Buckle

[Southampton Gull]

I'm just pointing out that he isn't solely responsible for us doing as well as we have and is far from the great manager he thinks he is.

FACT

[royalgull]

I'm just pointing out that he isn't solely responsible for us doing as well as we have and is far from the great manager he thinks he is.

FACT

Never said he's solely repsonsible. No manager is. He's been helped by the board at times, he's been helped by the other staff but it's not a one man band at any club. If you look at the top level the managers barely do anything apart from Sir alex who still runs that club himself. They have technical directors, directors of football, directors of players laundry and whatever else.

Probably not, but he has done an excellent job here. He might fail at Rovers, he might get them promoted it doesn't change the job he did here. Whaihc was very good.

VASFACT.

[Southampton Gull]

First season- Blew it
Second season - Rescued by the investment of Paul Bristow after a terrible start. Promotion but close to blowing it at Histon if it wasn;t for Pokey.
Third season - Terrible decisions that Tisdale and Westley didn't make. Struggle.
Fourth Season - See first season. Had the tools to get automatic promotion but insisted on playing Benners up front on his own for way too long. Were Wycombe or Shrewsbury that much better than us? I don't think so.

[basil75]

My biggest problem is that Buckle doesn't acknowledge the help he got - he whines on about we've got were we have in 4 years under his management despite a shoestring budget. This is clearly BS when you look at our setup in the BSP.

Frankly, I'd firstly attribute our swift return to the football league to those that dug into their pockets and gave Buckle the support and finances he needed in the BSP.

True, Buckle was a massive help in getting us back, but he wouldn't have done it without the support he received.

Ultimately, Paul Buckle is shadowed by another Paul in my appreciation for getting us back into the FL, it's sad how this is being overlooked - no thanks to Buckle.

[Southampton Gull]

My biggest problem is that Buckle doesn't acknowledge the help he got - he whines on about we've got were we have in 4 years under his management despite a shoestring budget. This is clearly BS when you look at our setup in the BSP.

Frankly, I'd firstly attribute our swift return to the football league to those that dug into their pockets and gave Buckle the support and finances he needed in the BSP.

True, Buckle was a massive help in getting us back, but he wouldn't have done it without the support he received.

Ultimately, Paul Buckle is shadowed by another Paul in my appreciation for getting us back into the FL, it's sad how this is being overlooked - no thanks to Buckle.

On the money. I hope Thea has the nerve to finish what her husband was so determined to achieve for his beloved Club.

Edit: Excuse the pun

[Regiment]

my point which seems to have created a bit of a reaction here, is that i don't think Buckle is a GOOD manager. i haven't said he's sh*t, but what i am saying is, i think he is no more than average. just my opinion. he might have had limited resources, but that doesn't mean he used what he had to it's full potential.

and the main reason i feel this way, is his absolute arrogant belief he is better than he actually is, and has at NO point, learnt from his mistakes.

he makes the same mistakes now, that he made the day he took the job, and the same bloody mistakes that have cost us points time and again. i have nothing against someone who makes mistakes, we all do it, but if i made the SAME mistakes as regularly as him, costing my employer money (in his case points), i'd certainly not expect to keep my job.

our first season in the BSP, we were cruising, then all of a sudden blew it.
2nd season in the BSP, we were cruising (on and off), then nearly blew it.
last season, mostly a shambles, no settled team or formation until the last, i dunno, 10 games ? finally things clicked, players found some form and belief, and we survived.
this season, we've gone from the sublime to the rediculous at times, of course there were far more positives than negatives, and i'll give him credit for his contribution, but when things went bad, he had no response, other than to hope things went better next time out. i'm sure someone will correct me, but i honestly can't remember being at a match where we were behind/struggling etc, where we needed to make changes, and his tactical input helped. we flirted with automatic promotion, and almost blew top 7 in the end.
and i am in no doubt his actions over the past few weeks affected our end of season/play off preparations.

