Torquay in crisis?

[Bleeper]

Just a snippet of the situation from one of our forums, BTPIR regarding the situation behind why Nicho was unable to sign any players... it's absolutely disgusting, people didn't listen when many said GI were bad news.. I'm sure they will see them in a different light after the past few days worth of revelations..

I'll tell you what's going on
& warned Nicholson to 'watch your back'

During debate about the costs of sacking Kevin Nicholson and the 'length of his contract' I have tried to emphasize that length of contract often has very little determination as to exactly what the person losing their job receives by way of pay off and how naïve it is to assume that they are entitled to be paid in full for the full duration left.......

According to my enquiries ~ in common with many other managers in the game ~ Nicholson has various clauses within his contract relating to performance targets, league position and the penalties for not achieving them. Kevin Nicholson (as far as I can ascertain) at maximum would get six month's money paid as compensation for termination of contract and has been being blackmailed by Harrop into agreeing that period be reduced to three months in order for any of those signings he was pursuing to be given the go ahead. In other words 'put your financial security (such as it is) where your mouth is to protect us (Gaming International) against the possible failure of our investment'....Quite correctly, he has refused.

I told you before, GI as such are running this club as a business first with no feel or real understanding of football; will do nothing for nothing and ~ if you think back to the ramifications of the last board being unable to repay them ~ will take the clothes off your back. It's very little different to loan sharking.

It was Geoff Harrop who introduced Gaming International to Plainmoor and we flagged that up over a year ago and his ambitions to be manager were also flagged up then.

By acting like a slimy little toad with a dagger in his hand he is putting a young man with a family to support under enormous mental pressure to accede to his demands at the cost to himself, his family and the football club.

BTPIR and torquayfans.com are not afraid to tell the truth about Geoff Harrop because there is nothing he can do to stop us. If we are lying then he can sue for libel. We further demand that the Herald Express and their acquiescent journalists Dave Thomas, Guy Henderson and Richard Hughes join us in exposing this man and tell it as it is and not as Gaming International and their Short Controller want it to be told.

You have three home games left in which to voice your opinion to the people themselves ~ if indeed they turn up to watch those games ~ and I stress voice because to incite any other action would be against the law. Do NOT interfere with the playing of the games and do NOT take your anger out against either manager or players.

Somebody within the game described Harrop to me this week as 'a useful idiot' ~ well he is certainly being that at the moment and no-one in their right minds would expect the manager to agree to the disgraceful demands put on him.

Now you know the real reason there were no signings this week and now you know why the club is struggling on with an understrength and under qualified squad to fight this battle.

Read more: http://thelondonmafia.proboards.com/thread/2622/call-me-fat?page=2#ixzz4cHeSof4C

 

[yellow]

GI have released a "club update" this morning:

CLUB UPDATE

Fans' Forum

It remains our firm intention to engage with fans in a variety of ways. We are keen, however, that this is a genuinely informative process, which can play an active role in planning for the Club’s future. At a management meeting last week we agreed the headline approach to a consultation process to be launched at Easter. This will include an online questionnaire/feedback process in addition to a “Forum” to be held shortly after the launch, and will commence an ongoing process of consultation/meetings as the Five-Year Plan is finalized and launched

The Board of Directors

A full board of directors, including significant local representation, will be announced when the Five-Year Plan is approved. It must be recognized that the role of a company director involves legal and professional responsibilities and should not be taken lightly. It is essential that this is approached in a cautious and business-like manner if we are to deliver the sustainable management structure which is required, and has been so sorely lacking.

Until such time as this can be properly delivered, I (Clarke Osborne) will remain as Interim Chairman and sole director

Plainmoor

We remain in discussions with Torbay Council to explore the possibility of the purchase of the freehold of the Plainmoor ground. There are a number of issues to be resolved (including contractual and financial terms) before this can be considered by a full Council committee (which will be fully disclosed and within the public arena). This will be fully and openly debated at the appropriate time.

Other

We had hoped to be at a more advanced stage of delivery across various areas by this time, however our progress has been frustrated by a number of internal issues following the change of ownership, which have proved both difficult and time-consuming.

Clarke Osborne

Torquay United Chairman

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More holes in that than a sieve. Do they really think they can continue trying to mug us off with nothing back?

The fact we're not adrift is testament to Nicho and the siege mentality he's creating - a football club should never have a players/manager/fans vs owners scenario, but here we are.

 

[The Jovial Forester]

Five-Year Plan? Maybe they want to turn you into Red Star Torquay.

 

[yellow]

I think the 5-year plan ends in a sparkling new set of houses and no football club.

