Post by Dave on Jun 12, 2009 19:22:54 GMT
Thank you friends and fellow members of the TFF for all your great posts this week, mind you due to events and news from the club we have had some meat to chew over and as a result have seen the forum do what it does best and that is have good quality debate amongst its members.
I expect some felt last week after reading my post on this board that Dave R was just a moaning old git and I know that is how it must seem at times. The thing is I believe in this forum and my aim is only to keep working to make it even better.
While it’s very true that due to you the members, this forum is far better than I ever dared hoped it could be, there is a small part in me that worries it will somehow just die and be no more. I know that is silly really, but I’m mindful that forums can lose their way, end up being a place you may no longer want to visit, or even be a member on.
So when it goes a bit quieter I just worry that some will lose interest and stop using the forum that is why I believe we need to keep putting as much good content and interesting reading on during the times when we do not have much TUFC stuff to talk about.
It’s just the person I am and I base most of my views and actions on past experiences and what they have taught me and believe me some of those lessons have been hard, but learn I sure did.
People often ask what mine and Carol’s secret is, you see we really are still like young kids in love after all these years we have been together, we are the very best of friends and never ever have fall outs.
Well I believe the main reason is we work hard to put everything into our relationship, we kiss goodbye every morning and always enjoy a cuddle, hug and a kiss when we meet again at the end of our working days. I know from my last marriage how things slowly can change, one day you don’t kiss goodbye in the morning and soon that just becomes normal, but one more thing has been lost and one by one other changes will happen if you let them and the end result is two people once in love end up drifting apart.
Another important thing for Carol and I. is we both want the same thing, to be happy, loved and enjoy our time together, we both don’t like being upset, hate falling out, its not our way and we just think before we act at times when others will just shout out some hurtful abuse that can never be taken back.
The point really is that by people working together and putting in a bit of effort there is nothing that can’t be achieved, be that a very happy marriage of just a first class forum.
So on to this week’s winner, well we have two members on the same number of votes and both will be declared as worthy winners, voted for by you their fellow members.
One of the winners really shows the value this forum has been, he must have walked past me on the popside many hundreds of times over the years and now he is a very dear friend. Mind you he Barton and Jon and even Phil might question if it was ever a good idea to stop and chat with me in the first place, as they all have suffered from ear ache caused by my non stop talking.
Not known for really long posts but brings his own brand of humour into the forum and more recently have been adding some great photos for our enjoyment.
Our second winner is someone I had to say a very big sorry to in the early days of this forums life, being over paranoid at that time due to what certain people were up too, I wrongly accused him of being a member on here for the wrong reasons. I was wrong and fortunately for me and the forum; he accepted my apologies and has been a good contributor on the forum ever since.
So the winners are….. Stuartb and crispygull well done and fully deserved.
One of Stuart’s posts made this week
Did anyone notice (or care) that there was an earthquake in Port Talbot, South Wales at 9.30pm last night. It was over 3 on the richter scale which was the strongest since 1975.
I drove to the epicentre today to see the evidence of the millions of pounds worth of improvements it may have made but nothing. what a sh1t hole!! Even though, BP chemical works closed years ago, it still has British Steel belching its poisonous clouds into the sky daily. what a depressing, pointless place.
The only thing Port Talbot has going for it is that I met my wife there.
It was August, 1984 and I was in the Royal Air Force stationed at West Drayton, near Heathrow. My mate (and future brother-in-law) was getting married and I was to be one of his ushers.
I travelled down in my Simca 1501 Special with my mate Neil, who was a scouser but ok really! We amused ourselves on our way down the M4 and laughed how Wales could not afford 3 lanes! Only now 25 years later are they extending it to 3
We booked into the Vivian Hotel and went down to the bar for an evening of entertainment. 2 pints later we went back to our room as it was so bad. we really wondered what we had let ourselves in for. bored in our room, we turned to the telephone directory!!! We spent an hour or more guessing which surname was the most popular . No you're wrong, it's not Jones
The next day the wedding was great fun and the day picked up when the talent arrived ( had to say that as the wife was reading over my shoulder )
anyway, without boring you too much, I had a successful weekend but have rarely found the need to return.
Today, the weather was rubbish and we had a couple of hours to kill while daughter number 1 went horse riding.
We drove from Ferndale, through Aberdare, briefly through Glyneath and on to Seven sisters. Eventually we arrived at Port Talbot and found the need to leave as quickly as possible.
