Torquay United Fans Forum

Stoneybroke wrote: ↑01 Apr 2024, 08:30 Torquay 2- WSM 1 ...must take these 3 points.

Hopefully Dawson and Hanson will be back !!!

I would be amazed if Hanson is present today, since he joined Tonbridge Angels in february.

Would agree that Friday was very much a free hit, but the meek surrender in the second half was very much indicative of our season. For the first half an hour we were actually pretty competitive (I thought the better side) but Ash looks incredibly lightweight up there on his own; he had 2 decent chances that an in-form and confident striker would have, at the very least, given the goalkeeper something to worry about. Second half you never really felt we'd get back into it, which is concerning again.

Anyway - today. Torquay 3-1 WSM.

Weston won on friday after losing 4 in a row, so that *probably* prevents them from dragged into the relegation battle, but they're not totally safe.

TommyGunn wrote: ↑28 Mar 2024, 15:48 I think I found it?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68512186

The TUST said at that time that it was unlikely they would make a bid. I assume now that there are no other suitable bids and it's either us running it, or going bust and to start again lower down the leagues as a phoenix club? Maybe we only have those options? Maybe it would be best to start again at a lower level as we know nothing all about running a club? Mistaes at a lower level won't matter so much. Need more info.

We don't know the conversations that have happened between this consortium and the Trust. I could see a situation in which the consortium have the readies to buy the club but feel that - since they're not immortal - it makes sense to have the trust involved at the boardroom level. If that's true, then it's reasonable that the trust would be asked to buy-in in the same way as any other member ofa consortium.

timing of the trust statement is intereststing, imo - I wonder if they've chosen to go public now because there are competing offers and they want the fans to to be 'on board' with one versus another.

obviously, I don't know all the details, but I don't think it's necessarily something we should be afraid of. As you said, though - more info needed.

fully expect us to lose handily, but this is honestly the exact situation where we'll get a result at Huish Park before being terrible on Monday and losing to Weston-Super-Mare

Yeovil 1-2 Torquay

The Great Muta! wrote: ↑24 Mar 2024, 19:13 It's funny how fans see things differently, for me 17 losses would suggest this leagues been tougher than we thought it would be, even some of those wins in the 1st ten games we rode our luck, Aveley away, Braintree at home etc, Truro at home battered us, even Slough at home, Aveley, Taunton recently etc, all at times have made us look like the part timers, H&R yesterday had 1 fit striker so it hard to judge them on yesterday alone, they are part time and had played mid week, We are still full time with vast experience..Its a combination of underachieving, tougher opposition and behind the scenes issues have all played their part in where we are, I'm not entirely sure who out of this bunch I'd keep?.

The squad we'd put together coming into the season should absolutely have been play-off bound at the very least. They were mostly players who had done well towards the backend of last season. Our recruitment was poor in that plenty of the players we kept on ended up being injured, and that meant we didn't get to use our 'first XI' until very recently. Most of us felt pre-season that we were light in central defence, and so it has proved with goal after goal being conceded, and that's arguably the most frustrating part; it's been obvious to everybody since late august that we let in too many, but nobody was brought in to address it. Now that the owner has pulled out, it's entirely possible that the manager was told 'no more budget', but bloody hell, at least coach the defenders we do have on how not to let a 60 yard straight ball defeat us.

Jarvis, Hall, Lapslie, Dawson, Collins, Stobbs, Martin. All of these players whom you'd expect to be starting have been out for *months* this season, and that's just not good enough. Some of those (Jarvis and Stobbs that I can remember) were in game injuries, but some of the others are baffling. For example, did we know that Dawson was going to be out for 5 months *before* we offered him a contract? If not, why not, and if we did, that's just poor.

I don't know what the situation is regarding contracts for next year, but assuming they're basically all free to leave, who wohuld you keep? I'd offer a deal to probably Stobbs, Collins, Jarvis, Ash, and Lapslie. But I doubt more than 1 of them would sign even assuming we have a proper owner at that stage. Jarvis is clearly on his way out, and Collins and Stobbs could probably get a NL club too. I love Hall and Moxey but I don't know if either of them would fancy another NLS season. Hall would maybe go into coaching.

it's a complete squad rebuild in the summer, for sure.

Pretty sure it's not Osborne paying. His statement said he could no longer fund the club. It seems apparent that all of the revenue of from the home games since the announcement - plus whatever has been donated directly to the club - will be used to pay wages come the end of the month (don't know the exact date).

