Torquay United Fans Forum

The thing I find a little weird is the furore on here aimed at the board in the delay in appointing Martin Ling after Buckle had left. The main issue was that fans were unhappy that our pre-season plans had ALREADY been delayed due to the play off final and then Buckle decided to jump ship causing a further delay until we appointed Ling in the middle of June. Some fans were claiming we were missing out on players and other clubs were already doing business for next season and we were well behind in preparations given the fact that Ling also had to settle in too. ( As a side issue this highlights what an amazing job Ling did in his first season getting us to the play offs despite his anti-football approach. I happen to think it was his style of football that got him the boot rather than his ability but that's gone).

Anyway now we are approaching the same period (middle of June) as when Ling was appointed and yet we still haven't done any business. I'm sure Knill is working tirelessly behind the scenes to get players in but as we as a club are highly likely to be offering deals to players who now have been released then should we have expected a signing or two already? I'm not criticising anyone here, I know Knill will get us a decent squad together and I have total faith in him but we're halfway through the close season and we haven't had any news yet. I know a few of you are a little anxious about the lack of activity in the market given that Oastler was signed in June 2011 as was Leadbitter and Poke, Jarvis was signed at the end of May last year and I just wondered if you feel that we will have flurry of signings in the first week in July when contracts expire? When Ling signed Olejnik for example, his contract ran out on 30th of June and he was signed on the 1st of July as was Saah so Ling really didn't waste much time in bringing in quite a few players.

I made the request for the use of a smiley, but don't get the irony as I did not at any time enter into a conversation on the proper or improper use of the English language. The point was simple which Hector got, so need to labour the point, heading the O/P with the. Are we back to the Bateson days of recruitment? Does not suggest this was meant to be tongue in cheek, clearly by the replies. Sticking a cheeky grin in there, fair say most would have got it.

Oh, the irony. In a conversation about improper use of the English language, a request is made for a smiley to better illustrate a point.

Bill Shake-a-spear would be turning in his grave.

:red:

[quote="forevertufc"]If you meant this tongue-in-cheek Hector the addition of cheeky grin to your O/P would have helped your cause some what.

This article is not aimed at adult footballers, is not aimed at the 25 year old playing in the western league with a hard luck story to tell. If we read it properly and understand it, it is clearly aimed at the 17-20 year old young player age bracket who has been through or at some point in a professional clubs youth set up and not been signed up for one reason or another. Sort of a second chance saloon.[/quote]

Yes, you are probably right but people my age tend not to think about smileys or be too clear about their precise meaning. I forget some people often need things spelling out for them!!!

If you meant this tongue-in-cheek Hector the addition of cheeky grin to your O/P would have helped your cause some what.

This article is not aimed at adult footballers, is not aimed at the 25 year old playing in the western league with a hard luck story to tell. If we read it properly and understand it, it is clearly aimed at the 17-20 year old young player age bracket who has been through or at some point in a professional clubs youth set up and not been signed up for one reason or another. Sort of a second chance saloon.

well said lucy, good post. :goodpost:

You think that's unfortunate? My girlfriend has started using douche bag as an insult towards me. :red:

American influence is strong! :engflag:

[quote="Glostergull"]most pointless thread of close season. Period![/quote]
Did you mean 'most pointless thread of the close season period!'? Or the 'most pointless thread of the period of the close season'? Or were you referring to what was known in the English lessons of my school days as the 'full stop', the American word for which is 'period', and is unfortunately sometimes used in the UK?

The word 'period' in this American context is of course something of a misnomer, since the 'full stop' refers to the ending of a sentence in written English, rather than to any period or length of the pause or gap between the end of one sentence and the beginning of another, whether in written or spoken English. As always, it is the UK nomenclature which is the more accurate. We did, after all, invent the language. It is, however, rather sad that the language is evolving in ways which can give rise to a lack of communication and understanding. This is a result of the poor quality of teaching over the past forty years, and has paralleled the rise in political correctness and the imposition of political ideologies in our education system and in academia, the results of which are particularly noticeable in our schools and in areas such as health, law, psychology and social sciences. For example, there is a tendency to formulate theories, and then to publish only the evidence and statistics which support those theories, while ignoring or even suppressing those which cast doubt upon or even disprove those theories. It should be remembered that psychology and social sciences are not true science. They are merely the formation of opinions backed up by dubious surveys and studies and skewed statistics designed to produce the desired result.

My own theory is that boredom produces inconsequential threads and pointless posts, and I am ssooooo bored..!! :(
How long to go before the beginning of the new season...??????

Anyway, I see things are looking up: England just beat the Aussies. Serena Williams is in the French final, and Wimbledon approaches.... :)

It was rather meant tongue-in-cheek, hence the thread title!

[quote="Glostergull"]most pointless thread of close season. Period![/quote]
:goodpost:

Its very clearly stated on numerous articles that Players are on Holiday and have until Monday to decide their offers. So why the negativity, Knill will have plan A-Z in his head, hopefully it wont get past plan B/C, but lets be patience, as the 2 weeks after Monday will keep the forum busy. Maybe the forum should have had a holiday break to avoid negative and panic stricken threads

most pointless thread of close season. Period!

Silly season strikes again on this forum. Some people have very limited patience.

Bit of an overreaction. We can't pay much in the way of fees for players, so we'll have to wait until contracts are up and there are loads of free agents about. Even then we're not going to be able to pick up the 'first choice' players.

Hector, this time last year the very same article was on the O/S with Martin Ling's name on it. Pretty obvious what this is/means, so simple answer to your question...no.

he has been very busy talking to players, what is the point of rushing into buying anybody, give the guy a chance he knows what he needs and who he wants, it will all come together.