Confidence In Paul Buckle

Jon that post made me laugh

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I really have never wanted to burst your bubble merse, but if you believe that the action of the GANG OF FOUR played any part in Roberts leaving, then I would suggest its you who is suffering from some grandeur of self importance.

Lets be honest here shall we and look at the real facts and the reasons Roberts went when he did, but trust me on this a few fans calling for a vote of no confidence played no part what so ever no matter what claims you or anyone else makes.

Torbay had a mayor who was sending out very loud messages that there was free land to be had in Torbay for any worthwhile developments, land that was public land, but Bye and his over large ego were just looking to make a name for himself as the mayor who brought new and exciting things to the bay.

Roberts and Walker had come to Torbay some time before you or anyone else who are TUFC fans ever heard their names, they had been to the site used by the rugby club and could clearly see what a prime site it was and to get their hands on it they knew they would have to try an offer the mayor something he could not refuse.

A brand new stadium, new grounds for the rugby and crickets clubs, other sports facilities so badly needed in the Bay and in order to be in a position to put their offers forward they needed a vehicle and TUFC the largest sports club in the Bay was the obvious choice.

There was no interest in the club or its fortunes, the only important thing was the rec site and the plans for a hotel and shopping complex. The plan was sold to Saddler who must have believed getting the rec site was in the bag and therefore was happy to provide Roberts and co with his pension money so Roberts could get his hands on TUFC.

Roberts had no money of his own and in order to meet the monthly payments of agreed installments to buy the club completely he had to take the money from the club itself each month.

He was well aware he had to reduce the out goings at the club as he just needed to keep it going until Bye had given him the green light on the rec site.

Roberts is on record stating that once he got his complex build on the rec site he was giving the club to the fans and would have done so and walked away without a care what state the club was in at that time.

His problems began when stories about him appeared in the Herald Express and then the mayor had no choice but to take some backward steps and this was a real problem for Roberts as he needed to get things tied up as soon as possible because he knew he would struggle to keep the club afloat.

Without the club he stood no chance of ever getting the rec site and as things worsened on the pitch and he was aware debts were starting to pile up at the club, it became clear he was unlikely to now get the rec site.

He was finding it hard to meet the payments to Bateson and was unable to raise the money and he found himself complexly backed against a wall with nowhere to go. So no chance of getting the rec site he had no need to own TUFC, his dream was over and he saw sense and got out, as I said at the time and will say again, Roberts only ever wanted the rec site and cared nothing about what would happen to our club.

Trust me if he believed there was still a chance to get the rec site we may well have tried to hang on that bit longer, but he knew it was not going to happen and him leaving had nothing to do with anything some fans might have been doing. FACT.

Foot note.

Bye has yet to deliver any worthwhile development in the Bay and no its not because of an local objections, he is just a talker who had some vision, maybe he's Roberts brother or something.

Only toward the end and not in the beginning, as at that time some of the gang of four were still supporting him and trying to rubbish the people of Torbay who had their ears on the ground as they lived here and therefore were far more in the know.

Roberts is gone, Bateson is gone. Thats a closed chapter (thank god).

We are back in the league in what appears to be a far better financial footing than before, a squad built on experience and youth, a manager that got us out of the mire of the conference in 2 seasons.

Might I suggest it's now the time to lay to rest what was said and done over 2 years ago and move on?

More than happy to witneygull, can I look forward to a new thread started by you and a post about next season etc? you can guarantee you will get a good lengthy reply from me and I'm sure merse will also oblige.

There most certainly was a vote!

The "Gang of 4" could not speak for anyone other than themselves, but they could and did call for an open debate and a vote.

This was scheduled for Boots and Laces but Chris Roberts had a fit of pique and announced that we were banned from there.

We were made very welcome at O'Connors who did a roaring trade as the meeting was well attended. The landlord of Boots was angry with Roberts who had no right to ban us and he was forced - too late to get our custom - to backtrack. That all happily helped to demonstrate publicly that Roberts was an incompetent.

There were more questions than answers at the meeting but there was a mood of steely determination from those present. One man abstained from the vote, quite understandably, on the grounds that he had insufficient information to decide. Apart from that, the no confidence vote was unanimous.

Both BBC and ITV attended the meeting and both showed fairly long reports - in which supporters came over as reasonable people with real concerns rather than ranting whingers. It certainly raised awareness of the problems at the club.

It was one small battle in a big war, but it was an evening that played a part - obviously not a decisive one - in the campaign to remove Roberts.

In a way, it was a mixed blessing for the Trust. On the one hand, it did give some people the impression that the Trust was a "revolutionary" faction not for the ordinary supporter. I think that this feeling reduced as the Roberts saga unwound and people understood why what was done was done. On the other hand, it gave the Trust a real kickstart - we started getting lots of people putting their money down before we were really ready to take it, but we had to ride the forward momentum and catch up with the admin as quick as we could rather than knock people back.

One sad thing about the great things that have happened recently at the club is that some people who joined TUST in crisis mode have not got round to renewing because they feel the urgency has gone.

With the curent Board, it is far easier for TUST to play a real part in "furthering the cause of Torquay United and putting the club at the heart of the community". You can join, or rejoin, here :

www.torquaysupporters.com/join_personal_online.php