Torquay United Fans Forum

Without knowing where the money is being spent it is difficult to say where cuts should happen. The TUST will need to explain this at some point if they end up being the preferred bidder. However, given that there are apparently 72 people on the payroll (I think an increase of about 20 in the last 12 months) and probably only about 30 of those are involved in the first team you really would expect the first look to be at what is expendable outside of that. There is no way a club like Torquay needs 40+ staff members that are not involved in the first team (i.e. players, management, coaches etc). What are these people doing? Are they essential jobs? Given the total lack of engagement and, from the outside looking in, nothing has changed in the running of the club since these people were first employed, it would suggest they are potentially fulfilling roles that are not required. As has been mentioned further up redundancies look like they will be required here as a first port of call. Only after that should the full time status be reviewed.

It would be interesting to hear what it costs to have a full time team at this level. I would have thought somewhere in the region of £500,000 to £750,000 for the basic first team squad. Even if it is more than that, where does the rest of the money go? There is obviously the rent and essential bills such as energy and water but these alone are not going to take you over the £2million income threshold. What are the other costs? Has the TUST consortium considered what these are and whether to cut those first? If so, why are they not able to cut them in order to preserve full time football?

This debate is tricky but is made even more so by the fact that there are too many unknowns at this point in relation to costs and where money is being spent. The last thing the consortium should be looking at though is the full time status of the club. Everything else should be fully paired back before this is considered.

Time to start look ahead to next season and what positions we have to fill.

GK – McDonald
RB – Wynter
CB – Cameron
CB – Niate
CB – Sendles-White
LB – Davis
RM – Keating
CM – Hall
CM – Dickson
RM – Kalala
CF – Reid
CF – Koszela

Some may not agree but I am not convinced that Reid has the ability to perform at a higher level. He has done well this season to hit 32 goals but he has missed so many sitters, also he should never be allowed to take a penalty ever again. I think he will get goals but we will be lucky if he gets into double figures. We obviously will be targeting another striker anyway but I think we will need two in order to cover for Reid.

Also not convinced that Niate or Sendles-White are solid enough. Think we can do better. There is definitely space for another CB in the squad, especially if Dickson covers at LB and we have someone like Edwards on the right.

I can see Edwards coming back next season and he would provide good competition/cover at both RM and RB. Could do with the same on the left. Don’t think Evans, Andrews or Janneh will be back again so will need to replace them.

McDonald has shown himself well this season but we will need a proper back up.

Probably looking at needing a starter or cover for GK, CB, RB, CM, RM, LM, CF, CF. Obviously some players will be able to cover more than one position so won’t need eight players but probably another six.

I was as surprised as anyone when Stevens was handed another contract, especially two years.

Danny is clearly talented but my problem with him is his positioning. More often than not he will sit right in front of nicho looking towards the opposition winger rather than moving beyond the winger giving nicho the space and then allowing himself a free run at the full back when he does have the ball. This reduces the space that he and nicho have and creates difficulties going forwards. I was surprised that the previous coaching staff were never able to help danny improve this area of his game. Hopefully ML and his team can change that.

Both Macklin and Halpin have huge potential. I'm really looking forward to seeing them make progress in the first team this year. Having said that we definitely still need another winger. Isn't David Beckham out of contract in November?

I agree Steve there is always a concern when a player has moved between so many clubs in such a short period of time. However, take Bayo for instance, he played for five clubs in two years before he joined us and lets be honest he was certainly affective. There are a number of reasons why players move on regularly.

We are going to have to see what he is like over a couple of games. I haven't seen him play before so have no opinion on him as of yet. Hopefully he will show something in the upcoming games and be able to settle in the area.

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Careful now, all this positivity will bring SG out in a rash. I got roundly shouted down for making similar suggestions and called a lap dog obeying blindly.

A joy of not having a football man at the club I suppose. However much Colin Lee may have raped our club, he most certainly would not have sat on his hands and allowed Buckle to manipulate the situation in the way he has done. Perhaps we should try and encourage Bruce Rioch to take up a voluntary advisory role.

The problem with Stanley though is surely he would have wanted an assurance that Buckle would not move on as the rumours were there even before Stanley turned up. To get that he would have gone straight to Bucks. I don t think he was ever going to stay.

