Torquay United Fans Forum

The Torbay Development Agency are the professional body charged with attracting the necessary investment in to the area so necessary for capital projects that will propel the borough out of the past and into the future.

When they have a scheme (s) put to them they need to prepare and submit a report to the councillors who at the end of the day will have the decision making power as to whether any such scheme can go ahead or not. This is supposed to ensure they make informed decisions as opposed to uninformed.

So; whatever they propose as the 'future of Plainmoor' ~ which is an asset ~ is key to that.
http://www.tda.uk.net/what-we-do/proper ... management

Now what is indisputable is that the amount of information the agency has is dependent on what the proposer has given them and what they then in turn pass on to the councillors will be dependent on that on which to base their judgement.

MellowYellow wrote: ↑03 Sep 2018, 19:33Merse: are you saying that Osborne snapped up Plainmoor stadium for its potential development value rather than sporting reasons. It was all very insightful stuff and did get me to add two and two together in which I conclude that Osborne wants the Plainmoor freehold on the cheap and Nightingale for £nothing. Once he has achieved that goal he is free to do what he wants with Torquay United which in my opinion is too off-load it or wind it up

He certainly will offload it or wind it up; I'm with you all the way on that...

It's worth noting that Sixfields (Northampton Town) and the Madejski Stadium (Reading) are built on land fill sites and there will be plenty more; make no mistake about that!

As yet, Osborne has not 'snapped up Plainmoor'he has acquired the lease for it through his acquisition of Torquay United. He was attracted to that through the machinations of the Dave Phillips board offering it on a plate as a sacrificial lamb because they could not fund it as I outlined earlier. The Philips board stepped in when Thea Bristow decided she would no longer fund or capitalise the club that she owned. It will always be my contention that public opinion has let her off very lightly over her irresponsible disposal of her responsibility.

Osborne a is capitalising the Club as a means to make himself more acceptable as the potential owner of the Plainmoor freehold and to get the development he seeks at Nighingale Park or any other such site that might identified as a new home for the Club with associated schemes.

royalgull wrote: ↑03 Sep 2018, 14:52 It only seems utterly clueless if he actually has plans to build one.....he doesn't.
Everything CO/GI have presented has been ill thought out, knock offs of other grounds with no business plan, it is literally something a work experience bored 15 year old would knock up. It is completely pie in the sky trying to dazzle people who don't really care about the club with fancy pictures and the financial benefits of selling off Plainmoor.

Exactly; read this:
https://pitchinvasion.net/eastville-sta ... -fire-gas/

...and take note how Osborne's company then went on to trouser almost £1 million out of the fire insurance that caused the structural damage that persuaded Bristol Rovers they'd be better off moving out of Eastville, and not because 'they initiated it' as Osborne fraudulently makes out thirty years after.

Gaming International (or the Bristol Stadium Company as it then was) were claiming that they had wonderful plans for a spectacular new stadium at Eastville way back then as they always seem to do but never actually achieve. I wonder why?

It is an IKEA with a Tesco next door now!

And as I am always at pains to point out; the good news is that the council has kept hold of the freehold. It will be the end of Torquay United AFC Limited if Osborne gets his way and is presented with the carrot of foolishness that Dave Phillips and his board of incompetents were offering of the Club complete with this notional freehold to attract property developers to try to turn something they bought for £1 into something they could sell for 'the price of a detached house' as it was promoted to us at the time.

Never, ever take your eye off the ball with these characters!

Just to interject here; people are making fools of themselves tonight with their ignorance about lambadaboss ~ he is Kevin Millard who provided Torquay United with Gregory Goodrich and Rodney Jack.

He does know what he is talking about and he deserves respect for that and not the asinine lack of it by people trying to defend what went on yesterday.

You're wasting your time on here Kevin; they wouldn't know a football manager if they woke up in bed with one! I think the last time your name popped up on here the thread descended into: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8809

tauntongull wrote: ↑27 Aug 2018, 11:18I'm still up for a fight but the reality is that we are way out of our depth here. Generally, the way to directly impact people like CO is to hit them in the pocket. His safety net is the freehold of Plainmoor for redevelopment and we would be well served to concentrate all our efforts as fans to ensure that he does not obtain this.

I've not been on this site for so long due to the mind-numbing and puerile responses of too many regarding serious issues ~ I even forgot my password!

I came on here in the first place to raise awareness of the issue of Clarke Osborne and the manner in which the Club had been handed to him on a plate and once again I want to draw attention to the passage I've quoted above as being the most succinct and appropriate observation of recent events so that anyone with even half a brain should realise that it is this issue that it is enveloping the Club that must take priority above all else and that events of this week are creating a diversion from.

Make no mistake; the Club is wholly and solely reliant on Clarke Osborne as to whether or not it continues to exist or not. That he chooses to continue his absence from match days does not in any way diminish his interest or total; control over present and future events.

