Torquay United Fans Forum

by **ferrarilover** » 15 Feb 2014, 06:33

jonnyfive wrote:Where's ferrarilover with his oh-so-funny wine glass icon?

Possibly suffering from his own bout of depression that his hapless idol 'Nath' has reached his natural level.

Lol

Class is a totally unknown element to you, isn't it?

For all the gags and all the odd few more serious comments relating to ML's condition, it is surely a universally accepted position that we are sorry that he has depression but are glad that he is recovering and at a stage where he is able to deal with his affliction publicly.
We have in the past, as is the nature of groups of young[ish] men, taken the piss. To be honest, when the time comes, some of us will probably go back to taking the piss, but for now, we all (surely) wish Martin the very best of luck and a speedy recovery both from illness and to his rightful position in the managers office of a professional football club.

Matt.

by **Scott Brehaut** » 15 Feb 2014, 03:03

brucie wrote:Scott - you do post some absolute tosh. You are so far removed from the world of what is Torquay United that you don't know what you are talking about half the time.
Ling was suffering from depression - well he certainly depressed me watching his football team. Whilst its all gone wrong since his sacking -well not exactly true - it had all gone wrong when he was here.
If he had not been relieved of his duties we would have been in the conference by now (mind you we will be there in may anyway).
Your last "gem" was to ridicule Knill for his lack of contacts and pontificate on how Hargreaves had managed to make such a great coup as signing a Manchester United loanee and Labadie.
Well Labadie arrived before Hargreaves did and by Hargreaves own admission it now seems that Rudge isn't up to league 2 football as he is not here "to save us from relegation" but seems akin to some sort of yts tea boy.
Nice one.

YAWN

by **jonnyfive** » 14 Feb 2014, 22:31

Where's ferrarilover with his oh-so-funny wine glass icon?

Possibly suffering from his own bout of depression that his hapless idol 'Nath' has reached his natural level.

Lol

by **brucie** » 14 Feb 2014, 22:23

Scott - you do post some absolute tosh. You are so far removed from the world of what is Torquay United that you don't know what you are talking about half the time.
Ling was suffering from depression - well he certainly depressed me watching his football team. Whilst its all gone wrong since his sacking -well not exactly true - it had all gone wrong when he was here.
If he had not been relieved of his duties we would have been in the conference by now (mind you we will be there in may anyway).
Your last "gem" was to ridicule Knill for his lack of contacts and pontificate on how Hargreaves had managed to make such a great coup as signing a Manchester United loanee and Labadie.
Well Labadie arrived before Hargreaves did and by Hargreaves own admission it now seems that Rudge isn't up to league 2 football as he is not here "to save us from relegation" but seems akin to some sort of yts tea boy.
Nice one.

by **rooster** » 14 Feb 2014, 20:03

To be fair I don't think that it would have made any difference. As everyone knows now ML went sick and was almost immediately admitted for treatment. It was released he was suffering from a stress related illness and at that time he was receiving treatment to find out exactly what was wrong. The fact that he was ill should have been enough really and at that stage there was nothing more to say until the facts were known. People will by nature believe what they want and judge others however misinformed.

by **Dave** » 14 Feb 2014, 19:24

Nice article Andy.C and a good read, in all walks of life whether it be, business, politics or sport when something happens and it's largely kept under wraps, then people will fill in the gaps, it's natural and understandable and you just can blame people for doing it, it's something that does my head, didn't have go into intimate detail or tell the blokes life story , but think ML has been the victim of some bad advice here. Just a short statement reviling some detail could and would have stopped rumours, which I admit to being guilty of falling for, and many Torquay fans would have held a much different opinion of the ML.

by **Gullscorer** » 14 Feb 2014, 18:53

bengull wrote:I met Martin on a number of occasions whilst he was our manager and you really would struggle to meet a nicer and more open man, extremely generous with his time.

I thought he did an excellent job in his time here with meagre resources and felt he was extremely poorly treated in the way his contract was terminated. I think a lot of criticism with his style of football was also unfair, he got the very best out of a limited squad, some of those wins will last long in the memory. I was one of those who wanted him to resume his post as manager following his return from illness.

His interview makes interesting reading, and he is quite right to point to his CV being impressive at this level. I sincerely hope he gets another managerial job, his passion and thirst for the game can not be questioned and it would make an excellent example to those struggling with mental issues themselves that, with a bit of help, things can turnaround .

I am delighted that Martin is in a better place in his life, and that he can talk freely about it. You never know how many people his words might touch and help/inspire in some way.

There is a still a stigma attached to depression that just shouldn't be so. The more people who can talk openly about their struggles and recuperation the better- it might enlighten the ignorant and maybe put an end to the stereotypical and cretinous insults and opinions voiced when the word 'depression' is disclosed.

Hopefully this will put a stop to some of the ill-informed and downright offensive rumours that have circulated, I never subscribed to them and I am glad I didn't.

I wish Martin all the very best, in his projects he is currently busy with, and hopefully back in management in the future.

by **bengull** » 14 Feb 2014, 17:23

I met Martin on a number of occasions whilst he was our manager and you really would struggle to meet a nicer and more open man, extremely generous with his time.

I thought he did an excellent job in his time here with meagre resources and felt he was extremely poorly treated in the way his contract was terminated. I think a lot of criticism with his style of football was also unfair, he got the very best out of a limited squad, some of those wins will last long in the memory. I was one of those who wanted him to resume his post as manager following his return from illness.

