Torquay United Fans Forum

SuperNickyWroe wrote: ↑21 Apr 2018, 23:45 Actually Andy, TUST have put on Facebook tonight that he has agreed to meet with TUST "In the next few weeks."
This is following a hour long phone call between Michael Thomas and Osborne.

Jerry wrote: ↑16 Apr 2018, 20:24 So what's stopped you from doing something then? Why haven't you been on a day trip to Chew Magna? There's plenty of people who talk about various forms of protest but none of them ever seem to do anything themselves.

If you do decide to protest I would be very wary of organising anything in the family stand where people take their young children to watch the game. You can be assured that things would turn aggressive and frightening kids is not acceptable.

Yorkieandy wrote: ↑15 Apr 2018, 16:23 There are two sides of the fence here and also fence sitters.

There are fans who are aware of what is happening at the club and are angry and frustrated but see no point in non attendance as they claim this will hurt the club even further and make it easier for CO to wind the club down should that be his intention. I think this is a reasonable viewpoint and just as valid as mine which differs.

There are fans who are aware of what is happening at the club and who deal with the same set of circumstances in a different way by non attendance or who WILL deal with it this way next season. This is my side of the fence.

There are fans who sit on the fence oblivious to everything and whilst i'll stop short of using the terms that Teigngull does (although i fully appreciate the frustration), i think it's best to write these fans off as a lost cause.

So these two sets of factions are what divide the club and it's fanbase primarily and no particular course of action is necessarily the right one.

However i do feel that one thing is missing from the matchday experience of both which could make all the difference. Not necessarily in terms of saving the club but bringing the fans closer together for the same cause. One thing which Torquay United fans don't really excel at tbh. The majority of times Torquay fans are at each others throats arguing and belittling, even the mild mannered amongst us.

The one clear thing is that whether we attend or stay away - the football club will continue to slide down the football pyramid. Under continued CO ownership it's a dead duck. Under new owners it's still a massive task to get back to where the club once was from where it will be next season thanks to the owners and the management entrusted to ensure this didn't happen.

As i've always said, the fact that i haven't attended a game for quite some time has had no bearing on the club's league position or the future security of the club. I think it's important to remember this going forward that ATTENDING OR NOT HAS NO BEARING OR INFLUENCE ON THE CLUB'S LEAUE POSITION.

The stay aways will have a pop at fans for continuing to attend and thus making it financially easier for CO to pass the time running the club into the ground, especially when attending games makes no difference to the outcome of results or the way the club is headed.
The stay aways may claim that by cutting off revenue then it costs CO more to run the club and that might make him reconsider his position and whether it is all really worth it and sell up.

The ones who attend will have a pop at the stay aways for helping CO to wind the club down even quicker as by their logic, less support and less interest makes it easier for CO to convince the council that football in Torquay has no future and thus playing into his hands.

It's a bleddy mess. Really it is.

So. The one thing that everyone can do as mutually agreed compromise is PROTEST.

PROTEST. STAND UP FOR YOURSELVES AND YOUR RIGHTS AS A TORQUAY UNITED SUPPORTER.

The ones who attend all the time and criticize the stay aways will say why bother as it won't change anything and yes, i agree.

The ones who stay away may criticize the ones who go every week for not showing enough fight and anger against what is happening at the club whilst at the same time they could ague that the very fact you've chosen to stay away indicates a lack of fight too. Part of the reason they stopped going i think is because the apathy and inertia of the fanbase to just accept what is with a whimper isn't acceptable to some and they feel powerless to convince them to protest so they just give up. Certainly the case for me.

What is for sure is that BOTH sides of the fence are angry and annoyed as to what is happening at the club but they have chosen different ways in which to deal with this based on their thinking patterns and specific way of looking at the particular problem.

The particular problem is Clarke Osborne and therefore is everyone going to start letting him and the world know this?

It probably won't achieve anything at all i accept that but it will prove to the footballing community that Torquay fans are just as **** off with their owners as Coventry are with SISU, as Blackpool are with the Oystons and so and so forth and will show people that they aren't just going to stand back and be treated in this way. Let alone their football club be treated in this way.

Next season should be one of persistent and co-ordinated protests at every game home and away and for those who say it won't help results on the pitch with all the negativity i say this:

Has your support helped on the pitch these past 5 years? Would the club be in a worse position if everyone had been protesting every week for 5 years? THE ANSWER IS NO.

Has protesting hindered Blackpool? What? The very same Blackpool who won the play off final last season and are now in league 1 you mean?

Has protesting hindered Coventry? What? You mean the same Coventry who will be in the league 2 play offs this season?

No matter what side of the fence you are on.


PROTEST!!!!

tomogull wrote: ↑14 Apr 2018, 22:36 I would be hard pressed to describe it as a 'decent performance', especially in the first half, against a side that has played four games in eight days which visibly showed in the second half. There were some good individual perfomances, but as a whole, I would describe it as a nervy performance.

Once again we were toothless in front of goal and we could have so easily let it slip right at the end with a 'tangle of legs' in the penalty area. I don't think it was a penalty, but there are some refs who would have given it. But it's 3 points and so we stagger on for another week .....

6667GULL wrote: ↑07 Apr 2018, 17:30 We don't stand a prayer of coming straight back up next season.

wivelgull wrote: ↑07 Apr 2018, 11:12 I've always thought Colcombe to be one of the most over-rated players to represent United in the past 20 years or so. Too small, mainly (although Micky Somers didn't find size a disadvantage). Colcombe ended up doing bird, didn't he?

nickbrod wrote: ↑14 Mar 2018, 21:08 Ah but when you're in a relationship with your club ...for better, for worse....