Torquay United Fans Forum

Mike Hickman what a player he could have been for us. Injury wrecked his partnership with Willie Brown !!

Indeed happy days !!

well dutch seems we have a lot in common, i must have been on the same coach as you at workington also had our coach window put in at doncaster having beat them 4-0 with mike hickman scoring a hat trick , chased around hartlepool and among other places during the seventees, Happy days!

I don't particularly like Mr Warnock as I remember when he bought his Scarborough team to Plainmoor and have never seen so many footballs booted out of the ground !!

All I was suggesting is wouldn't it be good to have an experienced man to HELP CH as per the TITLE of this thread. Someone in the style of Steve Perryman at Exeter and even here when Frank O''Farrell advised Bruce Rioch and NOT to replace him.

Yes Roadrunner I have been a fricking supporter for 44 of my 54 years and have also travelled all over the country !! I have had rocks thrown at our coach at Workington. A brick thorough the coach window at Walsall even a tree stump thrown at me and my mates at Bognor !! Mind you I didn't take any of these incidents personally !! One of the worst was travelling to Darlington in a mini bus and losing 2-1 in the last minute !! Not a good long journey home !

Great days at Coventry Bristol City Spurs Southend and and of course Wembley make up for the bad days. So plenty of fun and games following the Gulls. Unfortunately health and finances mean I can't travel like I used to.

All I am saying is If someone is out there with the experience that could help us then why not use it.

As I said before there is nothing I want more than to see a successful Torquay United............... Well actually winning the Euro millions and sha**ing Cameron Diaz might come close !!

And that is my opinion !!

Neil Warnock's supposive love of West Country football is complete bollocks.

Ask clubs such as Bodmin and Tavistock who hosted Leeds pre-season a couple of years ago (along with Torquay).

If you do not understand what I am talking about, dig a little deeper and it will not be long before your ill-judged respect for NW changes

hector wrote:



Had Knill been sacked in October, when it was so bloody obvious a change was needed, we would have stayed up and this season we might be having the sort of season Plymouth and Exeter are enjoying. But we didn't and now we are having our worst season since the early 1920s.

Agree with Wodger Dwodger and Hector.Those two successive "no shots on target" home games last season against Rochdale and Chesterfield were the time when Knob Knill should have been sacked. The Board fatally delayed the inevitable. I didn't delay, I stopped going immediately, I'd seen enough shite. I've seen one game since then at Plainmoor - v Southport. I've soon found an outlet for my £17 Popside entrance fee - it's more time in the pub.

Hector, your feelings on Alan Knill are clear, you're entitled to your view. I, still do not think it was down to him (AK) I, will always maintain the problem started before he arrived at our club and Alan Knill was right royally shafted along with Martin Ling.

You are spot on however with your view point on Martin Allen and Paul Sturrock, Sturrock often seen around Plainmoor may have taken the job on until the end of the season on expenses, Martin Allen many will tell you the club couldn't afford, I'm not so sure, despite rumours suggesting otherwise that our club even made contact with mad dog to find out.

Both would have kept our club in the league, probably would have done the job until the club was stabilized , then it would have been the right time for a Chris Hargreaves type manager, but, as I've said a few times it's to late, it's like crying over split milk.

wodger of awabia wrote:If Knill had been sacked after game 15 last season & N.W. offered a short term contract to the end of last season,( & a fat bonus if he kept us up ) then we would not be looking at a long spell in the Conference. I was not the only one suggesting this option. The board must of course take the blame for whatever happens at the club.

There was no way, that Neil Warnock, would ever have, or ever would, come in and manage Torquay. He pretty much said as much when interviewed on the local highlights programme.

However, for quite a while, both Martin Allen and Paul Sturrock were and the nonsense of sticking with Knill for so long, when it was evident he was worse than useless, is what has cost us, as well as not replacing him with one of the two aforementioned.

Had Knill been sacked in October, when it was so bloody obvious a change was needed, and one of those two point in charge, we would have stayed up and this season we might be having the sort of season Plymouth and Exeter are enjoying.