This is why he's filed the Notice of Intent for administration - he's walked away, presumably because the council told him again he couldn't just have Plainmoor without some sort of realistic plan to replace it.

dagglebert wrote: ↑18 Mar 2024, 09:38 We are not yet in administration. When, as seems likely, we are the situation may change. But we don't know what the loan or financial arrangements are. Nelson went back almost staright away. Personally I'd be glad for Arkell-Boyd and WJD to stay as long as possible as they are two of our better players. I'd assume they aren't as worried about the situation as others as they have clubs to go to.

Interesting that WJD hasn't started the last two games, though. Thought he had been pretty good since his return. I think Downes needed to make space for Dawson, and then when Collins was 'rested' (having played 3 games since christmas) brough in Lapslie, presumably to stiffen the midfield a bit. We can see how that panned out.

think I gave up on winning the prediction league months ago, so Tonbridge 2-5 Torquay

4-1 again.

PainInTheGULLiver85 wrote: ↑10 Mar 2024, 10:51 The energy and confidence early 2nd half, was refreshing for all to see, after to be fair a lacklustre first half.

Many good performers and hopefully the beginning of a run of the form we will need to sneak into playoffs.

Good to see Leroy, Southend away one of our clubs greatest days. Except the pre match entertainment

come on now, who doesn't love the Cheeky Girls?

(yes, it was a great day)

Vick wrote: ↑09 Mar 2024, 14:12 I really don't get the sudden decision to go the administration route. Why not just put the club up for sale without the added risk to the football club?

Could be two things. Or both;

Osborne didn't want to put any more money in. Doing the notice of intent for administration allows him to say "I'm out" and not have to continue funding it.

Admin (or the threat of it) can focus people. Maybe he's been talking to people about selling the club and didn't feel things were moving along. Doing this makes people make a decision

Dazza wrote: ↑08 Mar 2024, 20:42 Ironic Gateman though that we are being penalised yet again because of the actions of these ‘fly me to moon’ rocket clubs. We get beaten time and again by these type of teams with their swelled budget and now because of their reckless actions lo and behold we find ourselves losing out once again.

You could easily make the case that we are one of the teams that tried to "fly to the moon". In that 2020/2021 season we clearly had a very competitive budget, evidenced both by the players we brought in (look how many are now at least 2 divisions above!) and the fact that we lost about a million quid that season. The rules are there to prevent exactly this sort of overreach. If anything, the thing that ultimately did us in us the failure to get promoted. It's also worth noting that when we got promoted under Buckle, our budget was probably a lot higher than everybody else.

This is why a responsible owner is required. It's ok if they want to run the club at a loss ( if they can afford to do it); it's the decision to suddenly cut losses that screws over clubs.

If we must lose ten points because it is deemed that we have overextended ourselves in a foolish manner, then it's upsetting, but it's fine; there absolutely should be guardrails to prevent clubs from doing that. it just means that, again, it is the fans that suffer while the erstwhile owners swan off to their next scheme. The list of clubs this has happened to is extensive and we are not unique.

Club owners need to understand that they are custodians of a community asset. Yes, they have the right to make the decisions while they are paying the bills, but they also have a moral obligation (and I think there should be a legal obligation) to ensure that the club is able to continue once they depart.

Torquay 4-3 Dartford

Brewers boy wrote: ↑07 Mar 2024, 21:43 Biggest thing we can do to increase revenue is to get more people through the turnstile. Easiest way for that is for the team to start winning again. A little more quality on the playing staff would pay for itself and more. The players are out there, some may only want to be part time and we would have to work to accommodate that.
If the players do their bit on the pitch, then it's easy for us fans to get our mates to come along.

we're not going to be signing any more playrers when the club doesn't have anybody paying the bills.

Chill wrote: ↑01 Mar 2024, 21:19 Having been left somewhat red-faced by Bristol Gull and his seemingly endless ideas for new revenue, I thought I'd better put my thinking cap on. So today I emailed an American billionaire, because if Wrexham can do it why can't we? This person fits the criteria perfectly, being a very nice person (so not Jeff Bezos) and with that sort of money their pockets must be pretty deep. I must stress though, that the holding of breath is not to be undertaken!

Is it Mark Cuban?

It's Mark Cuban, isn't it?