We headed up the Afan Vallley and came across this little place
One of crispygulls posts made this week
Whilst one year contracts may be becoming more of the norm in these uncertain times, if as has been suggested by Dave R, that is all we are offering to promising young talent like Elliot Benyon and Chris Robertson then it will be understandable if we end up losing them. There will always be clubs prepared to go further - witness Oxford United who have handed out three year deals to centre half Mark Creighton (Kidderminster) and goalkeeper Ryan Clarke (Northwich and ex TUFC trialist!). That policy has already been criticised by Brian Lee (Conference Chairman), particularly given that the players concerned are run of the mill Conference pros, but the fact remains that there will always be clubs prepared to go that extra mile to get the player(s) they want in.
So, whilst it may be a prudent move on the part of the club, if we are only offering just the one year then there is a certain inevitability that someone out there will offer a two or three year deal on enough money to make them seriously consider a switch. It is, of course, slightly different in the case of 37 year old Chris Hargreaves, who may not find it quite so easy to find a club prepared to commit to a longer deal, unless it involves a dual playing/coaching role perhaps?
If however the club is looking to bring new people in on shorter term deals, then that will put us at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to competing for a players signature. It may well suit players in the mass conurbations, football hotbeds of the South East, North West and the Midlands ... where there are plenty of clubs to choose from ... but to try and persuade an established pro (different for an untried youngster I accept) to shift his family to our little outpost on the strength of a deal lasting 12 months will make Paul Buckle's job very much harder this summer!
One would hope that the board still feels able, and confident enough in the viability of our club to survive in these difficult trading conditions, to offer longer term deals. The policy has proved successful over the last couple of years as it has certainly enabled us to bring in players that otherwise would probably not have joined us. In particular I am thinking of the likes of Chris Todd (3 years), Lee Phillips (3 years), Chris Hargreaves (2 years) and most significantly perhaps Wayne Carlisle(2 years).
As we know, by far and away the main motivation for Wayne Carlisle making the short journey down the A380 was purely and simply because we were able to offer him a 2 year deal (rather than the 1 on offer at Exeter) and he turned down the chance of League football for it - fortunately only 12 months of it though!
Unfortunately I don't think one year deals work for us. If that were to be the strategy then we will more than likely end up returning to the Bateson/Rosenior days when our recruitment was largely built around mass trials in pre season for all the stragglers who hadn't yet picked up a contract.
I expect some felt last week after reading my post on this board that Dave R was just a moaning old git and I know that is how it must seem at times. The thing is I believe in this forum and my aim is only to keep working to make it even better.
While it’s very true that due to you the members, this forum is far better than I ever dared hoped it could be, there is a small part in me that worries it will somehow just die and be no more. I know that is silly really, but I’m mindful that forums can lose their way, end up being a place you may no longer want to visit, or even be a member on.
So when it goes a bit quieter I just worry that some will lose interest and stop using the forum that is why I believe we need to keep putting as much good content and interesting reading on during the times when we do not have much TUFC stuff to talk about.
It’s just the person I am and I base most of my views and actions on past experiences and what they have taught me and believe me some of those lessons have been hard, but learn I sure did.
People often ask what mine and Carol’s secret is, you see we really are still like young kids in love after all these years we have been together, we are the very best of friends and never ever have fall outs.
Well I believe the main reason is we work hard to put everything into our relationship, we kiss goodbye every morning and always enjoy a cuddle, hug and a kiss when we meet again at the end of our working days. I know from my last marriage how things slowly can change, one day you don’t kiss goodbye in the morning and soon that just becomes normal, but one more thing has been lost and one by one other changes will happen if you let them and the end result is two people once in love end up drifting apart.
Another important thing for Carol and I. is we both want the same thing, to be happy, loved and enjoy our time together, we both don’t like being upset, hate falling out, its not our way and we just think before we act at times when others will just shout out some hurtful abuse that can never be taken back.
The point really is that by people working together and putting in a bit of effort there is nothing that can’t be achieved, be that a very happy marriage of just a first class forum.
So on to this week’s winner, well we have two members on the same number of votes and both will be declared as worthy winners, voted for by you their fellow members.
One of the winners really shows the value this forum has been, he must have walked past me on the popside many hundreds of times over the years and now he is a very dear friend. Mind you he Barton and Jon and even Phil might question if it was ever a good idea to stop and chat with me in the first place, as they all have suffered from ear ache caused by my non stop talking.
