Torquay United Fans Forum

by **Teigngull** » 20 Apr 2019, 10:55

Southampton Gull wrote: 19 Apr 2019, 20:52 Apparently its darker at midnight

Dave, if there ever was a couple of quotes that could be attributed to you it's,

" There are darknesses in life & there are lights, & you are one of the lights, the light of all lights ",
Bram Stoker,

Or maybe

" Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.

As you say, enjoy the champions tag, but never keep your eyes off of his REAL motives, his history is there for all to see, and it ain't pretty reading.

by **Southampton Gull** » 19 Apr 2019, 20:52

Louis wrote: 19 Apr 2019, 20:42 Careful Dave it’s quite close to midnight

Apparently its darker at midnight

by **MellowYellow** » 19 Apr 2019, 20:50

Launceston Gull wrote: 19 Apr 2019, 18:19 . Along comes Clarke Osborne, a shrewd business man who most definitely wants something in return for his investment, quite what that will ultimately be lies farther down the road.. I digress.

No you don't digress, you hit the nail right on the head and why many, if not most supporters are not prepared to ' give the guy some credit'. We reserve judgement

by **Louis** » 19 Apr 2019, 20:42

Careful Dave it’s quite close to midnight

by **Southampton Gull** » 19 Apr 2019, 20:34

Irony at its best.

Time will tell whether our owner deserves our thanks or not. History strongly suggests the need to be on high alert. Sorry if that doesn't fit your narrative but as I keep saying, I'm enjoying the upturn in our fortunes but be honest, is that down to the excellence of our manager or the benevolence of CO.

If you want to thank him then thank him, allow those with different ideas to stand by them.

by **DWB** » 19 Apr 2019, 18:58

Launceston Gull wrote: 19 Apr 2019, 18:19 Who`d be an owner of a football club, what a thankless task. I think back to Thea Bristow in my view a decent woman and supporter who ploughed large sums of money into the club for the love it and in her late husbands memory. Having lost millions and upon selling up she is disgracefully described by some as irresponsible. Along comes Clarke Osborne, a shrewd business man who most definitely wants something in return for his investment, quite what that will ultimately be lies farther down the road.. I digress. My main point, when we were relegated from the NL the outpouring of anger was aimed firstly at CO and then GO and the players a distant 3rd. CO allows GO the opportunity to put matters and when it isn`t happening he appoints GJ and later down the road we win promotion back to the NL, and the plaudits go to GJ, the players, the backroom staff, the bar staff in The Gulls Nest, the programme sellers, The Yellow Army, anybody and everybody except CO. The thread asks if CO deserves some thanks for our return, it has nothing to do with the so called 5 year plan... come on give the guy some credit.

It does seem that there are some regular posters on here who are not happy unless they are moaning at something/somebody or taking the p**s out of others.
As you have said Launceston Gull “give the guy some credit”

by **Launceston Gull** » 19 Apr 2019, 18:19

Who`d be an owner of a football club, what a thankless task. I think back to Thea Bristow in my view a decent woman and supporter who ploughed large sums of money into the club for the love it and in her late husbands memory. Having lost millions and upon selling up she is disgracefully described by some as irresponsible. Along comes Clarke Osborne, a shrewd business man who most definitely wants something in return for his investment, quite what that will ultimately be lies farther down the road.. I digress. My main point, when we were relegated from the NL the outpouring of anger was aimed firstly at CO and then GO and the players a distant 3rd. CO allows GO the opportunity to put matters and when it isn`t happening he appoints GJ and later down the road we win promotion back to the NL, and the plaudits go to GJ, the players, the backroom staff, the bar staff in The Gulls Nest, the programme sellers, The Yellow Army, anybody and everybody except CO. The thread asks if CO deserves some thanks for our return, it has nothing to do with the so called 5 year plan... come on give the guy some credit.

by **Teigngull** » 19 Apr 2019, 14:09

On the playing side York's I agree with that , but when he took over we were on the verge of administration & staring into a black hole bigger than the one recently discovered.
Professional football would've most certainly have disappeared by now & I'm convinced the bulldozers would've already raised the roofs of Plainmoor to the ground.
Instead we have an owner who by his own admission has no interest in football & his naive ( do it on the cheap ) methods have not only delivered the lowest level of competitive pro football to plainmoor but on a positive note it enabled us to secure the services of a great manager & with George Edwards at the helm we seem to have someone who is able to run a business properly.
We are champions of the Vanarama national league south ( tin pot it maybe ) but you can only succeed at the level you're currently playing at , look at the North division & York City, Hereford fc, Kidderminster would swap places in a heart beat.
I have no idea what CO's true intentions are & we all know his previous history, but now is the time to suck it in & wallow in the glory this championship has brought us, ok, we're in debt to CO but aren't all football clubs in debt to someone ? It's a unique business model, is pro football, debt is common place all over from the premier league to the remote regional football we're currently at, we're no different to any other football club, but the fact remains without CO's quirky intervention we'd be gone by now.

by **Yorkieandy** » 19 Apr 2019, 13:32

Southampton Gull wrote: 14 Apr 2019, 17:36 None so blind as those that won't see.

He's got us back where we were when he started and now the club owe him 7 figures in loans. Fantastic!!

I'll give him some credit when he has us back in the football league and in a shiny new stadium and debt free. I'll also watch those pigs flying way before that ever happens.

Yes I'm enjoying having a team playing attractive football, yes I'm enjoying having an open and honest manager but since when has CO been open and honest?

