TorquayFans.com | Torquay United Fans Forum

Easy ride for the club owner. No difficult questions asked.

Positive: there has been some communication at long last with fans from the owner

Negatives:
We don't have any concrete information on the future plans and ambitions.
We don't have any information on where the previous 5-year plan went wrong and what the learnings are.
We don't have any information on the debt that is being continually mounted up, why this is happening, and how it is a good plan
We don't have a next date in store for more communication
It just feels like a very hands-off approach - if you haven't got much time why did you invest in the first place?

If these things were addressed and we all believed in what was being said, there would be a huge opportunity to boost attendances and galvanize supporters. The fact that communication is not happening and talk of "I'm too busy" makes us all deflated and suspicious of the aims. If it was me running it, you'd want to get people excited and on a journey with you believing in the plan. It makes us all feel that there simply is no footballing plan of any merit because if there was, you'd be shouting about it and there would be rewards in revenues from top to bottom and a feel-good factor.

So what is really going on?

Well clearly from that Gary Johnson is here until he decides to retire. Bit worrying when he says all the manager needs is some luck.

What a load of shite. Jim Parker is an Osborne agent, how he can heap so much praise on Osborne is beyond me.

I am really surprised about the negative comments on the interview, people moaned that we heard nothing from the owner so now we get an interview and before anyone suggests that it only happened because he is worried about the fans sit in on saturday, this interview must have taken weeks if not months to set up, I believe Jim Parker handled it very well ,he opened the door to further dialogue,it was a bridge building exercise and to suggest jim Parker is a stooge is not worthy of comment.

culmstockgull wrote: ↑29 Nov 2023, 15:24 I am really surprised about the negative comments on the interview, people moaned that we heard nothing from the owner so now we get an interview and before anyone suggests that it only happened because he is worried about the fans sit in on saturday, this interview must have taken weeks if not months to set up, I believe Jim Parker handled it very well ,he opened the door to further dialogue,it was a bridge building exercise and to suggest jim Parker is a stooge is not worthy of comment.

Months to set up?! This’ll quash the sit in and he knows exactly what he’s doing, do not let this man pull the wool over your eyes.

culmstockgull wrote: ↑29 Nov 2023, 15:24 I am really surprised about the negative comments on the interview, people moaned that we heard nothing from the owner so now we get an interview and before anyone suggests that it only happened because he is worried about the fans sit in on saturday, this interview must have taken weeks if not months to set up, I believe Jim Parker handled it very well ,he opened the door to further dialogue,it was a bridge building exercise and to suggest jim Parker is a stooge is not worthy of comment.

Are you for real?
One interview in god knows how long?
Did you not read MidlandGulls post?
Maybe you should interview next time as well.......

and this

Osborne is clearly not worried about the sit-in.
He is just asserting his power by taking away the whole point of the sit-in.
He will then take the view that the sit-in is just typical behaviour of "the wrong sort of fans"

culmstockgull wrote: ↑29 Nov 2023, 15:24 I am really surprised about the negative comments on the interview, people moaned that we heard nothing from the owner so now we get an interview and before anyone suggests that it only happened because he is worried about the fans sit in on saturday, this interview must have taken weeks if not months to set up, I believe Jim Parker handled it very well ,he opened the door to further dialogue,it was a bridge building exercise and to suggest jim Parker is a stooge is not worthy of comment.

The main image of the piece is Jim Parker shaking Osborne's hand. That's not hugely suggestive of a Paxman-esque interviewing style, is it?

What a load of guff....CO's ego stroked by the local rag

This whole ‘ask the board’ thing, how exactly do we access it?

It's more than naïve to think this interview took weeks or even months to set up, in this age of digital communications could have been done in hours, not even days, and lets not kid ourselves this interview was done for the benefit of TUFC fans.

We demanded some communication from the owner and got some, that is very welcome of course, however I'll hazard what I think will be a pretty accurate guess as to how this all played out. Edwards to Osbourne; Help boss, help, we've got a peasants revolt going on down here at Torquay United, think it might be wise for you to show your face, maybe do an interview to settle them down.

Osbourne's reply would have been something along the lines of; Hear you George, first date in my diary is Nov 29th put something together with the local press, get them to E-mail a list of questions , I'll let them know what I'm prepared to answer.

This interview hasn't told us much more than we already knew. As we all know 'actions speak much louder than words' Well we have a little over 5 years of real time evidence of the 'actions' of the clubs ownership, and the clubs in a worse position now than it's ever been, and Clarke Osbourne is clear, he is in no rush to change anything especially on the football side of the club, there's a very famous quote and I think it is apt indeed.

Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results

SuperNickyWroe, I am for real, look at where we were before the meeting, still in the dark, moaning about his lack of clarity for the future of the club, he answered a lot of those questions, I see today Torbay weekly have announced that there will be a meeting between the club and the TUST, if they do not get the answers you particularly want will they all be traitors to, I answered all Midland gulls well presentred questions . but bottom line after everything else economics takes over, our match day revenue only scratches the surface of our outgoings and that would be true for whoever owned the club, he is still here, paying the bills, if I have any arguement with his rationale it is his blind loyalty to Johnson.