Not known for really long posts but brings his own brand of humour into the forum and more recently have been adding some great photos for our enjoyment.
Our second winner is someone I had to say a very big sorry to in the early days of this forums life, being over paranoid at that time due to what certain people were up too, I wrongly accused him of being a member on here for the wrong reasons. I was wrong and fortunately for me and the forum; he accepted my apologies and has been a good contributor on the forum ever since.
So the winners are….. Stuartb and crispygull well done and fully deserved.
One of Stuart’s posts made this week
Did anyone notice (or care) that there was an earthquake in Port Talbot, South Wales at 9.30pm last night. It was over 3 on the richter scale which was the strongest since 1975.
I drove to the epicentre today to see the evidence of the millions of pounds worth of improvements it may have made but nothing. what a sh1t hole!! Even though, BP chemical works closed years ago, it still has British Steel belching its poisonous clouds into the sky daily. what a depressing, pointless place.
The only thing Port Talbot has going for it is that I met my wife there.
It was August, 1984 and I was in the Royal Air Force stationed at West Drayton, near Heathrow. My mate (and future brother-in-law) was getting married and I was to be one of his ushers.
I travelled down in my Simca 1501 Special with my mate Neil, who was a scouser but ok really! We amused ourselves on our way down the M4 and laughed how Wales could not afford 3 lanes! Only now 25 years later are they extending it to 3
We booked into the Vivian Hotel and went down to the bar for an evening of entertainment. 2 pints later we went back to our room as it was so bad. we really wondered what we had let ourselves in for. bored in our room, we turned to the telephone directory!!! We spent an hour or more guessing which surname was the most popular . No you're wrong, it's not Jones
The next day the wedding was great fun and the day picked up when the talent arrived ( had to say that as the wife was reading over my shoulder )
anyway, without boring you too much, I had a successful weekend but have rarely found the need to return.
Today, the weather was rubbish and we had a couple of hours to kill while daughter number 1 went horse riding.
We drove from Ferndale, through Aberdare, briefly through Glyneath and on to Seven sisters. Eventually we arrived at Port Talbot and found the need to leave as quickly as possible.
We headed up the Afan Vallley and came across this little place
One of crispygulls posts made this week
Whilst one year contracts may be becoming more of the norm in these uncertain times, if as has been suggested by Dave R, that is all we are offering to promising young talent like Elliot Benyon and Chris Robertson then it will be understandable if we end up losing them. There will always be clubs prepared to go further - witness Oxford United who have handed out three year deals to centre half Mark Creighton (Kidderminster) and goalkeeper Ryan Clarke (Northwich and ex TUFC trialist!). That policy has already been criticised by Brian Lee (Conference Chairman), particularly given that the players concerned are run of the mill Conference pros, but the fact remains that there will always be clubs prepared to go that extra mile to get the player(s) they want in.
So, whilst it may be a prudent move on the part of the club, if we are only offering just the one year then there is a certain inevitability that someone out there will offer a two or three year deal on enough money to make them seriously consider a switch. It is, of course, slightly different in the case of 37 year old Chris Hargreaves, who may not find it quite so easy to find a club prepared to commit to a longer deal, unless it involves a dual playing/coaching role perhaps?
If however the club is looking to bring new people in on shorter term deals, then that will put us at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to competing for a players signature. It may well suit players in the mass conurbations, football hotbeds of the South East, North West and the Midlands ... where there are plenty of clubs to choose from ... but to try and persuade an established pro (different for an untried youngster I accept) to shift his family to our little outpost on the strength of a deal lasting 12 months will make Paul Buckle's job very much harder this summer!
One would hope that the board still feels able, and confident enough in the viability of our club to survive in these difficult trading conditions, to offer longer term deals. The policy has proved successful over the last couple of years as it has certainly enabled us to bring in players that otherwise would probably not have joined us. In particular I am thinking of the likes of Chris Todd (3 years), Lee Phillips (3 years), Chris Hargreaves (2 years) and most significantly perhaps Wayne Carlisle(2 years).
As we know, by far and away the main motivation for Wayne Carlisle making the short journey down the A380 was purely and simply because we were able to offer him a 2 year deal (rather than the 1 on offer at Exeter) and he turned down the chance of League football for it - fortunately only 12 months of it though!
Unfortunately I don't think one year deals work for us. If that were to be the strategy then we will more than likely end up returning to the Bateson/Rosenior days when our recruitment was largely built around mass trials in pre season for all the stragglers who hadn't yet picked up a contract.
