Torquay United Fans Forum

So what if Osborne gave us an extra 5 years? It was and was always going to be, for nothing. If he did it with the sole intent of personal financial gain for him, his developer chums and board members then how can that be justified or given thanks for? We'd be 5 years further ahead from whatever fate now awaits us had he not got involved.

culmstockgull wrote: ↑07 Apr 2024, 10:12 Now that you and your cabal of liked minded friends have single handed and victorously seen off osborne, your backs must be very sore for all the slapping going on. Who or what will become the target of your next vitriolic campaign, I imagine life is going to be very empty for your all. Perhaps you will discover one of the new potential owners had a speeding conviction 25 years ago or another made a dodgy planning application for an extension on their house, and with time and lots of thought by yourselves you can develop it into a never ending theme around the same single fact and make everlasting posts on the subject until we were all totally bored by them, oh forgive me, thats what you all have been doing for years.
Either way, Osborne is no longer, factually ,he put off where we are today by five years and if you think the bright new dawn of torquay is going to sweetness and light because you have slain the dragon then you are going to be sadly disappointed.

Staggering post!

I don't think anyone expects sweetness and light. Indeed, it's going to be incredibly tough. However, it's the back bone / perseverance of the club's fanbase (and to be fair, Council) that have, with no help from the local media, seen off Osborne's plan and that gives me great hope that however long it may take, a sustainable future is possible. Those of us who warned about Osborne from the very start are not back slapping. Instead we are just glad he's been sent packing and now just want to clear his associates and hope for the opportunity to try and start afresh.

SOS Neil Warnock. Desperate punt but we need something.

There simply cannot be any financial 'value' in the club. That's why I will treat any bid not based on a not for personal profit / long term fan ownership model with high suspicion. The only comfort is the Council have stood firm and hopefully done enough to see off property developer con artists.

Should make at least one decision a bit easier for the administrators!

Really informative posts, thanks. Reinforces how everyone has to remember the dire position the club is in and so, any buyer with a genuine plan to save us from oblivion should be welcomed and supported, whether that means part time or otherwise.

Whatever happens it's fundamentally important the old regime are completely cleared off though. If most of us knew Osborne's game from the very start without any inside knowledge then they cannot pretend to have not also been looking for personal gain and are equally complicit in the plan to end the life of a historic football club in my eyes. That must not be forgotten.

Confirmation that the administrators have been appointed is what I am hoping for, as at least then somebody acting reasonably will select the preferred bidder. However, I remain very uneasy about that not having happened yet and fear a final sting in the tail from CO and chums. If any of the existing lot or those associated with them are announced it will be disastrous. We need this to be a landmark root and branch refresh, not more of the same.

ALTE wrote: ↑02 Apr 2024, 21:03 I was behìnd this consortium until part time was mentioned as their plan. Absolutely not now, we need to get out of this league next season, not in 5 years time of finding good enough players who are willing to play part time. Sounds like a recipe for falling even further. We are not near london where theres an excess of good players with good careers in other jobs.

So, genuine question, if there end up being 2 horses - 1. The consortium of local people / the TUST who feel an initial period of part time football is needed to get the club back on a solid footing and 2. a Pete Masters / Clarke Osborne / George Edwards type committing to full time football but no visibility on how they will.run the club / involve the fans etc who would be the preference?

This is all of course completely hypothetical until it's revealed what bidders there are but it's perhaps not wildly improbable that this could be the situation.

wbw wrote: ↑29 Mar 2024, 20:53 Good luck taking training when half your players are only available on a Tuesday and Thursday night!! Not sure a club has ever existed where there was such a mixture.

It would, of course, not be ideal. However, as per my earlier post, we need to shift our mindsets and realise that even in the best case now, some significant sacrifices are going to be required, as a means to an ultimate end. We will have to take steps back to lay the foundations to step forward again.

If we manage to get the takeover completed then it will be a plan for 'success' over the next decade, not the next season and we all need to get comfortable with that and then enjoy the journey!

If that's a mix of full and part time then so be it. It would be a strategic stepping stone.

I find it staggering that anybody is critical or suspicious of the TUST consortium and proposed dual fan owned approach.

People keep referring to the 'ideal' of a mega rich owner to pump money into the club. My view is that in the modern era that's the last thing a ckub like Torquay need. Even if we assume that such a person would do so for no commercial or ulterior personal gain purpose, at some stage the tap would run dry and we'd be back to square one.

It is essential now to.take the opportunity to completely refresh the ownership of the club, involving as much of the fam base as possible and accepting a few steps back to create a sustainable model for the future. If that means part time football at regional level for a while then so be it.

I disagree that lower attendances would result. The fan base is there as long as the team are doing well. Macclesfield are just one recent example of this (albeit not as a result of fan ownership in their case).

If you are of a negative mindset please try and contain yourself and give those involved affair chance. If you choose to get on board and offer what skills/ funds you can then even better!

It would be great if he could do a fundraiser Q & A gig as part of his tour. Would be sure to be a sellout.

All hopes for a 'fit and proper' owner are academic. CO will be seeking whoever will pay him the most, whether that's Smurthwaite, Hitler, Stalin or the Dulex Dog.

All we can hope is that, if there are 'good owners' in the mix that they happen to outbid the 'bad owners'.

Only time will tell whether actually liquidation and start again would be the best long term.option for football in Torquay (and therefore also whether the same is true when CO took over).

It's fine to justify CO's actions on business grounds but this conversation is founded on the fact that all.of this has unfolded precisely because his tenure has been a business venture. Not a venture to make money from a football club but instead to make money from land owned (or, thankfully in fact, not owned) by a football club. Some people seem to be losing sight of that.

The footballing side of things that we all care about was always going to be collateral damage ultimately and personally I remain delighted that's finally happened so we can move on to the next chapter. The fact CO seems to have also 'lost' is even better.

Given this inevitable outcome I'd argue on the point above that it would have been better for Philips to have folded the club rather than pass it to CO as all it's done is lost us 6 years.

I can't see any logic in seeking to justify or excuse CO and his cohort for what they sought to do to TUFC and it's community. They should certainly not now be seen as saviours for stepping in at the outset!

Nick Potkins wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 18:15 I understand what people are saying here. Let's be careful what we wish for. We have our own challenges right now, don't wish ill on others.

It's so good to wake up and actually be excited it's game day again! I personally will take whatever happens now and am convinced whatever the outcome is, long term it's better than had CO stayed.