Torquay United Fans Forum

It's very easy to forget the negatives when the footballing positives are so prominent. Attractive and top of the table football is where all supporters want to watch on a Saturday. Positivity is all you can see and it can be morphed into what you once saw as a problem. Osborne hasn't gone away and neither has his focus. To give him credit for our success in the NLS is an insult to Gary Johnson. The real difference is that, for the first time since Martin Ling, we actually have an actual football manager. That's five years and seven 'managers' between them. Under Gary Owens, the attitude towards Osborne and the club in general was soar.

The positivity is great and I cannot knock that. Despite not being in the country to watch any games, watching the highlights, reading the forum, Facebook and friends and family who are still in the area, even I can feel the complete 180 degree turn from one Gary to the other. But to quickly forget what the majority thought about Osborne and his intentions because we are top of the league and playing football that we haven't seen in a long time, is a dangerous place to be, just to be let down like a led balloon. I'm not going to argue that I know every single little detail about Osborne and I am going to continue to enjoy this season and hopefully take a trip in April to witness our promotion party. However, I don't trust Osborne one little bit. His history is poor, his actions are questionable and suspicion surrounds him. I just pray that this little bit of hope that we are seeing, doesn't get violently shut in the next couple of years.

dawlishmatt wrote: 08 Jan 2019, 20:06 SuperNickywroe. Ok let's say you're right and all Osborne is only interested in is the freehold of plainmoor. We know that if he is successful, by the time everything is sorted it would probably be at least 2 years before he gets plainmoor. By this time he would probably have invested 5 million quid into the club. [highlight=yellow]Remember under the Bristows ownership that Thea lost over 4 million[/highlight]. Osborne is a very rich and successful businessman and I can't see him walking away from plainmoor for less than 5 - 10 million quid profit. There is no way that this sort of return can be gained by purchasing plainmoor alone.

Now, re Mr & Mrs Bristow. The difference being that Paul was a massive fan of TUFC and Thea also being a fan, carried on his great legacy.

Thats the big difference between the Bristows' and Osborne.

Invested? £5million? You really are clueless. He's put the club in danger by way of the loans, let's not pretend he's a knight in shining armour. He's here to make money, nothing wrong with that unless it's at our expense and as for building a nice new stadium why don't you address the fact he's NEVER built one? You're trying to paint a pretty picture but just remember, previous owners kept us at national level, he failed miserably. 5 year plan? Local Board? We've gone backwards and the only person he's managed to lure locally is bloody Mel Hayman.

SuperNickywroe. Ok let's say you're right and all Osborne is only interested in is the freehold of plainmoor. We know that if he is successful, by the time everything is sorted it would probably be at least 2 years before he gets plainmoor. By this time he would probably have invested 5 million quid into the club. Remember under the Bristows ownership that Thea lost over 4 million. Osborne is a very rich and successful businessman and I can't see him walking away from plainmoor for less than 5 - 10 million quid profit. There is no way that this sort of return can be gained by purchasing plainmoor alone.

dawlishmatt wrote: 08 Jan 2019, 17:19 Hi SuperNickyWroe. In my opinion Clarke Osbourne will actually make a loss when he sells the club. Osbourne is a ruthless businessman who depending on what you believe is posted on vairous websites is worth between 50 - 100 million quid. I believe that he will make his millions via his new stadium and housing development plans. Osbourne is using TUFC as a stepping stone to achive his goal, which is benifiting the club. Take James Brent for example. He did something very simalar with plymouth Argyle. He wasn't a bit intrested in the football club. He had plans to build a whole host of things around Home Park and used the club to get his feet in the door. unfortunatly the council stole his plans and deceided to do the same to the bus station and i believe that someone else is now running the club. As we all know, PAFC gained massively and even got promoted .

thanks for your reply.
however, all he is interested in is not benefiting the club - only himself.
why do you still not get that he wants the freehold????
he would promise us a new ground, which as we all know - apart from you by the look of it - he will never build.
just like all the other ones he's said he'd build and hasnt built one for anyone.
when you finally grasp and acknowledge that fact, then I may take your posts seriously.

