Club Ownership

[hector]

Just get on and join the TUST, for heaven's sake. It's hardly expensive and you may just get a say about an opportunity that might never come around again. Supporters do not want to be in a situation where they wished they could have done something. This is about the best bet supporters have of influencing events and the current guise is very proactive and making a great start of getting the fan's voice represented.

[PhilGull]

As others have said, stop moaning, get off yer arse and join the TUST, have a vote and involve yourself in the club you purport to love.

[Behind-the-Gulls]

The three requirements that Kelvin and Thomas have set-out for any new owners to possess before the club is handed over are:
1.A real desire to care for the club
2.The financial clout to take it forward
3.Off-the-field management capability.
In order for (3)to work a paid CEO will be necessary-this needs to be a Colin Lee type figure who will guide and mentor Greavsie whose inexperience is costing us and needs to be addressed by the club urgently.Think we can make real progress next season if these terms are adhered to and we find the right buyer.

[Bomber]

Things could go one of two ways for us; we find the right buyer and make the necessary progress to get back to where we were, or we get the wrong buyer and become Hereford mark 2.

One issue we do need to get right is recruitment, and I think a full-time Head of Recruitment is essential as it is difficult to attract players to this part of the world, and the late Tony Boyce any manager of this club needs to have contacts, contacts and contacts.

[nickbrod]

As embarrassing and depressing as this season is turning out and boy is this a difficult time to admit being a TUFC supporter to friends and family, for me the most annoying aspect are the prophets of doom who come on here and write 'I told you so'. Those who complain the loudest are those with no solution to offer.
Get rid of the manager. Get rid of the Board. Get rid of anyone who dares to turn up it seems.
At the moment I'm bemused by our current league position for while I wasn't expecting either promotion or relegation I was thinking of a top ten finish. I'm in no doubt Chris Hargreaves thought the same. He's just as frustrated as the rest of us but as in all businesses you need to look at the top.
Whilst on the field results are unacceptable the most important factor is the ownership of the club. What matters the most is that there is a new ownership in place soon. Decisions have to be taken about retained and released player lists. Will CH be given another season? In conversations I've had with him recently he doesn't know the answer to this either. Clearly this is a crucial decision. But of greater importance regardless of who is manager is what budget is this person going to be given?
If people are voting with their feet and season ticket sales are down then at best the budget is only going to be good enough for Conference South level. We need to hear something positive from Kelvin Thomas before it's too late. Hopefully his current silence suggests activity behind the scenes. We need action soon to save OUR club.

[brucie]

Kelvin Thomas is back in America again though - the silence is deafening but it doesn't suggest the signs of an immenent takeover are looking good. What do you mean "if" people are voting with their feet - they are in their droves and can you blame then watching this garbage.
Wrexham managed to lose the FA Trophy today to a village team. The fact that we couldn't even compete with them is a damning indictment.
If a miracle does happen and we do get responsible owners then really do you think that they are going to trust Hargreaves - he has been an abject failure. He will be shown the door pronto, I will guarantee it.
If we don't get new owners we will be playing Bideford and Dorchester within two years.

[Trojan 67]

[quote="brucie"
If we don't get new owners we will be playing Bideford and Dorchester within two years.[/quote]


If we don't get new owners, attendees at Plainmoor will be watching Babbacombe Corinthinans FC and Upton Athletic on alternate Saturdays.

[tomogull]

As embarrassing and depressing as this season is turning out and boy is this a difficult time to admit being a TUFC supporter to friends and family, for me the most annoying aspect are the prophets of doom who come on here and write 'I told you so'. Those who complain the loudest are those with no solution to offer.
Get rid of the manager. Get rid of the Board. Get rid of anyone who dares to turn up it seems.
At the moment I'm bemused by our current league position for while I wasn't expecting either promotion or relegation I was thinking of a top ten finish. I'm in no doubt Chris Hargreaves thought the same. He's just as frustrated as the rest of us but as in all businesses you need to look at the top.
Whilst on the field results are unacceptable the most important factor is the ownership of the club. What matters the most is that there is a new ownership in place soon. Decisions have to be taken about retained and released player lists. Will CH be given another season? In conversations I've had with him recently he doesn't know the answer to this either. Clearly this is a crucial decision. But of greater importance regardless of who is manager is what budget is this person going to be given?
If people are voting with their feet and season ticket sales are down then at best the budget is only going to be good enough for Conference South level. We need to hear something positive from Kelvin Thomas before it's too late. Hopefully his current silence suggests activity behind the scenes. We need action soon to save OUR club.

Good reasoned post, Nickbrod. However, Brucie is right - it's not IF people are voting with their feet, it's Are voting with their feet. Like you and most on here, I was expecting a top ten finish and if it doesn't happen, then Chris Hargreaves has failed. It's imperative that future ownership and future investment at the club has to be settled as soon as possible but we must have the right people on the Board.

