Torquay United Fans Forum

[quote="tomogull"]Good to see a bit of common sense has prevailed on this thread and that over half the posters think that Hargreaves must be given more time. But our patience is being sorely tested !!![/quote]

Have to agree with you there! COYY let's go for the win tomorrow :scarf:

Good to see a bit of common sense has prevailed on this thread and that over half the posters think that Hargreaves must be given more time. But our patience is being sorely tested !!!

Yes, the predicament we are in is one of many and we as people can't do anything about it on here. I will be making my judgment within the coming weeks because when the going gets tough I feel the only way you can really see how good a manager is is by the changes they make, then I will say if I think he should go or not. If the same mistakes pop up for the next 1 or 2 games, I will lose faith completely because mistakes that can be addressed should be sorted when they happen week in week out. Easier said than done of course. I will be interested to see if he has a new plan, a change of formation- any form of some sort of idea to get us out of this rut!!

BBC quote:"There is an appetite to change things but you can't go round sacking people willy-nilly. It's going to be root and branch. this is a very complicated business but that's no reason to duck it."
Comment on CH and Torquay Utd? No. Jonathan Agnew on England's failure in the cricket World Cup.
Just goes to show it's not just us with problems!

Nothing written on this forum,regarding CH,will make the slightest difference to his future, it's only our opinion, born out of the experiences we have gone through this season.

What will make a difference is the reaction on match days, whether this is the revenue at the gates, atmosphere during the game or possibly both, as actions will always speak louder than words.

His appointment when we needed someone to fight relegation from League 2 was a poor one and he's done nothing to show he can manage at this level either. I'm sympathetic with the view that he is given more time, but only because I doubt we can afford to get rid of him. Those who were happy for Knill to continue beyond Ling's expected return who now want Hargreaves to go don't deserve a vote with their trigger happy fingers. That's what did for us. That and cutting Ling's budget when he made a sh*tload for us in the transfer market.

That's it though, and what football forums are about, expressing views and opinions. I do not see things getting better under Chris Hargreaves' management of TUFC, not now, nor next season either, I'm not sure everyone reading this will know just how much I hope, I'm wrong, I would be delighted to eat humble pie and apologise to CH openly on the forum, if my opinion is right however, I dread the consequences for TUFC, so just how long do we leave things the way they are.

Voted for Hargreaves to be given more time. Yes I have given up this season (mainly because that's what the players have done), but he has to work with a very small budget and with some very poor players. We need to get rid and start again.

Nice to see a few more posts from the sensible ones. Rich in agree with you, among our fanbase we do have fans exactly as you describe. Ian, spot on as is Gullscorer. Dave, you're entitled to your view and in no way would I put you in any negative light as you're a true gent as well as a true fan. Some fans aspirations are totally unrealistic in my view and typical of the rise of armchair Football Manager mentality.

I voted more time so we can see what he does with his own players and not what he has inherited with little budget. It's sad to see we are blaming our manager already. Seen this too many times over recent years (rightly or wrongly) - I hope the board are supporting CH!

[color=#FF0000]Ahhh - TUFC - truly are the most poisonous fans going aren't we? [/color] No we're not, TUFC fans are no more poisonous than fans of Newcastle, West Ham, Northampton, or anyone, as fans group we have a right to expect our club to be reasonably successful with in it's limitations, is that happening right now, clearly not, not even close, admiral tells us to change expectations, to what ? exactly. when do we stop accepting this nonsense and stand up, fight for our club and demand change.

Why should I, or any other TUFC accept this season as ok, a season that's seen us beaten home and away by a part-time club that has absolutely nothing compared to us ( and we moan about being small and poor) try sitting down with an Altrincham fan and telling him our current position is down to lack of money, if the said Atly fan doesn't die laughing, he might explain how much money their club has, then look at how their doing compared us.

[color=#FF0000]Many fans are fickle and impatient with short memories [/color]really, I think the problem with most TUFC fans is we don't have short memories, we actually have pretty good, and long memories. Over the last 3 season we've played 62 games at home, yes CH can't be blamed for them all, but he is responsible for 26 of those games, and some the worst performances and results home and away this season since the mid 1980's, however we've managed to win just 20 of those 62 home games and lost 23, over the last 3 seasons overall we've played 126 games, and CH is responsible for 60 of those games, our record is won 37 drawn 33 lost 56, our team won 23 games in the 2011-12 season on it's own.

