Torquay United Fans Forum

[quote=Neal post_id=207004 time=1498475194 user_id=342]
Not one of US has any clue how ANY of the signings will turn out. Absolutely NONE at all!

Nicho I am sure is trying to sign the best he can, and even he wont know IF they do turn out ok either, because you cant read inside someone's head. But I am sure he is trying to put a decent team together.
[/quote]

I am not sure I can totally agree with you on this point. Admittedly every time we make a new signing we are taking a risk, for example the style of play or formation may not suit the individual - Brett Williams being a case in question. None the less the risk of signing a new player is dramatically reduced if Dave Hedges has done his recruitment homework by ringing people who have worked with them before, and speaking to players who have played with them before, especially if they’re experienced players. It would appear to me that our recruitment strategy is to look for experienced players to hit the ground running this season rather than be forced to build a new young team from scratch.

As supporters we can also find out whether the player is up to the mark. Friends in Hampshire who follow Eastleigh tell me that Ryan Clarke is a top rate goalkeeper and people I know and spoken to in Grimsby tell me that we have signed a real gem in Josh Gowling. I trust their judgement.

Not one of US has any clue how ANY of the signings will turn out. Absolutely NONE at all!

Nicho I am sure is trying to sign the best he can, and even he wont know IF they do turn out ok either, because you cant read inside someone's head. But I am sure he is trying to put a decent team together.

although I'm not a great fan of Nicho as manager I feel he has made some decent signings, Clarke is a decent keeper and I feel that he has a mix of youth and old heads in the team with the signing of Gowling and Pittman, so far so good, getting rid of the dead wood that got us in the mess in the first place is good as far as I'm concerned.
players such as Richards and Rowe turner, and Gerring were just not good enough so they are better gone.

We're all sceptical about the new owners, but unless you're completely incompetent. The signings so far are looking good. Would you rather we had signed a young less known keeper. Or one that has good experience at this level and above. At this stage I'm just pleased the club is moving forward. No one knows what gi have in place, but at least at the moment we have a functional club

[quote=lucy6lucy post_id=206995 time=1498405252 user_id=18692]


Love your positivity
[/quote]

For some people the cup is half full, for others it is half empty. Given the dire crap this club has served up for half a decade I fall into the latter category. On top of that we have very dubious owners.
Tell me what you find to be so positive about.

[quote=MellowYellow post_id=206987 time=1498366882 user_id=22826]


You could be right but then again many old timers find it hard to 'hang up their boots' without leaving some form of legacy. For those old enough to remember the Frank O'Farrell era between 66/69 we had a team of old timers that played a style of football that brought in crowds of up to 11,000. These old timers were relentless in their desire to win and outplay the opposition with style and character. Here's hoping Nicho can repeat that magic formula:

Some of the old timers Frank O'Farrell's signed:
John Bond (34) Ken Brown (33) Doug Clarke (31) Ron Barnes (30) Bobby Baxter (30) Alan Kirkman (30) Tony Scott (27)
[/quote]

Ah,great memories especially watching the ex-West Hammers in the team. Huge crowds too (by current standards) with home matches on either Friday or Saturday evenings. I recall also Torquay's results aired at the end of evening news programme. Great publicity for the town!
So yes to return to the topic 35 is no age for a keeper. How old was Southall when he joined?

I rememberTony Scott always had his socks round his ankles. Used to really wind my Dad up that. I know this is off topic but happy memories

[quote=Plainmoor78 post_id=206985 time=1498358806 user_id=23804]
Equally he could just be somebody looking for a final pay day while he decides where his post footballing future lies. The same could said of Gowlng, only time will tell but because we have at the moment a very threadbare squad, and I doubt much real quality will be added in the shape of bench warmers, we are going to be in for another season of struggle, especially when injuries start to pile up.
[/quote]

If he's after a final pay day. Then he has joined the wrong club. Love your positivity

Thank you merse I always wondered why we called him the muffin man and now I know!

My god the tuck shop opposite the tech I had quite forgotton that little shop which I visited regularly for my sherbet lemons.

Sad to think Ken Brown is living out his days in a care home. Fascinating to read your post brings back so many memories.