Enjoy the moment but don't take your eye off the ball for a second!!

Absolutely spot on.

Why praise somebody for achieving nothing? Promotion from NLS has al but been achieved but that only leaves the club in the same position it was in when he took over.

If we chuck in the total chaos his lack of communication has caused during the Owers spell with fans not knowing wtf was going on and bickering left, right and centre then Imo he's been a poor owner so far and desire the euphoria of promotion no doubt, the situation is exactly the same as when he took over just that the club owe him money now.

by **MellowYellow** » 18 Apr 2019, 17:08

culmstockgull wrote: 18 Apr 2019, 15:08
I like the Fylde football model, they moved to an out of town new build and put up a petrol station , shops and other leisure activities that actually pay for the football club, regardless of whether they have a rubbish season or not.

I think most will agree that owning a football club in the lower leagues is not a place to enhance wealth. Rather, it is the most draining of all labours of love. At our level the club will consume the owners money over time and the question remains how long will the Chairman fund the club if he cannot fulfil his dream (whatever that may be).

In fairness to Osbourne his business model is similar to Fylde football model, in allowing externally source revenue to pay for the football club. If we want our club to survive and strive we are going to have change, the old ways are not the way forward. For me it is not the business model that is the problem but one of trust and historical broken promises of new stadia

To this end, I would expect Osborne is asking himself the question of whether his future club model is still a viable business proposition or simply a well down which untold money can be dispensed. Our fate could well depend on the outcome.

by **Teigngull** » 18 Apr 2019, 15:39

culmstockgull wrote: 18 Apr 2019, 15:08 I do enjoy the postings of Southampton gull, the closer his posts get to midnight the darker they become. I agree with him on a number of issues relating to Osborne but as time goes on and the so called debt rises you wonder what he is in it for, certainly not altruistic reasons that is for sure. One thing I agree with everyone else on is that he must never be allowed near the freehold of plainmoor. Smurthwaite the one time contender and saviour of our club (well in a few peoples minds) split Port Vale, two differing companies own the freehold and the football club, but all under his control, there have been potential buyers for that club but he is demanding silly money for the freehold, the football club apparently can go for a £1. Either way he is walking away from the club at the end of the season and in his words ,my wallet is closed. Some saviour he would have turned out to be. That's a situation I would never wish to see at Plainmoor. But is not an isolated incident. There must come a time when Osborne decides enough is enough, football is a bottomless financial pit and only the top clubs can afford to run a Saturday only football club.
I like the Fylde football model, they moved to an out of town new build and put up a petrol station , shops and other leisure activities that actually pay for the football club, regardless of whether they have a rubbish season or not. Contrast that with say Exeter city who in the last three seasons have had over four million pounds in the coffers through transfers, add their big name cup runs and home attendances and they still cannot cut through the fog and get promoted. The Abramovich's of this world buy premier league clubs not seaside clubs down on their luck, so what do we realistically wish for our club without looking through rose tinted glasses.

Honesty, endeavor, & stability, not much to ask, or is it ?

by **culmstockgull** » 18 Apr 2019, 15:08

I do enjoy the postings of Southampton gull, the closer his posts get to midnight the darker they become. I agree with him on a number of issues relating to Osborne but as time goes on and the so called debt rises you wonder what he is in it for, certainly not altruistic reasons that is for sure. One thing I agree with everyone else on is that he must never be allowed near the freehold of plainmoor. Smurthwaite the one time contender and saviour of our club (well in a few peoples minds) split Port Vale, two differing companies own the freehold and the football club, but all under his control, there have been potential buyers for that club but he is demanding silly money for the freehold, the football club apparently can go for a £1. Either way he is walking away from the club at the end of the season and in his words ,my wallet is closed. Some saviour he would have turned out to be. That's a situation I would never wish to see at Plainmoor. But is not an isolated incident. There must come a time when Osborne decides enough is enough, football is a bottomless financial pit and only the top clubs can afford to run a Saturday only football club.
I like the Fylde football model, they moved to an out of town new build and put up a petrol station , shops and other leisure activities that actually pay for the football club, regardless of whether they have a rubbish season or not. Contrast that with say Exeter city who in the last three seasons have had over four million pounds in the coffers through transfers, add their big name cup runs and home attendances and they still cannot cut through the fog and get promoted. The Abramovich's of this world buy premier league clubs not seaside clubs down on their luck, so what do we realistically wish for our club without looking through rose tinted glasses.

by **Southampton Gull** » 17 Apr 2019, 23:56

Autocorrect, obviously my phone is used to me writing about GK's instead of Gary Johnson

by **lucy6lucy** » 17 Apr 2019, 22:31

Southampton Gull wrote: 17 Apr 2019, 21:22 We struck gold with Gary Johnson who managed to wrap up a league title in 30 games but he did it without the need for extra financial backing. I'm just enjoying the moment but let's not forget the long long history of sports clubs destroyed by our owner. It could be us next, hopefully not but don't ever think CO is doing anything for the love of TUFC. All he's done is oversee us dropping to our lowest level as a professional club and as enjoyable as this season was it was all down to the excellent skills of GK nothing else.

Yes others are in debt but how many to property dealers with his history? Too many people are blinded by us winning a tinpot league, I'm not.

GK ?

by **Southampton Gull** » 17 Apr 2019, 21:47

Did you actually read my post or just the bit you wanted to?

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