Is Buckle Right To Blame The Fans

We’ve debated over here whether the members of the consortium communicate enough with fans. Looking at how a harmless interview with PB gets turned into the crime of the century, I can fully understand why their tactic is to keep their mouths shut. If they open their mouths in public, someone will be raking over every word and seizing the opportunity to read negativity into it – best by far to say nothing.

I think PB actually has missed post-match interviews after a couple of poor performances – and was crucified for that. People demand that he says something within minutes of the final whistle, and expect him to come up with something off the cuff which will totally satisfy all interested parties – the players, the Board, the fans and the press (the order of importance is mine) – and will stand up to anybody listening to it again and again and going to great lengths to pick holes in it. “He said too much or he said too little, he was too upbeat or he was too downbeat, he was too tense and nervous or he was not taking things seriously enough, he was undermining his players with criticism or he was insulting the fans by not criticising his players”. A top political speech writer would not be able to do that – let alone a football manager. PB may be a reasonably bright bloke, but he’s not a professional spin doctor.

I think Alex Rowe is probably better placed than most to do that kind of thing. Whenever I have heard him speak about TUFC I have ended up thinking “I could not have put that better myself”. He very carefully balances positive thinking with realism and very cleverly praises up the fans without going over the top. He builds hope and optimism without making undeliverable promises. His words are inspirational. But I think that everything he has come up with so far has been quite carefully scripted to guard against the possibility of words being ripped apart and misinterpreted.

He’d probably like to speak up more and generate more TUFC publicity – but how much is he put off by this mania for deconstructing comments? Would the other consortium members be happy to share their views if they didn’t think they would be over-analysed and misrepresented? Colin Lee also noticeably restricts his public face to prepared statements and fact-based announcements. I’m sure that all of them observed closely how Mike Bateson went about things and how that went down with fans. MB said some daft things which were asking for a poor reaction, but he also said a lot of things that weren’t untrue or unfair but were ripped apart and twisted and distorted. I’m sure AR is a lot cleverer than MB and would never attract quite the same derision, but he knows that any unprepared statements run the risk of raking up trouble.

Funnily enough, I firmly believe that having a more circumspect and low-profile Chairman / Board actually heaps more pressure on the manager – although I am sure that is not the intention. MB was a lightning rod for all negativity / abuse / pet theories / unrealistic expectations and effectively that saved the managers under him from the brunt of this. Now we have what few would argue is the perfect Boardroom setup, so who in this world of “blame culture” is responsible for us not walking this pub league? It’s got to be Buckle’s fault, hasn’t it?

Buckle is unique amongst TUFC managers since 1927 in that he is in charge of a club which is in the upper quartile of the league it is in terms of crowds, resources and realistic expectation levels. That means that he can realistically be expected to deliver a place in the top six of the league.

Just about every other manager since 1927 has been in the lower quartile of the league it is in terms of crowds, resources and realistic expectation levels. That means that bottom six was a realistic expectation - anything else was a bonus.

Of course fans’ expectation levels are usually higher than realistic expectations. I’ll rephrase that. The expectations of fans who relentlessly bombard forums with pet theories and of fans who bellow their views from the Popside are much higher. Farmer’s Friend said that the goings-on of the Roberts year put him off Plainmoor a bit – for me it had the absolute opposite effect. Until then, all I heard was the forum pet theorists and the Popside bellowers and I started to think that I was the only TUFC fan with realistic expectations and that everyone else was totally outraged that we were not competing on a level footing with the likes of Plymouth Argyle and Bristol City. With all the digging about, meetings, Trust activity etc during 2006/07 I got to know and talk to hundreds of fans I had never spoken to before. It dawned on me that the silent majority of TUFC fans are very reasonable, very nice people who love their club – that the vociferous, bellyaching, "I could do it all so much better" minority really is a small minority. That season made me feel a lot closer to OUR club and its fans than I ever had before. Yes we have a hardcore of moaning bar stewards who make all the noise and think they know everything – but we have a much bigger hardcore of brilliant supporters who keep themselves to themselves. That knowledge makes me feel far more a part of OUR club.

