Torquay United Fans Forum

Absolutely no !

I can understand that all clubs are just hoping they might find the next Beckham or Bale at the age of 14, but the likelyhood of this happening is so remote that it's just not economic to chase the dream.

The most astute and financially beneficial signings for the club in recent years have always been from great scouting. O'Kane, Olejnik and the like

When you consider the cost of running the youth set up and the numerous players who have signed professional terms only to drop away it is startling, the last I heard Halpin was playing in New Zealand where many failed UK professionals go and the long haired forward, who I cannot even remember his name, was in Scandinavia where the rest seem to go.....and yet both signings were seen as "evidence" at how good our youth set up now was.

I would prefer one or two experienced scouts out there to be honest at a fraction of the cost.

Well as far as i'm aware Branston only watched Gueguen once last season!

I suppose he may have access to the club DVD's of matches but I suspect Gulliball is closer to the mark.
If we are going to ever make a serious challenge we need players capable of league 2 football, not "good conference players" , to me Guegen was too slow and not good enough in the air.

Added in 8 minutes 53 seconds:
Just had a look at GB's site

Absolutely packed with talent , all paying £4.99 to upload a video !

even Guy himself has uploaded 2 videos !

having said that his article in the Western Morning News was essentially a "press release" for his company, so he's a clever chap

http://www.allaboutballerz.com/search

Plainmoor Limited

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/06241 ... ecretaries

Added in 1 minute 11 seconds:
http://companycheck.co.uk/company/06241 ... areholders

Information on all company directors in the UK is widely available

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/00175 ... ecretaries

The club have to pay VAT on ticket prices at 20%

So for every £10 the club take on the turnstiles, they receive £8.33

Obviously they can off-set some of that charge against their expenses and purchases

I will not stop supporting, just be more selective when I go and when I do not.

I do feel the prices are far too high, could not give two hoots to be honest if we are the cheapest in the conference, it's still crap value for the level of football, in all honestly last year I resented the club were full time, the vast majority of players (not all but the vast majority) were not, IMO, good enough to be earning a full time wage, supplemented in part by mugs like me.

I would rather us be part time, near the lower end of the conference table until we get ourselves sorted.

I've seen the club as far away as Barrow and Morecambe and Darlington...I've done York City twice midweek, I know what supporting a club like Torquay is all about, so don't need a lecture about that.

I suppose I have got older and wiser, I have more money, but less time and the thought of going to Paris or Amsterdam or The Isle of Man for a weekend will sometimes be more appealing

The directors have called this one wrong in my opinion, that appears not to be the opinion of most which is fair enough, but I strongly feel that the average gate next season will be under 1800.

Well I suppose the proof will be in next season's season ticket sales and attendances

I understand the club did not announce season ticket sales last season because they fell below 900 and they were rightly quite embarrassed.

When chaps like me say no, they have a problem

My business will not have a bad time because the directors are S&%£ hot !

blimey goodluckgull another punk who's a Torquay fan ! good on you

His best quote of course was hi "un-aired" interview when he talked about his concerns about Jimmy Savile's antics.....you can easily find that on you tube !

He is of course right, but then, for a punk band the Pistols were very commercial.....but that was partly the fun about them...

I would imagine "investors" are the word used for a short term fix to see us through next season. One of my friends was asked to "invest" £25k....

I will not be renewing my season ticket on the bench this year, the first time I have not renewed my season ticket in many years.

Whilst I am very fortunate to be able to afford these sky high prices, I can see when I am being ripped off. I genuinely thought there would be a really interesting and great value offer from the club...how wrong was I. At a guess I would say only Cheltenham and Tranmere will be more expensive and that is why the ground is rarely even half full.

The club will not miss me, like my friend last year who gave up his season ticket, he had no call, no email, no letter, encouraging him to re apply. That's the club's choice but is probably one of the reasons people are not renewing.....it was certainly part of my reasoning

The sad thing is that I know I will very quickly get out of the habit of going, but the almost "duty bound" feeling I had last year is something I cannot tolerate this season.

As I run my own business and work long hours any time off I can manage is very critical to me, so I will be spending weekends on the odd Torquay match, but also on weekend breaks and more inspiring activities

nickbrod wrote:Aaron Downes signs for Cheltenham Town. He's bound to score at least once against us!

There's probably a 50:50 chance he will be either injured or suspended against us....but good luck to him

Bomber wrote:That figure is less than Wayne Rooney's weekly salary, if we end up being expelled from the league over that it would indeed sum up everything that is wrong with modern football.

The bottom end of football is just as much responsible as the top end

I have always wondered how the hell can Torquay United v Halifax, in front of 1500 paying people, have around 30 full time professionals involved

It's probably more silly than Wayne Rooney's salary, at least he is a commercial brand that is worth something

hhh

you could argue of course that the money should instead be spent on a decent scouting network.....

Its always worth remembering that 1 x Bobby Olejnik (who arrived free and was sold on for a 6 figure sum) was worth more to the club than a whole year of season-ticket sales...and he came for free from struggling (at the time) Falkirk

...and then there was O'Kane, playing for Coleraine in the Northern Ireland premier, having returned home from being released by Everton