Paul Buckle wasn't Torquay United, he was a part of it, with lots of good people around him. just a shame he didn't see it that way.

[Boom Boom]

Agreed, I honestly don't know which is worse, his constant arrogance or that ridiculous bobble hat he wore against Crawley.

[stevegull]

Have to agree completely with Southampton Gull's earlier postings (maybe page 7?) regarding Hargreaves as a candidate for the role.

You're right, with the current mood with fans (and possibly players) he would defenitely be the one who would have immediate universal backing should he take the role and he would definitely bring a smile back to fans as i very much doubt he would rattle on about his "ambition" if his name was mentioned near a vacant managerial seat.

Hargreaves is a heart decision. Not a head one. But many other young managers have taken over in league 1 and 2 to be veery succesful with little or no coaching experience under their belt. BRING ON THE HARGREAVES. (and bring back that beautiful hair... =D )

[tommyg]

First season- Blew it
Second season - Rescued by the investment of Paul Bristow after a terrible start. Promotion but close to blowing it at Histon if it wasn;t for Pokey.
Third season - Terrible decisions that Tisdale and Westley didn't make. Struggle.
Fourth Season - See first season. Had the tools to get automatic promotion but insisted on playing Benners up front on his own for way too long. Were Wycombe or Shrewsbury that much better than us? I don't think so.

First season - Play-offs and trip to Wembley, despite most expectations being a mid-table finish.

Second season - Promoted. An incredible achievement to get back into the Football League inside two seasons.

Third season - Worst of the four, but he kept us up - the goal at the start of the season.

Fourth season - Tools for automatic promotion? We have one of the lowest budgets in the division, but were 90 minutes away from League One.

I'm not saying Buckle deserves all the praise for the last four seasons. I'm not saying he hasn't made mistakes. I'm not defending his conduct over the last few weeks. And I'm certainly not forgetting that we will forever be in debt to the Bristows. But Buckle has been an integral part of our success. Can you* not give him just an ounce of credit?

* Not just aimed at you but several posters.

[seasider]

Will always be a legend in his own lunchtime for me. We will never know what any other manager would have achieved given his resources.
Yes he built a team from nothing but for me he consistently failed to get the best out of the players at his disposal. Poor tactically, poor man management and a poor relationship with supporters. 4 career defining games -Exeter City,Cambridge,Crawley & Stevenage - 1 out of 4 - about how I rate him!

[Regiment]

First season - Play-offs and trip to Wembley, despite most expectations being a mid-table finish.

Second season - Promoted. An incredible achievement to get back into the Football League inside two seasons.

Third season - Worst of the four, but he kept us up - the goal at the start of the season.

Fourth season - Tools for automatic promotion? We have one of the lowest budgets in the division, but were 90 minutes away from League One.

I'm not saying Buckle deserves all the praise for the last four seasons. I'm not saying he hasn't made mistakes. I'm not defending his conduct over the last few weeks. And I'm certainly not forgetting that we will forever be in debt to the Bristows. But Buckle has been an integral part of our success. Can you* not give him just an ounce of credit?

* Not just aimed at you but several posters.

despite my criticism of him, i have acknowledged his contribution in previous posts, and am happy to give him credit where it's due - it's not an easy job. in my opinion however, and it is just my opinion, he has done nothing remarkable despite having the opportunity to achieve more. his arrogance and self importance have cost this club points, and ultimately success. i also acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes, and you also have to look at the players when results don't go the way you'd like, but no one can ignore the fact he has, in effect, made the same mistakes time and again. a baby crawls across the room, puts his hand on a hot radiator and thinks "sh*t, that wasn't good, i'm not doing that again". how many times does buckle try and put the square brick in the round hole before he realises it don't go ??

what i WILL give him credit for, is gelling the squad, and fuelling their desire and belief to go out and win. i just think a better than average manager would've done more with the resources available to him, limited or not. with some slight tweaking, which is where buckle was not up to the task, we could actually have a very good team.

i will also say, i'm not jumping on the bandwagon now he's gone, i've never really liked or rated him, but i have always supported him and the team 100%, in the same way i will the next fella. and despite not being his biggest fan, out of respect, i would've shaken his hand and wished him the best in his new job, had he handled his departure more professionally, and with more respect for the club, players and fans. but he didn't.

