Torquay United Fans Forum

Jack

MellowYellow wrote: ↑17 Sep 2018, 20:34 There is much optimism now among supporters for a good Cup run and promotion. A far cry from a few weeks ago.

Why? A change in management? I would suggest its down to change in managerial motivational style e.g.

Gary Johnson - promotion focused
Gary Ower's - prevention focused

Not sure that a good cup run and promotion go hand in hand.

The focus has got to be on winning the league (the 6 team knockout format of the playoffs is too much of a lottery) and a cup run can be a big distraction. We should win at Lymington and pocket the prize money but after that it will depend on the luck of the draw and whether we play our regular first teamers in cup ties or not. Not sure if Woking are the biggest threat for the title or are there some dark horses like Hampton and Richmond?

Gary Johnson comes over as a happy little chappy with a bubbly personality and a half full glass. Gary Owers's personality was due to arrive later and his glass seemed to be half empty most of the time. Their different approaches to life are reflected in the way they prepare teams for matches and even if we don't get promoted at least we will be entertained.

Jack

Now that the dust has settled on Gary Owers's departure I find myself feeling a bit sorry for him.
His limitations in managing have been cruelly exposed during his time at TUFC and he now faces football oblivion unless he changes his approach to the job and confronts his own shortcomings. He really needs a good mate, perhaps Gary Johnson, to advise him and help him but until he stops blaming everyone but himself for things going wrong he won't achieve anything.

Jack

Gary Dour was always going to be a desperate appointment. Time to move on.

Jack

sgf wrote: ↑26 Jun 2018, 19:59 Yes let's compare to a player that was part of the worst period of the club's history.

Your "regional" and "bog standard" comments are accurate. We are in a regional league and Young signed for a bog standard national league club.

At this moment in time I would rather be a bog standard National League club than a whatever we are going to be National South team.
Wrexham along with Orient and Chesterfield have the biggest fan bases in the National League and if any of them can get back into the League they have the potential to get to the Championship. Unfortunately Wrexham fell into the wrong hands but they are now owned by the fans and moving albeit slowly in the right direction. If Asa Hall had been offered a deal by Wrexham I don't think this thread would exist.

Jack

Most fans must be feeling pretty despondent at this point in time.
We are signing players that no one else wants - I can't see any need for secrecy about their identity prior to signing because I don't believe that there is a queue of other interested Clubs out there anxious to sign them.
Humour is needed to get us through the dark days and I both understood and appreciated why the second posting was made and the frustration that lay behind it.

Jack

MrTee75 wrote: ↑07 Jun 2018, 21:59 Really can't fathom Owers out at all,he says he wants to get his recruitment right,his players in,yet I'm now hearing he wants to possibly keep Gowling and Pittman?,plus a stack of others,if he had a clue he'd be dangerous,after saying what he did at the end of the season,he's making himself look a tad daft,then again,trying to get players signed is going to be tricky,I doubt there's any cash available for him,and trying to get quality loans to improve us will become harder now we are in NLS.

Gary Owers doesn't always fully engage his brain before opening mouth. We have a location problem for incoming players because unless they are already Devon based they generally have to move. Torbay is probably not a destination of choice for young upwardly mobile footballers - the winters are long and generally wet and the social life doesn't begin to compare with the bright lights of the big cities. Our managers have always had this problem and it is probably getting worse as roads become more congested and travel takes longer. Coming to Torquay United must be a hard sell and when the two main salesmen are Geoff Harrop and Gary Owers we shouldn't be surprised that recruitment is at a standstill. I don't find it surprising that Owers is talking in fairly conciliatory terms about Gowling and Pittman staying on for a second year or that he is giving the four who have been offered terms for next year more time to decide. Quite simply he hasn't got a queue of players waiting to replace them!

