Talking Torquay

[MF68]

Merse..............and there it is in a nutshell

Unprofessional, underperforming and certainly not unrecognised.

Have you ever heard of anyone from Torquay being present at Isthmian League games etc watching young hungry players, surely you could watch 4 or 5 in 3 days if you take in combination games etc

As I said perhaps with a sell on benefit.

[westyorkshiregull]

Got To love how you put things accross merse. Sounds like they are on the gravey train more like but I dunno how much gravey is actually inside of it. Head of recruitment ? Sounds more like the old boys club wanting to keep living the dream. Guess it's all about not what but who you know to be in such a position.

[Teigngull]

'Jobs for the boys' more like, gravy train, bandwagon, merry go round , it doesn't matter what you call it, these 'job titles' mean nothing it's just a cover up to make it look & sound as if they know what they're doing, we've seen through the smoke screen which wasn't difficult as the amateurish unprofessional way this club has been run in recent times is there for all to see.
It reminds me of that time when the Americans rolled into Baghdad with their tanks, live on tv & that Iraqi General was denying to all & sundry it was a lie & American propaganda & it was actually happening right behind him.
Geoff Harrop, Dave Hedges, Clarke Osborne (by his own admission it has to be said) have no idea what they're doing.

[nickbrod]

Well here's a challenge: in this week's Non-League Paper there's a big advert for Non-League Gems headed "Looking For Scouts". "This is a unique opportunity for anyone looking to make a name for themselves as an eagle-eyed scout and discover the next Jamie Vardy, Dwight Gayle or Charlie Austin. All credit for unearthing the next 'gem' will go to the individual scout."
Reckon this could be a good job for Merse!
Contact [email protected]

[merse btpir]

I'm enjoying life as a pensioner.....R.E.T.I.R.E.D.

[Goose9]

I was also surprised to see Hedges at Maidenhead, getting himself some chips with Harrop, I did wonder why he was there and that surely a Torquay game is the last place he should be. He also frequents home games. Why?

Shouldn't he be out sizing up the next opposition or looking for new talent? Instead he seems to spend a lot of time watching Torquay games. I.e the only group of players that he doesn't need to watch as they are already recruited.

Maybe someone can enlighten me as to why he does this. There must be a reason, I'm just failing to see it.

[merse btpir]

This all smacks of a bean feast for the 'in crowd' doesn't it?

Hedges and Owers ~ near neighbours of Osborne. Harrop ~ Osborne's 'football man'

Ye Gods; what a **** up they're making of the job whilst the club sinks lower and lower. Now I've been tipped off how another club employee has seen his own job advertised in the professional media covering his field of expertise. Just another insight of what appears to be going on at a supposedly professional football club.

[Teigngull]

My Dad was 'scouted' by Frank Broome (ECFC manager) personally in 1958 whilst playing for Teignmouth in the south devon league.
Could you see anything similar happening with Hedges or Owers or Khull for that matter ?
I can't.
As you say merse , young, hungry, ready to prove themselves lads are out there & ready to be unearthed , even down here in this dark corner of the country.
So why aren't the club engaging with the local leagues ?
It beggars belief.

[WHG]

What Dave Hedges the Head of Recruitment?

Oh he exists all right; he was at our game at Maidstone recently having a beer with Geoff Harrop and Thea Bristow's 'Grim Reaper' who drives her about and carries her handbag....dunno' what recruiting he thought he'd be doing there. He doesn't exactly carry himself 'incognito' either; adorned in a club bench coat with 'Torquay United' prominently emblazoned on it. If he goes scouting in that he's hardly going unrecognised is he.

Perhaps people are having a go at the wrong person.
Who is the real friend of CO
Who really wanted Owers as coach.
'Head of recruitment' doesn't mention anything about players.
Maybe things aren't so black and white
Perhaps our better connected members might be able to dig into his role a bit more

[merse btpir]

Looking ahead to next season and a whole new raft of players being needed who are both fit for purpose of this level of football and already living in the south west peninsula; you would be surprised who does live down there already and could be described as of having the potential to be very effective part-time pro's........I maintain that this level of the game neither warrants nor can support full-time professionalism and going into it as such is no guarantee of an immediate return from whence we are going to drop for the simple reason that the standard of player even willing to look at playing at that level who are already full-time are simply not good enough anyway as we already see with what we have now!

You only need to look around the current United squad at no-mark and 'occasional performers' like Pittman, Chaney, Clarke, Gowling, Kuklowski, Keating, Reid, Osborne: are they actually warranting full-time payment? Most of them can't ~ or don't want to ~ even stay fit for any decent period of time. They're only part-time performers anyway!

[Teigngull]

Pittman, Clarke, Gowling, Klukowski, Keating, Reid, Osborne, Chaney.
Not one of them fit for purpose at this level.
You'd see a remarkable improvement in fitness & results if they were on something like performance related pay to Inc results & personal appearances.
Saying that, none of the useless feckers would've signed in the first place.

[ryan-ttpod]

Good afternoon all!

Considering my comments about next season caused a bit of a debate in here, we took it to this week's podcast. With no game to discuss we go into a bit more detail about why I still think we'll be 'the big fish' in the NL South and the problems that could pose throughout the season. There's also some chatter about young managers vs experienced heads and a look ahead to Saturday at Chester. Enjoy!

Coyy!

[soundcloud][/soundcloud]

[nickbrod]

If you are looking forward to Saturday at Chester you'll have missed the match!

[ryan-ttpod]

If you are looking forward to Saturday at Chester you'll have missed the match!

Indeed! Poor typo from me, apologies. We said Friday in the podcast!

[Forest gull]

Hi Ryan, I think the issue is all teams always say its a tough league. They are all tough in their own right.

Fingers crossed we will be a big fish and will jump straight back up again.

Loving the Podcast