 

[The Jovial Forester]

I think the 5-year plan ends in a sparkling new set of houses and no football club.

Sickening, really hope you come through this somehow though it looks bleak.

 

[GEORGE]

Clark Osborne is the reason we had to leave Eastville ( our spiratual home ) all those years ago and the reason we nearly folded.

 

[yellow]

Yep, his work with you has come up for discussion many times on our forum!

 

[Andy Harrier]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39508498
Torquay's surprise new owners planning a subtle name change and relocation?

 

[Pablosammy]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39508498
Torquay's surprise new owners planning a subtle name change and relocation?

They've bought Atletico Torque? That's an interesting twist...

 

[yellow]

So... rather than a proper fans forum, the owners have come up with a weekly questions forum thingy, where fans can send questions in for a member of staff to answer (one person a week). Ensures we see more from them but also a pointless exercise as they are basically vetting any challenging questions and it is all very... soft.

Anyway, allegedly GI have spent half a million since January on investments. To show for it, yesterday we had our starting XI and the bench consisted of 2 strikers, our manager and a first year pro who has not long been out on loan at Cirencester in the Southern Premier League (and didn't do much there).

With a couple of knocks picked up, we are scratching the bottom of the barrel. We cannot recall players out on loan, so I genuinely feel we will struggle to make a full 11 soon. But it's fine because relegation is "not catastrophic, but only a step down on the ladder".

Unbelievable - they are doing worse things here than the likes of Coventry, Charlton and co, but nobody can do anything about it.

 

[Pablosammy]

They've bought Atletico Torque? That's an interesting twist...

Nobody? Oh come ooooon!

 

[Pablosammy]

So... rather than a proper fans forum, the owners have come up with a weekly questions forum thingy, where fans can send questions in for a member of staff to answer (one person a week). Ensures we see more from them but also a pointless exercise as they are basically vetting any challenging questions and it is all very... soft.

Anyway, allegedly GI have spent half a million since January on investments. To show for it, yesterday we had our starting XI and the bench consisted of 2 strikers, our manager and a first year pro who has not long been out on loan at Cirencester in the Southern Premier League (and didn't do much there).

With a couple of knocks picked up, we are scratching the bottom of the barrel. We cannot recall players out on loan, so I genuinely feel we will struggle to make a full 11 soon. But it's fine because relegation is "not catastrophic, but only a step down on the ladder".

Unbelievable - they are doing worse things here than the likes of Coventry, Charlton and co, but nobody can do anything about it.

I can't believe how they can continue to get away with it without the National League stepping in (not that I'm sure what they'd do if they did). I find it hard to think or Torquay in such a state. All the best, I hope some good comes out of all this.

 

[yellow]

It's suggested now that Ruarri Keating is not being paid anything by the club. I know full well about non-contracts deals but am not even sure if he's getting appearance fees or expenses - he's here purely to try and showcase his ability (and certainly has potential to play regularly at this level in my opinion, with a bit of fine tuning).

Also, the ACV that the Trust have is only with the lease for Plainmoor, and not the freehold. I don't think that is good news.

 

[genesimmons]

So... rather than a proper fans forum, the owners have come up with a weekly questions forum thingy, where fans can send questions in for a member of staff to answer (one person a week). Ensures we see more from them but also a pointless exercise as they are basically vetting any challenging questions and it is all very... soft.

Anyway, allegedly GI have spent half a million since January on investments. To show for it, yesterday we had our starting XI and the bench consisted of 2 strikers, our manager and a first year pro who has not long been out on loan at Cirencester in the Southern Premier League (and didn't do much there).

With a couple of knocks picked up, we are scratching the bottom of the barrel. We cannot recall players out on loan, so I genuinely feel we will struggle to make a full 11 soon. But it's fine because relegation is "not catastrophic, but only a step down on the ladder".

Unbelievable - they are doing worse things here than the likes of Coventry, Charlton and co, but nobody can do anything about it.

So... rather than a proper fans forum, the owners have come up with a weekly questions forum thingy, where fans can send questions in for a member of staff to answer (one person a week). Ensures we see more from them but also a pointless exercise as they are basically vetting any challenging questions and it is all very... soft.

Anyway, allegedly GI have spent half a million since January on investments. To show for it, yesterday we had our starting XI and the bench consisted of 2 strikers, our manager and a first year pro who has not long been out on loan at Cirencester in the Southern Premier League (and didn't do much there).

