Torquay United Fans Forum

Certainly a far more positive announcement than I was expecting. For me the key line is "Going forward into 2016, we have no unresolved liabilities issues..."

If they have finally got to a position where they have got control of the outstanding liabilities then that is very good news. They can now focus on addressing the current and on-going financial commitments to steady the club and begin to tentatively make some longer term budget plans for next season. Hopefully they will make them on a very conservative attendance of around 1000 rather than the 1800 being talked of at the beginning of the season.

I suspect some people will still find fault in the statement but ultimately I suspect they will never be satisfied.

ROADRUNNER wrote:its seems clear to me that the signing of players from local league means the club is setting its self up for life in the conference south next year, we look destined to be relegated so they see fit to sign players that simply will not get us out of this mess, this has now become worse than the dave webb era.
the days of our club playing in the football league look over at least for a very long time. very sad times!

Sadly, that's how it needs to be I think. The only aim at the moment should be to get the finances under control and if that means mutually terminating some of Cox's signings and replacing with SDL players until the end of the season then so be it. If the board cannot get the finances under control then it doesn't matter what league we are in next season as I suspect we won't be in existence. I can only see two scenario's this season - 'own the problem', firesale and get the finances under control or ignore the problem and try and stay in this league. The latter, for me, spells the end of the club. The days of the football league are a long way off under any scenario people can think of (short of a lottery winner). This season has been several years in the making but various boards have not confronted it. We might not clear the debts for ages but we need to get them to a sustainable level.

I think the difference with the Webb and (partly) the Mike B era, is that signing of 'substandard' players was a choice. Today it is a necessity.

Sometimes you need to raze the building to the ground to rebuild rather than trying to tart up an existing substandard building.

If we get relegated (as is sadly very likely), the worst case scenario is starting next season in CS against some very well run and organised clubs, with a team that has been put together in the summer and barely know each other. Better to start that preparation now.

Perhaps KN keeps playing himself because he knows the defence desperately need an experienced head? Yes in an ideal world he would be predominately a touchline player/manager, bringing himself on later in the game but we're not in an ideal world right now. We've a young manager firefighting on several fronts.

Have been reading this thread for the last day after seeing the HE stories and hearing various rumours. It's very sad to see what's happening to the club but as a long standing supporter, I don't recognise some of the rose tinted views of days gone by that some posters are painting.

1. Pining for the Mike B era? Seriously? That was a very different era of football but 'he ran the club well' is not quite my recollection of that era. We would have been relegated to Non-League but for a ridiculous but legal league ruling weighted in favour of the established 92 league clubs. He had very little communication with fans, was prone to very embarrassing publicity stunts, handed over the Pop side to rivals, shutdown the youth set up, idealised part-time players and a the squad being reliant on loan players and ultimately sold the club to that walter mitty Roberts.

2, Frankly the club has been very badly run for the last 30 years so it's not exclusive to this board. There was the brief period with the Bristow money and the new board post relegation but even that had far too much short term thinking that we're paying for now. The issues the club have now are not all new. Some have been years in the making.

3. Steve Breed has done more for this club than the vast majority of fans. Yes he's making mistakes but frankly he's probably learning on the job that a football club is not like a normal business. Seale Hayne was a nice idea but it's right to draw a line under it. Why on earth it was built without one 3G pitch I'll never know. The Torquay Academy link up is a step in the right direction. A local training pitch with a guaranteed good surface 365 days a year. At the moment his sole aim should be to ensure the club still exists on August 1st 2016.

4. SDL players are far from ideal but there frankly is little other option at the moment. Right now, we have to start preparing for life in Conference South next season rather than throwing desperately needed pennies at short term options to possibly retain Conference status. Yes they are young players but they are on hell of a learning curve at the moment.

5. Changing the manager will achieve nothing. We need some stability at the moment. Give him a chance.

6. Torquay United Fans Ltd?! I'm not sure if others have covered this but that name bothers me. Your name implies you are representing Torquay United fans or 'Torquay United'. 'Fans' should never be part of a business name. You do not represent me. You are well meaning supporters and ex-directors but you shouldn't be using the club name when you have no direct association with the club as a business. I wish you'd called yourself 'Torquay 1899' or something.

7. Sadly relegation is inevitable i fear. But CS is not the end of the world. It's on par to what the Conference was in the 90's. The top half of the Conference is now effectively a 5th full time league with clubs that would hold their own in League 2. The CS has a lot of well run clubs and we need to look at them and strive to be like that. Short term, ensure the club survives to the end of the season. Clear the decks in the summer. Long term, rebuild as a stable club, with a budget built on 800-1000 fans. Rebuild links with local schools. Promotion from CS within 2 years should be the target. Promotion from Conference with 3 years after that is the next. Are the current board the ones to plan and lead that? I don't know to be honest. But we should give them time to stabilise.

There are too many people at the moment with vested interests, circulating rumours and accusations. Some of those accusations need to be answered. Some however (and you might not like it) are none of your business. You might like to know but at the end of the day, they don't have to tell you. The club do not have to answer every single thing thrown at them. Being a supporter, unfortunately, doesn't give you the right to know the financial runnings of the club. Being an investor, director, board member does.

I'm uneasy with the ground share with Truro. I think the money will be helpful but I fear it's the first step towards a merger of the clubs.