But we didn't and now we are having our worst season since the early 1920s.

well dutch, how connected am i? how **** touchy am i , 50 fricking years a supporter mate, 23 games away in one particular season, and did i actually accuse you personally of saying anything, i was having a go at some people, not you personally, what i am saying is that the guy is doing a tough job on a shoestring budget, and yes buckle was a good manager but a weasel for leaving the way he did and it may be im talking crap but thats how i feel, and if i sound touchy then yes i am feeling touchy and pissed off like most torquay fans at the moment. and lets face it who is going to come in and do a better job on the budget he has. this is my feelings and we are entitled to our opinion.

yours truly, touchy ,connected. :K

Sesimbra wrote:I entirely agree with Dutchgull's 4th paragraph. If indeed Hargreaves threw his hands up and said "what can I do" then he is not fit to be a manager. He picked most of the players and it is up to him to motivate them and give them some passion. If he is unable to do this then it suggests he has not got the respect of the players.

Didn't you read my last post? Sheridan reacted in a similar way to Hargreaves in a post match interview. If Sheridan can subsequently motivate his players there's no reason why Hargreaves shouldn't also do so..

I entirely agree with Dutchgull's 4th paragraph. If indeed Hargreaves threw his hands up and said "what can I do" then he is not fit to be a manager. He picked most of the players and it is up to him to motivate them and give them some passion. If he is unable to do this then it suggests he has not got the respect of the players.

If Knill had been sacked after game 15 last season & N.W. offered a short term contract to the end of last season,( & a fat bonus if he kept us up ) then we would not be looking at a long spell in the Conference. I was not the only one suggesting this option. The board must of course take the blame for whatever happens at the club.

Dutchgull wrote:Granted CH has not got the budget that Buckle had but what really annoyed me yesterday in his post match radio interview was when he was asked about certain failings in the team he replied "What can I do about it" well try coaching and managing them for a start !! .

I remember John Sheridan in one of his post-match interviews at Home Park (I forget whether it was early this season or late last season) being at a loss to understand why his players played so badly and not knowing what to do about it. Yet Argyle are now challenging for promotion from League Two. Yes I know he probably has somewhat better funding than our zero budget; the point is that sometimes in the heat of the moment immediately post-match it ain't always easy to give a lengthy considered accurate opinion.

And since we are still not out of touch with the play-off pack, that zero budget makes Hargreaves' achievements thus far just as impressive as Sheridan's. We've nearly half a season left, still time to recover that early season form. And if we do finally finish mid-table, I shall say again that probably no other manager would have been able to do any better in this situation.

I did not say that CH is the wrong man or that Warnock would be the manager. The title of this thread is This Guy Could Help Our Manager !!

I wonder how connected to the club ROADRUNNER is ? !! Touchy !!

Weasel Buckle oh dear that pile of crap again. He did not leave in the best way but as anyone would do he just went looking for a better deal. Saint Rosenoir wanted to leave us for Brighton but that piece of history is never mentioned !

Granted CH has not got the budget that Buckle had but what really annoyed me yesterday in his post match radio interview was when he was asked about certain failings in the team he replied "What can I do about it" well try coaching and managing them for a start !! Get them to play with heart and passion . Change certain players attitudes that makes them think that have made it as footballers as they certainly have not !! They are on the lowest rung of full time professional football. Next stop is complete oblivion !

I am fed up of the team meekly surrendering to the likes of Telford,Alfreton and Braintree. I am worried about Welling tomorrow !

They need to toughen up and bloody quick !

As for knowing our club and the restraints don't you think other clubs are in a similar if not worse situation. Losing to the likes of the above is down to attitude and the manager instilling the correct one into his players.

There is nothing more I want than CH to be successful and for the club to succeed but it seems rudderless at the moment .

sorry, dont agree that ch is the wrong man, what the **** do you think he can do with what he has got, the guy is doing the best under severe restraints, there is nobody else out there who casn do any better with the budget, he has half the amount of money that weasel buckle had when he was here, some of you really need to wise up.

I agree with Gullscorer and doubt that there is any other Manager who could do a better job under the circumstances. What would Warnock think of the fact that our training ground is waterlogged for most of the winter ! Greavsie is the right man for the job. He knows our club and the restraints.