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tomogull wrote: These 'things' are (i) the club is in complete limbo at present and (ii) we don't know who the new owners will be or as Roadgull rightly says, we want to see how things progress. It's not so much the £2 a month - it's the thought of throwing good money after bad. If a consortium comes forward which includes, for example, Chris Fleet and hopefully TUST, I will be joining immediately but until then, I'm being sensible like Roadgull.

But you are NOT throwing good money after bad by joining TUST. TUST is NOT TUFC. It is the supporters. By donating to TUST you are donating to an organisation who are looking to ensure that whoever takes on TUFC, if not themselves, are kept to account.

It is not about propping up crappy regimes.

It is about being in a position to do something about any crappy regimes. By helping TUST, you are helping ensure supporters have a strong voice because a strong TUST, like a strong union, is protecting the interests of supporters not regimes in charge of football clubs.

The comment from 'Madgull' does not warrant a reply from me as I am not going to get into any argument regarding finances, politics etc! Suffice to say I spent my life lorry driving countrywide for Vallance haulage and now rely on my state pension for my finances as any other savings I had have dealt me no returns but disqualify me from claiming most benefits.

However, my concerns regarding paying £2 a month into the TUST are not alleviated by any of the comments here.

A new consortium has every right to completely ignore the TUST, and if they consist of football minded business men then most probably they would.
As for having a strong voice like a strong union .. maybe, but the owners dont have to listen so would the TUST members then come out on strike?? The new owners will have put, or be looking at putting, a vast amount of money into TUFC to keep the club afloat - and will have their own very sound financial ideas on what they intend to do. They will not be swayed by 3-400 supporters.
If the TUST were to make and win a bid for TUFC - how they heck would they cover the day to day costs? Someone has written they would have income from sponsorship, gate money etc .. but if that can keep the club going then why has Mrs Bristow lost so much money over the years, The amount lost per week has has been quoted somewhere? Where will the TUST find this extra money to stop the club going into debt again from day one of their ownership?
With names like Mr Breed and Mr Fleet now being banded around, if my memory serves me are they not BBC radio Devon commentators? , then what Tomogull says is 100% hitting the nail on the head. They maybe passionate fans like most here, but are they also men with very big wallets?

My 'senior' and experienced head remains unconvinced and I still wait for the white knight!

Roadgull-look 20 miles up the road at the Greeks-no owner with deep pockets but a club that is supporter owned with management stability,punching above it's weight in terms of league position,great youth scheme;with more investment in it planned, new training facilities about to be started,regular(and sometimes significant) income from transfer fees from players they have helped develop.
Community ownership only way forward for us in my view.

RoadGull wrote:The comment from 'Madgull' does not warrant a reply from me as I am not going to get into any argument regarding finances, politics etc! Suffice to say I spent my life lorry driving countrywide for Vallance haulage and now rely on my state pension for my finances as any other savings I had have dealt me no returns but disqualify me from claiming most benefits.

However, my concerns regarding paying £2 a month into the TUST are not alleviated by any of the comments here.

A new consortium has every right to completely ignore the TUST, and if they consist of football minded business men then most probably they would.
As for having a strong voice like a strong union .. maybe, but the owners dont have to listen so would the TUST members then come out on strike?? The new owners will have put, or be looking at putting, a vast amount of money into TUFC to keep the club afloat - and will have their own very sound financial ideas on what they intend to do. They will not be swayed by 3-400 supporters.
If the TUST were to make and win a bid for TUFC - how they heck would they cover the day to day costs? Someone has written they would have income from sponsorship, gate money etc .. but if that can keep the club going then why has Mrs Bristow lost so much money over the years, The amount lost per week has has been quoted somewhere? Where will the TUST find this extra money to stop the club going into debt again from day one of their ownership?
With names like Mr Breed and Mr Fleet now being banded around, if my memory serves me are they not BBC radio Devon commentators? , then what Tomogull says is 100% hitting the nail on the head. They maybe passionate fans like most here, but are they also men with very big wallets?

My 'senior' and experienced head remains unconvinced and I still wait for the white knight!

I'm not sure why you think the new owners will need to be putting vast amounts of money in. As has been stated before the club will be debt free on the transfer of shares and what it needs more than anything, is to be run properly. ie, live within its means. Thats a reality that more and more clubs have to adjust to and although it will mean hard decisions, it has to be achieved. The quicker that all fans get their heads round this fact the better.

Also I've no idea why you would bring up that Steve Breed is a radio commentator? He is representing a consortium and as it stands no one knows how much they have etc. As no one knew with the previous bidder. One thing I do know though is that if Steve is successful then at least the club has one of their own at the helm and he won't be looking to sell the family silver so to speak. I don't know if he (and they) will be successful but I do know he would die trying.

Obviously we all have differing opinions A Realist!

Yes, the club will be debt free when the new owners take over - but that will cease after week one judging by the way it has been haemorrhaging money since Mrs Bristow took over at the helm. If it is going to run within its means then some severe cutting back will have to be done pretty sharpish.