Where has it gone so badly wrong this season? Several reasons in my view but it's easy to post in hindsight. One - a lack of experienced players. The only players with a bit of experience who are playing regularly are Downes and Pearce and for whatever reason, Pearce is nowhere near the player he was last season. When you think of the experienced players Buckle had at his disposal when we last got out of this league - Carlisle, Sills, Hargreaves, Robertson, Mansell etc Two - as good a player as he is, I don't think Luke Young was the right choice as captain - i don't think it has done Luke any favours. Three - what happened to the team spirit? In the first couple of months, the team seemed to be oozing team spirit. In the last couple of months, it has looked as if several of the players don't even want to be out there. Four - Chris Hargreaves. It is obvious to all that things are not right on or off the field. Where, for example, is Duane O'Achie? Given 'compassionate leave', we're told, but it's not usual to have two weeks off on compassionate leave. Not all good players succeed as managers - the great Bobby Charlton is but one example. The jury really is out on Hargreaves management capabilities. There has to be a big clearout of 'dead wood' amongst the players but it will not be easy to bring in better, or more committed, players in their place. The only positive I can think of is that players such as Courtenay Richards will be better prepared next season after getting a full season under their belts.

[nickbrod]

By using 'if' I wasn't questioning I was merely saying they are voting with their feet. Perhaps I should have written 'as' instead of 'if'. What the replies so far don't address is the troubling silence from Kelvin Thomas with no sign of rescue. But wait Thunderbirds are Go returns next Saturday so maybe help is after all not too far away!

[wodger of awabia]

We need to sign & play Brooklyn Beckham (who has been released by Arsenal ) pretty damn quick! This will interest David & Victoria who will then bung in £1M of sponsorship from Victoria's knicker design empire!

Alternatively all buy a ticket for the £54m double roll-over.........good plan Wodger!!!!

[Burnhamgull]

Reading this forum, Kelvin Thomas must be feeling a huge weight of pressure to deliver us a new owner but the reality is, what's the attraction of Torquay United?

How do you promote and sell a club who have only gone as far as League 1 for a handful of seasons in their history. The majority of it's time, the club has staggered around like John Bartlett after a half time drink and only recently have we dabbled in life lower down the ladder. Crowds are low, apathy is high. Interest locally has never been high even during "Wembley" seasons. Taking 20,000 to Wembley in 89 is as good as we've got. Each time since, the number we've taken has got less and less.

How many on here, if they won the lottery tomorrow, would ring Thea, ask her to step aside and plunder their new found wealth into the club?

I wish Kelvin all the luck in the world but we really shouldn't be getting too hopeful. I fear we'll end up with one of the current losers running the club.

[wodger of awabia]

Reading this forum, Kelvin Thomas must be feeling a huge weight of pressure to deliver us a new owner but the reality is, what's the attraction of Torquay United?

How do you promote and sell a club who have only gone as far as League 1 for a handful of seasons in their history. The majority of it's time, the club has staggered around like John Bartlett after a half time drink and only recently have we dabbled in life lower down the ladder. Crowds are low, apathy is high. Interest locally has never been high even during "Wembley" seasons. Taking 20,000 to Wembley in 89 is as good as we've got. Each time since, the number we've taken has got less and less.

How many on here, if they won the lottery tomorrow, would ring Thea, ask her to step aside and plunder their new found wealth into the club?

I wish Kelvin all the luck in the world but we really shouldn't be getting too hopeful. I fear we'll end up with one of the current losers running the club.

Part time footballers & Conference South then.

[tomogull]

Reading this forum, Kelvin Thomas must be feeling a huge weight of pressure to deliver us a new owner but the reality is, what's the attraction of Torquay United?
How do you promote and sell a club who have only gone as far as League 1 for a handful of seasons in their history.

Actually, it is worse than that. We have never been above the third tier of the football ladder. Twice when we were in Div 3 (South) we should have gone up to Div 2 (now the Championship) - first time under Eric Webber and the second time under Frank O'Farrell. Both times we bottled it in the last few games (both times rumours were rife that the Board siad we couldn't afford to go up). Having said that, clubs in a worse state than us seem to get by - Accrington, Morecambe, Newport, just to name three league sides. And who would back Crawley ??

[tomogull]

It is obvious to all that things are not right on or off the field. Where, for example, is Duane O'Achie?

Follow up to my previous post - just looked back on the stats (cos I've got nothing better else to do !) - Duane O'Achie hasn't been in the squad since the Wrexham debacle at the end of February when he was an unused sub. Why, when Bowman has been carrying an injury and we're short of strikers ?

[TeenageGull]

Follow up to my previous post - just looked back on the stats (cos I've got nothing better else to do !) - Duane O'Achie hasn't been in the squad since the Wrexham debacle at the end of February when he was an unused sub. Why, when Bowman has been carrying an injury and we're short of strikers ?

I think you'll find that unfortunately his sister died so went home for a while