Torquay United Fans Forum

I really don't think Owers is the man for the job.
His record at Forest Green was abysmal and his only other "Gaffer" role was a part time one at Bath City.
He doesnt seem to have the charisma to bring the Club together. The fans on this website seem pretty indifferent toward him if the comments on the match day threads are anything to go by and they seem to have difficulty identifying five players for MOTM if they can even be bothered to contribute. As well as getting tactics right, managers have to inspire players and teams to play above themselves. Slagging players off in public doesn't engender togetherness and team spirit.
Sorry but I really don't rate him as an all round manager.

I don't know about the rest of you but I am getting a bit brasses off with the quotes from "The Gaffer" as reported on the Club website.
The Gaffer, definition "a person in charge of others; a boss" seems to blame everyone but himself for the current position that we find ourselves in. His latest thinking is that "we" are too nice! Gaffer I have news for you; the buck stops with you!
You are probably getting desperate having failed to deliver because you have been given far more resources than your predecessors . In the week that you were able to loan out three players your predecessor exactly twelve months earlier had himself, Will Hancox and Charlie Duke on the bench. Not much chance of tactical substitutions there!
Gaffer the truth hurts but it is abundantly clear that you lack the interpersonal skills to motivate others and you are probably alienating the playing staff rather than getting them on board. In our working lives we have to get the best out of what we are given sometimes and you can't keep on ringing the changes in personnel. The Gaffer creates the working environment and develops the culture within the organisation. Get it sorted!

At least the previous regime was able to motivate individual players to raise their game. Tyrone Marsh, Iffy Allen and Jordan Lee readily spring to mind.
Solihull Moors appointed Mark Yates as their manager on Thursday, he signed a striker on loan from Coventry on Friday and yesterday that striker got the equaliser against Maidstone!
Hmm, time for a strong cup of coffee.

arcadia wrote: ↑11 Nov 2017, 18:57 So was Hererra .

Perhaps they were doing their homework on Maidstone who are managerless Solihull Moors next opponents?

Wake up and smell the coffee.
We are a team of mainly Conference South players managed by a very average Conference South management team
If KN and RH were there I bet they were thinking that they could have done better than the current incumbents who despite their huffing and puffing on the touch line couldn't find a way to blow Maidstone's house down.

Some interesting points have been made about player fitness and the advantage that full time players have over part timers based mainly on the premise that they have more time to train and also to rest between games and training sessions.
While fitness is of course of the utmost importance for players at National League level it isn't the be all and end all. The working environment, living standards, family environment and general wellbeing all impact upon a players performance.
There are some part time players who have well paid employment in their "day job" and the wages they get from football pay for the extras not the essentials. They probably train a couple of evenings with their team mates and every other day at a gym on their own (24 hour gyms are commonplace in larger conurbations these days). Some of them manage people and have transferable skills to take onto the football pitch which full timers who have only ever played football don't.
I remember hearing about a game between Nuneaton and Hereford a few seasons ago where the fulltime players of the former Hereford United were baiting the Nuneaton players because they were only part timers. The Nuneaton team included some University graduates one of whom was an Assistant Principal at a private school and another who was a design engineer for JLR and probably got a new Discovery to run in every 6 months. I don't think the Nuneaton players were too bothered by the grief they were getting and they had the last laugh when Herefoed went belly up.
It would be difficult for us to operate at National League level on a part time basis because of our location and lack of good jobs but our players will always struggle to make ends meet on what we pay and they probably have to look after the kids whilst the missus goes out to work. Many of them have to live away from home during the week. Compare this with the South East where a lot of our competitors are based. Even the full timers at those clubs can find other part time work and the part time footballers have plenty of good employment opportunities.
Don't overestimate the advantages of being fulltime - the part time players are a lot fitter physically and probably mentally than they used to be.

Euphoria has replaced despair it seems!

Gary Owers has done the rounds in a variety of coaching/managing roles, some more successfully than others

Why would he want to leave the comparative safety of Bath City for us?

Well he is 48, the clock is ticking and if he masterminds the "Great Escape 3" this season it could make him attractive to at least a League 2 Club.

Call me cynical but this is modern day football and there isn't much loyalty in the game

I remember watching the "Location, Location" programme. My recollection is that Harrop's "missus" and her mother had the cash for the property, about £500k I think, and his input into the final decision was minimal. His involvement with our youth setup at the time added a bit of an extra story line to the programme but he was merely a bystander in making any decision.
I have always assumed that because of his link to GI through his "missus" he is probably the one who introduced Clarke Osborne to Dave Phillips but I may be well off the mark with that assumption.

leetufc wrote: ↑25 Aug 2017, 22:50 Because its a cheap option rather than spending budget on a backup player who won't get games. When something does happen, you sign a loan keeper, as we have done.