Events on the field and over the manager seem to ignite far more collective awareness and anger from the average supporter than the wholly decisive issue as to what the final cost could be if the freehold of Plainmoor or the vacating of a local authority owned stadium for a private one were to become reality.

Think on that; and whilst we're at it think on the destructive effect events such as last week's assault on the image of the club and the self respect of the manager had whilst on the road and in front of many youngsters attending their first ever professional football match and their bewildered parents.

Andy Full's appalling misbehaviour from a so called adult was a shameful example of our club to set before the Slough supporters and shamed every one of the Yellow Army present and yet I see little if any condemnation of that on here.

Ask questions too as to why former characters who had a direct bearing on the decline of this club into the hostage it is today of a property developer continue to accept hospitality from him ~ and in the case of Ian Hayman, allowed him to obtain the necessary extra share holding to take the club further into the classification of private company that now enables him to further prevent the supporter and remaining small shareholders from obtaining clarity as to what exactly he is up to regards OUR football club.

You see Ian Hayman and Thea Bristow sitting there at most matches; go up and ask them what the hell they've been up to leading to all this and if they are the supporters that their 'Presidents for Life' suggest they should be; then precisely what their objectives are in continuing to associate themselves with Clarke Osborne.

There might be a perfectly acceptable and plausible reason to all this; but who would know given the degree of disdain they clearly show towards the rapidly declining rank and file of the support that is left of this club?

Never mind protesting over the manager; get off your arses and put these people on the spot!

I'll go back to BTPIR now and if anyone wants to learn what else I have to say on this subject then feel free to log on and read it and if you are not a member of that members only accessible forum then join today
http://thelondonlabia.proboards.com/
...that's not an attempt to usurp this site and it's much larger readership; merely me focussing concentrating my energy on one front whilst Louis and Dave fight on his one.

Best wishes to all!

Dazza wrote: ↑02 Jun 2018, 21:20It shows just how little confidence anyone has about Owers ( eleventh NS place at Bath) actually being able to get anyone to to turn up let alone of anyone fit for purpose.

All managers have got a lot of work to do at this stage of the close season; at the moment the whole football world at our level is a giant chaotic money lottery ~ as its run by advisors, agents and the full-time money teams… agents are presently holding all the aces and agents are asking silly money for their clients and as such, agents are creating the same old silly season; but this year ~ I've been told ~ it really does seem so much worse.

As the weeks go by, the silly season drifts away and it will get more realistic and some really good players will end up getting released by Football League clubs, and by the end of June, the Football League, and full time National league, player’s contracts expire, and they are suddenly left without a club.

So we have to appreciate that this is how it is.

Even under 'money bags' Osborne :Oops: the manager cannot put the club’s stability in jeopardy or we could end up like Hartlepool, Dagenham or Chester, who last season all struggled financially… In truth though some of the players currently seeking employment have more relegations, more mediocrity, or more injury layoffs, on their CV’s than they have success stories ~ our remaining transfer listed players being a case in point ~ and in any other walk of life, their agents would be classed as chancers trying their luck.

The club has to build sensibly out of the previous wreckage, and that means slowly and step-by-step. The improvements to the pitch and training ground have to go hand in hand with the assembly of almost a complete new squad of players Even at NLS level the club needs to ensure the correct infrastructure for this league, the community, AND the league above. The club still have to fund all that and the community/youth programmes by creating more diverse income streams and when you factor it all in together; the manager cannot afford to jeopardise any of that by even one rash signing such as we saw all too often last summer.

The days of the manager being given carte blanche to hand out contracts without sufficient due diligence and personal knowledge of the player's current form and abilities are now gone and that is another reason why there won't be too many new arrivals just yet.

MellowYellow wrote: ↑02 Jun 2018, 17:19Just on one other point of issue. You say "let's just leave the manager to recruit and make a judgement once the season is under way". Was that not one of your primary gripes in allowing Nicho to do the same last season. Just asking the question.

So many unfit for purpose summer signings; so little attention paid to their physical preparation; the club had to wait until their fourteenth game to record a win ~ and that a gimmee against a late arriving Maidenhead United side.

In the first game under the current management it was observed the players were 'breathing out of their arses' after twenty minutes; that's how bad it was.

That's what last season's recruitment did for the club!
https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/t ... sults.html

MrTee75 wrote: ↑02 Jun 2018, 17:37…... surely Gulls fans with half a brain must realise what Nicho did for us (keeping us up) as well as doing it with zero funds, sometimes still playing, coaching,BUS DRIVING,you name it,yet people have bloody short memories,

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Such a good manager he's still out of work eh?

I've been watching this level of football for a few seasons; have you?

It's given me the insight to recognise the type of game you will see; the type of opponent you will see and problems that will be set for teams wishing to come out on top. I see very few 'Football League' levels in it, I see less 'National League capable players' than you might imagine. But I do see very capable and hard to beat teams containing upwardly mobile players from some very good leagues below of which the likes of Young and McGinty ~ to name but two ~ would struggle to look any better than they already are.

