Shrewsbury Town's board of directors did this

Post by **Dave** » 26 Apr 2014, 18:42

http://www.shrewsburytown.com/news/arti ... 05134.aspx

I fully applaud them for having the guts to take such an action. I do not fully blame Alan Knill or Chris Hargreaves, even though must take some responsibility, will they ? Don't fully blame the players, although they are also partly to blame.

But ultimately the board of directors are the custodians of the club, yes the benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing, but they make the major decisions that effect the club, like what money is and isn't spent on, staffing levels, contracts and what there paid, even down to set of poxy waterproof pitch covers that would have played a huge part in saving us from relegation.

My message to them is read the linked statement , then think about what your next should be.

Post by **oxgull** » 26 Apr 2014, 19:34

Thanks for passing this on Dave. At least it is an attempt to let the supporters of Shrewsbury know that the board understand something of the season's failure and to apologise as well. Wonder what the board at our club has to say about this disaster of a season?

harrytorquay101 · Post by **harrytorquay101** » 26 Apr 2014, 19:40

Just reading what they said about the loan system. We did almost exactly the same, relied upon it and made us go down. This should be a lesson to all football league clubs...

taunton_gull · Post by **taunton_gull** » 26 Apr 2014, 19:47

http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 12406.aspx

It looks like that's as close as we're going to get. I certainly feel that the worse things have become the less amount of information comes out of the club. Despite the deadline for early bird deals the fact the season tickets for next year have been continually pushed without an acknowledgement that the club has failed is shocking. I also feel it sounds as though we may not have even had the worst news yet. Despite what is written in that article and what CH has said publicly about getting back up next season, we can all forget it. It's a sign of where we're now at that our target probably should be to keep our heads above water like Lincoln have rather than slipping further down the pyramid and ending up like Stockport and Darlington. Hereford survived on goal difference today and could have quite easily gone down and that could be us next year as I'm sure there will be a lot of turmoil at Plainmoor in the coming months.

Apparently the Bristows stated their continued commitment to the club at the last AGM but you have to wonder how much longer it will continue. How much of the £15 million that was won those few years ago is left in the pot? I have nothing but huge admiration for what they've done but unfortunately what should have been a magnificent legacy has been tarnished, partly I'm sure by the people Thea thought she could trust to help her make the right decisions. Sadly there have been indications of what level of expertise exists behind the scenes including what took place during the Ling sacking. What is now left is a ground with a new stand, a training ground not fit for purpose and a whole load of losses/debt. Not much better if at all than when we last went down. Someone made a good point recently, when the consortium took over the club it didn't really become apparent until much later that they were primarily relying on the Bristow's money. Looking back it perhaps may have been healthier for the club if the investment had been more evenly spread amongst the directors. I have no idea of what's to come, I hope we get the changes needed at boardroom level and on the pitch. Sadly I feel the biggest battles are off the field and are yet to come.

PlainmoorRoar · Post by **PlainmoorRoar** » 26 Apr 2014, 20:30

That .com link is the manager comments we might get something else

nickbrod · Post by **nickbrod** » 26 Apr 2014, 21:54

Why so much negativity on here? Support your club or find another one.

taunton_gull · Post by **taunton_gull** » 26 Apr 2014, 22:02

May I ask what you might have expected having just been relegated from the football league?

nickbrod · Post by **nickbrod** » 26 Apr 2014, 22:32

So were you at Mansfield this afternoon? I was and saw a team which hurt being relegated. CH will lead us back. Stop being so negative.

taunton_gull · Post by **taunton_gull** » 26 Apr 2014, 22:49

I wasn't at Mansfield this afternoon but have watched the team home and away on over fifteen occasions this season and would have gone more were it not for work commitments. I plan to get to even more home games next season even though it is currently a 200 mile round trip - therefore I feel I have earned my right to comment. To criticise people for being negative about relegation is quite simply nonsense. Those who shrug their shoulders and say it doesn't matter aren't facing reality. The club has we know it has changed for good, it is on its knees and there is a very real chance it might not play at this level again. You have the right to think we will win the league with a record points total next year but myself and others have the right to feel negative about potentially finishing 92nd out of 92 clubs and becoming a non-league side once again. If I should support another club maybe you should stop reading the forum?

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 27 Apr 2014, 02:12

You're not being negative about relegation, you're being negative about the future. That's a self-defeating attitude..

DevonYellow · Post by **DevonYellow** » 27 Apr 2014, 08:18

Would be interesting to see the wage protocol tables for league 2 for this season and last season.

taunton_gull · Post by **taunton_gull** » 27 Apr 2014, 09:13

Gullscorer wrote:You're not being negative about relegation, you're being negative about the future. That's a self-defeating attitude..

