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I did not hear about Ling's sacking until quite late. I was surprised to hear that he had been sacked and thought that if he did go that it would be a mutual decision on 'health grounds' or something. So for it to be based on 'footballing reasons' - for which I do think there is justification when you consider the sackings of some more successful managers this season - was not something I was expecting.

The club were clearly in a quandary. Alan Knill is the populist candidate but to my mind people are getting carried away on the crest of a wave of relief when really his record has not been that good. I think the board were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whatever decision they made would have been difficult and I have a certain degree of sympathy with them. At least they have acted and whilst twitter seems to be full of comments suggesting the club have acted dishonourably, I'm not sure what else they could have done, other than kept him and alienate a substantial amount of the fanbase.

I do feel sorry for Ling. This is an unusual sacking really, because it's not often a sacking provokes mixed feelings or splits opinion. I do think Ling's record since Spring 2012 was sackable and that is what the board have alluded to. Falling from the play-offs and nearly getting relegated. You could argue that during a season that was meant to be consolidation, Ling overachieved in his first year and that has cost him.

The style of football didn't help either and the possible fallout, had he stayed, of dull football and losing teams coupled with a fanbase just waiting for him to fail was never going to be a pleasant one had he remained in post. I think it is best for both parties, even if he may consider himself unlucky to lose his job...in other ways, he was lucky to still have it.

I have a feeling though that if the inevitable happens and Alan Knill gets the job that plenty of those cheerleading him now will be jeering him before long.

Scott read BBC Sport 12 Feb. Simon Baker could not get a prognosis but said "as soon as we find out we will tell the world"
Did we ever get told. No.
Remember certain self inflicted illnesses can result in compensation being disputed. If this goes to court then the unanswered questions will get answered.

Scott Brehaut wrote:Only unanswered questions from the fans.

How do you know that the Board didn't know anything about Lings illness?

Some of the board did. Hic!

Wodger - are you actually living on Mars or something. The notion that football league chairman are going to be falling over each other for Martin Lings services is balderdash. Do you really see Lee Mansell a player whose family is settled in this area leaving to follow Ling. Ain't going to happen.
Ling is going to find it hard to get another job. Not his fault for being ill but the sad fact is that the link with the "stress" part of his illness is going to haunt him I'm afraid.
The situation with Buckle is a completely different scenario.
The hand wringing and gnashing of teeth over Lings sacking is actually nothing short of astonishing.
Royal gull has made a complete fool of himself by his constant whining - when really noone has the first clue whether what Martin Ling says is fact or fiction.
The usual suspects Royalgull,stevegull etc etc are on here on their knees in sackcloth and ashes wailing like a bunch of old women.
Its Bakers fault,Thea Bristow's fault,the board havn't told the players. Mansell shouldn't have said anything (he has actually done nothing wrong - he gave a fitting tribute to his old boss in fact)
I feel sorry for Martin Ling - it isn't nice when anybody gets the bullet but he surely isn't anybody's fool.
Was he seriously told or did he seriously think he was just going to walk back into the managers seat once the season had finished? - I don't actualy believe it for a minute.
For all we know the board were unimpressed with Lings efforts before he went sick, or perhaps the writing was on the wall then. Maybe thats why he wasn''t given funds to strengthen the team.
We just don't know but Lings position here was untenable once Darren Deadman ran off the pitch at ten to five on saturday. Anyone who believes otherwise can't see the nose on their face.

bobby93 wrote:Great way to make a "fresh start"

Well yes it is actually because we remove the cause of the problem and can tie up loose ends and start again. Obviously we'll lose out financially but we would have done anyway if Ling had stayed as fans would have stayed away in large numbers. This season has been one of lingering issues, people tip toeing on eggshells, lack of information and fans bickering amidst the confusion. Just get f*cking rid, forget the hell about it and move forward with what we've got! A fresh start with no skeletons lurking in closets. There is no 'great way' to do it but it needs to be done, capish?

