Manager Gone...

[Fonda]

Fonda, go on the website, it explains a small slice of the job description.

Cheers Rob. Not sure they'd want a cynical, critic like myself on board though!

[Enzo]

What does it involve?

Experience of succesfully getting 5,000 people into a football ground in an hour and a quarter would help. Not essential though.

I hope your new employers were not freezing their nuts off in the queue on Saturday. Not the best advert for Stadium Management.

[HRG]

Good luck Rob

[ferrarilover]

ENZO,

Football supporter wanted. Ability to assess the likely size of a crowd, and either buy a ticket in advance or turn up appropriately early. Not essential though.

Matt.

[HRG]

ENZO,

Football supporter wanted. Ability to assess the likely size of a crowd, and either buy a ticket in advance or turn up appropriately early. Not essential though.

Matt.

Ooh, I like this, very good.

[chippygull]

Are you in a position to give your take on what happened last night?

[Plymouth Gull]

Good luck in the future Rob, and as Matt says, hope you stick around on here.

Remember reading about what your job entails in one of the programmes, and all I can say is.. rather you than me!

[Enzo]

ENZO,

Football supporter wanted. Ability to assess the likely size of a crowd, and either buy a ticket in advance or turn up appropriately early. Not essential though.

Matt.

Ability to buy a ticket in advance would have been great! You should apply for the job, you seem to have a good grasp of this kind of thing! Any good at fax machine maintainance?

Not all fans had the ability to get their early. The club should have done more to assit proper fans getting a ticket, but were happy to do nothing in the knowledge that they would queue. Some travelled for hours without any certainty of getting a ticket. Some didn't bother. Lost revenue for the club. Also, the money in the pockets of the fans queueing could have gone straight to the club shop or bootsies - both of which were pretty quiet for such a large crowd.

There will never be a satisfactory justification for the tickting debacle. The club took fans for granted and that was one of many contributary factors in last nights gate. It was incompetant.

Anyway, old news - good luck to Rob. I daresay he was a great servant to the club.

[ferrarilover]

So, you're blaming Rob, not only for your abject failure to plan your life correctly, for not having the foresight to ask one of your many local friends to pick you up a ticket but also for the mechanical failure of a piece of complex equiptment?
As it happens, I am good at fax machine repair, hit it really hard and repeatedly until it gets the message.

Matt.

[Enzo]

So, you're blaming Rob, not only for your abject failure to plan your life correctly, for not having the foresight to ask one of your many local friends to pick you up a ticket but also for the mechanical failure of a piece of complex equiptment?
As it happens, I am good at fax machine repair, hit it really hard and repeatedly until it gets the message.

Matt.

Wind your neck in tiger.

It has nothing to do with life planning, TUFC has many fans who have moved away from Devon. My time is split between London and Belgium. I get to probably 20 games a year which isn't too bad, no doubt not as big a fan as yourself, but there you go. To get to these games from europe involves considerable planning of my life - ever flown Brussels to Glasgow, hired a car and driven down to Carlisle for a game? I'm not asking for a blue peter badge or anything or suggesting that I am some kind of super fan - I'm just trying to demonstrate that your jibe about planning ones life is off the mark. Unfortunately, and as you are aware, to boost a midweek gate the club issued vouchers for the Crewe game. Unfortunately that counts many exiles out. I do have family and friends who live in Torbay - I would never subject them to attending a TUFC match just to enable me to get a ticket for a future game. Sorry, if that is what will be required in future then I won't be able to go.

Your post to me cuts exactly the same attitude as the club displayed. They should be doing all they can to get people through the gates, not putting obstacles in their way. Many people do not have the forethought or plan their life around TUFC - to some there are more important things in life. It should not stop TUFC trying to get them through the gates though. Especially when they can only get 1,600 through the doors whilst hundreds get out of the habit of going ot Plainmoor.

No, I am not blaming Rob for the broken fax and nowhere in my post does it suggest that he was responsible.

[ferrarilover]

Wind your neck in tiger.