There's more than Truro City to recruit from at this level; Weston, Bath, Chippenham, below that Weymouth, Poole, and others not a million miles from Torquay; but let's just leave the manager to recruit and make a judgement once the season is under way.

The numerous players achieving full-time contracts this summer from the NLS and levels below are indicative of the talent out there.

Don't confuse what's required to get the club up from the NLS in comparison to what got us into it in the first place...

'Top quality Football League players' as you describe them won't achieve it for the simple reason that any 'Football League' player poor enough to have to accept playing at this level is not good enough anyway.

Proven competitors at his level and winners are what is required; a lot the sort you seem to pine for are simply not winners at any level!

MrTee75 wrote: ↑02 Jun 2018, 10:32 makes you realise what a bloody good job Nicho did keeping us in the National league

....but left us with a squad riddeld with the sick, lame & lazy that went ten games without a win at the start of the season and so effectively set the agenda for relegation.

moldroadred wrote: ↑01 Jun 2018, 13:20Seriously, takes a lot of courage to move so far from “home”, hope his mrs doesn’t get homesick.
Know he’s had injury problems but he’s been your player of the season for the last couple of years. What type of player are we getting?

Takes a lot of courage to move so far from “home”?

You're having a laugh aren't you? It's what footballers do unless they originate from one of the centres of the game. He's a big boy now; a partner and a kid and needs to man up and move away from mum and dad which he's made the commitment to do in order to secure some income for the next two years; which again is what footballers need to do in order to survive.

What type of player are you getting?

'Box to box' player with an eye for a pass but also (unfortuantely) an eye for an intimidatory opponent and so a tendency to disappear from the action for periods of the game.

Used to be able to shoot accurately from distance but seems to have lost his timing in that respect and so his goals from games ratio is diminishing; and hardly ever gets into those positions near goal where he can nick one on a regular basis.

Put an intelligent runner in front of him and you have a chance ~ it was only the on loan arrival of Elliot Romain and then Rhys Healey at the latter end of last season that provided that outlet for his passing ability ~ but make sure you have a 'minder' to protect him.

...and as has been identified by a former professional team manager on here before; he needs to be under strict instructions to focus more on his placing within the line-up and role demanded in order to eradicate the pointless running which so often diminishes his effectiveness and reduces his stamina to last ninety mintes.

Basically you've got a bog average non league footballer who's been lauded for being better than that in some pretty poor and dreadfully managed teams at Torquay ~ it didn't take much to get player of the season; it really didn't! A player who (let's face it) didn't get the offer he wanted from a Football League club, and so has been forced to up sticks and move home to even stand still in the game rather that allow the progressive slide his career has been taking by staying at Torquay United to continue.

You do love a fit of the hysterics don't you Dazza :~D

What's wrong this time? Across the board contract stipulations at this level only finished yesterday and you're crying 'foul'

hector wrote: ↑01 Jun 2018, 20:27...they have already appointed Tisdale’s replacement: Matt Taylor, one of their youth coaches and former player. Could be argued they have gone down the #legend route but at least Taylor has some credentials.

As long as you have a fit for purpose footballing infrastructure in place then these sort of appointments make sense ~ trouble with Torquay United is that this sort of set-up has never (and I repeat never) never, ever been in place!

Julian Tagg is no fool and will have had his replacement pencilled in ever since this nonsense with Tisdale courtesy of the trust, began and no doubt Taylor has been told in confidence he was the heir apparent.

Continuity at a club with City's set-up makes sense and at least they didn't insist on the candidate having a PCV licence before he would be considered ~ considered? hell-fire a shoe-in for the job I should say ~ maybe here is a place to be applied for by a certain candidate but would it be all wind in the Willows and no CV based substance; is that man even qualified to head an U23 squad?

Read more: http://thelondonlabia.proboards.com/thr ... y?page=113

There's no doubt Davies cuts an impressive figure with his physique, silky-smooth running and the manner in which he keeps himself fit after that farcical arrival when he'd obviously not been given a medical nor (it would seem) been put under critical scrutiny by the now departed management and their head of medical.....

Gary Owers said to me after his debut at Dagenham, that this was a footballer who should never be playing below the Football League and I agree; he has all the attributes. But I would love to see the stats on his productivity when going forward, because to me there appears to be very little end product to his endeavours and I can think of at least half a dozen other such left wing-backs with far better effectiveness when delivering the final ball AND who can recover more quickly and get back to defending when play breaks down; and I would be surprised if any of them would command the sort of salary he can.

But let's be positive here; the manager rates him enough to want to re-engage him and I'm told he has moved down to the area from Northampton; so I would reckon there is a greater than fifty-fifty chance he will be re-signing