Hartlepool United v Torquay United - 1/3/14

[SuperNickyWroe]

Nope. As owner the buck ultimately stops with her. Players on pitch don't perform the manager gets sack. Manager doesn't perform then you have to question the person who hired them. Me going today isn't my reason for being able to question Thea. Being a lifelong fan is. In 2007 the board saved us yes. Problem is in the last 12 months we have descended into being a joke club again.

what you are still failing to realise is that paul and thea have been saving us ever since.

[aldershotgull]

I have not failed to recognise it i am pointing out in more recent times that decisions made are leading to our current downfall. All well and good praising them but we should be allowed to criticise too.

[SuperNickyWroe]

Why aren't we allowed to argue about the board. You point blankly disagree with everything I say and now Aldershotgull.

I see it differently if they 'saved us' then why the hell are we fighting for our life's. You can't keep saying errors of judgement, doesn't wash with me.

What's Thea saved us from, please tell?

They employ the managers, they sack the managers, they bought a training ground not fit for purpose, as I have read in the press, and then a stand is built which is a hindrance.

Please why can't you lot see it. What are you afraid of?

what about having no club?

if you dont know or realise that then there is something wrong.

[aldershotgull]

Tell me, come on you highlight it in red so explain yourself?

whilst questioning Thea, when the board came in and bought the club it couldn't have come at a better time. It saved us. It brought us stability after a season of complete stupidity from everywhere in the club. We can question the past 24 months with managers, money, facilities etc but cant deny what they did 7 years ago to assure tufc did not die.

[Burnhamgull]

The most depressing thing is that if we had no club, only 2-3000 people in Torbay would actually be bothered and that's possibly part of the problem. The lack of interest locally has always let us down.

Even during the good times, we've only attracted 3-4000 at best regularly.

Let's face it, we're all scared stiff of Thea pulling out because the club is not an attractive proposition to anyone else.

[Burnhamgull]

The other directors probably have invested but not to the extent Thea has and we are more reliant on her finance than we probably would like to admit. With crowds getting smaller and a team on the pitch that's rapidly taking us into non-league oblivion, we are in a very fragile state.

Last season Argyle were floundering at the bottom of the table and the board decided to bring in John Sheridan who had a proven record. Tonight they sit 2 points outside the playoffs. A proven manager makes all the difference.

[Dutchgull]

Jeez there are some serious idiots posting on here tonight.........

[Scott Brehaut]

I understand that too, Burnham but what about the rest of the Directors then, don't they put money in.

I get frustrated, been here more times than I care to remember and still Torquay United don't learn. After Pope, Bateson and Roberts I really hoped lessons were learnt.

I appreciate money is tight, but they make the decisions.

Go on to companies house and pay a quid to get the accounts. Spend another pound getting the annual return and you will see exactly how much money has been put in and the ownership (you will see Thea as majority shareholder)

I don't mind people coming on here and questioning things, but Thea (and her late husband) have bankrolled this club for the last couple of years, if not more.

There is no way we can question her loyalty, albeit she is probably here to protect her investment - her more than anybody on the Board is probably desperate for league football next season, as that's where the money is.

There have been some strange decisions - the investment in infrastructure when the team needed investment instead is the obvious one, but Thea will be the first to say that she has no experience in running a football club.

Those calling for the return of somebody like Colin lee should be careful what they wish for - he certainly did his part to screw the club over whilst here - football brain, yes, but an arse of the highest order if the things I've heard about are true (and I've no reason to doubt them)

The most unfortunate thing about all thus is that it is the fans that suffer the most - closely followed (if not suffering the most due to the loss of finance she has pumped in) by Thea.

Finally, the rookie manager. My thoughts, controversial as they may be, are that Chris was cheaper than most (given this is his first job in management) and the Board pretty much knew there was little that could be done to save the club from relegation - thus they employed Chris, told him that if he kept us up he'd be rewarded suitably, but that if we were relegated he'd still have a job anyway.

The club couldn't afford to get in a fire fighter - we'd paid off four guys (Ling, Taylor, Knill and Brass) and there was/is nothing left.

[Dutchgull]

Go on to companies house and pay a quid to get the accounts. Spend another pound getting the annual return and you will see exactly how much money has been put in and the ownership (you will see Thea as majority shareholder)

I don't mind people coming on here and questioning things, but Thea (and her late husband) have bankrolled this club for the last couple of years, if not more.