I am being realistic about the future, that's all. I'd suggest anyone who studies the facts would come to the same conclusion. Wrexham, Lincoln and Grimsby - just three clubs from the top of my head with bigger infrastructures than ourselves who are still down there albeit Grimsby have made it to the playoffs this season. What exactly makes you think we are in a better position to make a swift return? That's without mentioning Stockport, Hereford, Darlington, Aldershot or Chester - the latter folded and reformed. Some have fared better than others but I'd argue none of those mentioned or others I could think of are smaller than Torquay. You simply have to accept the fact that there isn't a lottery winner on the horizon to pick up the pieces as there was last time. The financial news from the club over the last few years is very worrying, which is why as others have pointed out it will be an achievement to stabilise rather than risk slipping further down the pyramid. I will support the club next season as I always have but I do so with an awareness of the lessons of history in relation to other clubs.

Far from having a self-defeating attitude gullscorer I'm choosing not to bury my head in the sand...

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » 27 Apr 2014, 11:44

To be fair to Chris Hargreaves, he HAS managed to turn things around on the field, but unfortunately slightly too late.

I think he will do his best to get a good team together for next season, although he will have to overcome the hurdle facing all Torquay managers of actually persuading people to come to Devon. The size of the budget isn't everything - Forest Green had the biggest in the Conference this season and did absolutely squat with it. Meanwhile, part time sides like Braintree and Alfreton did well.

But next year's conference will be VERY competitive and we would be naive to expect to bounce back in one season, even though we'd all like to.

Post by **Gulliball** » 27 Apr 2014, 12:19

DevonYellow wrote:Would be interesting to see the wage protocol tables for league 2 for this season and last season.

Someone on another forum worked this out by going around every teams published accounts and fans forums.

1. Fleetwood Town £2.1m
2. Chesterfield £1.5m
= Southend United £1.5m
= Bristol Rovers £1.5m
5. Mansfield Town £1.4m
= Plymouth Argyle £1.4m
= Newport County £1.4m
8. Hartlepool United £1.3m
= Oxford United £1.3m
= Northampton Town £1.3m
= Portsmouth £1.3m*
= Scunthorpe United £1.3m
= Wycombe Wanderers £1.3m
14. York City £1.25m
15. Cheltenham Town £1.2m
16. Burton Albion £1.1m
= Rochdale £1.1m
= Torquay United £1.1m
19. AFC Wimbledon £1.07m
20. Bury £900,000+
21. Dagenham and Redbridge £800,000
= Exeter City £800,000
= Morecambe £800,000
24. Accrington Stanley £500,000

Would suggest that we have a lower end budget, but more than enough to compete at this level. Especially given the sides we are level with are likely to go up this year.

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 27 Apr 2014, 12:20

taunton_gull wrote: I am being realistic about the future, that's all. I'd suggest anyone who studies the facts would come to the same conclusion. Wrexham, Lincoln and Grimsby - just three clubs from the top of my head with bigger infrastructures than ourselves who are still down there albeit Grimsby have made it to the playoffs this season. What exactly makes you think we are in a better position to make a swift return? That's without mentioning Stockport, Hereford, Darlington, Aldershot or Chester - the latter folded and reformed. Some have fared better than others but I'd argue none of those mentioned or others I could think of are smaller than Torquay. You simply have to accept the fact that there isn't a lottery winner on the horizon to pick up the pieces as there was last time. The financial news from the club over the last few years is very worrying, which is why as others have pointed out it will be an achievement to stabilise rather than risk slipping further down the pyramid. I will support the club next season as I always have but I do so with an awareness of the lessons of history in relation to other clubs.

Far from having a self-defeating attitude gullscorer I'm choosing not to bury my head in the sand...

I'm afraid what you're doing is assigning merit where it is undue.

Ranking clubs by "size" is irrelevant and daft. Portsmouth are a "bigger" club than Fulham.
FC United of Manchester are a "bigger" club than Accrington Stanley. Size is irrelevant, completely irrelevant. Trying to pick the finishing positions of football teams in a division based on "size" is a bit like trying to pick the winner of the Grand National by the colour of the jockey's underpants; the two things simply are not connected.

The manner in which we have been relegated this year marks us out as already being a side too good for the Conference. Even if we have exactly the same squad for next year, playing against Conference sides, those eight 1-0 losses become 0-0 draws and we stay up comfortably.

I haven't seen us get outplayed by any side since CH took over (there might be one, but I couldn't say which). We've lacked one thing, a striker. As the club is now, we're a striker light of being a mid-table L2 side with one eye on the playoffs.

It'll take many elements coming together (no different from any other club in any other division in any other season), but there's absolutely nothing stopping us from coming straight back up next year, least of all some myth that crowd sizes or an FA Cup semi-final appearance in 1899 (or any other factor for which one may wish to account when considering relative "size") has any bearing whatsoever.

Matt.

Torquay United Fans Forum