brucie wrote:Wodger - are you actually living on Mars or something. The notion that football league chairman are going to be falling over each other for Martin Lings services is balderdash. Do you really see Lee Mansell a player whose family is settled in this area leaving to follow Ling. Ain't going to happen.
Ling is going to find it hard to get another job. Not his fault for being ill but the sad fact is that the link with the "stress" part of his illness is going to haunt him I'm afraid.
The situation with Buckle is a completely different scenario.
The hand wringing and gnashing of teeth over Lings sacking is actually nothing short of astonishing.
Royal gull has made a complete fool of himself by his constant whining - when really noone has the first clue whether what Martin Ling says is fact or fiction.
The usual suspects Royalgull,stevegull etc etc are on here on their knees in sackcloth and ashes wailing like a bunch of old women.
Its Bakers fault,Thea Bristow's fault,the board havn't told the players. Mansell shouldn't have said anything (he has actually done nothing wrong - he gave a fitting tribute to his old boss in fact)
I feel sorry for Martin Ling - it isn't nice when anybody gets the bullet but he surely isn't anybody's fool.
Was he seriously told or did he seriously think he was just going to walk back into the managers seat once the season had finished? - I don't actualy believe it for a minute.
For all we know the board were unimpressed with Lings efforts before he went sick, or perhaps the writing was on the wall then. Maybe thats why he wasn''t given funds to strengthen the team.
We just don't know but Lings position here was untenable once Darren Deadman ran off the pitch at ten to five on saturday. Anyone who believes otherwise can't see the nose on their face.

I do wish that you would learn to read carefully what people write, & not put your inaccurate spin on everything. Learn to choose your words carefully & think about what you are trying to say.

I guess if Thea Bristow has had a key part of this decision, maybe she has decided to pay Martin off herself, or take it out of the debt owed to her. If this is the case (its complete and utter speculation, not based on any fact or insider knowledge) then it wouldnt effect playing budget. She could have demanded chairwomanship in order to stump up?

Spot on Andy mate

Gazzableedsgull wrote:Spot on Andy mate

Cheers Gaz, you know what we straight talking Yorkies are like!

I'm up your neck of the woods on wednesday, nipping into Ponty for a wander round before going the races.

AustrianAndyGull wrote: Well yes it is actually because we remove the cause of the problem and can tie up loose ends and start again. Obviously we'll lose out financially but we would have done anyway if Ling had stayed as fans would have stayed away in large numbers. This season has been one of lingering issues, people tip toeing on eggshells, lack of information and fans bickering amidst the confusion. Just get f*cking rid, forget the hell about it and move forward with what we've got! A fresh start with no skeletons lurking in closets. There is no 'great way' to do it but it needs to be done, capish?

I can sort of see what you're saying Andy even though I'm still on the other side of the fence about this! But it's not just the money, it's the fact that if there is going to be a nasty dispute/slagging match, then that might presumably take time to sort out and hang over our heads for longer than we'd like. So then it's not really a fresh start at all, and all of a sudden it's turning into an altogether different kind of 'lingering problem'.

I don't know, I stand by what I said earlier. I think the powers that be are wrong and there's not a lot can be done! As in life...

No worries Bobby, if the dispute DOES linger then at least we'll still have in place a new manager who knows what the oppositions penalty area looks like so i'm happy regardless. I respect your opinion and my black or white views on things may not be appropriate in this situation but i just don't want Ling back at any cost as his approach to the game came close to me considering not to go and watch TUFC anymore as we were THAT bad. As someone who lives for matchdays, that takes some doing and Ling nearly did it even when we were winning, i simply didn't want to go anymore as each game was a replica of the previous. Truly appalling football.

