vale knowing we needed to forget about the defeat at Priestfield, and if we played half as well as that, would be likely to get a result. We hadn’t been in good form, so to win our first game since the end of January was such a relief, and a real confidence boost for the boys! It’s always nice to score a winner in the final minutes of a match, and given the manner we have been conceding recently, it was good to finally have that little bit of luck. Ben scored on his debut, but I’d like to say congratulations to Andy for getting his first goal for the club – he came off the bench and was in the right place at the right time, with his first touch of the game! Hopefully now they’ll both get a couple more goals as well.

With Ben in the side now, and a couple of the youngsters coming off the bench, there is definitely competition in the side for places. We didn’t know until Friday that Ben was joining us – I’m not sure how long he’d known either. He was on the bench on Wednesday for Stevenage, so it was a case of White Hart Lane to Vale Park in four days. But we were all delighted he managed to get on the score sheet in his first game, and I’m sure he was as well – particularly on his birthday! He just wants to get the opportunity to play first team football.

We are expecting a test today against Morecambe; they’re a big, strong side with tonnes of experience, whereas we are a much younger side with players wanting to prove themselves. That doesn’t make them better than us though. We won 1-0 in the reverse fixture so I’m sure they’ll be looking to put one over on us this afternoon. Hopefully Pricey doesn’t cause us too many problems after Obita scored for Gillingham in that midweek game, although he’ll be wanting to show what the club missed out on! Going into games, we always look at how we fared in the previous match, so to win and ‘do the double’ over Morecambe would be very pleasing. A win would see us hit the 40 point marker, which would also drag a couple of teams back into the scrap again.

Enjoy the game"

Mark Hughes was talking to Lucy Waldon

Match Report: Barnet 1–1 Rotherham United (Barnet Fan’s Perspective)

After the shambles that was Tuesday night, it was important for the Bees to completely forget about that debacle, regroup and start again; they were playing hosts to Andy Scott and his decent Rotherham side. It was a year ago this very weekend both teams played out a bore draw, 0-0 at the Don Valley, and although it was a point a-piece again, this time round at Underhill, there was a certainly a lot more action – you could say it was a real game of two halves!

Barnet were forced into changes: Darren Dennehy’s red card against Bradford in the week and subsequent three match ban meant Clovis Kamdjo gave up his role in the centre of midfield to join the back four and fans’ favourite, Scott McGleish (on a one month’s loan from Bristol Rovers) started alongside Izale McLeod and Ricky Holmes – playing in a 4-4-3 formation.

It was a frantic opening five minutes with the home side straight out of the traps, and McLeod went close early on. But the opening goal came on seven minutes – Mark Byrne with a right-footed free kick which evaded everyone in the penalty area and nestled straight into the bottom corner.

Barnet 1–0 Rotherham (Byrne ’7)

It had been a while since the Bees had scored first and the early strike settled any nerves. It was obvious that confidence amongst the side was low following the last couple of defeats so the goal proved to be a bit of a boost.

However, the Millers responded well to going behind, and Liam O’Brien who retained his place in goal was called upon, keeping out a well-hit volley from Danny Harrison. It was a midfield battle with both teams trying to attack, and with both teams having chances it was obvious that the next goal would determine the way the game was going to go – one for the home side, and they’d manage to defend a two-goal cushion, but an equaliser for Rotherham, and who knows what’d happen – the game would really be in the balance!

And it was Barnet that could have so easily been two goals to the good approaching half time: Ricky Holmes with another excellent cross that somehow missed everyone, including the outstretched leg of man of the match, Sam Deering. Barnet went into the break feeling confident and looking good value for their lead.

Andy Scott made two substitutions at half time with Ben Pringle and Danny Schofield coming on and it was the former that ran the second half for the visitors.

Pringle got the equaliser for Rotherham within five minutes of his introduction, picking up a cross and driving the ball past O’Brien, with what was his first touch.

Barnet 1–1 Rotherham (Pringle ’50)

With Rotherham back in the game, they increased the pressure in an attempt to get the winner. Their chances were made easier with half an hour of play remaining when Barnet were a man-down (for the second time in two matches). Paul Downing, the offender – his first yellow for kicking the ball away, and given his marching orders for a foul on Paul Warne. The majority of home fans believed the decision to be unjust, but he’d made a bad challenge previously, and when you’re already on a yellow, you can’t just jump into rash challenges.

