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Unfortunately though Colin Lee came with a £100k annual salary which is ridiculous for a club like ours.

I (foolishly?) still have a bit of hope..

In odd flashes I go through what might happen if we win the next three games. Then my nurse comes to give my my medication.

Thats just it - win the next three games and we are far from out of it. Trouble is we have umpteen chances to have done the same thing and blown the lot.
In all honesty Saturdays game could have gone either way. We could just as well have won the game as lost it.
The problem is though that having played better and lost again it seems inevitable that this will be followed up by another defeat.
Unfortunately facts have to be faced and Chris Hargreaves has been an absolute disaster - pure and simple.

tomogull wrote: Yes - you were against Hargreaves appointment right from the word go. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if we'd known after 9 games his record would be W2 D1 L6 we would have probably all agreed with you. I was lukewarm on the appointment - in our dire situation, I thought we needed someone with experience to get us out of the mire. But I thought his positive character and enthusiasm would inject a bit of passion into the players and I even thought we might start playing football on the ground, but neither has happened up to now. We're still lofting the ball up in the air to Hawley and Benyon and, surprise surprise, up against 7ft defenders, they aint winning much in the air.

There have been many examples of popular players returning as managers and it hasn't worked out - Kenny Dalglish and Alan Shearer spring to mind. And yes - I agree that the players he has brought to the club haven't exactly set the place on fire, but I'm not sure you're right in saying he had funds to bring in who he wanted.

We were told that there were several enquiries about the manager's job but never told who some of them were. It would have been interesting to know ..... Too late now, though.

as for the "positive character and enthusiasum" thats not worked either.

come on tomo, what about the loanees hes brought in? and er stevens????

also, what about cooper??? AK was told he couldnt sign him - but CH could..........

It may well be that CH has been/was a poor choice. However, simply because he has seemingly done even worse than his predecessor does not offer grounds for the argument that we should have stuck with Knill.

If people were suggesting we should have appointed someone else after Knill got the sack, then perhaps there would be good reason to argue that point. But simply to say we should have stuck with the manager who put us in this mess, simply because it has not got better under his replacement is nonsense.

This was not a job for a rookie. It needed a firefighter to put out Knill's mess. Many of us argued that at the time.

Yet since Buckle left, each time we have needed a manager there has been a clamour for CH and I think the directors, being fans, probably thought the same as those instinct driven supporters. The sensible option, would have been to appoint Sturrock with CH in tandem and poised to take over when things were calm. I think Sturrock would have kept us up.

But you cannot do it now - not after just 7 games or whatever it is of Hargreaves reign.

2 wins (deadcat bounce, any manager could achieve this!)
1 draw
6 losses (2 crutial 6 pointers)
7 from 27 points

24% hit ration (ish)

Would you be happy to have this kind of form, from any other manager.

I think Harrop would have kept us up?

Why are people blaming the Board?

Look no further than Baker & Phillips. Clueless to the last and even thrusting Thea in to take the flak over the Ling debacle. Knill was promised things that weren't delivered so it isn't fair to throw the blame at him either. He was trying to do a job with his hands tied.

Baker might well be a nice guy and a genuine fan but he was always out of his depth and as for Phillips, he's a bloody idiot.

I do blame the board for our current position, but when I say board I mean that in a general term. I don't know who has the greatest influence, I don't who has the final say in matters, if as you say Dave it was Baker and Phillips then fair enough these two need shooting.

It does annoy me when I hear both Ling and Knill blamed for our current position, ML wanted backing in January of the season when the team missed out on promotion under him, if he'd have got it, TUFC would have been/might still be a League 1 club, he wanted backing to re-build the squad didn't get that either, Alan Knill if what I have heard/seen written is true had the goal posts moved , people say knill signed crap players, well if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys, would he have signed the players he did if given the backing to sign the players he wanted to.

Can go over this again and again, spent money in the wrong areas, cut back in the wrong areas, and it's going to cost the club dear.

Southampton Gull wrote:Why are people blaming the Board?

Look no further than Baker & Phillips. Clueless to the last and even thrusting Thea in to take the flak over the Ling debacle. Knill was promised things that weren't delivered so it isn't fair to throw the blame at him either. He was trying to do a job with his hands tied.

Baker might well be a nice guy and a genuine fan but he was always out of his depth and as for Phillips, he's a bloody idiot.

As someone has already pointed out repeatedly, you're not going to buy a Bentley for £500, you'll end up with a clapped out Focus. Was it something like 12 players out and 7 in?

portugull wrote:I am amazed that so many fans have given up all hope.

If, and I know it is a huge if, we take 12 points from the next 6 games all this month we could still figure in a dramatic final 6 games ending at home to Wycombe on May 3rd.

History is littered with great escapes. Our Home record is shocking we cannot score but we cannot give up without a fight.

Exeter are in freefall and we still have to visit them. Please do not give up hope. We are not good BUT we are not being thrashed by anyone other than Hartlepool away.

We will probably know our fate by 29th March but in the meantime keep the faith.

You know what............ you know what............. your right,,, for now.......... give me a 2-0 win tonight and just maybe. It's never easy being a Torquay fan, we know that.

I don't buy this "if we go down I won't bother theory,,,,, it's either in your blood or it aint. If it aint leave now
I didn't travel to likes of Hartlepool Southend and shit holes like Plymouth & Exeter to give up now.
I didn't circumnavigate the ground (internally)every home match in the sixties to walk away,
I didn't sing my heart out on the mini stand Friday and Sat night in the seventies cos it was cool
I didn't stand applaud Cyril Knowles every time he walked on the pitch in the eighties to impress my girlfriend
I wasn't taking my boy before he could walk in the nighties to teach him how to walk away when things get tough
I didn't do a two hundred mile round trip in the noughties only to not get a ticket for Barnet to give up if it all went wrong that day
I didn't tell Bateson how it was only to be ejected more than once to walk away easily as he did
I was proud to top of top of Chris Roberts hit list and enjoyed being in his face (twice) to want out now!
You don't give up on nearly 50yrs
TTID.

Same rules apply to 2-1,,,,,,, lol

In the battle against the dreaded drop, we should follow our team to the bitter end, remembering the words, in a metaphorical sense, of the bard:

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Christian Christian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whilst any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Christian's day.

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A great post by Dave_Pougher. Respect!

Great post Gullscorer,Henry v,one of the fantastic rallying speaches,pity that someone dident recite it back around christmas,still hope it works now.

We can do it. We can stay up. No guarantee we will, of course. And the odds are against us. But now's the time NOT to give up! Every true Gulls supporter should support the team, at every game until the end of the season. Stand or fall together..