Anyway, for the vociferous minority it was an outrage if we ever delivered in line with realistic expectations. We obviously should be in the Championship and it was a disgrace that we weren’t. Whose fault? From 1990 to 2006 that was an easy one – Bateson. Cue torrents of abuse at MB, seizing on every word he uttered and twisting and distorting it to make him sound like a brainless moron. The managers were not totally absolved, but the main target was always MB.

For the past two seasons, I would agree that we should be in the top six – as we are and have been consistently. But the vociferous minority feel that it is an outrage if we are not comfortably top of the table. Whose fault? Slagging off the Board is probably so far-fetched that even they can see it, so it must be Buckle’s fault, mustn’t it? Let’s all seize on every word he utters and twist and distort it to make him sound like a brainless moron.

We are the mighty TUFC. We had relentless success and glory up until 1990. The only reason that we did not have relentless success and glory from 1990 to 2007 was Mike Bateson. The only reason that we have not had relentless success and glory (although we nearly have!) from 2007 to 2009 is Paul Buckle. If we could combine the current Board with a manager with half a brain, we would be Champions of Europe in 2014.

I have a recurring nightmare that the consortium members will all wake up one morning, read a torrent of whingeing and whining and pontificating on a forum and say “Sod it. We’ve done everything we possibly can. If that’s not good enough for them, we give up. If it’s as easy as they think, they can run the club themselves”. Fortunately, I am confident that they know the fanbase better than that and fully appreciate what I am saying about the silent majority.

Onwards and upwards.

COME ON YOU YELLOWS!

I think Buckle is right to raise the point about the lack of atmosphere at Plainmoor (the moan old gits who get on the players backs are another kettle of fish). It was like a graveyard on Tuesday and who does what first? Do the players play well and we clap or do we cheer like buggery and get them to raise their game?

"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone"

IMO we need to get the atmosphere going first and if they make a mistake, get on with it.

I don't think the current squad will get us into the League - the BSP must be the hardest league in the world to get out of. It may take another year or so - I for one will be here this season and next (god willing).

Excellent post Jon...

Fonda, you seem a nice chap and you're clearly a devoted fan but surely you can understand that your posting style winds people up after a while.
If someone challenges your point of view.....you're a bit like a dog with a bone....you just wont give it up, the labouring of the same old points post after post is quite tiresome...

Whether its intentional or not, what does come over loud and clear is your obvious dislike for Paul Buckle's management style....it is almost bordering on a personal dislike of the man.
Last season you were very vociferous in your condemnation of buckle's playing style......it was debated to death, some made allowances for the way that buckle had to throw together the squad at the last minute, some like you didn't.
This season we have achieved similair results and a similair postion by playing a type of football, most will agree, more pleasing to the eye.
You still won't get off the man's back though.....whether its tactics, substitutions, man management issues or whatever, you're straight in there.....nobody's trying to pretend Buckle is perfect...

Nobody wants you to stop posting (well, cant speak for merse ;D) just try and see the positives sometimes and stop wittering on like a bloody stuck record ....

Shane, hopefully this'll cheer you up... a Buckle explanation that should shed a little light on tuesday night's interview! ;D

www.torquayunited.com/page/Preview/0,,10445~1404591,00.html

Well I apologise for giving that impression Dave, in fact what I was trying to do was draw your attention the the fact that you expressed upset at a stance the club had taken and then indicated in your post that night that it had helped you make your mind up that you would not be at Plainmoor for the Barrow match. I was NOT trying to give the impression that you felt you were any different than any other supporter, rather that you were allowing your personal disappointment from preventing you from going along to support the team.

So you are offended by how much time i have on my hands to post? I wasn't aware there was a limit? I certainly haven't attempted to 'dominate' anything. I was debating - which i was under the impression is the purpose of this and every other forum. Had i realised i'd exceeded the thread post limit, i'd have stopped. Just to clarify (for future reference), are you the self-appointed forum police?

There is no limits to how many posts any member can make on any thread and it will be the case some times, that a member can end up finding that due to their views being challenged, it will result in them making many posts on the thread.

I think the lesson here is that the posts would be better not to be seem as just repeating the same argument. There now we should all be happy