Posts Tagged ‘Lincoln City’
Gulls ready to fly again
There was no better side in League Two at the end of last season than Torquay United, who staved off fears of relegation straight back to the Blue Square Premier with a run of eight games unbeaten.
Those performances were all the more creditable considering the pressure Paul Buckle’s team was under and the opponents they faced, defying the nPower League Two betting odds by going the last seven of those matches without even conceding a goal.
Champions Notts County ended a five-game winning streak with a goalless draw on the final day of the season, after Rochdale had been thrashed 5-0, and playoff chasers Bury and Aldershot both went down to heavy home defeats.
It wouldn’t be too far off the mark to expect similar levels of performance to open the 2010-11 season, since the personnel at Plainmoor has not changed a lot, and if anything has been improved since the end of last season.
Gone from Buckle’s squad are loan goalkeeper Michael Poke, winger Mustapha Carayol who is now with Lincoln City and striker Scott Rendell, who has joined Wycombe after a successful loan spell with the Gulls.
But Torquay have been active in the transfer market themselves, signing former Cambridge keeper Danny Potter to compete with Scott Bevan for the No 1 shirt, adding striker Billy Kee from Leicester and midfielder Damon Lathrope, who had been captaining Norwich City’s reserve team.
However the biggest addition might just have come this week when veteran centre-back Guy Branston returned to the club on a permanent deal after being a huge success on loan from Burton Albion last season.
Although having problems with his temper in the past, Branston brought Torquay just what they needed last season – experience and determination – and it is no coincidence that their improvement came after his arrival.
Branston’s know-how improved centre-back colleague Mark Ellis no end, and the no- nonsense youngster looks like having a very good career ahead of him, and the man known as ‘Pickler’ will again be a key man.
Talking of key, remember the name Billy Kee as well. Fifteen goals on loan in League Two for Accrington last season marked him out as a player to watch and he has been in sensational pre-season form with nine goals at time of writing as the Gulls have beaten the likes of Plymouth – who are involved in League one betting this season - and Bristol City and given QPR a good game.
Tags: Betting Odds, Bevan, Burton Albion, Chasers, Eight Games, Game Winning Streak, Goalkeeper, Lincoln City, Mark Ellis, Midfielder, Mustapha, Norwich City, Notts County, Npower, Rendell, Rochdale, Straight Back, Torquay United, Winger, Youngster