Tony Scott, used to call him spaghetti legs, great crosser and could do it with the outside of his foot. Also
remember Cliff Jackson taking corners like that , dont know how he didnt kick the corner flag
Used to go down with my Dad to buy the football 'buff' on saturday evenings at Bondys, he was often there with
Pete Randall. He scored a few goals at centre forward too. Doug Clarke - what a shot that bloke had, up there
with Bruce Rioch and Donal Murphy. Alan Kirkman - one of those clever underated players like John Rudge
Saturday nights at Plainmoor with huge crowds, incredible atmosphere and a great winning team

[quote=portugull post_id=206989 time=1498383818 user_id=131] [i][b]it was the personality of Bond that I remember best. We called him the muffin man![/b][/i][/quote]

[b]That was because he'd earned the nickname 'Muffin' at West Ham because his team mates said he had a kick (of the ball) like a mule.......[/b]

Big and heavy; do you remember how ungainly he looked with the number 9 on his back when FoF played him as a centre forward? That was because of an emergency situation; but as usual the Big Man applied himself perfectly to the occasion, no airs and graces and just got on with being a fourth division pro' when he had played at the highest level.

He used to live in Colchester and train at West Ham for the first part of the week, then drive down in his Ferrari red Jag to finish the week and prepare for home games or alternatively rendezvous with the team at the hotel for away games. I remember him once turning up a bit late at Oxford United's old Manor Ground, chucking his car keys to a bemused elderly steward and vaulting a barrier on his way to the dressing room and (maybe) some black looks from the manager.

Bondy was a character alright with his 'Bondy's Tuck Box' shop down opposite the Tech and the only thing he didn't like doing was signing autographs ~ he could be quite rude about that and it appeared to irritate him.

His great foil and friend though was Ken Brown and during my time with the club I had to phone Norwich City ~ where they were the management team at the time ~ for a team line up for a programme and once again Bondy was quite abrupt and passed me onto Brown who couldn't have been nicer and seemed to want to talk for ages. The season before last his son Kenny signed my son for Dagenham & Redbridge where he was academy manager at the time (he's head of academy coaching at Millwall now) and Kenny is just like his dad always willing to sit and have a yarn about his father and his old mates. He told me Ken (now 83) is living in a care home in Norwich since his wife passed and reminded me how his sister Amanda had twice been a winner of the Australian Open Girls' singles lawn tennis championships........nice family; the Browns although Kenny couldn't find a place for my son at Millwall recently!

I remember them well.
John Bond and Ken Brown were both from West Ham and John Bond was a great character and a funny man.Bond played left back and Brown centre half.
Tony Scott looked like a film star. Love your picture of Tony Scott Mellow.
Doug Clarke was very good.I think though it was the personality of Bond that I remember best. We called him the muffin man!

[quote=Plainmoor78 post_id=206985 time=1498358806 user_id=23804]
Equally he could just be somebody looking for a final pay day while he decides where his post footballing future lies. The same could said of Gowlng, only time will tell but because we have at the moment a very threadbare squad, and I doubt much real quality will be added in the shape of bench warmers, we are going to be in for another season of struggle, especially when injuries start to pile up.
[/quote]

You could be right but then again many old timers find it hard to 'hang up their boots' without leaving some form of legacy. For those old enough to remember the Frank O'Farrell era between 66/69 we had a team of old timers that played a style of football that brought in crowds of up to 11,000. These old timers were relentless in their desire to win and outplay the opposition with style and character. Here's hoping Nicho can repeat that magic formula:

Some of the old timers Frank O'Farrell's signed:
John Bond (34) Ken Brown (33) Doug Clarke (31) Ron Barnes (30) Bobby Baxter (30) Alan Kirkman (30) Tony Scott (27)

Equally he could just be somebody looking for a final pay day while he decides where his post footballing future lies. The same could said of Gowlng, only time will tell but because we have at the moment a very threadbare squad, and I doubt much real quality will be added in the shape of bench warmers, we are going to be in for another season of struggle, especially when injuries start to pile up.

Just what we need, An experienced lower division keeper, This will help our defence. 35 for a keeper is perfect. Great signing.