timbo
Programmes Room Manager 
QUO fan 4life.
Posts: 2,432
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Post by timbo on Feb 6, 2021 10:55:42 GMT
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Post by plainmoorpete on Feb 6, 2021 11:39:07 GMT
At the risk of becoming very unpopular and thereby risking banishment from this forum, I have been thinking.
Jon has posted in the Bruce Rioch thread how the Anderson incident may have come about due to a prospective buyer for Anderson pulling out after Anderson's form dropped. The same thread details the perilous state of the club's finances at the time no doubt placing Rioch under a lot of pressure. That doesn't excuse Rioch's behaviour but it certainly explains it.
Webb is mostly demonized for selling off or getting rid of our best players and getting in poorer replacements. But might it be the case he had no choice?
In some quarters of the fan base Dave Philips has been given a rough ride but in hind sight the financial situation made things almost impossible. I could never understand why a certain former member of this forum castigated Kevin Nicholson so much for driving the mini bus to away matches when Nicholson was doing his level best to keep things going. It reminded of the time Terry Cooper,not a man in the best of health, was widely derided by Exeter City fans when he found himself trying to do the job of half a dozen people whilst manager of a cash strapped Grecians.
We will be in this situation again when the current owner decides to bail out, be in no doubt of that. Obviously the solution would be for the club to be financed by a number of different individuals rather than being financed by a single source which leads to financial shock when that source pulls out.
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Jon
Admin
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Post by Jon on Feb 6, 2021 13:23:57 GMT
At the risk of becoming very unpopular and thereby risking banishment from this forum, I have been thinking. Nobody has ever been banished from this forum. Some may have banished themselves and others may be very pleased that they have. Thinking and discussing sensibly are positively encouraged. Misinformation campaigns are not. Jon has posted in the Bruce Rioch thread how the Anderson incident may have come about due to a prospective buyer for Anderson pulling out after Anderson's form dropped. The same thread details the perilous state of the club's finances at the time no doubt placing Rioch under a lot of pressure. That doesn't excuse Rioch's behaviour but it certainly explains it. Absolutely. Alan Slough had already been signed off sick due to the pressure. Bruce was an honourable man who knew that his behaviour was unacceptable whatever the circumstances and that is why he chose to resign. He had been trying to do an impossible job, but not daunted he then took on an even more impossible job at Middlesbrough. Will be back later to unpick the rest. |
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Jon
Admin
Posts: 6,912
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Post by Jon on Feb 8, 2021 0:36:21 GMT
Webb is mostly demonized for selling off or getting rid of our best players and getting in poorer replacements. But might it be the case he had no choice? In some quarters of the fan base Dave Philips has been given a rough ride but in hind sight the financial situation made things almost impossible. I could never understand why a certain former member of this forum castigated Kevin Nicholson so much for driving the mini bus to away matches when Nicholson was doing his level best to keep things going. It reminded of the time Terry Cooper,not a man in the best of health, was widely derided by Exeter City fans when he found himself trying to do the job of half a dozen people whilst manager of a cash strapped Grecians. We will be in this situation again when the current owner decides to bail out, be in no doubt of that. Obviously the solution would be for the club to be financed by a number of different individuals rather than being financed by a single source which leads to financial shock when that source pulls out. Some previous Webb discussion. torquayfansforum.co.uk/thread/1853/tangled-webbWe were certainly in a financial mess when Webb took over. Drastic action was certainly necessary. I remember Dave Turner telling me there would be no football club if Webb had not done what he did. Maybe it is easier for an outsider to slice than it is for a fan. I don't think it was just the reduction in playing budget under Webb that alienated fans. I don't think anyone trusted him and not without reason. When he left, the club had to write off a loan from the club to the holding company. You would expect it to be the other way round! Against that extraordinary debit, there was an extraordinary credit of "surplus of insurance monies received over cost of demolition and removal of fire damaged grandstand". That was lucky. There were severe budget cuts when Dave Phillips came in, but most people accepted them and trusted Dave as a United fan to the core acting out of love for the club and not seeking personal gain. I do not think his consortium was the the best solution at the time, but that was the fault of Dean Edwards who clearly manipulated the situation to serve his own means. I was not too keen on Pete Masters' advice either. I think the vast majority of United fans appreciated the circumstances under which Kevin Nicholson had to operate and judged his reign accordingly. The most remarkable thing he did was getting Angus MacDonald to sign a new contract - landing us a big fee that kept us afloat when Angus could have walked for nothing at the end of his contract. That was probably due to the incredible togetherness and loyalty Nicholson fostered. You will always get a few who do not adjust expectations for circumstances - but they may be the few who make the most noise. Those who ridiculed the tyre-flipping as if it were all they ever did in training totally missed the point that it was a very effective bonding and team-building exercise. Spreading the financial load is preferable in many ways, but it is very difficult to turn down millions if someone is offering - as long as that does not jeopardise the club's future. As long as someone is willing to pump in cash, nobody is going to say no. The Rowe / Boyce consortium were determined to spread the load, but when the cash ran out and they had to choose between severe cuts or letting Thea keep putting in .... |
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