Even a man light, the Bees continued to battle and the performances of Deering and Holmes, given the situation, were a joy to behold; the latter was eventually substituted, much to the frustration of the home faithful. Playing in a 4-4-1 formation with McLeod the loan target, Barnet rallied, but there weren’t many chances of note for either side.

A draw was a fair result and whilst Barnet can be happier with their display this weekend, particularly with 10 men, Rotherham can possibly feel aggrieved for not making their man advantage count. Barnet play Gillingham at Priestfield next, on Tuesday.

 

Attendance: 1,765 (away: 284)

Starting line-ups:

Barnet – O’Brien; Kamdjo, Hector, Downing, Mustoe; Deering, Hughes, Byrne; McLeod, McGleish, Holmes

Rotherham – R.Taylor; Mullins, Raynes, Griffiths; Bradley, Cadogan, Harrison, J.Taylor, Wood; Revell, Harrad

Two minutes with… Rotherham United

With two matches at Underhill this week, Rotherham were the visitors on Saturday afternoon – and it was exactly this weekend a year ago that we played them at the Don Valley. It was a boring 0–0 that day, and it was a point a-piece again, with the scores level at 1–1. Rotherham fan, Dean, shares his match experience and thoughts post-game this time round. You can follow Dean on Twitter @deano83rufc. And for anyone interested in news on the Millers as well as pictures of their new stadium which is due to open in July, follow @rotherhammad or visit ‘MillersMad’, where Dean is Co-Editor.

03/03/12
Barnet 1–1 Rotherham United
(Byrne ’7 – Pringle ’50)
Attendance: 1,765 (away: 284)

How did you get to the game?

We travel by coach to most matches on our own organised bus, and yesterday was no different. Departure from the Colin pub in Kimberworth, Rotherham at 9.30am, arriving at Underhill around 12.45pm after a half hour stop on the way down to get fed and watered!

What did you do pre-match?

We usually go in The Old Red Lion with it being the closest pub, but took a walk down to the Queens Arms to watch the Liverpool/Arsenal clash and have three pints of lager. There was a healthy mix of both sets of fans, including a few in Arsenal shirts too. It was my 5th visit to Barnet and it’s always a relaxed day out.

Where did you sit/stand in the ground?

I stood about halfway along the Central East Terrace – there was just short of 300 of us there – but as usual it’s a decent stand for atmosphere with the low roof to keep the noise in. We'd taken advantage of the Sun tickets token offer, so bought two for £19.50, can't go wrong!

What did you make of the game?

In the first half Rotherham were poor kicking down the slope, with the wind too. Byrne's early free kick set us back a bit but the double change at the break gave us a kick start. Pringle took his goal nicely but a draw was probably a fair result; however, disappointed not to win with the poor run Barnet have been on. Pretty much the story of our season though, inconsistency!

Was the scoreline a fair reflection?

As I said, 1-1 was about right and it was interesting to see two 38 year-olds on the field in Warne and McGleish!

Who, in your opinion was man of the match?
In a scrappy game I thought Ben Pringle was our shining light even though he only figured down the left for 45 minutes.

Who do you play next and how do you think you'll get on?

We take on Crewe at the Don Valley on Tuesday night. Nothing less than a win will do to get back into the play-off race, but I'll go 1-1 again!

Thanks Dean

Travelling taking its toll?

20/08/11 – Rotherham – Don Valley Stadium – 310 miles

23/08/11 – Burnley – Turf Moor – 444 miles

27/08/11 – Bradford – Coral Windows Stadium – 392 miles

30/08/11 – Colchester – Weston Homes Community Stadium – 130 miles

So in just 11 days, Barnet fans, players and staff have been travelling a little under 1300 miles. Obviously when the fixture list came out, we could have no complaints about expecting to have two away games in succession – regardless of distance, especially with most teams being ‘out of the way’. But for two cup competitions (the Carling Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy), resulting in a further two away trips to fall in between those two League games is somewhat unfortunate.

For a small squad like ours, with the numerous injuries to players like Darren Dennehy, and Steve Kabba (who should be okay to play on Saturday against Accrington), the three long trips ‘up North’ have been difficult. With fatigue setting in with the countless training sessions and miles racked up, it’s with no real surprise the team have found it difficult to deliver positive results (Colchester aside).

