Takeover of the club at an advanced stage

Richinns · Post by **Richinns** » 16 Mar 2016, 10:36

I realise the relegation fight has taken much of the limelight recently but it seems to me that the fact the club are close to a takeover has very much gone under the radar.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35819817
and
http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/T ... story.html

As much as you hold hope that this will be a good thing for the club the recent noises and public questioning of the board from the TUST is ringing alarm bells which we really need to be aware of as a fan base.

Please do not take this as a slight against the current owners but I do worry greatly that those we are talking to (and looking to hand the reigns over to) are not going to serve the best interests of the club but rather are in it for their own individual gains.

The whole situation is very cloak and dagger and the line from Bill Phillips of "When it's all gone through then the fans will be the first to know" illustrates perfectly the TUST's concerns and if followed it would mean the takeover would be completed unchallenged by those who matter the most - the fans.

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 16 Mar 2016, 11:19

Why would any takeover need to be challenged? The current owners have the best interests of the club at heart. They have kept the club alive. They should be trusted to inform the fans of the situation at an appropriate stage.

If the TUST truly regards itself as a supporters trust, then it should support the board. Instead, it seems to regard itself as already part-owners of the club and peeved at not being included as part of the board's activities. Sorry but that's how TUST comes across to the fans. And that could be quite off-putting to any potential buyer. For TUST to consider itself as potential owners of the club is just a pipe dream, and will be for a long time to come.

The best thing TUST can do now is to stay silent and say nothing, focus on increasing membership and raising funds, and aim to be more like a proper supporters club.

TUST_Member_Rob · Post by **TUST_Member_Rob** » 16 Mar 2016, 11:53

surely involves peter masters or his son

Already has shares in TUFC (well under the guise of his son) and as reported he's been at plainmoor a lot recently!

TUFC maybe staying up and/or Truro not going up i'd probably see us as a better chance to get back into the league

Behind-the-Gulls · Post by **Behind-the-Gulls** » 16 Mar 2016, 12:20

Gullscorer wrote:Why would any takeover need to be challenged? The current owners have the best interests of the club at heart. They have kept the club alive. They should be trusted to inform the fans of the situation at an appropriate stage.

If the TUST truly regards itself as a supporters trust, then it should support the board. Instead, it seems to regard itself as already part-owners of the club and peeved at not being included as part of the board's activities. Sorry but that's how TUST comes across to the fans. And that could be quite off-putting to any potential buyer. For TUST to consider itself as potential owners of the club is just a pipe dream, and will be for a long time to come.

The best thing TUST can do now is to stay silent and say nothing, focus on increasing membership and raising funds, and aim to be more like a proper supporters club.

Well Mike Bateson also had the "best interests of the club at heart"-didn't stop him selling to Chris Roberts did it?

Richinns · Post by **Richinns** » 16 Mar 2016, 12:23

Gullscorer wrote:Why would any takeover need to be challenged? The current owners have the best interests of the club at heart. They have kept the club alive. They should be trusted to inform the fans of the situation at an appropriate stage.

If the TUST truly regards itself as a supporters trust, then it should support the board. Instead, it seems to regard itself as already part-owners of the club and peeved at not being included as part of the board's activities. Sorry but that's how TUST comes across to the fans. And that could be quite off-putting to any potential buyer. For TUST to consider itself as potential owners of the club is just a pipe dream, and will be for a long time to come.

The best thing TUST can do now is to stay silent and say nothing, focus on increasing membership and raising funds, and aim to be more like a proper supporters club.

So you are happy for the Chairman of another football club dictating our future? Leave him to it you say? Inspired!

TUST should stay silent and say nothing? Sorry - I do not pay my membership for them to do that. They are the voice piece of the fans and should not be ignored by those who find it easier to make decisions without fan involvement.

In all honesty your post if limited and ignorant and if things go further tits up because of the outcomes of this takeover then yours (and attitudes like it) will be partially to blame.

PhilGull · Post by **PhilGull** » 16 Mar 2016, 12:26

Gullscorer wrote:Why would any takeover need to be challenged? The current owners have the best interests of the club at heart. They have kept the club alive. They should be trusted to inform the fans of the situation at an appropriate stage.