Jack

Almost inevitably my original post on this thread became an issue about whether or not the Club should run a reserve side.
I always thought that it was a non starter especially after being relegated but the way the Club has conducted itself in its dealings with the SWPL in recent days as detailed in the SWPL Forum thread looks shambolic. The General Manager appears to be very indecisive which doesn't augur well for the coming season because by the time he's made his mind up about something the opportunity will have disappeared.

http://www.swpleague.co.uk/SouthWestPen ... divisions/

Jack

Did the Club ever intend to enter a team in the South Western League or was it just intended as a good news story when it was first put forward. At the time it didn't look like there would be a cat in hells chance of getting in because of the normal promotion and relegation with the SWPL's own feeder leagues so it would have been easy to say that we had tried to get into the league but failed.
In the end with unexpected resignations and failed promotion bids there was a place for us but we have turned it down. Should we be surprised or was the reserve side always a myth to get supporters on board?

Jack

According to the SWPL website we have withdrawn our application to put a reserve side in that League even though a place is available, At least the squad won't need to be as big now!

Jack

Re: manager/player relationships

Some managers/coaches are not particularly liked but respected. Others are not liked and not respected. Frank O'Farrell and Bruce Rioch were generally respected by players because of their coaching skills and knowledge of the game.
Owers and Kuhl? We all have differing opinions. I think that they are past their "sell by" date and I can understand why a bright lad like Gowling might be frustrated by them. The ill judged "We're not rubbish anymore" comment from Owers certainly wouldn't have improved his relationship with the players and its not something that Frank O'Farrell or Bruce Rioch would have said - they were both rather more savvy than that.

Jack

I seem to recall Merse in one of his kinder moments referred to the previous management team as "Dumb and Dumber". Such a term of endearment would be more aptly applied to the two current incumbents. Add a former youth Team Manager who never "discovered" any worthwhile youth players and who owes his current position masquerading as a General Manager to his family ties with the owner and you have a threesome waiting to have their tummies tickled by Mr O. All three are currently earning a living courtesy of the owner and will do his bidding rather than face being unemployed.
Don't raise your hopes for next season because a lot of players will sense the fragility of the current regime and stay away.

Jack

Perhaps one day we will find out what happened during the Summer of 2017.
Why did we sign so many players from the Bristol area - Clarke, Gosling, Klukowski (Chippenham boy) and Davis? Who spotted them and recommended them to the Club? Gosling and Pittman were both in the Grimsby team that got promoted in 2016 so bringing them back together had some logic behind it although Pittman had spent the 2016/17 season at Harrogate.
Why did we keep Chaney. He was the only outfield protege of Harrop to last more than one season as a pro - what a dreadful record for our former head of youth development who was in post for 7 years. Chaney was his most successful youngster apart from Dan Lavercombe.
Why did we have so many trialists during preseason? That must have been a hindrance to our preseason training and perhaps Nicho in a fit of pique brought on his kit man to show how bad the trialists were that he had been lumbered with.
Would Nicho have kept us up? I doubt it given the potentially hostile management environment that he would have been trying to work in. Would he have got more out of the players already on the books when Owers came in? Definitely.

Jack

I doubt that Nicho was gloating. He is a decent man who will be sharing the same emotions as the rest of us about being relegated to the NLS.

Jack

With Gary Owers it's always a case of "jam tomorrow" but tomorrow never comes - or at least it hasn't yet.
Good luck to him in the summer transfer market but it wont be easy with players and their agents trying to get best deals and in the NLS we will be even further down the pecking order. It could be quite a frustrating process for him with players being lined up and then getting better offers elsewhere before they sign on the dotted line.

Jack

Interesting to reflect on what we were all thinking five months ago and what we might be thinking now!

Torquay United Fans Forum

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FA Cup

Mr Owers steps down

Facing Reality

Asa Hall

Asa Hall

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Reserve Team smokescreen?

Reserve Team smokescreen?

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Player Search - Who Will Turn Up?

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Great appointment.

Great appointment.

Gary Owers

The Gaffer

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