brucie wrote:Wodger - are you actually living on Mars or something. The notion that football league chairman are going to be falling over each other for Martin Lings services is balderdash. Do you really see Lee Mansell a player whose family is settled in this area leaving to follow Ling. Ain't going to happen.
Ling is going to find it hard to get another job. Not his fault for being ill but the sad fact is that the link with the "stress" part of his illness is going to haunt him I'm afraid.
The situation with Buckle is a completely different scenario.
The hand wringing and gnashing of teeth over Lings sacking is actually nothing short of astonishing.
Royal gull has made a complete fool of himself by his constant whining - when really noone has the first clue whether what Martin Ling says is fact or fiction.
The usual suspects Royalgull,stevegull etc etc are on here on their knees in sackcloth and ashes wailing like a bunch of old women.
Its Bakers fault,Thea Bristow's fault,the board havn't told the players. Mansell shouldn't have said anything (he has actually done nothing wrong - he gave a fitting tribute to his old boss in fact)
I feel sorry for Martin Ling - it isn't nice when anybody gets the bullet but he surely isn't anybody's fool.
Was he seriously told or did he seriously think he was just going to walk back into the managers seat once the season had finished? - I don't actualy believe it for a minute.
For all we know the board were unimpressed with Lings efforts before he went sick, or perhaps the writing was on the wall then. Maybe thats why he wasn''t given funds to strengthen the team.
We just don't know but Lings position here was untenable once Darren Deadman ran off the pitch at ten to five on saturday. Anyone who believes otherwise can't see the nose on their face.

LOL constant whining.

We don't know what Ling is saying is fact and fiction?, so it's more likely that a direct quote from him is fiction and the utter bobbins spoken on here is nearer the truth??!! Amazing

the fact the LMa are getting involved highlights my earlier point, this could get messy. But hey i'm sure it was all done the right way.

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site so be gentle.

I have been watching the Gulls for almost 40 years now and have read the posts about Martin's sacking.

I feel it was poorly handled by the club. Certain members of the board have very cleverly distanced themselves from the firing line following their inept handling of the situation when Martin became ill. No doubt fearing the worst, that we would go down, and that the proverbial p** would hit the fan. They then put Thea in the hot seat whilst still pulling all the strings in the background.

Martin wasn't the issue here. It was the Chairman and chief exec. When Martin asked to bring in loan players he was told he couldn't by all accounts.
Alan comes in and is free to bring in two and maybe more if he could have persuaded them to come.

They should have acted quicker to bring someone in. Taylor was coaching on his own with no backup and no managerial experience.

Alan's not the man for me. He has done next to nothing with his previous clubs and 4 wins in 14 games with football that you can see in the local leagues doesn't inspire me. When Martin left we were only just outside the playoff's and the performances were better, so for the board to say he was sacked for footballing reasons is a smokescreen.

A fresh start is needed with a new manager and a good clearout of players. Bring in some young hungry players with a point to prove and get rid of some of the dead wood.


:~D Please remember, first post. Be gentle.

Leap like Les wrote:Hi everyone, I'm new to the site so be gentle.

I have been watching the Gulls for almost 40 years now and have read the posts about Martin's sacking.

I feel it was poorly handled by the club. Certain members of the board have very cleverly distanced themselves from the firing line following their inept handling of the situation when Martin became ill. No doubt fearing the worst, that we would go down, and that the proverbial p** would hit the fan. They then put Thea in the hot seat whilst still pulling all the strings in the background.

Martin wasn't the issue here. It was the Chairman and chief exec. When Martin asked to bring in loan players he was told he couldn't by all accounts.
Alan comes in and is free to bring in two and maybe more if he could have persuaded them to come.

They should have acted quicker to bring someone in. Taylor was coaching on his own with no backup and no managerial experience.

Alan's not the man for me. He has done next to nothing with his previous clubs and 4 wins in 14 games with football that you can see in the local leagues doesn't inspire me. When Martin left we were only just outside the playoff's and the performances were better, so for the board to say he was sacked for footballing reasons is a smokescreen.

A fresh start is needed with a new manager and a good clearout of players. Bring in some young hungry players with a point to prove and get rid of some of the dead wood.


:~D Please remember, first post. Be gentle.

apart from continual success with bury in league 2................

and they are correct about this too.

hope that was gentle enough for you........

Point taken about bury.

Still don't believe the performamces were any better than when Lingy was in charge. 4 wins.... not great. Same players, two loan players which Lingy wasn't afforded.

What are the footballing reasons for his sacking ?