If the club knew that Bucks was going to be off as far back as January then they should have offered contracts and acted very differently. However, if they weren t sure then to have taken any action would have been dangerous. It shows that we need a football person at the club who can make footballing decisions other than the manager.

I still don t understand the extreme negativity that was suggested earlier. Yes things are not entirely rosy but we do have some very talented players under contract. I fully expect Branston to leave but again it will not be the end of the world. Whilst Ellis and Robbo are not world class they are solid enough at this level and are still improving.

SG I m not saying that you are wrong. I am just trying to figure out why you are being so negative. Nor am I saying that we are definitely going to be comfortable mid-table. Having supported TUFC for 20 years you learn not to make such sweeping claims. I am aware that we need to cut costs and that next season is going to be tough.

However, with seven of the regular first team under contract and with the likes of Ellis still under contract we do still, at this time, have a solid core of players. I m not trying to be antagonistic, simply trying to understand the reasons for the negativity. I am making my judgement on who is under contract and working on the assumption that none of them leave (may not end up being the case but I don t know). You are clearly basing your statement on something more than that. Just wondering what that is.

So which players are definitely leaving? Also, if we had replaced Buckle on the Monday after OT, would Stanley, Robinson, Bevan etc all have signed new contracts? No they wouldn t. There is not a chance that any of these players would have been here. That was guaranteed as soon as Buckle decided to leave in my opinion.

Like you I am appalled at the lack of professionalism and the number of errors that have been made by the current owners and the staff at Plainmoor and agree that those responsible for these mistakes need to be removed and replaced with individuals that are competent and reliable.

Oh surprise surprise, you venture out again. You can save that post of mine and use it any way you please over the next few weeks, let's see who is correct.

You think we're in for a comfortable mid-table kind of season, I say you're deluded.[/quote]

I simply suggested that the players under contract could form the core of a solid but unspectacular side in this devision if they all stay. You seem to be suggesting that some will leave, who?

If some do leave then obviously we will be weaker and would then struggle further.

Sorry but I am not a Director and do not have inside knowledge of what is going on in the boardroom. I can therefore only base my judgement on what is said publicly. If you are that convinced we will struggle and probably be relegated why don't you share some further details, if possible.

Im not saying you are wrong, just asking for further info.

That is an amazingly negative assessment SG.

Everything that has happened so far with players going to join Buckle has been fully expected and not particularly devastating to next season. The loss of Bevan isn t a major blow and to be honest as soon as Buckle left I never expected the loan players (including Stanley) to stay.

However, your predictions of a ridiculously weak manager, a shockingly poor first team and probable relegation are something that on the face of it would seem a dramatic over-reaction. Perhaps you might like to expand on why you are so negative.

Maybe you could explain which players are going to leave?

The players currently under contract provide a solid enough core to be comfortably mid-table in my opinion. Obviously if we lose a couple of players that may change.

Can anyone explain what Veysey has done that shows he is such a good coach?

I have never met the guy and have never seen him working but from the evidence on the pitch he doesn't seem to be particularly impressive. Beven has always had one very glaring weakness, his kicking. Yet this has never improved and over the last few weeks of the season has become even worse. Surely a half decent coach would have been able to make some kind of improvement in this aspect of his game over the last three years?

Also given our financial situation a goalkeeper coach seems a luxury we can do without. I wouldn't be too concerned if he left to be honest.

Much more concerned about John Milton leaving, however his leaving (if he has left) could be mitigated by the new management team. Will have to wait and see if this is a negative development or not.

Trojan 67 wrote:
Now you EU ass lickers trying to change the name of TORQUAY into Torbay can f*ck off back across the Channel to Berlin where you belong. :whip:

Someone has been reading the Daily Mail again :no:

It has to be the Bristow Stand for me. If they flog the rights to some random company im still going to call it the Bristow Stand. Not only is he a hero at the club but in the whole town for his community work. Its the least the club can do to show its appreciation ,

Yellow there are Council elections coming up in a couple of weeks, a nice chance to get rid of the current bunch of idiots and perhaps replace them with someone that might actually give a dam.

The leader of the Lib Dem group is actually a big united fan. That and he can't be any worse than Bye, Carroll and their motly crew who have no interest in the club what so ever. I actually met him at a game once, he was with the MP, both real fans and knew their stuff.

As you say though we have very little choice, we have to replace the stand whatever happens. Lets hope the football foundation look kindly on us.