Torquay United Fans Forum

I didn’t read the OP as slagging off TUST, nor suggesting that they mount a bid to buy the club.

I interpreted it as nothing more than an urging for TUST to condemn the current regime and coordinating a response. Good on the kids who are protesting but I think it’s time for TUST to hold a further meeting and establish a way forward from there as they are best placed to gather fans and establish a route forward. At the moment, there is a lot of anger, ad hoc movements organised by the youngest supporters but the fanbase is fractured, unsure what to do.

The youngsters can at least look back and think at least they did something even if some mock their age and numbers. I’d prefer them to focus more on the ownership than Gary Johnson but at least they are doing something and TUST need to act too.

brucie wrote: ↑04 Feb 2024, 16:51 You cant blame anybody else but the manager.

Terrible recruitment. Gaping holes in the squad due to him offering big contracts to injury prone players who are past their sell by date. Thought he would walk this league without doing any work and has been found out big time for the fraud he is.

The ownership is to blame.

We have been relegated twice to this level under their tenure.

They choose the manager. The give him the budget. They decide whether to stick or twist with him. They have let this situation fester for two years and done nothing. They let the issue of a fictitious stadium distract them from what matters to supporters.

It’s madness really. If they did something to make things go well on the pitch, they could be doing all their plotting in the background unseen, but when things are as bad as they are, it draws attention to their real motives.

brucie wrote: ↑28 Jan 2024, 16:26 Agree whether you spend your money going, dont go and just listen or watch the game on the stream when its on, the outcome is the same, you just end up angry and frustrated.

We may have been "beaten by the better side" but there is no excuse for that whatsoever. We have players on full time wages performing like clowns. We are tactically outfought game after game by teams with less resources than us.

Is it any wonder - we have a manager/assistant who live hundreds of miles away and probably turn up at Torquay a couple of days a week if we are lucky. Have a look at the highlights and the performance of some if our players yesterday. Halstead, Tomlinson and Martin - performing like park players and throwing the game away within the first half an hour. Absolutely criminal.

Our recruitment has been appalling for the past two seasons. Johnson unsuprisingly has lost the confidence of the supporters. It looks like the players dont want to play for him either.

Realistically this season is over. We will be lucky to finish in the top half. The managers credibility has been shot to pieces - he will no doubt leave at the end of the season.

I think he will only leave at the end of the season if he wants to. The club seem to think he is the best man for the job and they do not care what fans think, in fact it feels like they deliberately do the opposite of what supporters would like.

Cheddargull wrote: ↑28 Jan 2024, 12:01 So being a true supporter means paying hard earned money to be subjected to sub standard football from a manager who has completely given up and a club ownership with nefarious motives.
That's not being a true supporter, that's being a mug. Supporters who care see the writing on the wall but as long as enough mug punters remain blinkered to what's going on the club will continue to decline.

Exactly - those supporters clapping the team off after losing to yet another pub team are mugs. Stupid, doesn’t cover it.

LikeaPatOutaHele wrote: ↑28 Jan 2024, 00:35 Another dismal day for a Torquay follower.
Listening to Martin Gritton comments during the game, when his thoughts are most instinctive, (his post match summary is more circumspect) he constantly referred to lack of organisation, tactical ineptitude, pointing out time and time again simple basic errors.
Gary Johnson has built up a victim mentality.
Unlucky. Negative supporters. Injuries. Today, it was the referee, yet again. It's so unfair.
This mentality is perhaps a factor behind us having a batch of resentful players getting booked for dissent.

For all those Gary apologists, who state we are still in the play-offs with a game or two in hand, consider some facts.
1. We have more remaining games away than at home. Our away form places us 17th, not far off relegation.
2. Even winning our games in hand places us 5th (allowing for Hampton & Richmond have only played 27 games).
3. Torquay form against teams in the top 7 Played 8 - Won 1 Lost 7.
4. Our form on plastic pitches is equally dreadful.
Ours good runs of form have occurred when we play a series of matches against lower in the table teams.

Please don't say, "but when we get all our injured players back". You mean, we return to those brilliant performances we had at the begninning of the season. Like, Worthing, Aveley, Maidstone. Dream on.
I have completely lost the faith.
My last hope.
A manager who finally has an honest look at himself, resigns, giving us a chance of a reboot. Even in that unlikely event, what is the chance of the ownership bringing in a serious replacement.

In 44 years barely missing a game at plainmoor this could be as low as I have ever felt about the club.

