Torquay United Fans Forum

Well, he certainly talks a good game. Very measured interview although the questions were clearly not particularly probing (not that you would expect them to be in a staged interview like this).

I found his facial mannerisms when he was being asked the question about cynical supporters to be quite telling though. I think it was the only time his composure wavered. See 15:12 into the vid.

And a little bit of location thrown in. You could at least commute between London and Aldershot. That's not going to happen with Torquay, is it?

Got to admit, I was sat there in the first half wondering what on earth these players get up to in the week because it clearly isn't football training.

So many aimless balls hit in hope and no cohesion between defence and attack. I say attack, but I really mean lone ranger, such was the gap between him and the rest of the team.

Anyway, second half we came out and looked much better. Got the ball down, used the width of the pitch and started playing football with intent. What a difference.

Don't get me wrong, we weren't great, but such was the dross in the first half, I was just happy just to have something to watch that didn't make me want to take a swim in Torquay harbour.

For what it's worth, I thought Anderson played well at CB and the right back was also solid. Second half, Sparkes down the left had his man beaten every time and put some dangerous balls into the box.

Fair result in the end, although their keeper made more crucial saves so we definitely could have won this game.

No issue with this if it is in a Chief Exec or Youth Academy capacity, but the rumblings about him having ambitions to step into a more hands on role with the senior team are worrying to say the least. I only hope that Dave is wrong about this but based on history, that is unlikely.......

forevertufc wrote:The point that needs to be understood here is simple, Harrad and Blissett are two very different types of player, is one better than the other, as they're different types of player, there can be no comparison.

If Harrad has been signed as a direct replacement then we could have problems, however Blissett was hardly a prolific goalscorer, or creator of chances, in fact could on occasions could be a tad lazy. That's the truth of the matter, we can try and dress this up like we've just lost a huge talent because it suits an argument, but we haven't, and Plymouth have paid money for him, TUFC should be done for fraud.

Now if Blissett's replacement has not been signed yet, all of sudden the Harrad signing doesn't look so bad, the one thing our team lacks is a bit of experience, and that's what Harrad brings, whilst Chaney is a bright young up and coming talent, he is so, so naïve, when your in a relegation battle that's not what you need.

I agree entirely. The voice of reason!

I wish people would look at the bigger picture.......

I am interested to know if fans would mind Plainmoor being sold off as long as the land / new stadium remained council owned (effectively handed back by GI)? The new ground would need to be built prior to development at Plainmoor of course.

It's only hypothetical and I can't see GI putting their money in up front but this is the only scenario that I think protects the club's interests.

PhilGull wrote: I think that is the moment that TUST steps in and offers to take the pup GI have been sold off their hands for a few quid (anything will be better than losing all of the money they have invested).

This.

While Plainmoor still belongs to the council, TUFC will always have a home in the bay (be it as a phoenix club or in it's present form). That is why it is so important that the land is not sold to the developer.

Sterling work Neal. This is very encouraging to hear from our publicly elected officials.

Things must be bad if Dave and Merse have put aside their differences!

It saddens me immensely to hear Bill Phillips' name mentioned in connection to our club again. Nothing good has come since he came on the scene. If he is involved, rest assured you can be certain of GI intentions.

Just a thought but could someone closer to all this than me, evidence this Masters fellas involvement in the takeover?

Surely he can't be involved as owner of another football club?

Could this render the takeover null and void?

Definitely one to follow up, but we would need concrete evidence.

Hasn't he been in the press talking about working with GI and the Board? Surely he can't do that? Plus his supposed investment.

I think letters to the league and fa should do it if someone could pull together the evidence.

My back of a fag packet calcs.

£400k budget (mentioned somewhere or other) / 12 = £35k per month.
£200k income from season tickets (1,000 x £200) leaves £200k to find = £16,666 per month.
£16,666 / 2 (games per month minimum) = £8,333 / £15 (average ticket price) = 555 paying people required through the gate each game.

This shortfall of course can be reduced by other income streams / more games or increased by a bigger playing budget / other costs or if the board spent it all up front (worst case scenario).

The upshot is, there are too many variables and only those working in the club will know the true picture. It is worrying though as I am only talking about playing budget and not all the other costs of running a football club......

<edit> not forgetting the fact that we don't play between May and July! Frrrt.

Great win Torquay, but it looks like we've actually dropped a place! It could only happen to Torquay.......

I watched the second half again last night and there are a few things I would like to add.

Firstly, we were only really under the cosh from 80 minutes onwards. Even then, we had a corners and attacks where we could have put the game to bed/equalised beyond the 90 minute mark.

Next, the cross for their goal was a freak kick. Their player lofted it up and the wind took it back in towards the goal where Rhead was able to attack it.

I won't mention the subs again, other than the post above is correct with regards Chaney. The other two are a mistake and should have taken place earlier in time added on to break up the Lincoln pressure.

All in all, I am much more positive about our performance than I was on the night and having watched it back again in the cold light of day, can see that although we were dis-jointed at times, we played some pretty good stuff. We should also be reassured that we actually defended pretty damn well against the top scorers in the league by some considerable margin. I'm not convinced our defence is as dodgy as some try to make out.......

Reid - direct, makes things happen
Richards - solid
Ward -raw but talented
Young - on his way back for sure
GG - rock solid defensively other than the pen

Regarding the subs at the end. Has anyone checked the to see if we were getting the subs ready before their goal? Maybe we were looking to run the clock down, they scored, then there was a delay as the substitutions would then be meaningless. Just a thought. .....