Managing to hold a Championship Burnley side at the end of 90 minutes in the Carling Cup on their turf could well be the highlight of the aforementioned fixtures. Taking them to extra time miles from home, and then having to travel a similar distance three days later for a League 2 fixture, it’s clear that the same energy and determination would be lacking. Which of course was the case in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of (then manager-less) Bradford City. It would probably be wrong to quickly jump to conclusions and say the team weren’t good enough, and although the defending was similar to what we have been used to expect – how many teams of a similar size and calibre could say they’d not fall short?

I’ve not been able to get to any of the games, so thought it’d be interesting to hear the opinions of someone who was; as well as how the team think they’ve coped.

Fan’s view:

“4 away games in 10 days is not a usual occurrence – beginning with two league games in a row on the Saturdays were scheduled league games at both Rotherham and Bradford. Our progress in the League Cup gave us another away game at probably the longest unattractive game available in Burnley and in the JPT handed us another away game at nearby Colchester on consecutive Tuesdays.

It is apparent that four away games in such a small amount of time is bound to affect the players mentally and physically. However, in our first two games previously at Morecambe and Portsmouth we put some really impressive performances in and ended up winning both 1-0.

At Rotherham we continued to impress and we really should have won this game in which we mostly dominated. Although it’s also fair to say at the start of this four game away special most would have taken a draw, which is how it ended (2-2).

At Burnley we put another decent performance in but tiredness must have kicked in after the initial 90 minutes, and we lost out in Extra time.

At Bradford after a fairly even first half in the second half we just fell apart some bad defending did not help but you have to wonder had all the travelling had taken its toll on some”.

Thanks to Chris Emery

Player’s view:

“We are looking forward to playing in front of our home crowd on Saturday; it’s been a long few days”.

Thanks to Dan Senda, who can be found on Twitter here

League 2 season preview - part four

I thought I’d do something a little different and after completing the Twitter92 a month or so ago, I thought it’d be apt to see what my fellow League 2 supporters thought about their aspirations and expectations for their teams in the coming season. Here is part four (of four):

Port Vale       

Josh Green – Twitter

“I can see another bumpy season ahead at Vale Park! With all the off the pitch aggro we will be lucky to stay in the top half as everyone need to pull together for a promotion push and I can't see that happening any time soon. With attendances dropping (www.starve-em-out.co.uk) and increased pressure on the board all of this will overshadow anything that happens on the pitch!

Look out for John McCombe! Took pretty much every club award last season and I have every faith that he will do it again. With us not having much fire power our defence will have to be on top form once again.

I would say Crawley first game as this should give a glimpse of what we can expect this season not only with new players but with attendances/protests. Other than that Crewe and Shrewsbury are always tasty games as for some reason they seem to hate us.

With Micky back who knows what could happen over the next 46 games but it won’t be short of ups and downs. Enjoy the new season of Emmervale! V2001 OUT”.    
      
Rotherham United     

Gareth Simmons – Twitter – Blog

 “In all honesty, I really don’t know. It’s going to go one of two ways. We’re either going to be really good and be challenging for promotion, or, it’s not going to work and we’ll end up in the bottom third. This is due to the complete overhaul we’ve had this summer both with the backroom staff and playing staff. Also, we’re still two signing away from challenging for promotion.

From the games I’ve seen so far it has to be Lewis Grabban. He’s got a touch of pace, a trick or two and seems to have an eye for goal. He’ll certainly trouble opposition defenders and with the right partner, we could have a good strike force on our hands.

Not really got any games to look forward to, sadly. After Chesterfield went up our closest game is Bradford. Burton away is always a good day out, and obviously, I look forward to the game that will hopefully send us up, if we’re going to be challenging.

If Andy Scott can get two more signings, especially a big target man, then it could end up being a good season. Looking at our squad now, we just seem to lack a physical presence and some height. Another centre back wouldn’t go a miss as well as a left back. Then we could possibly be talking about promotion”.

Shrewsbury Town    

 Steve Bradford – Twitter

“I think this season will produce a similar finishing position to the last (4th), however I feel this will be our year to succeed in the play offs and gain promotion to League 1. The last few years we have suffered some bad lack with the Gillingham play off final winner in 2009 coming from a corner that never was in the 90th minute and last season’s phantom goal by Wycombe which went on to cost us an automatic spot. I feel lady luck may just be on our side this season and all will end on a high.