With a couple of knocks picked up, we are scratching the bottom of the barrel. We cannot recall players out on loan, so I genuinely feel we will struggle to make a full 11 soon. But it's fine because relegation is "not catastrophic, but only a step down on the ladder".

Unbelievable - they are doing worse things here than the likes of Coventry, Charlton and co, but nobody can do anything about it.

Worse than coventy cant be that bad surely

 

[GodsGift]

I see the Torquay squad stayed at Lincoln Bentley last night. Who funded that?

 

[yellow]

Probably means the players drove themselves then. Would have been mad to try and make that journey on the (bank holiday) day!

 

[Luke Imp]

Nope, they coached it.

 

[Luke Imp]

Article in the Guardian today on Torquay.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...96-years-plainmoor?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet

 

[yellow]

That's an excellent article.

 

[GodsGift]

Guardian do a lot of good work when it comes to clubs who are blighted with crap owners. Their reporting of Millwall's ground issue with the council has been top notch too.

 

[Habbinalan]

Good article. The main item that caught my eye (in The Observer - we still buy real papers at the weekend) was the issue over the "Asset of Community Value" (ACV) registration being on the lease not the freehold and that apparently making development for housing more straightforward.

I'm sure that there are more twists and turns in the detail but it does suggest that Fans Trusts should be double checking that their grounds are registered as ACVs properly. Orient would be the first to come to mind but the question also needs checking for all of us.

 

[yellow]

Guardian do a lot of good work when it comes to clubs who are blighted with crap owners. Their reporting of Millwall's ground issue with the council has been top notch too.

Indeed. Considering the club have the local press in their back pocket, it had to go further and so I am glad it has. Certainly got the word out there on forums and social media at the very least.

 

[The Jovial Forester]

Good article. The main item that caught my eye (in The Observer - we still buy real papers at the weekend) was the issue over the "Asset of Community Value" (ACV) registration being on the lease not the freehold and that apparently making development for housing more straightforward.

I'm sure that there are more twists and turns in the detail but it does suggest that Fans Trusts should be double checking that their grounds are registered as ACVs properly. Orient would be the first to come to mind but the question also needs checking for all of us.

That bit about the ACV seemed nuts, surely the spirit of the thing is the ground as an asset not just a lease.

 

[yellow]

That's what we assumed, too.

As you can imagine the TUST weren't so impressed when that information reached them..

 

[Farleigh]

How about doing a Charlton and standing against councillors who vote to give the stadium to property developers? I can't believe any council would be that stupid.

 

[B2TF]

That's what we assumed, too.

As you can imagine the TUST weren't so impressed when that information reached them..

The council is talking bollocks.

 

[yellow]

The club have responded:

AS part of our Easter Egg hunt this morning, Torquay United Football Club was extremely surprised to uncover an article littered with inaccuracies from a national newspaper.

First of all, a big thank-you to the Observer on Sunday and the reporter Barry Glendenning for taking such an interest in our football club.

Players, staff and supporters of Torquay United, like all clubs at our level, crave national attention and recognition.

It is such a shame, however, that our particular moment in the spotlight was so wrong in so many aspects.

Surely one of the golden principles when publishing an article on any organisation or individual is to confirm your statements are correct, and to give that organisation a right to reply.

We have checked with all levels of the football club: the owner / chairman, the lead consultant to Gaming International, the Torquay United general manager, first-team manager, assistant manager, physio, club secretary, media officer, commercial manager, hospitality manager, club chef, groundsman, maintenance manager....not one person received contact from the Observer or Mr Glendenning.

While we are all fully focussed on a massive game of football at home to Braintree Town tomorrow, we would like our supporters to be assured that our internal email and phone systems will be thoroughly checked, as there is clearly a problem somewhere along the line.

It is simply inconceivable for a national newspaper to run a full-length article, using quotes from people who do not work at Torquay United, and take them as fact.

Any journalist or sports editor worth their salt would have to check their statements are correct before publishing anything for external consumption, surely.

As we continue our thorough internal investigation, checking phone masts and email servers alike, it would seem appropriate to take this opportunity to respond to some of the points made in the article.

The first quote from Mr Alan Merson, a lifelong fan who runs the Beyond the Penn Inn Roundabout fan forum is to say ‘Torquay have players on their books earning £300 per week in a league where most of their peers are paid double that amount’.

Unless Mr Merson has a secret camera inserted in the cub secretary office (another internal investigation required here), how would he know what our players earn?

We obviously can’t divulge the details of individual contracts, other than to say the only people earning that figure or below are on non-contract terms, or very young professionals, which is not unusual across lower league / non-league football. We would also add that these players are provided with accommodation by Torquay United.