[simonb]

Bristol rovers fan here ... someone mentioned we couldnt afford O'kane... if we really wnated him that much which i dont think we do... we would be able to offer about 300k which i think would be more than enough.

[Richinns]

Bristol rovers fan here ... someone mentioned we couldnt afford O'kane... if we really wnated him that much which i dont think we do... we would be able to offer about 300k which i think would be more than enough.

Why exactly would he consider you when Championship sides are interested in signing him?

No chance pal!

[Plymouth Gull]

I'm amazed that anyone would think he's not a decent manager nor will we miss him. 3 playoffs in 4 years, when does that happen at Torquay? On a shoestring budget for the most part, he's made a young exciting team that's done brilliantly this season.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

If Rovers stick with him, he'll get them promoted.

I'm guessing that our budget was one of the bigger ones in the BSP, royal. I've no facts to back that up, just opinion, but I get the idea we threw a fair bit of money towards getting out of it.

EDIT: Didn't see the earlier posts already on the 'shoestring' budget topic, my bad.

[Southampton Gull]

First season - Play-offs and trip to Wembley, despite most expectations being a mid-table finish.

Second season - Promoted. An incredible achievement to get back into the Football League inside two seasons.

Third season - Worst of the four, but he kept us up - the goal at the start of the season.

Fourth season - Tools for automatic promotion? We have one of the lowest budgets in the division, but were 90 minutes away from League One.

I'm not saying Buckle deserves all the praise for the last four seasons. I'm not saying he hasn't made mistakes. I'm not defending his conduct over the last few weeks. And I'm certainly not forgetting that we will forever be in debt to the Bristows. But Buckle has been an integral part of our success. Can you* not give him just an ounce of credit?

* Not just aimed at you but several posters.

"First season - Play-offs and trip to Wembley, despite most expectations being a mid-table finish."

With the budget he had you think a mid-table finish would have been reasonable? No, he should have got us up that season, his lack of a plan B is what cost us, so no credit from me for that. The FA Trophy? Come on man, was it really that difficult for the biggest spenders in the league that year to get to the final?


"Second season - Promoted. An incredible achievement to get back into the Football League inside two seasons."

I disagree, we could have and should have won the league that season. His mistakes cost us automatic.


"Third season - Worst of the four, but he kept us up - the goal at the start of the season."

I'll concede he kept us up, but we proved later in the season we should never have been that close to the bottom in the first place. Look at Tisdale and what he did for City a year earlier with little investment as well. Look at what Westley has done with Stevenage ffs.


"Fourth season - Tools for automatic promotion? We have one of the lowest budgets in the division, but were 90 minutes away from League One."

He was given those tools when he was allowed to bring in Stanley, Robinson and Tomlin, we SHOULD have gained automatic promotion.

So no, sorry, I can't give credit to Buckle, he made cock-up after cock-up. How many games have you been to Tom where you've come away scratching your head at some of the tactics he employed? I know I've done it plenty of times. I never once booed him while he was here, the only time I gave any kind of criticism during a game was at FGR in that first season because he literally refused to leave anyone up front for corners and it always put us under so much pressure. I mentioned it loud enough for him to hear it and was it really a coincidence that from then on he left someone up? The fact it was Stevens was neither here nor there but given the time and inclination I could come up with so many things just like that. Now he's gone I can say exactly how I feel with no impact on anyone at my club, so no I don't think he was a good manager and if others had been given the kind of backing he enjoyed then we'd be in League One in place of either Exeter or Stevenage, of that I have no doubt.

Don't worry mate, I'm quite happy to be singled out and don't mind the debate at all.