Great appointment.

[stefano]

Taxi lady - where do I give the impression that I attend every game. The last two matches I have attended were Wrexham and Cheltenham. After the Cheltenham game I havn't been again because I chose to exercise my judgement - my opinion was that losing 3-0 to ten men would mean that we would most probably end up losing most games and look what happened?
I hope Nicholson gets a win today for all those supporters who go to the game and have paid money game in game out to see us lose all the time. Believe me I know how frustrating that is. If I lived in Torquay I would no doubt still turn up every game but I have long since lost the will to make the effort to watch garbage.
As for those hoping it will rain today - well thanks but its a bright sunny day. Ten minutes in the car, watch a game and then in the pub afterwards. then home to watch the rugby. Its a better day out then trekking down to Plainmoor. If that offends anyone well basically tough.

I sat in the sun with a beer in hand in Plymouth city centre watching World Cup rugby Samoa v Japan on the big screen. It was like being in heaven! Bus home to Ivybridge. Whilst I was hoping against hope that Torquay were winning as I was sitting there actually enjoying a Saturday afternoon having got home to check (before changing and walking to the pub for the S Africa v Scotland second half and then the highlight of the year England v Kangaroos) I find that the manager has incredibly picked himself (you couldn't really make it up!) and we are predictably 2-0 down. Not worried at this juncture as we have recovered a 3 goal deficit against these clowns before, but unfortunately it is now us who are kings of the Coco (he was a clown) so overall I agree with Brucie and Wivel.

PS It has always been my ambition to do a more confusing post than Trojan - I may just have achieved it!

[brucie]

Well I had a great afternoon as well 3-2 to Fremington youngsters against a highly experienced Ilfracombe side who included one Pete Varley who once scored the winner at Wembley in the FA Trophy Final.
Stefano - I am disturbed you are not going either - but I guess you are as old and wise as me, and have finally said enough is enough. Nearly 2000 at Plainmoor - a fantastic crowd in the circumstances.
Had my phone on alerts but depressingly its always the same - another goal goes against us everytime the bloody thing goes off.
I was appalled that Nicholson picked himself today - even more appalled that he said in a radio interview " I am a good left back at this level".
The bloke is a deluded fool whose ego appears to be the size of a block of flats.
He cannot possibly manage the team whilst he is playing and does not have an assistant - it is just a ridiculous situation.
He came out with another load of claptrap afterwards - " I will get the players enjoying themselves".
Basically the situation is hopeless and is beyond repair.

[Modgull]

Not very impressed with his radio interview after the match - he must be deluded if he thought that neither side had many chances! 4 - 0 would not have flattered Aldershot who played some really effective football at times.

[nickbrod]

Nico might turn out to be a brilliant manager but not with this group of players.

[notnow]

Nico might turn out to be a brilliant manager but not with this group of players.

Yes I have to agree. Us fans have been very patient, we have seen it week in week out, yet Nico needs to find out for himself and he will find out what we already know. If that's what its going to take then so be it, as long as we still have a reasonable standard of footy here then that's the best we can expect. Sigh.....

[tomogull]

A very hard choice for me as well. Spend £70, a three hour drive, and watch 90 minutes of dross or watch Fremington v Ilfracombe. Guesswhere I won't be?

Well, it seems Brucie had better entertainment for his money than those of us who went to watch Torquay/Aldershot so he's had the last laugh. He's taken a bit of stick on this thread but I have to admit that if I lived in North Devon (or Ivybridge where Stefano resides), I think I would have forsaken Plainmoor last season. I can't work out how it costs Brucie £70 to get to Plainmoor, though. He can't drink much cos he's driving, so either fuel prices in North Devon are sky high or he eats a lot of pasties and chips at matches.

[brucie]

No you are quite right it doesn't actually cost me that much - more like £45 odd I suppose. Its not a question of having the last laugh or particularly the money really.
Believe me I don't want the team to lose as I say everytime my phone alert goes off you can guarantee the opposition have scored which is really quite depressing.
Its just not worth the time and effort.
Look at the crowd yesterday - nigh on 2000. I know there were a few visiting fans there but that's more than half of what some teams in this league get and we cannot compete with anyone.
I havn't got anything against Nicholson but really his appointment is laughable (or it would be if there was anything to smile about)
Playing himself yesterday was ludicrous - all we have in the dugout is Kenny fecking Veysey who is useless as well. He is supposed to be coaching Speiss (and indeed Rice last season) but they never get any better.
Dave Phillips seems a nice guy - but genuinely I don't think him and Steve Breed could run a piss up in a brewery.
The whole shebang is a three ringed circus if ever there was one.
Some people were saying that Hurst was strolling around yesterday - if that's true what a disgraceful attitude that is.
Can anyone actually see us getting a point from a game let alone three cause I can't.
It is an unmitigated disaster.

