Torquay United Fans Forum

Southampton Gull wrote:Why you feel he need to praise his qualities as a fan are of no concern to me as I never doubted them in the first place. My remarks are based on his role of Chairman only. His vision as you put it has been to veto plenty of idea put forward by other Board members that could have seen us build on the off the field projects and not stand back and let the Club spiral downwards and possily putting the future of the Club at risk.

He is not rpresentative of the Board, he is representative ofa small section of it that has overseen the recent shambles that we've become. I could lis the misakes that he's made but they've been well documented or the last few seasons and only a fool would fail to recognise it.

Well, maybe you should enlighten us then...happy to be proved wrong if furnished with the facts.

I am on the ouside looking in, I can only go on what I have picked up from other people, I started to hear a few months ago the board were not united some wanting to pull the club in a different dircetion to others, heard they were not even united on Martin Lings appointment. It was suggested to me by I have say by more than one person, 1, Buckle's departure would have been handled differently. 2, this current situation would not have been allowed to fester if Alex Rowe was still chairman. Is that true ? Answers on a postcard.

CP Gull wrote:.... Alex Rowe.

Precisely.

Why you feel the need to praise his qualities as a fan are of no concern to me as I never doubted them in the first place. My remarks are based on his role of Chairman only. His vision as you put it has been to veto plenty of idea put forward by other Board members that could have seen us build on the off the field projects and not stand back and let the Club spiral downwards and possily putting the future of the Club at risk.

He is not representative of the Board, he is representative of a small section of it that has overseen the recent shambles that we've become. I could list the misakes that he's made but they've been well documented or the last few seasons and only a fool would fail to recognise it.

.... Alex Rowe.

Southampton Gull wrote:For other more capable Board members of course. Others with vision and a willing to see the Club move forward and not stagnate like it has under Bakers tenure.

I've been stating my view on this for practically the whole inept reign of Baker so it's nothing new and certainly not a reaction to our current position.

The fact you stand near him and consider him one of us is immaterial to the role of Chairman.

So, who are these board members with more vision? Simon Baker is not a Mike Bateson figure, wielding authoritarian control. He is a figurehead for the board of directors.

Is he the same lack vision that has overseen promotion back into the league, the building of a new stand and two consecutive seasons in the play-offs? His only mistake, if it is him, is to be too loyal to the manager and be placed in the very difficult position of having to deal with a situation where an under-performing manager, is taken ill before there is an opportunity to sack him.

I think we need to see what tomorrow brings, in terms of rumours of an announcement but I think it needs to be r e cognised that Simon Baker is representative of a board and is not the despot that Bateson was. So, with that in mind, unless there is going to be a takeover of the club in the next few hours, guess we are stuck, if that's the way you want to see it, with the status quo.

My comments about standing near him are in terms of being to vouch for his sincerity as a fan of TUFC. It may not qualify him as chairman but it qualifies him as a fan who put his hand in his pocket to help save us from the shambles that Mike Bateson left behind.

A J wrote:The decline happened the back end of last season. The hard work put in (plus some luck), certain players over-achieving (and then haven't reproduced the form or stood up against the challenge this season) saw us in a clear position to win automatic promotion, but the board's lack of ambition to be ruthless and Ling's reluctance to sign any players apart from Jarvis to help seal a top three finish saw Ling continue with his negative 4-5-1 and over-reliance on Howe. This continued from day one this season, no direction, no ambition and no plan B\C. The downward spiral has now gone beyond crisis point and sadly at the moment our actions on and off the field replicate a non-league club.

Perfect AJ

The decline happened the back end of last season. The hard work put in (plus some luck), certain players over-achieving (and then haven't reproduced the form or stood up against the challenge this season) saw us in a clear position to win automatic promotion, but the board's lack of ambition to be ruthless and Ling's reluctance to sign any players apart from Jarvis to help seal a top three finish saw Ling continue with his negative 4-5-1 and over-reliance on Howe. This continued from day one this season, no direction, no ambition and no plan B\C. The downward spiral has now gone beyond crisis point and sadly at the moment our actions on and off the field replicate a non-league club.

For other more capable Board members of course. Others with vision and a willing to see the Club move forward and not stagnate like it has under Bakers tenure.

I've been stating my view on this for practically the whole inept reign of Baker so it's nothing new and certainly not a reaction to our current position.

The fact you stand near him and consider him one of us is immaterial to the role of Chairman.

Totally agree with SG. Many people who consider themselves businessmen but are actually medium fish in a very small pool have become involved in the club I love.

Myself and many others had seen this coming since October. I think Coley came on the other day saying the same thing and asking some of you if you were happy now that your 'forgiving' sides had got the better of you and led you to conclude it will all be ok given time. Even the more moderate amongst you such as Dave Forever had expressed serious concerns about what he was seeing back then and that it could lead to this. This isn't a points scoring exercise. We just saw a pattern emerge and a style of play emerge and we noticed it didn't change. It didn't deviate from from what we expected when we turned up on a matchday. I saw a quote today which went something like if you do things the same way and expect different results then you are mad or something like that and i thought how appropriate that was to our management.

We play the same way every week, it is predictable and benign and why should it produce wins? Probability dictates that we will register the odd win. Look at our away scoring record, 12 goals i think the lowest in the league near enough. If we concede we are not going to win many games with a record like that and that is how it has panned out.

I don't like complaining about Ling as he is ill but he was the manager until a few weeks ago and he is ultimately responsible. For every away game i have seen (12 in total) bar Burton being exactly the same. Boring, sterile and lacking any attacking intent whatsoever. Out of those games i have only seen 1 win, at York 2-0 where we were appalling, had 2 shots and scored both and they battered us and couldn't score.

This has gone on from day 1 and has been allowed to develop into what we are seeing today. Rochdale on saturday encompassed the tragedy of what is happening. When they scored we KNEW, just knew that even with an hour left, the game was over. That feeling in the pit of your stomach stays with you and despite your support, cheers, songs, encouragement there is a resignation that it's game over. Again, i said to Bengull at the game, if we are thinking this then what are the players thinking? 1-0 down, game over.

We all agree it shouldn't have happened but it has and now we need the board to be strong, get their fingers out of their crevices and get someone in to steer us clear of this mess. All we can do as fans is turn up and sing, clap, support and hope.

Southampton Gull wrote:Time for Simple Simon and Wild Bill to step aside and let more capable people start running the show.

Step aside for who exactly?

I think they have tried to do the decent thing. Hopefully now, they recognise that this cannot go on any longer and are trying to sort it.

Simon Baker is just one of us. A bloke with a bit more money, perhaps, but not an enormous amount, I suspect, but a fan of TUFC.i stand near him at Plainmoor and my impression is of a genuine fan. Making decisions to sack a manager who is ill are not ones a club can take lightly and some may say crass comments like 'sack the board' but who would they want in place instead? Another Bateson?

The board are a bunch of fans, perhaps some who in the past have read and posted on a board like this. They saved our club and while it is not going well at the moment, on the whole things are a lot better than they were. I'm no rose tinter and quite the opposite in fact. I'm angry and pissed off with the way the season has gone but I think having a go at Baker, who is a nominal chairman anyway, is probably unfair.

Hopefully the website will not be updated with its positive spin of bullshit that it has been prone to lately, and will tell it as it is.

You're right, should never have happened.

Time for Simple Simon and Wild Bill to step aside and let more capable people start running the show.

The rose tint on my specs started to fade before Christmas, only a tiny bit left now. Hope Dumb and dumber are happy now, because I am not, not one bit, in al my years never fell this bad about all things TUFC.