Perfectly put. 44 years for me as well and I feel exactly like you. Really don’t know if I can face spending out hard-earned money during a cost of living crisis, simply to stand on a terrace to feel pissed off. Even when we have won, it’s not exactly been convincing and we are playing against such dreadful teams and struggling to beat them.

I feel like I don’t even “like” the club. The team is awful, I couldn’t care if any of the players left (other than perhaps McGavin, Lapslie, Jarvis), management are spent and the ownership are odious. What’s to like about TUFC?

notnow wrote: ↑26 Dec 2023, 18:24 It would appear that the few that are posting “GJ out” are not understanding that most of our first team are injured (for whatever reason) the people in charge have plausibly explained the current situation and in fairness GJ stated that we are not in a position to have 50 signings ready to take up the slack. What don’t you understand about that?

The Truro manager said his side were down to the bare bones as well. Injuries are no excuse, especially when you are a full time club in a pub league. All clubs have injuries and part-time Truro are suffering them as well.

Archer
McGavin

The Eternal Optimist wrote: ↑20 Dec 2023, 17:36 If the club leaves Torquay it will be diminished. If it leaves Torbay it will be finished. Yes the club may make more money, with all the promised avenues of revenue that will be available, it may even be sustainable, but the football side will be the poorer for it. Torquay United will not be the main revenue interest. Support will be much lower than today. Clearly, there is not a suitable site in Torquay, and I can't think of anywhere in Torbay. Perhaps one place is the old gasworks site on the Paignton / Torquay border? That seems to have been given up by the current developer. Chaos though, getting there, and nowhere to park. Plainmoor is a good stadium for us. It will be hard to create a better one. It is in a good location easy to get to, plenty of on road parking. You won't find better anywhere in Torquay, let alone Torbay. I don't look forward to any move away from Plainmoor.

Would agree with your assertion that the club would be finished if it left the area; even moving to somewhere like Seale Hayne isn’t that different to franchising.

Clarke Osborne almost inadvertently gave his game away during the forum. He repeatedly mentioned getting involved with clubs “when they were on their knees”. He’s an opportunist, seeking to take advantage of an organisation’s misfortune, mismanagement or sheer bad luck to further his own nefarious agenda which is property. He pays no regard to the history, the heritage and emotional meaning attached to a sports venue. He was involved with his own “beloved” (yea, sure they are, Clarke) Bristol Rovers being kicked out of Eastville so he won’t shed any tears if ever TUFC left the only stadium any of us known them play in.

Football clubs need to be protected from people like Clarke Osborne and George Edwards, who think they can waltz in and decide that they think they know what’s best for a community’s football club that they themselves have absolutely no link to.

And how Clarke bristled when it was suggested TUFC was badly run!

Torquay United is appallingly run!

It wouldn’t be in the NLS for a start if it was being run well. Well-run professional football clubs don’t drop into regional football twice in 5 years. “Catch yerself on, Clarke!”

Blimey, even under Lew Pope we managed to stay in the EFL, nearly get promoted to what’s now League 1 and reached Wembley and yet George Edwards sits arrogantly saying we were a refereeing decision from getting back into the EFL, as though he has some modern-day footballing Midas touch.

For them it’s a game. It’s about winning and victory for them will be when Plainmoor is flattened and crumby housing is built on it and we are playing in some tinpot ground, probably in somewhere like Bovey Tracey. Anyone who believes a word they spouted in that video needs some help!

I was surprised that some of the more challenging questions found their way through but Clarke Osborne’s rewriting of history was illuminating. It has to be remembered that he has never built a stadium but you would never have guessed considering how successful he considers his projects and where he hasn’t built a stadium (which is of course every single time) it’s always someone else’s fault. He stated how the organisations he bought “were on their knees” and it kind of exposed his Modus Operandi: a vulnerable sporting entity with property to exploit.

George Edwards was there of course, nodding in agreement with everything Clarke said like a faithful lapdog, or perhaps more like a Tory frontbencher who thinks those watching will buy the nonsense if someone is seen to nod enough.

Mel Hayman looked like she rather be anywhere else than on one of those uncomfortable looking chairs - almost wanted to say to her “blink twice if you need rescuing” as she surely doesn’t believe it.

Clarke and George are adamant that a new stadium will be built but couldn’t confirm it would be in Torbay, let alone Torquay. I guess we might assume it’s set to be built in Devon somewhere but considering their success with building stadiums it’s most likely to be built in the fantasy world that exists in their heads.

