The plate you mention is most likely the heat shield to protect the heater hoses. It's not uncommon for it to break if it is broken, I'd see if you can pull it out of it's hiding hole.
If the clip on the back of the turbo is missing you'd have a pretty major exhaust leak, I'd expect it's there, just a little hidden. The seal between the exhaust and turbo could be the problem, but don't discount an exhaust manifold leak somewhere either.
More pics would be useful.
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