If the TUST truly regards itself as a supporters trust, then it should support the board. Instead, it seems to regard itself as already part-owners of the club and peeved at not being included as part of the board's activities. Sorry but that's how TUST comes across to the fans. And that could be quite off-putting to any potential buyer. For TUST to consider itself as potential owners of the club is just a pipe dream, and will be for a long time to come.

The best thing TUST can do now is to stay silent and say nothing, focus on increasing membership and raising funds, and aim to be more like a proper supporters club.

I would say the opposite. Torquay United Football Club is OUR club. We need to keep an eye on what is happening, turn our backs and let the 'owners' get on with doing what they like and the club could disappear before we know what has happened.

I am very grateful to the current board for doing what they did to save the club and I am sure that they only have the best interests of the club at heart. But so did Mike bateson when he did a deal with Roberts, so did Thea when she gave Bill Philipps so much power. Good intentions do not always turn in to positive results. The history books are full of former football clubs that fell in to the wrong hands and ended up disappearing.

If Masters took over and the worst happened - we got relegated and Truro got promoted that could be it for us - the best bits going to Cornwall and the rest in the bin.

Neal · Post by **Neal** » 16 Mar 2016, 12:33

In the end TUFC is the Fans. IF.... we all still exist it doesn't matter what happens, even if it meant the whole thing collapsing, we just have to do a Wimbledon, not the ideal situation but if that's whats needed that's what we would have to do. But I think that is very unlikely!

PhilGull · Post by **PhilGull** » 16 Mar 2016, 12:37

Neal wrote:In the end TUFC is the Fans. IF.... we all still exist it doesn't matter what happens, even if it meant the whole thing collapsing, we just have to do a Wimbledon, not the ideal situation but if that's whats needed that's what we would have to do. But I think that is very unlikely!

You say that like it's simple. "No worries, no need to fight for the club, if it all goes wrong we'll just do a Wimbledon." If only!

Richinns · Post by **Richinns** » 16 Mar 2016, 12:44

Neal wrote:In the end TUFC is the Fans. IF.... we all still exist it doesn't matter what happens, even if it meant the whole thing collapsing, we just have to do a Wimbledon, not the ideal situation but if that's whats needed that's what we would have to do. But I think that is very unlikely!

gateman49 · Post by **gateman49** » 16 Mar 2016, 13:21

I also disagree with Gullscorer regarding TUST and if I can pick up one comment in his posting above, TUST isn't and shouldn't ever be a 'supporters' club'. It has a completely different role which has been eloquently outlined by others.

torq2u · Post by **torq2u** » 16 Mar 2016, 13:48

I think this is bound to be very unsettling for all, especially the team - it could derail The Survival Express.

New owners, with their own ideas about team management. No matter how well Nicho does in The Great Escape, he probably wont stand a chance of keeping his job next season. Bad timing or what?

Richinns · Post by **Richinns** » 16 Mar 2016, 14:54

yellowsmiffy wrote:If Nico keeps us up, he will have done an incredible job considering the constraints. I'd hope a new board would recognise that and support him. They would immediately make themselves rather unpopular with the already downtrodden fan base.

New board, New stadium, great escape attempt... It's all a bit crazy at the moment isn't it.

In almost impossible circumstances he has done an incredible job to even get close to safety. Regardless if we go down or stay up he deserves to be here next season. With his team (not Cox's) we have looked decent at this level. Changing the manager every season only does harm. We know this from previous experience and I would hope the incoming board would have the insight to see this and stick with Nicho

Post by **Eirik** » 16 Mar 2016, 16:05

Richinns wrote: We know this from previous experience and I would hope the incoming board would have the insight to see this and stick with Nicho

But we don't have the best track record when it comes to continuing with the manager behind our Great Escapes either

Hopefully Nicho won't fall into that category.

wbw · Post by **wbw** » 16 Mar 2016, 16:50

But any deal will include the ground, surely?

Kernowgull · Post by **Kernowgull** » 16 Mar 2016, 17:42

wbw wrote:But any deal will include the ground, surely?

We don't own the ground.

Torquay United Fans Forum