We have the ever reliable centre backs of Ian Sharps and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, but new signing Reuben Hazel won’t have dropped a league to sit on the bench so competition for places is high. I think this year in midfield Sean McAllister and Lionel Ainsworth will offer us more than they did last season, they both will have had a full pre season behind them and providing they keep fit I feel they will create a lot of chances. These chances will hopefully be converted by new signing Marvin Morgan who in my opinion is an improvement on Matt Harrold who we have sold to Bristol Rovers. James Collins, another new signing Terry Gornell from Accrington and promising youngster Tom Bradshaw will be fighting for a the remaining place alongside Marvin Morgan.

One game I was looking forward to before the fixtures were announced was AFC Wimbledon away as I have great respect for what they have achieved in such a short space of time. Hereford away is always one I look forward to as it’s an easy 3 points for us. Weekenders are possibly Southend in September and Plymouth in March next year. As well as grounds I have not yet visited which I want to knock off this year: Derby County (League Cup), Gillingham, Bristol Rovers, Southend, Crawley Town, Swindon Town and Plymouth.

Southend United    

Tom Ross – Twitter

“Anything less than promotion in my (and the rest of the Southend fans) eyes would be a failure we have a good squad which have jelled well during the last 12 months after everything that happened last season.

Ryan Hall and Jemal Johnson on the wings and Barry Corr and Neil Harris upfront banging in the goals are players to look out for. Alassane N'Diaye looks a beast with no-one getting past him. Kane Ferdinand cousin of Rio came in from the youth teams at the beginning of 2011 and has made the defensive-mid position his. And cannot forget about the defensive tank that is Bilel Mohsni, a bit of a loose cannon but when on form he is unstoppable! And can do a decent job upfront.

Looking forward to all of our games, most notably our local-ish games as once again not playing Colchester: Orient in the cup, Crawley, Wimbledon, Barnet and Gillingham”.

Swindon Town  

James Spencer – Twitter

“A few weeks ago when we hardly had a team I would have said we’d finish mid table at best but now we have signed a few quality players and done well in a few pre-season games I think we will certainly be challenging in the top 3.

I think Matt Richie, Paul Caddis, Jonathan Smith and also Alan Connell will be key for us this season.

It’s been a long while since we played Oxford so that comes about quite soon in late August – definitely one to look forward to; as well as the League cup game against Bristol City, which should be good”.

Torquay United  

Andy Charles – Twitter

“If you had asked a couple of weeks or a month ago I'd have struggled to find much positive to say. The appointment of Martin Ling was met with derision and we lost the heart of our team from last year (Bevan, Branston, Stanley, Zebroski) but pre-season and Ling's signings have changed all of that. Suddenly from being told we were looking a value price to be relegated we have pundits claiming we could repeat last year's play-off run. I'm looking forward to it now but we have a really tough start to the season so that will probably tell us everything we need to know.

Eunan O'Kane, now seemingly established in a central midfield role, has the ability to play much higher than League Two. He's been linked with a few Championship sides already and our worry is that we don't get to see much of him this season. Hopefully long enough to make an impact at least. The rest are all new boys, ones we are looking forward to see build a heart to the team. Keeper Bobby Olejnik is an Austria U21 international, Brian Saah has it to prove in the league all over again and striker Rene Howe can hopefully build a career now he is with a team that actually wants him unlike Peterborough. Most exciting signing is probably Ian Morris - a proper left-winger with a left-foot, something we haven't had in a decade. Look out for youngster Saul Halpin as well - real prospect who went for a trial with Derby last year and scored a hat-trick in his only game for their reserves.

Bristol Rovers home and away will be interesting to say the least after former manager Paul Buckle's questionable departure this summer - fair to say the fans do not like him a lot these days. Crawley because we just don't like them or their managerial staff and Plymouth because of the local factor. Hard to say we are actually rivals because we've played each other so infrequently - I just hope they don't go out of business before then which would be a tragedy for their fans. And personally, Barnet because it's nice and local for me and a lovely club to visit.

I'm just hoping the 'dark siders' we have among our support give Martin Ling and the new players a chance to build into a team. It's tough having so many new faces around at the same time after four seasons of almost complete stability and some of the signings (Chris McPhee, Martin Rice) returning to the club have been met with a mixture of laughter and disgust. And anyone hoping to come to Torquay as an away fan and sit down will be unlucky - our creaking main stand is being demolished and replaced with something bright and shiny - won't be ready until February at the earliest, meaning it's standing room only for visitors”.

And I would like to take this opportunity to thank all 24 fans for their input – it is much appreciated. Hopefully I’ll get to meet a couple of them (as well seeing a few familiar faces again) this season.

Read their blogs, follow them etc.