Here's and interesting read. http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Torquay-United-fans-express-anger-Twitter-new-low/story-26135082-detail/story.html

To be fair when people say we can't afford to get rid of CH, I can't and wont put up an argument against that, however, we also have to look at results gate figures over these next few match's, if result do not improve and gate figures drop any further than they did Saturday, sorry, but the club might find itself in a position where they can not afford to keep CH, and have no other choice but to let him go, I already know of fans that wont go back until CH is gone.

Maybe i'm entirely and completely wrong but I just don't think the manager is the overriding problem. It's the easy way out sack the manager and everything will be fine, I don't buy it especially for this club right now. The problems are a lot deeper, not just at board level but we have a number of players out of contract, this group of players doesn't have the guts or character that a successful team requires and the vast majority need replacing.

Hargreaves will get that chance to do it in the summer i suppose the question is do you have the confidence in him to make the right changes?

Back to the board we are rudderless, there is no dynamic or forthright person leading this club with a clear vision both financially and on the pitch to drive the club forward. Thea has been left in the lurch by the arseholes sponging off this club and put in a position she never wanted and has to be totally honest no idea what she's doing. I hope Kelvin Thomas or someone like him with proven experience stays involved with the club from the summer and weeds out the deadwood.

[quote="Richinns"]Ahhh - TUFC - truly are the most poisonous fans going aren't we? No matter the reality let's drive another manager out, pay out the sum it takes to dispose of them and then find ourselves further in the shite than we were before.

I swear when the day comes that the club folds will be the happiest day for a lot of you!

Regardless of CH's performance this season we simply cannot get rid and then bring someone else in who has a different vision. Not only would this be the wrong thing to do (have we not learnt from the whole 'Knill' tenure??) but it would probably be the final nail in the administration coffin. Do your math - where does -10 put us??

As for resigning - why the hell should he? He has a vision, he loves the club and he wants to see the job through and turn things around. A rookie manager needs time and we should give him this. The players he has brought in have shown (at times) they are all decent additions and we now need to trust that the ones here and the ones which CH brings in during the summer will re-find the promise we saw early in the season. We must trust that he will re-shape the team in his vision and give him the opportunity to show what he and 'his' team can do.

[b]There is no miracle cure here and rash decisions are only going to make things worse.[/b]

It has never been easy being a Torquay fan and in their darkest hour it is now time for us to all learn what the term 'supporter' actually means.[/quote]

:goodpost:

Absolutely right.

Many fans are fickle and impatient with short memories. I've probably been guilty of impatient and hyperbolic high hopes myself on occasion, but in a season immediately following a relegation, did any of us seriously expect to see football of a quality belonging to a higher league? Football miracles in the form of lottery wins or foreign benefactors rarely happen. And even if the club gets lucky, it takes time to turn a club and its football fortunes around regardless of who is in the managerial post. Of course there are always exceptions, but what may appear to be luck is usually the result of a lot of effort, time and hard work, and learning from mistakes, not from throwing the baby out of the pram and all the balls up in the air whenever we become impatient to see the results of those efforts.

The onset of the club's current problems did not suddenly occur with the arrival of CH as manager. Certainly some changes need to be made at Plainmoor to bring improvements in a number of areas, but getting rid of the manager is not one of them, not at this stage of his tenure in the job, and not in the current financial situation at the club. In the near future Kelvin Roberts will have identified those changes which need to be made throughout the club during the coming weeks and months, with hopefully an increased amount (every little helps) of money available for CH in his playing budget.

Following which, after a second full season for CH as manager, we may begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Ahhh - TUFC - truly are the most poisonous fans going aren't we? No matter the reality let's drive another manager out, pay out the sum it takes to dispose of them and then find ourselves further in the shite than we were before.

I swear when the day comes that the club folds will be the happiest day for a lot of you!

Regardless of CH's performance this season we simply cannot get rid and then bring someone else in who has a different vision. Not only would this be the wrong thing to do (have we not learnt from the whole 'Knill' tenure??) but it would probably be the final nail in the administration coffin. Do your math - where does -10 put us??

As for resigning - why the hell should he? He has a vision, he loves the club and he wants to see the job through and turn things around. A rookie manager needs time and we should give him this. The players he has brought in have shown (at times) they are all decent additions and we now need to trust that the ones here and the ones which CH brings in during the summer will re-find the promise we saw early in the season. We must trust that he will re-shape the team in his vision and give him the opportunity to show what he and 'his' team can do.

[b]There is no miracle cure here and rash decisions are only going to make things worse.[/b]

It has never been easy being a Torquay fan and in their darkest hour it is now time for us to all learn what the term 'supporter' actually means.

44 votes cast and its roughly 45/55% for him to go.
Definitely at a tipping point, we need a performance from the team on Tuesday that's for sure!