The future of TUST

               TUSTWATCH - LET'S SUPPORT THE 10th MAY AGREEMENT



       
   



What is the future for TUST in light of the historic Osborne -TUST Alliance (OTA), entered into on May 10th? How difficult will the transition from playing a destructive to a constructive role prove to be? And finally, a question that can’t be ducked however much we might prefer to do so; could the TUST Militants still sabotage the new partnership?

While we won’t be aware of every last detail within the small print of the OTA, enough information has been released to suggest it is a hugely positive step.

Some early dissenting voices heard elsewhere, are clearly already unhappy at the level of gratitude expressed, insinuating that Mr.Osborne has allowed a few crumbs to fall from his table, and TUST should not be seen bowing and scraping as they rush to gobble them up.

To me that doesn’t take into account the fundamental weakness of TUST’s current position,
and why resistance is therefore futile. Over recent months TUST has been busy making it’s moderate bed, and I’m convinced it will prove to be more comfortable than the old Militant mattress it hopes to set fire to when it’s more extreme members aren’t looking.

It’s important to step back and acknowledge that the conditions and scope for Militancy are gone. Think back 2, 3 or 4 years when the Forums were packed with talk of ‘Community Ownership’ and the Militants seemed to rule the roost. Thea badly wanted out, and the search for anyone to take over ownership was going badly. There was a real fear, not only felt within Alpine Towers, that TUST might emerge triumphant. Then we witnessed the Philips consortium, somehow keeping the club alive on a shoestring, but all the time TUST were there in the shadows waiting to pounce. In those dark days, it really did feel as though we were looking down the barrel of TUST’s Community Ownership gun. That we could wake up one morning and find they’d invited the Supporters Direct hardliners in to seal our fate.


On each occasion we escaped by the skin of our teeth, and the tables have now been well and truly turned as regards relative strength. Instead of dealing with Thea or the Philips consortium, where both ownerships were looking for a way to get out, we are all aware, as TUST’s report reveals, that Clarke Osborne has a strong and unrelenting grip on the club. A grip he has every intention of keeping and strengthening in the years ahead,, as he pours in the funds to finance various projects, not least of which will be the assembling of a promotion ready squad for next season.

Yes, it’s a different kettle of fish that TUST are faced with now, and they have had no option but to take the road signposted ‘Cooperation’.

But it wasn’t solely the advent of the Osborne era that was the catalyst for the radical repositioning and moderate overhaul that TUST has undergone. The crucial event in the eyes of many, was the ill-fated ‘Pre Share Offer’ of a few years ago. If one event brought home to TUST that it had to cease letting it’s Militant faction set the agenda, then that was it. The Torbay and South Devon Community sent a painfully clear signal that they had no interest in backing TUST’s proposals. From that moment I’m certain it became evident to TUST that it was faced with a stark choice: either pack up and go home, or make the radical changes necessary, discard the old ideology, and give TUST a genuine new look that was more than skin deep. It’s done that, and in return it’s now been rewarded by the club. And let’s not underestimate the massive changes witnessed from only a few years ago when the so called ‘benefits’ of Community Ownership were being rammed down our throats. The transformation we see today is a credit to TUST and its determination to bury it’s past.

A young fan can now browse the TUST website, and come away barely knowing that the concept of ‘Community Ownership’ exists, let alone much explanation of it, so fully has it been jettisoned. In fact I think I only noted one single mention of it, tucked away in the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ dropdown if you cared to click on it….and thenjust to make clear that Moderate TUST has not the slightest concern in favouring Community Ownership over Private Ownership, and indeed, you don’t read of one being favoured above the other. The contrast with the old days is total, and consequently must be a most bitter pill for Militants to swallow.

This is why I’ve been desperate to see the club acknowledge the transformation for the better that TUST has undertaken. The added security of an alliance with the club could prove vital to it when it has to withstand the backlash from the Militant section of it’s membership, many of whom have not as yet fully cottoned on to the implications of the Osborne-TUST alliance. That backlash will inevitably come, but with the steadfast backing of Clarke Osborne and TUFC, I believe that Moderate TUST can withstand it, and cast the Militants adrift once and for all.

Moderate TUST have embarked on a brave new course. It will see them being sniped at with increasing regularity by Militants but it can and must hold its nerve. The changes have been so great and so fundamental, that TUST would find retreating to its previous position virtually impossible.

The historic May 10th declaration, proclaiming the formation of the Osborne-TUST Alliance is a vastly significant signpost to a brighter future for new moderate TUST. Let’s give them support and praise for turning their back on a less than productive past, and congratulate them on taking the first tentative steps along a path of cooperation so generously laid out for them by the club.