I would expect that most NL managers with limited budgets would look for a cheap option for their number 2 keeper and as you say look to the loan market to replace their number 1 if he was going to be out for a few matches.
I seem to remember the 46 year old pieman from Sutton having another job with the club as well as being the back up goalie.
It must have been quite soul destroying for our number 2 goalie last season when he didn't get a first team chance during the 6 months he was with us.

Southampton Gull wrote: ↑23 Aug 2017, 23:57 Harrop couldn't plan a salad!!

Job interviews are a two way process.
The interviewer should be selling his organisation while assessing the candidate at the same time.
The interviewee should be delving into the details of the job and the working environment and ensuring that he really wants the job.
I wonder how many of the applicants having spent some time talking to Mr Harrop will think "There is no way I could work with/for this bloke"
The list of applicants could quickly melt away.
An unsuccessful applicant for a job should always be a tad disappointed at not getting it. If they leave thinking thank goodness I escaped it means that either the organisation or it's people are not up to the mark.
Could be an interesting few days!

merse btpir wrote: ↑22 Aug 2017, 23:07 The club are prioritising appointing 'an experienced manager' ~ take it from me!

The old lags are always the best!

The most important quality needed by the new manager will be the ability to "manage" his managers. If he can't manage Osborne and Harrop he will be doomed from the start regardless of what football management experience he has.

Rjc70 wrote: ↑22 Aug 2017, 15:36 I notice you have posted about Paul Cox elsewhere, merse. Interesting.

Watching a side coached by Paul Cox is quite a mind.numbing experience so I hope Barrow keep him. I can understand why Ray contributes to this forum though - he must be totally bored with his own team.

tomogull wrote: ↑21 Aug 2017, 19:12 Very good post Jack. I'm with you all the way. I've noticed that you've been missing on here for a little while. As your posts are normally reasoned and well thought through, it's good to see you back.

Thank you for that Tomogull. I view the Forum fairly regularly but rarely feel inspired to contribute. Whilst i didn't really follow some of the Nicholson decisions like the loan signings who rarely played or the bizarre team selections during this pre season l was trying to put his management performance into the context of managing during a very unstable time with little help or guidance from anyone. If I was an aspiring manager I would be very wary of joining our club at the present time because as wel as the uncertainty surrounding our future we have also got the location problem as well. I see that on another thread the boy Wilkinson is being put forward as a possible recruit. He seems to have enjoyed a good steady long term relationship with his Chairman which has no doubt been a big factor in the success he has had. I don't think that would happen at Plainmoor with the current regime.

I have been disappointed but not surprised at some of the vitriol and bile directed at Nicho.
I have never managed a football team at any level but prior to retirement I spent 30+ years managing people. When I was 33 I upped sticks from Torbay, moved 200 miles and took on a job managing a department of 50+ people. I was young, enthusiastic and keen to succeed. I was also stubborn, pig headed and my immediate boss was generally disinterested in his job and gave me minimal help and guidance. With the benefit of hindsight I would have done a lot of things differently and whilst I wasn't sacked I am sure that if I had been in the public eye as football managers are, there would have been plenty of criticism of my performance.
I have a lot of sympathy for Nicho because I have been there in my working life. Like him I always looked to develop people who worked for me and that is one of the most satisfying aspects of people manager. In his two years as manager he has helped a number of players improve themselves most notably perhaps Angus MacDonald who changed from a petulant child on the pitch to a seasoned pro in half a season.
Whatever Nicho decides to do and his life skills fit him for many roles I hope that it works for him. If he remains in football management I hope that he finds a club that really appreciates his enthusiasm and effort and that there is someone in the Boardroom or on the Coaching staff who can mentor him and challenge him when needed. Go for it Nicho!

Fred, get a life before it is too late. We can all hear the clock ticking! Whilst the politicians are currently fiddling with Brexit the UK is falling apart - prisons, Nhs, police, education etc. We were an economic basket case when we joined the common market and on current form we will be one when we leave!

Merse, I wouldn't get too exercised by Fred's diatribe.
He is obviously a nostalgic "complete shafter" (Vince Cable's words) not mine and probably a Daily Brexpress reader to boot.