MATCH OFF - Aldershot v Torquay United - 29/12/12

[oxgull]

Although the cancellation helps with our injury problems the fixture pile up could come back to bite us later. I was coming down but my daughter has stayed on an extra day and wants tacking to the station this afternoon anyway. Pity because it would be good to go back to Aldershot where I spent a lot of my time in the army, well, Blackdown Barracks, Deepcut actually. It's just up the road. Could have gone in the Duke of Boots pub and not got chased out by the Paras!!!

[hector]

I am siding with NickGull on this one. I also don't enjoy this site as much as I used to. I always read all the threads but often cant be bothered to post as I tend to be more accepting of what this club is trying to do and view the bigger picture rather than going overboard on individual games. Individual players etc. There are also a few other posters I could name who don't appear here anymore and that is such a shame. This site does seem to be dominated by one or two posters but maybe thats just evolution.....

I have followed this club since I was ten years old and I am now fifty two so believe me I have see some great moments but PLENTY of lows !!! BUT I am now more optimistic about the overall health of the club especially in these harsh economic times than I have been for many many years.

Unfortunately this area is not and will never be a hot bed of football. Not only are we a low wage area even if you have a job but the population is full of people who come here to retire and so have no affinity with Torquay United. I have a brother who cant stand any sport let alone Torquay Utd ! I also have a close friend who has a similar opinion. Thankfully one of my friends is a season ticket holder but to prove my point about economics two friends who were once regulars now cannot afford to come to matches as each has a young family to provide for. Watching football is an expensive luxury when your money is tight.

So in effect I am happy with how Martin Ling is running the side taking into consideration the budget restraints he is having to work under and the crippling injury list we have. Those guys still have to be paid even though they are not playing and could be one of the reasons why he doesn't rush out and sign loan players like a certain previous manager did.

Of course everybody is entitled to their opinion but its annoying for old farts like me who have seen it all from the bad old days of football hooligans and worrying about your safety attending games to the off and on the pitch horror of the Webb years. The slow dismantling of the club once Mike Bateson lost his enthusiasm to the horrendous farce that was Chris ******** (!). What we have now is virtual football nirvana in comparison to all that !!!!!

I agree - I was that initial meeting when the TUST was starting and it looked as though Bateson was about to finally sell the club. The utter mess that TUFC was in at that point was one from which I would never have imagined we would be where we are today. Simon Baker's interview in the Herald makes perfect sense when he describes the wreckage of a club he helped take over. I was a harsh critic of the regime of Bateson and his family because I never felt they had the interests of TUFC at heart or put them first before their own agendas. His spin was negative and encouraged low expectations. The myth was peddled that he saved the club but that was nonsense.

But the people in charge now saved the club. That cannot be disputed. The shell of the club that Bateson left behind and was handsomely paid for was a disgrace. 4 players, no youth team, no staff. It was little more than a name and some kit. So for us to have enjoyed 4 play-off campaigns, two trips to Wembley, another to Old Trafford, cup runs, a new stand (a proper stand, not the bus shelters Bateson built) is nothing short of miraculous and something we never dared imagine. When we were relegated in 2007 and the future seemed to be Mervyn Benney in charge, I honestly thought our future was in the Conference South or lower. So to be complaining when we are still a only a couple of points off the play-offs doesn't make sense.

We should be grateful for what we have and even though things could be even better, eg Plainmoor is a bit soulless these days, things could have been a whole lot worse when you consider the mess the Bateson Family left this club in.

[The Farmers Friend]

The people in charge now saved the club. That cannot be disputed. The shell of the club that Bateson left behind and was handsomely paid for was a disgrace. 4 players, no youth team, no staff. It was little more than a name and some kit. So for us to have enjoyed 4 play-off campaigns, two trips to Wembley, another to Old Trafford, cup runs, a new stand (a proper stand, not the bus shelters Bateson built) is nothing short of miraculous and something we never dared imagine. When we were relegated in 2007 and the future seemed to be Mervyn Benney in charge, I honestly thought our future was in the Conference South or lower. So to be complaining when we are still a only a couple of points off the play-offs doesn't make sense.

Agree completely. Whilst some results have been disappointing this year, it makes a change to be able to shrug it off and look forward to the next game without looking over your shoulder at the trap door or seeing a defeat as another nail in the coffin of the club as a whole.