It has nothing to do with life planning, TUFC has many fans who have moved away from Devon. My time is split between London and Belgium. I get to probably 20 games a year which isn't too bad, no doubt not as big a fan as yourself, but there you go. To get to these games from europe involves considerable planning of my life - ever flown Brussels to Glasgow, hired a car and driven down to Carlisle for a game? I'm not asking for a blue peter badge or anything or suggesting that I am some kind of super fan - I'm just trying to demonstrate that your jibe about planning ones life is off the mark. Unfortunately, and as you are aware, to boost a midweek gate the club issued vouchers for the Crewe game. Unfortunately that counts many exiles out. I do have family and friends who live in Torbay - I would never subject them to attending a TUFC match just to enable me to get a ticket for a future game. Sorry, if that is what will be required in future then I won't be able to go.

Your post to me cuts exactly the same attitude as the club displayed. They should be doing all they can to get people through the gates, not putting obstacles in their way. Many people do not have the forethought or plan their life around TUFC - to some there are more important things in life. It should not stop TUFC trying to get them through the gates though. Especially when they can only get 1,600 through the doors whilst hundreds get out of the habit of going ot Plainmoor.

No, I am not blaming Rob for the broken fax and nowhere in my post does it suggest that he was responsible.

A very gentle jibe and I'm to wind in my neck.
Bare fact of it is that the club offered supporters the chance to buy tickets in advance, your (very specific) geographic abnormalities are not the concern of the club and nor should they be. I'm pretty sure that, given a quick phonecall to the club to explain your predicament would have yielded results. Equally, I'm certain that a thread on here asking assistance in getting you a ticket in exchange for a beer in B&L prematch would have illicited a very great number of positive responses. Again, we arrive at the end of the line, it is not the fault of Rob Stanley that you have failed to organise your life in an appropriate manner.

In fairness to you, I'm just yanking your chain now, good effort with the Carlisle game. Why on earth do you live in Belgium?

Matt.

[Fletch]

Chill Enzo. Matt just loves to wind people up

The only mistake the club made with the ticketing was not allowing advance sales to joe public after the reserved days for ST/Members and voucher holders. I suspect they would do it differently next season though. I can totally see why they had "pay on the gate" on the day, so that people (like yourself maybe?) that couldnt get a ticket in advance (or wouldnt like paying the ticketing/postage fee) could still turn up on the day.

I know what you mean about flying backwards and forwards. Managed to twist a few arms and got back from Gibraltar for the Crewe game in 87

[Scott Brehaut]

Enzo,

I managed to get my tickets in advance - I simply asked somebody who was able to get them for me to do so.

It really wasn't that difficult!!

[Southampton Gull]

Hi its the git of a Stadium Manager here. Just thought I would post to inform everybody that my decision to leave is not based on last nights episode.
I had actually handed my notice in during the day. I have another offer that I couldn't resist and therefore will be leaving at the end of this month.
This is a good opportunity for all you people who slate the office staff to apply for the job and see what it is really like to work at TUFC.

I'd prefer that to working for Colin Lee, Rob

However, I wish you all the best and thanks for your efforts while you were here.

[Enzo]

I'm afraid a call and email to the club did not help. Yes, I could have put a post on here, but, with respect, you are slightly missing my point - the club does not need to worry about me, I'll get there some how. It does however have to worry about the people who have drifted away from Palinmoor. I know from other fans that the club lost revenue on Saturday. Thats not good.

As Fletch outlines - the club should have allowed some kind of advance sales. End of story. I don't know who was responsible for the decision be it Rob or not, but they were wrong. If it is not the concern of the club to do all it can to help geniune fans get to a game )and gibe them £16 in the process) then no wonder our crowds are dwinding. The actual location does not matter - you could substitue Belgium for Bournemouth really. If a fan couldnt get to the Crewe match then the club did little to assist them. Todl them to come early and queue .......and hope to get in.

To answer your other question, at times I have to work in Belgium. It gets a rough press, but it is a nice place. The Carlisle game was a cracker and worth every penny - they had just won the title and we beat them 2-1 to all but complete one of our great escapes, under Atkins.