There is no way we can question her loyalty, albeit she is probably here to protect her investment - her more than anybody on the Board is probably desperate for league football next season, as that's where the money is.

There have been some strange decisions - the investment in infrastructure when the team needed investment instead is the obvious one, but Thea will be the first to say that she has no experience in running a football club.

Those calling for the return of somebody like Colin lee should be careful what they wish for - he certainly did his part to screw the club over whilst here - football brain, yes, but an arse of the highest order if the things I've heard about are true (and I've no reason to doubt them)

The most unfortunate thing about all thus is that it is the fans that suffer the most - closely followed (if not suffering the most due to the loss of finance she has pumped in) by Thea.

Finally, the rookie manager. My thoughts, controversial as they may be, are that Chris was cheaper than most (given this is his first job in management) and the Board pretty much knew there was little that could be done to save the club from relegation - thus they employed Chris, told him that if he kept us up he'd be rewarded suitably, but that if we were relegated he'd still have a job anyway.

The club couldn't afford to get in a fire fighter - we'd paid off four guys (Ling, Taylor, Knill and Brass) and there was/is nothing left.

[gullintwoplaces]

There's the answer experienced manager, but our board chose a rookie in Chris Hargreaves. They made their choice.

I fully understand that Thea has put more money in. Just feel let down.

Some of the comments last night are just plain daft. The board chose Hargreaves because they thought he would do a good job, and would be a popular choice. To read some of the bollox on here you would think that some folk believe that the directors are conspiring to make the club fail.

Thea has kept our club alive. Her commitment is unquestionable, and us fans should be grateful to her! The silly burglars on here moaning about lack of funds should perhaps consider putting their own money in.

[Sunnysideup]

The club couldn't afford to get in a fire fighter - we'd paid off four guys (Ling, Taylor, Knill and Brass) and there was/is nothing left.

Just to be accurate, Brass wasnt (though I get what you mean)

[AustrianAndyGull]

It's a new day so I'm just posting to ask to be excused if any of my bad language about the game yesterday caused any offence. Others can often conduct themselves accordingly but occasionally I struggle and although I'm not sorry for that, I accept that some things weren't acceptable.

I'm still not going anymore this season until I see some spirit back in the players and the performances and it has devastated me to say that as TUFC is a massive part of my life but they simply don't deserve it.

Anyway, i'll leave it at that.

[brucie]

It isn't really the supporters fault that the crowds are so low. Saying that we "only" got three to four thousand people when we were doing well is all well and good but thats substantially more than we are getting now.
The reason that we got such a dire crowd against Burton was because of our pathetic performance against Accrington.
Had we won against them we wouldn't have dropped 500 people on the attendance against Burton.
Similarly our 3-0 defeat yesterday will probably ensure a sub 2000 gate next Saturday.
If the board and manager provide a team who are all but relegated with a quarter of the season to go what do they expect.
The buck stops there. In all fairness to Aldershot gull he has every reason to be upset - lets face it getting hammered by an average side in a game we had to win just isn't good enough.

[wivelgull]

And, in conclusion, brucie and I have been telling everyone the truth since the first day of the season. Brucie and I are right!

[Gloomy Gull]

A number of posters appear to be looking to protect Hargreaves with quotes about the ...."sh1t left by previous manager"...."CH record no worse than Knill"....those points are valid and acknowledged.

BUT...when you are appointing a replacement for someone who is considered to be unable to provide the required level of success, isn't the most important consideration of a new appointment that the new he/she is expected to perform ABOVE the level of the outgoing member of staff, with the exisitng tools available to them ?

I find it difficult to believe that the Board honestly considered Hargreaves CV as strong enough to provide the experience required. If they did that due diligence and can, hand on heart, confirm that amongst all the other possible candidates - giving them the benefit of the doubt there were others considered - CH had the strongest CV for the position we were in, then I apologise for my cynicism.

Given all the commentary on these boards about our financial position, I can only draw a conclusion that they went for the least expensive option (I hesitate to use the word cheap), allied to the hope that his "legend" status would encourage the floating Torbay supporter to re-enter Plainmoor on a more regular basis and help provide much needed finance that could be used to improve the "sh1t left by Knill".

I fear that gamble has backfired in a big way !