FL2: Torquay Utd v Oxford Utd - 8th March 2013

Tis why I asked!

I think it is important to remember that as Torquay United fans and TFF members, we are all on the same side and the best way to get through this nightmare season is to remain UNITED.

We all might like to think we have all the answers to what has gone wrong, we all might like to think we know who to blame. But in my opinion this is not the right time to look who to blame as that is not going to get us anywhere and sure won’t help to stop us going down.

I have said it before and I will say it again, I do not for one second believe any one on our board wants this club to go down, its madness to think otherwise when you consider all the money put into the club to get us back into the football league. What is it we really want? Well I would just like to hear from the club just how they are going to try and stop us going down. Failure to do so is no more than suicide at times like these; this club can’t afford to lose anymore of its fans.

Football is a love affair, it’s that simple and when something you love keeps hurting you, sometimes the only answer is to find a way to stop the pain. Yesterday was so painful, I have never felt that pain up at Plainmoor for such a long time and it sure was not a pain I enjoyed or would want too much of. You and I are powerless to stop that pain; all we can do is turn up and hope the bloody players do as well. Hope the manager gets his tactics right and the players in the right frame of mind to win the game.

All we can hope is the board pay out what ever is necessary to stop us going down, but it’s nothing we have any control over and if they don’t and the pain continues, well just what is left for us to do? We go to be entertained, having something to look forward to at the end of a hard working week. Its not cheap, its hardly value for money these days as far as any entertainment factors are concerned, but its our club, has been a part of our life for most of it and we sure do not want to lose it.

Yes fans are going to want to ask questions, it’s not their place to come up with the answers that has to be down to those being asked the questions in the first place. We can all sit at our keyboards and be armchair managers and try to say what we think needs to happen, but once again we are powerless and have to depend on those at the club to get it right.

We had twelve games left to play; we were one point above the drop zone. We have now played two further games and are no worse off than we were before. That’s the only way we can look at it, all we can hope is come the last final game of the season, we are one or more points above the drop zone.

Keep the faith, keep believing, do not give up hope yet as things are still in our own hands.

I happen to agree fully with you on this point, I have said before the fans will find it so hard this time around to forgive those in charge of running the club. The thing is there are real lessons for the board to learn here, I’m sure they have been learned and the only hope I have is it’s not too late to do anything about this mess we are in.

Its why I call for us to remain united, lets pray we stay up and the board then ensure this never happens again, but they thing is this is football and there has been clubs far bigger than ours who have spent so much more on their teams, who have gone down.

What are we really angry about here? The fact we have a poor team, or the fact that has been known for sometime now and nothing was done about it. The latter is the correct answer and while it might be too late now, we just need to pray that is not the case.

If we survive then the board will have to show their real intent next season, show they want to take this club forward and upward. If they don’t then trust me fans will be voting with their feet. So many have given up supporting a team in the past and do live happy and stress free lives afterwards.

A couple of weeks ago you said that a kick up the backside was all that was needed and you felt quite confident we would avoid the drop. Are you genuinely surprised by the lack of impact Knill has made so far?

i actually feel sorry for him and blame him not one bit,he now realises this lot havent got a 90 minute game in them,something that hasnt happened all season,one half average the other half crap,and it hasnt changed under his guidance either,and i told him so,and guess what?he didnt disagree with me either.He has been sold a lame duck through none of his doings

Even if there were any truth in the rumour that Andy Scott was interested in the Plainmoor hotseat, I would have thought the job he currently has - the sacking of Holdsworth and appointments of Knill and Scott being pretty mich at the same time - would likely have been more appealing to him, what with it not being both an 'interim' post we could offer; and the post being a couple of hundred miles away from home. As far as I can see, the Board acted appropriately in getting in the replacement when they did.

Were Scunny looking at relegation to the conference as Bury almost certainly were?? Or were they traditionally a tier 3/4 club that flitted between the two levels pretty much the same as us, yet managed to make it to the championship by dint of a quality manager/scouting system that, at the time, uncovered some quality gems they managed to sell for big money to balance the books?
Problem is, once they gems stop being found though, they revert to their usual level. Since the 60's the majority of their time has probably (I cant be bothered to check) been spent in the bottom tier so expecting someone to keep them at Championship level was probably always a pipedream. They dont exactly seem to be ripping up the table either since replacing him so are probably at their true level as it stands.
Yet you think thats closer to our situation than Bury??