His interview makes interesting reading, and he is quite right to point to his CV being impressive at this level. I sincerely hope he gets another managerial job, his passion and thirst for the game can not be questioned and it would make an excellent example to those struggling with mental issues themselves that, with a bit of help, things can turnaround .

I am delighted that Martin is in a better place in his life, and that he can talk freely about it. You never know how many people his words might touch and help/inspire in some way.

There is a still a stigma attached to depression that just shouldn't be so. The more people who can talk openly about their struggles and recuperation the better- it might enlighten the ignorant and maybe put an end to the stereotypical and cretinous insults and opinions voiced when the word 'depression' is disclosed.

Hopefully this will put a stop to some of the ill-informed and downright offensive rumours that have circulated, I never subscribed to them and I am glad I didn't.

I wish Martin all the very best, in his projects he is currently busy with, and hopefully back in management in the future.

by **rooster** » 14 Feb 2014, 16:43

AndyC wrote:First post in a while, but since the Herald Express has cut and pasted my interview with Martin from the Sky Sports website original I thought I might put in my two penneth on this thread. Maybe I should have put a bye-line on to claim some royalties from Dave Thomas!

I'm not saying anything about Martin's relationship (current or past) with the club because that is down to him to say, but I will say I wish him all success in the future because I have rarely met a man so passionate about football in my life.

I had all kinds of questions ready to ask him yesterday, but needed only three in the end because he was so open about his illness and the way he has been working to overcome it, educate about it and try to stop the knowledge-less, scurrilous rumour-mongering that goes on, not just on forums, but when people see him walking around or watching matches. That was meant to be the whole point of the article. People putting 2+2 together and making 5 about someone who would (IMHO) do a better job than at least 50% of the current managers in League Two.

Those still spreading muck about Martin need to have a serious look at themselves.

Martin Ling interview
Postby PlainmoorRoar Â» Today, 15:43

think 1 in 4 people suffer from mental illness at some point in their lives and its not something you'd wish on anyone,
however alcohol played its part, which added to the poor football etc made his job untenable

Give it a rest..........

by **gullintwoplaces** » 14 Feb 2014, 15:35

I hope that Martin gets a job soon. There are some jobs where depression is more manageable for sufferers in that they can continue to work with support, but football management is not one of those jobs. High profile , on your own and judged purely by results rather than the effort that you put in. I was one of those who felt that it was time for Martin to go at the end of last season, but I look back now with regret at this as I was too quick to judge. I feel sure that he would still be our boss if he had not become ill, he was a far better manager for us than Alan Knill.

by **AndyC** » 14 Feb 2014, 15:31

First post in a while, but since the Herald Express has cut and pasted my interview with Martin from the Sky Sports website original I thought I might put in my two penneth on this thread. Maybe I should have put a bye-line on to claim some royalties from Dave Thomas!

I'm not saying anything about Martin's relationship (current or past) with the club because that is down to him to say, but I will say I wish him all success in the future because I have rarely met a man so passionate about football in my life.

I had all kinds of questions ready to ask him yesterday, but needed only three in the end because he was so open about his illness and the way he has been working to overcome it, educate about it and try to stop the knowledge-less, scurrilous rumour-mongering that goes on, not just on forums, but when people see him walking around or watching matches. That was meant to be the whole point of the article. People putting 2+2 together and making 5 about someone who would (IMHO) do a better job than at least 50% of the current managers in League Two.

Those still spreading muck about Martin need to have a serious look at themselves.

by **Oil Beef Hooked** » 14 Feb 2014, 15:20

PlainmoorRoar wrote:think 1 in 4 people suffer from mental illness at some point in their lives and its not something you'd wish on anyone,
however alcohol played its part, making his job untenable

How on earth do we know that for certain?

If it did, it may have been caused by Martin being depressed in the first place. Depression is an awful illness that affects people in different ways. Drinking may have been the release from the illness that Martin needed.

I thought he done a sterling job as our manager, with limited resources and brought in some excellent players - Bobby Olejnik springs to mind.

Who knows, but if Martin hadn't become ill, he could still be our boss now.

by **Gullscorer** » 14 Feb 2014, 15:13

Agreed. And if, if, alcohol was involved during this saga, it could certainly be said that it was for medicinal purposes, since it has a pronounced anaesthetic effect upon both physical and mental pain, and who's to say that you or anybody else in that situation would not have done the same pending formal medical treatment; I venture to suggest very few.

As for the 'poor football', Martin took us to the play-offs in his first season, brought in some excellent players given the club's circumstances at the time, and the footballing performances during his final months here were certainly no worse than those during Alan Knill's time here. But that's football; there are always ups and downs for many reasons and it's never a precise science.

Too many so-called supporters are too quick to rush to judgement, both on the football and upon the people involved, without considering the circumstances and the factors involved. Hopefully even those people who did so will now appreciate the situation Martin was in, and wish him all the best for the future.

by **Behind-the-Gulls** » 14 Feb 2014, 15:00

Yes-hopefully if opportunities do come up for Martin,decisions will be based on his experience and abilities,rather than his period of mental illness/depression. Unfortunately discrimination against those with this type of illness is rife in society generally,and football has shown itself to be particularly intolerant in this respect.

by **PlainmoorRoar** » 14 Feb 2014, 14:43

think 1 in 4 people suffer from mental illness at some point in their lives and its not something you'd wish on anyone,
however alcohol played its part, which added to the poor football etc made his job untenable

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