.net Statement

No problems jim, never heard such a tone from you like this before the gentle man, still I don't think many will disagree with you.

Well said, Anna 89. I think the views of TUFC01, nicely and neatly put, speak for many. Continued thanks to Dave R and those who post on this site.

Before I wander off on various tangents, I’d like to pay tribute to the site’s quality and spirit. In particular I’ll offer a shout for the match reports. I live a few miles away from Torquay and - by the time I’ve arrived home – there are so many fine reports of the game I’ve just seen. Some of it’s bollocks , of course, but there’s always someone saying what I think and plenty of insights into what I’ve missed.

Now the matter in hand. There are so many strands – where to start?

Well, websites such as this are a relatively new feature for Old Gits like me. Football never used to be like this. Once upon a time my main source of TUFC news were the Herald Express cuttings sent by my late mother on a weekly basis. I bet she wasn’t the only mother providing this service.

Generally, I think forums are a useful force for good. Not just as a community, and as a conduit for exchanging basic information, but also for what they can do at those rare times of genuine crisis (I use these words deliberately). I'm proud of the way the old Mervo site exposed some of Chris Roberts' shenanigans and I was mightily impressed by the manner in which things were conducted at the time of the news about Chris Todd.

With all this comes responsibility and we've seen examples, on all sorts of sites (football and otherwise), where this breaks down. I believe there is a particular danger when, what is portrayed as "a sense of justice", mutates into grievance-seeking. History teaches us this mutation is rarely healthy. And with this, inevitably, there's the spectre of self-appointed prophets . No site - be it about a football club, dog breeding, a toddlers group or whatever - can ever claim to be truly representative of all who pursue that hobby, interest or cause. We are but a barometer of how some Torquay United fans feel - and probably a slightly erratic, overcharged one at that! We are not appointed to speak on behalf of all.

Some of the posturing is cloaked by demands for "transparency". Now that's a funny word - one that has gone from meaning (something like) "flimsy" to a demand to be told everything (or, as some may put it, a “right”). Should everybody really be told everything immediately? In all walks of life, in all situations? Hmm, don’t think so. We may moan about "news management" and "spin" but we, naturally, resort to similar techniques to survive and prosper in everyday life. That’s life.

That's why - although I'd often love to know all the things he knows (or has “reason to believe”) - I not only value the input of the likes of Merse, but also respect that, some of the time, it's not appropriate to tell.

As for me, I might have a degree of "knowledge" about obscure events from the Year Dot but I've bugger all "inside knowledge" about events at Plainmoor. I guess it's always suited me to keep a safe distance from what's on the inside of my main hobby. That’s not to say I’m not partial to a spot of gossip. But let's face it, although we may wish the game to be pure, we know there's grubbiness simply because it's a form of human activity. It's all very well being sanctimonious about this - most of us don't need a map to find the moral high ground, do we? - but football's "warts and all" aspect is one thing that ultimately makes it so bloody compelling. And that’s not necessarily justifying the game's less savoury side (some of which would be me off in an instant if I was now being introduced to the game for the first time).

I liken my interest in football to Dawlish Warren. Whenever I go there I moan about the “grockle grot” as you go under the bridge. Head down, I scuttle off towards the tranquillity of the Exmouth end of the spit. Yet, sooner or later, I get hungry and wander back for a pasty and chips from the very places I’ve just condemned. Yep, rough and smooth, you’ve got to take it.

Then consider the "respectable" people who are bemused by my interest in this game of ours. Often, those asking admit to a liking for East Enders or another soap (none of which mean anything to me). But that’s it in a nutshell for me – I like football because it’s a soap opera from Episode One in the 1960s to God Knows When.

You never know what’s just around the corner. There’s been enough cause celebres on sites like this over the years - I believe there is one somewhere else right now. As ever, one of these might have the makings of a major story which will break in a few episodes time. Or it may never get past the scriptwriter’s conference.

Bloody hell, I hope this doesn't sound like a Daily Torygraph leader - or worse - Bye the Bye...

Cracking post Barton,

Rarely do I post, anywhere, these days but I do wish people respected others viewpoints more and took their "sounding off" with a pinch of salt as often its no more than a release of frustration.

Like I say, I read more than I post these days and have found myself reading more of this site than the other due to the quality and if that makes me a "Telegraph" reader then so be it.

I hope though we don't see here an increase, that we appear to be seeing lately, of the personal historic attacks on individuals backed up by idiotic emotions to try and emphasis a point and try and increase members in "their camp". That would be sad for the work put in by Dave, very sad indeed.