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Interestingly, he said that he in no way blamed Thaea and that other members of the board were to blame (or words to that effect)

People castigated Paul Buckle for his disloyalty to the club when he left for Bristol Rovers. Strange that we hear nothing about the club's disloyalty to Martin Ling after ostensibly supporting him during his illness and leading him to believe he would return to Plainmoor on his recovery...

PlainmoorRoar wrote:I'm definitely watching lets see him admit his illness

Of course you don't Ling!

Torquay United are so much better off without him!

Martin you've got your pay off, now jog on!

There is always the theory that you don't give bad news to people who are already ill. And obviously minds were changed if the intention originally was to allow Martin Ling to return. I still don't think that £70 k is a bad settlement. I'd swop!

Apparently Ling has been recovered for more than a month now - thats only two months that he was seriously ill then.
Actually Ling came across as a bit of an dork if you ask me.

Ling left us in a mess, the team was on the slide - everyone at the matches knew this. I presume people who are argueing against him being done over havent been to matches...
Surely he could of helped Taylor - but then again Taylor was picking Ling style lineups(Rene up on his own, and a defensive midfield, and look for early goal and hold on... etc blaa blaa.

Anyway lets hope tomorrow Knill & Brass are with us, Knills family holiday must of been great for them with the excellent weather.
And then the retained list gets sorted with Rene signing a new deal(hmm)

My over all impression of reading these posts is that most people think that the club has treated Martin Ling unfairly & perhaps are worried that TUFC are going to be regarded by prospective staff/managers as "one to avoid". Perhaps this is why A.K. has not yet been reported to have accepted the job. He could be playing a waiting game hoping to get a job at a club where the board are more reliable & sympathetic. Good luck to him, I hope he gets offered a job up north at a nice family club who will look after him, & not sack him after getting them into the play offs & making £700k in transfers for the club. No doubt that Martin Ling's story will get around the managers grape vine, so there was no need for him to throw a wobbly on the telly.

Yeah, hes been so hard done by. How will he cope with a years salary plus the freedom to apply for any job he wishes?

LukeGull wrote:No I agree it wasn't anything special... was quite funny how he stared awkwardly at the camera for about 20 seconds before they talked about him getting sacked

Haha, yes! I don't know if any of you have seen the second Alan Partridge series where he lives in the caravan (static home :~D ) but if so then the rolling credits on the CRASH BANG WALLOP! WHAT A VIDEO where he's stood next to that saucy policewoman staring at the cameras for about a minute until it ends. It reminded me of that, Ling has unwittingly perfectly executed a true partridge moment.

Oh and the issue of being sacked by phone which i said i was the most unhappy about as it is unacceptable and i got slaughtered for it on here? Looks like i was right. Old fashioned Mr Ling and myself may be but there is still a right way of going about something so important as a sacking and by telephone certainly wasn't it. Sounds like he was very unhappy about that and rightly so.

Oh and i didn't watch it........................

we're not flipping nursemaids!!!!!!!!!!!!!If I could find employers like Wodger is describing, I wouldn't have been self-employed all these years! And yes, I was employed a few years ago & had a time of being ill & I can assure you that TUFC would have come up smelling of freesias, roses, hyacinths in comparison to the treatment that I received! This is the real world!

taxilady wrote:we're not flipping nursemaids!!!!!!!!!!!!!If I could find employers like Wodger is describing, I wouldn't have been self-employed all these years! And yes, I was employed a few years ago & had a time of being ill & I can assure you that TUFC would have come up smelling of freesias, roses, hyacinths in comparison to the treatment that I received! This is the real world!

Sorry you had such a hard time, working for shi##y employers but at least you know how Martin Ling must feel. I don't think that it is "the real world" it is football. In the real world the employers could have had their arse sued off of them

Agreed (taxilady) some people on here seem to think we are some sort of charity. Yes, the way things were handled wasn't ideal but the board have only looked out for the best interests of the football club - although I accept there are those on the board who probably haven't taken their fair share of the blame but as a fan I am much happier going in to the summer than I would have been if this had dragged on any longer. Having just watched the programme, things still don't seem clear - a 'stress related illness' which he has been fully recovered from for 5 weeks or so. I know not long after he went off he was watching games here, there and everywhere and it still doesn't make sense that nobody could get hold of him in the interim period. If the figure suggested is what he has been paid - he has done extremely well in my opinion and can't have any complaints. I think that the reputation of ML will be affected more than our club. I have sympathy with the way the situation turned out but that's as far as it goes. Onwards and upwards.

taunton_gull wrote:Agreed (taxilady) some people on here seem to think we are some sort of charity. Yes, the way things were handled wasn't ideal but the board have only looked out for the best interests of the football club - although I accept there are those on the board who probably haven't taken their fair share of the blame but as a fan I am much happier going in to the summer than I would have been if this had dragged on any longer. Having just watched the programme, things still don't seem clear - a 'stress related illness' which he has been fully recovered from for 5 weeks or so. I know not long after he went off he was watching games here, there and everywhere and it still doesn't make sense that nobody could get hold of him in the interim period. If the figure suggested is what he has been paid - he has done extremely well in my opinion and can't have any complaints. I think that the reputation of ML will be affected more than our club. I have sympathy with the way the situation turned out but that's as far as it goes. Onwards and upwards.

Yes I agree, Do you think that A.K. would be happy accepting a job from this board?

I expect he will base his decision on his own dealings with the board. But in terms of how the ML situation was handled, I'm not sure what any other club in the same position would have done differently. I don't agree that it would have been right to give a cast iron guarantee that he would return to work but in the most recent interview I heard with Simon Baker he stopped short of saying that and simply said they would be 'sorting things out.' I have no bad feeling towards the board at all - I do feel that Wild Bill Phillips and co need to look at where their priorities were earlier in the season but I have some hope that in the pre-season making sure we have a squad fit for purpose will be top of the list.