In response to TeignGull, I believe that Plymouth Argyle's current plight is down to the manager. Last season in league one I think that they started poorly and ended up just missing a play off spot. The manager then got rid of most of that squad and replaced them with donkeys.
Rjc70. You are correct in saying that Osborne has not built a single stadium. I might be reading the situation completely wrong but I believe that plainmoor will never be used by Osborne or anyone else for housing development. Common sense tells me that the area is simply too small to get the profit's that Osborne is looking for. As I have said previously, I believe that he, having already invested a huge amount into the club, it would have to be a profit of several million pounds before he sells the club. This profit can only be achieved by building on a large scale, much larger than plainmoor.

dawlishmatt wrote: 08 Jan 2019, 17:19 I believe that he will make his millions via his new stadium and housing development plans.

Which will end only in housing being built. Name a stadium he’s built, dawlishmatt? I’ll give you a clue. It’s not a high number.

And lo & behold look at poor Plymouth Argyle now !
If ever there was a yo yo club between leagues 1 & 2 they are it. The size of their stadium & catchment area it's shocking that they are bumping around at the level they are at the consistency they are.
An established championship club in the South West would do us good to feed off, as we do with Bristol City at this time.

Hi SuperNickyWroe. In my opinion Clarke Osbourne will actually make a loss when he sells the club. Osbourne is a ruthless businessman who depending on what you believe is posted on vairous websites is worth between 50 - 100 million quid. I believe that he will make his millions via his new stadium and housing development plans. Osbourne is using TUFC as a stepping stone to achive his goal, which is benifiting the club. Take James Brent for example. He did something very simalar with plymouth Argyle. He wasn't a bit intrested in the football club. He had plans to build a whole host of things around Home Park and used the club to get his feet in the door. unfortunatly the council stole his plans and deceided to do the same to the bus station and i believe that someone else is now running the club. As we all know, PAFC gained massively and even got promoted .

Hoefle wrote: 08 Jan 2019, 15:08 Colin Lee was worth his weight in gold, as far as I'm concerned. He was the man.

Thanks for that. Colin.

dawlishmatt wrote: 08 Jan 2019, 14:39 Yes, the same Colin Lee who assembled most of Paul Buckles squad who got us to the league 2 play off final and the same Colin Lee that offered to take a massive pay cut to remain as chief executive. [highlight=yellow]I haven't got a clue what Gary Johnson is on but I bet it's substantially more than 100K and we are 2 league's lower!!!!!![/highlight]

Obviously not.

dawlishmatt wrote: 08 Jan 2019, 14:23 I would like to clarify a few points as regards the comments made following my previous posts concerning Clarke Osborne. I have never met or spoken to, phoned, emailed our had any contact with him. Torquay are in the state they were in when Osborne took over the club. The sad demise of TUFC began the day Colin Lee was sacked. Loyal supporters the Bristows took control and it is these idiots who advised them who were responsible for the position that Torquay find themselves today. I am no fool.[highlight=yellow] I know that when Osborne finally sells the club he would have probably made millions.[/highlight] [highlight=yellow]The money he has put in to the club can never be recouped by the selling of the club.[/highlight] Trust me, if I am wrong about Osborne then I will be the first person to make a huge banner stating that Clarke Osborne is a w*****.

So which one is it in your opinion?
Will he probably make millions? Or never recoup the money? It can't be both.
And has been stated before and you still don't seem able - or willing - to accept the fact that he is interested in the freehold of Plainmoor.

Hi Teigngull. I haven't made any assumptions about the reasons why Colin Lee was sacked. My post clearly states that the sad demise of our beloved club began shortly after Lee left the club. I do remember though at the time that the club issued a statement that lee was being placed on Gardening leave as a cost cutting measure. I believe that shortly after being dismissed, lee gave an interview to the Herald Express [ or some other media outlet ] that he offered to continue in his role at the club on a vastly reduced salary.

Colin Lee was worth his weight in gold, as far as I'm concerned. He was the man.

Yes, the same Colin Lee who assembled most of Paul Buckles squad who got us to the league 2 play off final and the same Colin Lee that offered to take a massive pay cut to remain as chief executive. I haven't got a clue what Gary Johnson is on but I bet it's substantially more than 100K and we are 2 league's lower!!!!!!