[notnow]

No you are quite right it doesn't actually cost me that much - more like £45 odd I suppose. Its not a question of having the last laugh or particularly the money really.
Believe me I don't want the team to lose as I say everytime my phone alert goes off you can guarantee the opposition have scored which is really quite depressing.
Its just not worth the time and effort.
Look at the crowd yesterday - nigh on 2000. I know there were a few visiting fans there but that's more than half of what some teams in this league get and we cannot compete with anyone.
I havn't got anything against Nicholson but really his appointment is laughable (or it would be if there was anything to smile about)
Playing himself yesterday was ludicrous - all we have in the dugout is Kenny fecking Veysey who is useless as well. He is supposed to be coaching Speiss (and indeed Rice last season) but they never get any better.
Dave Phillips seems a nice guy - but genuinely I don't think him and Steve Breed could run a piss up in a brewery.
The whole shebang is a three ringed circus if ever there was one.
Some people were saying that Hurst was strolling around yesterday - if that's true what a disgraceful attitude that is.
Can anyone actually see us getting a point from a game let alone three cause I can't.
It is an unmitigated disaster.

To be fair you're quite right. But have to have hope.

[brucie]

Blimey it didn't take you long to become disillusioned

[Southampton Gull]

Terry, we bang our heads up against each other from time to time but in private we always get along so what I would say to you is that if fans take your stance there is only one way the club will go. There is no doubt in my mind that the previous regime gave the current one very little scope for manoeuvre. What they need is for us to support the club and get through this season so we can start to rebuild the club. You have a choice and are quite within your rights to exercise that choice any way you see fit BUT surely you can see how its a vicious circle? If just a few hundred fans bit the bullet and started to go regularly again the difference it would make to the club is massive. I know you bleed yellow, but what colour will you bleed if we go out of business? Will that game you went to yesterday satisfy your football fix? I very much doubt it.

For the situation we are in Nicholson was the best candidate. Will he make mistakes? Yes, he undoubtedly will. Is he focussed on us and happy to be there? Very much so. A little bit of faith and support from people like yourself he will stand a far better chance of succeeding. Do yourself and the rest of our support a favour, bite that bullet and invest in your club, they really do need you.

[frenchgull]

Bruce I think you are like the rest of us and deep down you are really hurting,some people just go quiet some people keep on believing and some people have to vent their feelings.All I know is if you love Torquay you should turn up and support them,if you don't why would you keep on posting negative thoughts.

[Dave]

Terry, we bang our heads up against each other from time to time but in private we always get along so what I would say to you is that if fans take your stance there is only one way the club will go. There is no doubt in my mind that the previous regime gave the current one very little scope for manoeuvre. What they need is for us to support the club and get through this season so we can start to rebuild the club. You have a choice and are quite within your rights to exercise that choice any way you see fit BUT surely you can see how its a vicious circle? If just a few hundred fans bit the bullet and started to go regularly again the difference it would make to the club is massive. I know you bleed yellow, but what colour will you bleed if we go out of business? Will that game you went to yesterday satisfy your football fix? I very much doubt it.

For the situation we are in Nicholson was the best candidate. Will he make mistakes? Yes, he undoubtedly will. Is he focussed on us and happy to be there? Very much so. A little bit of faith and support from people like yourself he will stand a far better chance of succeeding. Do yourself and the rest of our support a favour, bite that bullet and invest in your club, they really do need you.

Sums up my feelings perfectly. I've walked out of Plainmoor after the last two home games feeling devastated with how things have gone are going, but I realise staying away will only help the club into oblivion.