George’s favourite phrase seemed to be “One Club United” which is a funny one when he has been behind the moves that have made the relationship between supporters and club most toxic. Wonder how lying about the chair of TUST and issuing threats is “One Club United” and it seems you can only be considered a true fan if you get behind the club which of course means doing as George says and not questioning why property developers with a history of seeing sporting entities lose their stadiums without building a replacement might have their claws into our football club.

No consideration of the club’s heritage; no consideration of what Plainmoor means to its fanbase and no consideration of what supporters wishes might be.

Gaming International are property developers after all, although most property developers build things. Even if they do build something, I dread to think what it might look like considering the flat pack stadium they had in a locker somewhere in Wales. The feeling is any new stadium they build will be crap. But we all know they won’t build one anyway.

Mustapha Carayol left us to move nearer London and then signed for Lincoln, Bristol Rovers and Middlesbrough plus a load of other clubs, none of which were anywhere near London.

culmstockgull wrote: ↑25 Oct 2023, 15:07 Nickbrod, I do not wish to seem negative but what does this TUST meeting hope to achieve assuming as we all believe no one from the club will turn up, it may well allow people to vent and may if run correctly increase memebership by a few., but to what benefit.The club has no time for the TUST and as a result the TUST has no leverage, and this is why the club primarily invented and supported the TUFC supporters club to fragment any opposition. TUST has had many years to come up with a credible plan for our future, but I have heard very little of substance, possible share options for fans but still not near enough to run a football club for six months let alone five years.

I’m not suggesting that what I am about to say is what the meeting will involve or that these would be the way forward for TUST but TUST is an organisation for supporters and if democratic should follow the wishes of its members.

Now, imagine that with a club unwilling to engage with fans or their representatives, supporters voted to take direct action in some way. Whether this is by way of protest, boycotting or an orchestrated campaign to disrupt the working of GI?

Or, in the way that supporters of Manchester United formed their own club because they were disenfranchised by the Glazer ownership, what if supporters of TUFC decided to form their own team so they could enjoy watching their football again, even if starting at a much lower level. What I have put is unlikely to emerge from the fans forum but it could do if that’s what supporters wanted.

There is going to come a point where supporters of TUFC cannot bring themselves to attend any longer while the strangulation of the club by Clarke Osborne and George Edwards is allowed to continue unfettered; it just is not fun and is being rendered pointless and devoid of hope. Part of me would rather watch a fan-owned club at an even lower level than just passively stand by watching our club wither and die to suit the Osborne/Edwards agenda because watching TUFC struggle to beat part-time teams knowing nothing is going to be done about it is just all so bloody hopeless.

So, a fans forum for supporters at least gives fans an opportunity to make decisions about what we are going to do about it and let the club know we are no longer willing to be taken for the terrace-fodder mugs they take us for.

Another potential banana skin and I wouldn’t be surprised with another 2-2 draw simply because we don’t have any defenders so we are going to have to likely score 3 or 4 to feel comfortable about winning as even at 2-0 up, I wouldn’t trust this defence as Saturday showed, so another draw just to get the natives restless as well.

MellowYellow wrote: ↑23 Mar 2023, 16:21 See the BBC are quick on the uptake with an article about National League players might strike over changes made by the Football Association to contracts for next season.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65053526

I hope our players go on strike. It might be the only thing to spare us the agony of the rest of the season.

Saying that, I think they’ve been on strike all season.

DevonBee wrote: ↑25 Mar 2023, 21:18 P 38 W 7 D10 L 21 Gd - 25 Pts 31

For those with your GJ rose tinted on
Wake up and smell the coffee

Was Gary Johnson manager when we were relegated last time?

No, he wasn’t.

Who is the common denominator?

Don’t be daft enough to think that a different manager would have changed anything about this season. At a normal, well-run club, maybe. But at a club where real estate is the main focus, nothing would have changed.

GullsUnited wrote: ↑25 Mar 2023, 21:53 Yet you said you'll wait to see what next season brings before attending, how about support your club when they need it most

Just what is the point? This season is done; it’s over. We are down. Probably at the end of the season, the manager will be gone and most of the players with him, so who are you supporting?

Clarke Osborne - that’s who.

Don’t be so brainless. You be terrace-fodder if you like and line the pocket of George Edwards and Clarke Osborne but just look at what they’ve let happen to our club. Go ahead, nod your head and clap your hands and carry on pouring your money into their pockets but none of it is being put to good use. If it was, a club of our size would not be about to fall into regional football for a second time in 5 years.