As for bringing up Steve Breed as a radio commentator - I thought it was he that I had heard commentating on numerous matches over the past season. That is the only time I have ever heard of him (I thought).
I apologise for my error, it must have been someone else.

RoadGull wrote:Obviously we all have differing opinions A Realist!

Yes, the club will be debt free when the new owners take over - but that will cease after week one judging by the way it has been haemorrhaging money since Mrs Bristow took over at the helm. If it is going to run within its means then some severe cutting back will have to be done pretty sharpish.

As for bringing up Steve Breed as a radio commentator - I thought it was he that I had heard commentating on numerous matches over the past season. That is the only time I have ever heard of him (I thought).
I apologise for my error, it must have been someone else.

I think that cuts are inevitable. No matter who takes over. The club simply cannot keep losing the kind of money it has been.


Steve is a commentator. He does a lot of games for radio Devon but he also has his own business. Not the size of one that the club is but he does have some experience in running a place. As I would assume do the consortium he represents.

Added in 3 minutes 4 seconds:

Behind-the-Gulls wrote:Roadgull-look 20 miles up the road at the Greeks-no owner with deep pockets but a club that is supporter owned with management stability,punching above it's weight in terms of league position,great youth scheme;with more investment in it planned, new training facilities about to be started,regular(and sometimes significant) income from transfer fees from players they have helped develop.
Community ownership only way forward for us in my view.

They were also at the door of the league with the begging bowl out a few times recently. In fact a couple of times last season alone and at one point it was debatable whether they could start the season. They got exceptionally lucky with the sale of that lad to Swansea and they are the kind of things that only come round once in the proverbial blue moon. Barring his sale their fan ownership has been far from successful.

Plus they're stuck with a manager on a rolling contract who half of them don't want but can't afford to get rid of.

A Realist wrote:[quote=

Added in 3 minutes 4 seconds: They were also at the door of the league with the begging bowl out a few times recently. In fact a couple of times last season alone and at one point it was debatable whether they could start the season. They got exceptionally lucky with the sale of that lad to Swansea and they are the kind of things that only come round once in the proverbial blue moon. Barring his sale their fan ownership has been far from successful.

This is complete balderdash and bears no relation to reality in the slightest.

They were not in any danger of not starting the season. The issue they had was cash flow. They had not sold a player for a couple years and have had crap cup performances in the last few years, therefore there was no reserve income. They always knew they were going to get cash (season ticket sales etc) but did not have it at that point. At almost every other (lower league) club in the country the owner subs this during the summer months, or the bank overdraft will be used. The first is not an option for exeter, and whether the second is viable depends on their deal with the bank. A PFA loan is so low interest as to almost be free, so was a sensible option for them to take at the time. The fact it was a PFA loan means it was a public affair, rather than, say, Thea getting her cheque book out AGAIN. Believe me, we probably needed MORE of a sub last summer than Exeter to get through.

And as for being "exceptionally lucky" with the Grimes sale, this completely misses the point. It most definitely was not "lucky" . Exeter, since their fans took over, have decided to divert large (Very large) amounts of money into their youth setup compared to their turnover. They have decided to INVEST, speculating on a return the same as any other investor. The return on their investment is players into the first team, cutting playing budget costs, and the occasional player sale. They have consistently achieved this, with loads of the first team squad being ex youth teamers. They have also achieved regular sales, people like George Friend, Moxey, Grimes. The other option is to spend this money elsewhere, in which case they wouldn't have had a cash flow problem and wouldn't have had to borrow.

And their fan ownership has been far from successful? Conference play off final losers,conference play off final winners, promotion to league 1, had a go at the playoffs this year against a backdrop of long term injuries on much less money than a lot of teams around them. They have achieved all that while having a vibrant youth system, being community facing, living within their means and not going into debt.

I would take that for us all day long.

Kit_robin wrote:
This is complete balderdash and bears no relation to reality in the slightest.

They were in very grave danger actually. They relied upon PFA loans to get through the season and the sale of Grimes was all that kept them from serious trouble. They can't borrow from the bank so the PFA is and was their only option. Sure the loans are at a favourable rate but don't kid yourself that they weren't in very serious trouble because they were.

Agree with their investmernt in youth though and since their tie with Man United it has only been the success of the youth department that has kept them afloat, without it they would have sunk make no mistake.

They've also allowed Liam Sercombe and Scott Bennett to run down their contracts and leave for nothing recently too.

Anybody heard the rumour that Robbie Fowler and Jamie Redknapp are interested?!

IanGull01 wrote:Anybody heard the rumour that Robbie Fowler and Jamie Redknapp are interested?!

Is it April 1st again??

Richinns wrote: Is it April 1st again??

I saw Ian Rush in Newton Abbot today

Richinns wrote: Is it April 1st again??

Could well be

Both have bought properties down here apparently so a source tells me.

IanGull01 wrote:

Could well be

Both have bought properties down here apparently so a source tells me.

That 'source'...wouldn't be vodka, would it?