[hector]

Terry, we bang our heads up against each other from time to time but in private we always get along so what I would say to you is that if fans take your stance there is only one way the club will go. There is no doubt in my mind that the previous regime gave the current one very little scope for manoeuvre. What they need is for us to support the club and get through this season so we can start to rebuild the club. You have a choice and are quite within your rights to exercise that choice any way you see fit BUT surely you can see how its a vicious circle? If just a few hundred fans bit the bullet and started to go regularly again the difference it would make to the club is massive. I know you bleed yellow, but what colour will you bleed if we go out of business? Will that game you went to yesterday satisfy your football fix? I very much doubt it.

For the situation we are in Nicholson was the best candidate. Will he make mistakes? Yes, he undoubtedly will. Is he focussed on us and happy to be there? Very much so. A little bit of faith and support from people like yourself he will stand a far better chance of succeeding. Do yourself and the rest of our support a favour, bite that bullet and invest in your club, they really do need you.

You are right here, Dave, in that if supporters continue to go, to will make a difference. But whether it is £20, £40, £70 or more, that fans pay to attend a game, then there needs to be at least be hope.

When you see our league position, our run of results and then the unqualified novice appointed as manager, it really extinguishes any sign of hope and then for many, if the future is this, then they don't really care if it is lost anyway.

The Sherpa Van Final thread on here is a harsh reminder of how we once were - and even that side was largely a poor one - but it took me back to a time when I lived and breathed TUFC. I feel very differently about the club now. I just feel worn down by it and yesterday was the first time since the Roberts era (when like many others I boycotted games) that I did not go to a Saturday game without having something it clashed with. I have missed games of course, if on holiday, or some other clash, and midweek games I find difficult to attend, but this was the first Saturday game I have missed that I could have gone to (other than the boycotts) since the Webb era.

I just woke up and thought that I didn't really care whether TUFC won or lost, I couldn't remember the last time I enjoyed going there, and so questioned why I would spend around £40, once entrance fee, travel and extras had been factored in, to go to something I felt ambivalent about or no longer enjoy. Having not seen much of my kids during the week, I wasn't going to pay, to spend another day away from them, doing something I don't even enjoy. And did I miss it? Part of me did. I listened to bits of it and I missed seeing my friends but after reading and hearing reports I was glad I didn't go.

Would a revitalised phoenix club be a better option? Would a galvanised TUST-owned/formed club moving forward be better than the club that is currently sinking like a stone?

The current guise of TUFC is just spiralling in ever decreasing circles. It isn't looking likely that we will survive relegation from this awful, poxy league, and so a part-time version in Conference South will likely struggle in the way clubs like Weston/Weymouth/Dorchester do and eventually become a regional entity playing Tiverton. The worse the football, the smaller the crowds, the smaller the budget, the worse the players are, the worse the football is and so on - and it doesn't help when the club appoint an unsuitable novice to run the team - it just accelerates the decline, as it did with Hargreaves.

So, it is no wonder that many are making the choice to find something more productive to do with their time.

Those who don't attend will probably be much maligned but then again it is all very well for others who still wish to attend to try and demand how others spend their money.

[Southampton Gull]

You're absolutely right and I understand that totally but being the stubborn so and so that I am I just can't give up on the club I love. I don't get to many games myself these days but my private way of contributing is to pay for two of my family members to go that otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to go. I've seen enough over the past few seasons to understand your point of view completely but as I said previously, if you stop going then it will only result in one thing, the end of the club as we know it.

[brucie]

That's a great gesture. As I have said if I lived in Torquay I would still go to every game but it would need something better than that currently on offer to make the effort of travelling to a game now.
There hasn't been a season (even the Roberts one) when I have attended one game but in all honesty since we went pear shaped around the Xmas before Ling took ill I can't remember watching the team win.
Hector is right - there has to at least be hope.
You say that Nicholson was the best appointment we could hope for - you probably mean the best we could afford I guess.
I would like to see some hope that we could get out of this mess, but I see none. I was just dismayed when I saw that Nicholson was playing yesterday. Butlers an ok full back - he's better than Nico that's for sure, but he isn't a central midfielder.
This league isn't very good. There are a whole host of clubs who are smaller than us, training twice a week, have crowds half our size, yet are higher in the table than us.
We are supposed to be a full time side for goodness sake. There is no excuse for our performances which are nothing short of pathetic. With Cox in charge we were poor but at least in most games we were competing.
Since he has gone - well Boreham Wood, Bromley, Lincoln, Aldershot - wins for the opposition who have had to do little more than break sweat. That tells its own story.