The second point to make is that the vast majority of our players earn significantly more than this amount, many of them exceeding double £300 per week.

We simply don’t know whether most of their ‘peers are paid at least twice that amount’. All we can suggest is other clubs in the National League conduct their own secret camera search for confirmation here.

Mr Merson goes on to claim ‘we have two players sleeping in one-man rooms at the Gulls Lodge....and it’s like a prison’.

As a new regime at Torquay United, we have no idea if this was true in the past but since Gaming International took over the football club, it has absolutely not been the case.

To suggest it is like a prison would also lead to the assumption that Mr Merson is a regular visitor to the Lodge. Again, his presence must have slipped under the radar and his overall knowledge of what conditions are like in a real prison is something we can’t comment on.

We can’t comment because we don’t have any facts or evidence....a salutary lesson here.

The Gulls Lodge is a valuable facility that the club uses to house players. All players are, of course, allowed to make their own living arrangements but the Lodge is a treasured resource and players have their own room with a shared kitchen, bathroom, and communal space to relax.

Mr Merson has mentioned a player ‘travelling home to Birmingham after matches to earn an extra £50 a night’.

Who is this player?
Has this been the case under the ownership of Gaming International?
If it ever happened in the first place, where is the evidence?

The article moves on to Mr Merson’s comments on our first-team manager and, while every fan is entitled to an opinion because that is what makes football such a wonderful game, all of us at Torquay United would like to reiterate our 100% support for Kevin and his players.

Tomorrow’s game against Braintree Town is one of the biggest in our history and the Yellow Army will only be focused on supporting Kevin and the team.

That is what matters right now.

A later comment in the article states: ‘Osborne arrived at Torquay promising investment in a bid to stave off relegation but no new players were signed’.

Shaun Harrad, Myles Anderson, Aaran Racine, Jared Hodgkiss, Jordan Lee, Paul Rooney, David Fitzpatrick, Ruairi Keating...eight players who spring to mind as either signed permanently, new loans agreed or extended loans, since ‘Osborne arrived’.

Just to reiterate the baffling inaccuracies, the journalist clearly not having his best day at the office refers to ‘Torquay United’s threadbare 15-man squad’.

Please, please just do some research and bring your abacus.

The article concludes with quotes from Michael Golbourne, chairman of the Torquay United Supporters’ Trust, the major crux of which focuses on:

‘If a plan is put forward that clearly demonstrates the development of a new stadium and the relocation of the team is in the club’s absolute long-term interests, we [TUST] will support it. But build it first and leave the freehold under the protection of the council’.

We all know what a fantastic job the TUST and supporters’ groups have done in the past, especially with their safeguarding of the club in the era before the Bristow family rebuilt Torquay United through their wonderful generosity and support.

In response to this question from Michael, we would refer him to the interview given by owner Clarke Osborne to the club website, which contains a cast-iron guarantee of the intention to build a new stadium before anything happens to Plainmoor, as well as an explanation of the reasoning behind the plan to negotiate the freehold of the ground.

http://www.torquayunited.com/news/article/2016-17/official-tufc-tv-clarke-osborne-3662036.aspx

We can also assure the TUST and all supporters, including Mr Merson, that a consultation process will be launched this week, as part of the vital stage of stakeholder-engagement, prior to the publication of our five-year plan.

Since writing this response, the Observer have confirmed that the journalist in question had not contacted anyone at Torquay United Football Club before publishing his article and no right of right of reply was given to Torquay United.

Not one person employed by Torquay United was asked for an opinion or to confirm the accusations included in this article.

How can a national newspaper publish a full-page spread without checking their facts?

In contrast, the Observer was contacted and given the opportunity to respond to our article, an opportunity they have declined in this instance.

Torquay United would like to place on record that we know Alan Merson is a dedicated fan of our football club, as well as being a former employee. We would like to invite Alan and a guest to join us for a meal before the North Ferriby game on the final day of the season, when we can hopefully provide some clarity on his questions over the Lodge, wages, stadium plans etc.

Before anything else, however, the next 24 hours is all about three points against Braintree. Get behind the lads and the football club because the future can still be a bright one for Torquay United.


Read more at http://www.torquayunited.com/news/article/2016-17/club-response-3678407.aspx#HTkKKb31dQPiMAa7.99

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That is unbelievable.

 

[GodsGift]

 

[yellow]

Tomorrow's going to be fun.

 

[Pablosammy]

That's the least professional article I've read in a long time. Borderline spoof. I feel so sorry for the Torquay fans.