The vultures are already circulating over the head of manager Graham Barrow's head. A dismal 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Torquay brought about chants for his sacking in this the second match of the season.

A field day for the whingers. Already Dale are facing an uphill battle for the rest of the season, as they slumped to an average Torquay side 2-0 at home which leaves Dale stuck at the bottom of the Football League. Graham Barrow had announced a much more positive team sheet than the one put out at Wigan on Tuesday but they produced little evidence if this throughout the entire match. The Torquay keeper was rarely troubled except for a couple of high crosses after about half an hour.

Dale started slowly but never looked in any trouble. Torquay scored after fifteen minutes when they launched their first attack if you could call it that. A poor back pass to Edwards left him facing a Torquay forward. Edwards, obviously worried about giving away a penalty in his challenge, hesitated, and it was left for Scott Partridge to finish easily.

Debutant Diaz showed signs of what is to come but lacked the support of the rest of his team. He put over a couple of high crosses which caused problems for the young Torquy keeeper but there were no Dale players in to get on the end of them.

It was felt that Dale could easily turn things around in the second half, but to no avail. Torquay increased their lead halfway through the second half when Scott Partridge, who caused problems for Dale all afternoon, fired home from an acute angle.

Dale tried to get back into things but were sadly lacking ideas. Substitutes were made but things rarely improved.
The final whistle came to a crescendo of boos from the home support.

Things must improve on this. We all know that this was not good enough. The injured Alan Johnson was sorely missed, as replacement Keith Hill was on another planet all afternoon. His passing was wayward and he never dealt with Partridge at all. Ian Bryson, who came on late as a substitute, does not look up to the grade. I know he is getting on, but there is no excuse for bottling out of challenges. Can he not head the ball? We try to play an aerial game. Fine, but when our forwards are below 5'9" up against 6 foot plus defenders, things will not work.

Everyone realised that this was not a good performance, the manager, the players, the fans but there is no point in booing the team halfway through the first home game. What good did that achieve? I am sure that some people only come to have a whinge. As for shouting for the manager's head, he has just signed a player who could turn out to be one of the clubs most exciting signings. It has been felt that Dale have never replaced Dave Thompson on the right wing, well here's your man! It will take time coming together. I do not believe for one moment it is a lack of motivation as it felt by many.

I would suggest that if GB wants to play the aerial game, give young David Gray a game. he has admitted himself after the Burnley game that he admires his effort and workload. He may be a little clumsy at times, but he causes problems for defenders. Stick Lenny back in midfield alongside Peakey. Play Diaz and Stuart from the start. At least if he does this it will give two big blokes on the end of the crosses. Defenders are currently realising that Lenny is the one player capable of winning anything in the air and picking him up every time.

Dale: Edwards, Sparrow(Painter), Stokes(Stuart), Hill, Bayliss, Farrell, Diaz, Lancashire, Leonard, Peake, Jones (Bryson)

Photo: Action Images

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