PSF: Tiverton V Torquay United 19th July 2010

Plenty of good stuff posted already on last night’s game at Tiverton (including thoughts about Kee, O’Kane and what might constitute appropriate spectator behaviour) and, yes, it’s true to say our hosts aren’t in good shape. Indeed, I’m tempted to revise my suggestion that Weymouth would do well to finish above Tiverton. Maybe they’ll manage to do that pretty much by default.

You can see why Chris Hargreaves was wise to have steered a wide-berth. Good luck to Chris Vinnicombe but – other than regarding Tiverton as being the proverbial “biggest job” in Devon non-league circles – it hardly looks to be the ideal stepping-stone to something rather grander. Dave’s pre-match posting quotes VinnIcombe as saying he wants a settled squad rather than resorting to the sixty-odd used by Martyn Rogers last year. Well, leaving aside the programme listing a mere forty-six from last season, he’ll do well to keep that number down if the first batch proves hopeless. Certainly on last night’s evidence it looks like Tivvy are following the route of using relatively cheap locally-based Western and SW Peninsula players. The goalkeeper – who did well in the second half – has, as a case in point, recently played for Witheridge and Cullompton. Noticeable too that Dean Stevens and Dean Coppard – both with Dawlish last season, another club working on a reduced budget – came on as substitutes last night. With players like that you’re not talking about a lack of ability but whether or not they want to play for a club that travels as far afield as places such as Cambridge and Brackley. The usual solution is, of course, to bring in a few Bristol players who are more comfortable with that prospect. But, if Tivvy lack the ability (or inclination) to take that direction, it’s a big ask to survive unless they get the very best of what’s available in Devon.

In that way it’s a shame that Michael Booth – probably one of the best players living in Torbay – is now reported to be switching to Buckland Athletic. Maybe that’s due to money but it sounds like all the travelling is eating into his life. Possibly too it’s the sense of stagnation that surrounds Tiverton these days. This, I guess, is a by-product of the pyramid system: standing still is going backwards.

Nothing original in making that point and, as the article below from last night’s programme shows, we know clubs are often attempting to progress by not paying all their tax or settling all their debts. There’s also the suggestion that some clubs, who are ill-equipped to operate at a certain level, are only surviving because others are making an even bigger mess of their affairs (Weston-super-Mare being an example which comes to mind).

Overall, it’s an interesting piece in that it appears to deal more sympathetically with Salisbury and Grays (where the circumstances are rather different) than Chester and King’s Lynn. It’s always a hard one to unpick because everyone has their own version of events which makes their club “a special case”, often manifested in an “it’s okay for us to do it but not them” attitude. For instance, I was talking to somebody who is sympathetic towards Nuneaton Town (formerly Borough). His view is that the new owner – who has wealth – was justified in waiting for the old club to die on the basis of not wanting to be responsible for the debts of others. Then, once the new man had bided his time -and debts presumably went unpaid - he invested and the club has since won promotion twice. Scope for debate there and it's quite possible that Tiverton's weakness (or possibly long-term strength) is being poor and honest: