How many more...

According to Greens on Screen we already have 22 players contracted, 23 if Williams signs, so I wouldn't think we would sign too many more players now.

That figure includes the youngsters Vassell, Harper-Penman, Copp, Sims, Richards , Nelson, Lecointe, and Young, who are all still teenagers, along with another 6 who are 21 or under.

How many players do most lower division teams have in their squad these days?

Tgwu wrote:
GOB wrote:
Prepare for the following...

Players don't want to come here.
Players want to be near their families.
Players like to be near the lights of the West End.
The fans don't back the club so the club hasn't the money to bring players here.
There is no airport.
The train times are crap.



And Mr Brent is spending his time (not money) on building an ice ring, cinema, hotel with food outlet and an underground chargeable car park under the ice ring, all this in the higher home park car park


tonycholwell wrote:
Bliimey TGWU that was quick, I didnt even hear a planning application go in:)


You do not have to put in a planning application to test the water of the Council, negotiations through the planning officer goes on all the time.

Chemical Ali wrote:

I think we should try Liam Dickinson again. He was very strong against Purse and Blanchard (when we drew 2-2) and is a much better target man than Feeney or Chadwick. Feeney doesn't offer anything other than workrate and after a decent loan spell, Chadwick has done little.

Nah, dodgy ankles.

Guys, you may not like what I type but I think it reflects the reality of our situation.

We may wish to live in a fools wonderland but Brent has not lied about the direction he is taking the club or his other interests and there never has been a queue of people wanting or believeing they could do better. Well, except the fantasists, but perhaps we leave them alone.

Sorry Penz and Tringy but look on the brightside, you wont have to sully yourself by entering HP and watching 4th division football for another season so at least your blood pressure will not rise above "normal".

Oh and Penz, you do love to try to tar me with the Squire allusion, but like so much of your rhetoric itt has no basis in fact.

Toodle Pip:)

Tgwu wrote:

Tgwu wrote:
GOB wrote:
Prepare for the following...

Players don't want to come here.
Players want to be near their families.
Players like to be near the lights of the West End.
The fans don't back the club so the club hasn't the money to bring players here.
There is no airport.
The train times are crap.



And Mr Brent is spending his time (not money) on building an ice ring, cinema, hotel with food outlet and an underground chargeable car park under the ice ring, all this in the higher home park car park

tonycholwell wrote:
Bliimey TGWU that was quick, I didnt even hear a planning application go in:)


You do not have to put in a planning application to test the water of the Council, negotiations through the planning officer goes on all the time.

TGWU Im sure you have a point, just not sure what it is:)

The more I think of Mr Brent's ownership of the club the more I think of Stephen Stills' injunction to "love the one you're with".

He may not be the one we want but He's the one we've got. And he could be worse ......

knecht wrote:

The more I think of Mr Brent's ownership of the club the more I think of Stephen Stills' injunction to "love the one you're with".

He may not be the one we want but He's the one we've got. And he could be worse ......

I think that a very reasonable outlook Ian:)

Me too. In the situation we were in last year I think we have done OK landing JB as owner. It could have been a whole lot worse.

Enjoy the ride fellas.

tonycholwell wrote:

Guys, you may not like what I type but I think it reflects the reality of our situation.

We may wish to live in a fools wonderland but Brent has not lied about the direction he is taking the club or his other interests and there never has been a queue of people wanting or believeing they could do better. Well, except the fantasists, but perhaps we leave them alone.

Sorry Penz and Tringy but look on the brightside, you wont have to sully yourself by entering HP and watching 4th division football for another season so at least your blood pressure will not rise above "normal".

Oh and Penz, you do love to try to tar me with the Squire allusion, but like so much of your rhetoric itt has no basis in fact.

Toodle Pip:)

Correct, austerity, property development and mid table with the club being a minor part of the overall package. 4-6000 hardy souls and young Aviva's watching a mixture of other clubs cast offs and over paid Journeyman under a tactically inept, inarticulate and prosaic manager.

Of course we'll never know if there were any other suitors because none were ever actively sought.

tonycholwell wrote:

Guys, you may not like what I type but I think it reflects the reality of our situation.

We may wish to live in a fools wonderland but Brent has not lied about the direction he is taking the club or his other interests and there never has been a queue of people wanting or believeing they could do better. Well, except the fantasists, but perhaps we leave them alone.

Sorry Penz and Tringy but look on the brightside, you wont have to sully yourself by entering HP and watching 4th division football for another season so at least your blood pressure will not rise above "normal".

Oh and Penz, you do love to try to tar me with the Squire allusion, but like so much of your rhetoric itt has no basis in fact.

Toodle Pip:)

Then brent should be looking to properly market the club and sell the club to someone who will invest or knows how to attract proper investment into the club.


Brent out now!!!!

We have been through this argument so many times. As I see it, the Stapleton situation was that he and his chums didn't want to let go, so refused investment and wouldn't consider actively marketing the potential of the club.What they ended up doing was even worse than I had feared.

The administration period was disastrous, as time was wasted with Heaney and his shady crew, Guilfoyle admitting the net hadn't been cast wide and silly purchase figures were cast about to put off any interest.

Meanwhile, reluctant bidder Brent, offered the local tribal leaders silly hats and titles to ease his passage and now we are left with what the likes of Penz and Bogsider have described.

Utter mediocrity but as long as a few local lads get to sit at the top table they are happy.

So village and so predictably Argyle.

Brent's supporters' board is just another way of handing out silly hats to supposed leaders of the fans. He can disband it at the drop of a jester hat if it starts to ask questions.
Truly nauseating.

Freathy wrote:

tonycholwell wrote:

Guys, you may not like what I type but I think it reflects the reality of our situation.

We may wish to live in a fools wonderland but Brent has not lied about the direction he is taking the club or his other interests and there never has been a queue of people wanting or believeing they could do better. Well, except the fantasists, but perhaps we leave them alone.

Sorry Penz and Tringy but look on the brightside, you wont have to sully yourself by entering HP and watching 4th division football for another season so at least your blood pressure will not rise above "normal".

Oh and Penz, you do love to try to tar me with the Squire allusion, but like so much of your rhetoric itt has no basis in fact.

Toodle Pip:)

Then brent should be looking to properly market the club and sell the club to someone who will invest or knows how to attract proper investment into the club.


Brent out now!!!!

Morning Freathy

To be fair to Brent, he has owned the club for less than one year and it is clear there was not a queue a year ago and clearly no one is beating on his door to say "Me please" now. Investment is going into the club in the form of the new stand but sometimes that same word is used in the context of "through money at in a reckless gamble"

Like others, I urged the Board to "invest" under Ollie to strengthen or position as the prize of the promotion was within our grasp. But the same is not required now in terms of fees, it is about building a capable squad to exit a pretty poor division.

Im not sure JB needs any help from us on how to attract proper investment, hes a banker remember:) The answer may be he is quite happy to remain as Argyles owner for at least 3 more years if not beyond.

Personally, lets relax and see what we have as a team v Portsmouth. If its what we have now I'll join in, brothers in arms at the gates, "Brent out"

Otherwise lets get some sun on our backs, chill out and enjoy the cricket. Somerset anyone?

More spin Tony. The only thing that is clear is that our 'then' Trust leaders never sought any other buyers other than Brent who upon offering, in Tring's words, silly hats and titles managed to pull off the deal without spending hardly a penny and without the "dogs of war" on his back as any other potential buyer would have had to deal with!

knecht wrote:

The more I think of Mr Brent's ownership of the club the more I think of Stephen Stills' injunction to "love the one you're with".

He may not be the one we want but He's the one we've got. And he could be worse ......

Bad show to quote myself but ....


At the Cherry Tree meeting, in my view, Peter Jones said as much also. His words were to the effect that it was James Brent or oblivion. I don't think in any way he was intending to denigrate Mr Brent's ownership. He was stating a fact. (He has been an avid reader of ATD as well as pasoti so I am sure he will correct me if I'm wrong.)

I don't agree with all of what Mr Brent has done but at the moment I see no alternative to "enjoying the ride" (not like you to resort to sneer, Tring). If we manage to sign Sweden's Ibrahimovic he'll prove you wrong!

This is no alternative now Knecht but we will never know who could have been 'put off' by the dealings of those that have since been responsible for Windsor Boy, Deep Throat, the collecting of private information of others, convenient moderation and the slurring of those that oppose.

I do not accept that it's simply coincidental that 'some' now retain parking spaces and have been given titles.

There's not a lot that can be done about it now but we can remind those responsible now and again.

GOB wrote:

More spin Tony. The only thing that is clear is that our 'then' Trust leaders never sought any other buyers other than Brent who upon offering, in Tring's words, silly hats and titles managed to pull off the deal without spending hardly a penny and without the "dogs of war" on his back as any other potential buyer would have had to deal with!

Spin Gob?

I have a sense of deja vu, havent we had this discussion before? Anyway, onward, no spin from me just simply what I saw happening and my general observations on the word "investment"

However, its very easy to make points when otherwise intelligent people like yourself write the section I have highlighted above. It was the Administrator who sought a buyer and was quoted as saying he exhausted the search. Out of this 3 arose, 2 didnt have any money, one did and rest is history.

I think Im right it was PCC who identified JB as a potential buyer. It was the contingency planners who kept him onside after the "Irish" bid was given preffered bidder staus.

Good old Tringy may call it silly hats and titles but it delivered a buyer who I believed was prefferable to anyone else on offer. Time will tell if he fulfills that potential, but the club was saved and that simple fact will not change.

tonycholwell wrote:

Freathy wrote:

tonycholwell wrote:

Guys, you may not like what I type but I think it reflects the reality of our situation.

We may wish to live in a fools wonderland but Brent has not lied about the direction he is taking the club or his other interests and there never has been a queue of people wanting or believeing they could do better. Well, except the fantasists, but perhaps we leave them alone.

Sorry Penz and Tringy but look on the brightside, you wont have to sully yourself by entering HP and watching 4th division football for another season so at least your blood pressure will not rise above "normal".

Oh and Penz, you do love to try to tar me with the Squire allusion, but like so much of your rhetoric itt has no basis in fact.

Toodle Pip:)

Then brent should be looking to properly market the club and sell the club to someone who will invest or knows how to attract proper investment into the club.


Brent out now!!!!

Morning Freathy

To be fair to Brent, he has owned the club for less than one year and it is clear there was not a queue a year ago and clearly no one is beating on his door to say "Me please" now. Investment is going into the club in the form of the new stand but sometimes that same word is used in the context of "through money at in a reckless gamble"

Like others, I urged the Board to "invest" under Ollie to strengthen or position as the prize of the promotion was within our grasp. But the same is not required now in terms of fees, it is about building a capable squad to exit a pretty poor division.

Im not sure JB needs any help from us on how to attract proper investment, hes a banker remember:) The answer may be he is quite happy to remain as Argyles owner for at least 3 more years if not beyond.

Personally, lets relax and see what we have as a team v Portsmouth. If its what we have now I'll join in, brothers in arms at the gates, "Brent out"

Otherwise lets get some sun on our backs, chill out and enjoy the cricket. Somerset anyone?

Bit of a mixed season so far for Somerset,rubbish in the 40 over game,pretty good in the proper cricket,good win in 20 20 the other night,really must get up to watch a game or two this year,haven't been since the ground was redeveloped.

Mr Brent came up with a memory invoking phrase in his interview with the Herald today-.....Carl is working hard to bring in new signings but nothing is imminent............ Now,where have i heard that word before?

On wider issues,lets hope that JB's pre season stuff about "any talk of finishing first is defeatist" doesn't prove to be hot air,i don't think that the Argyle public could be blamed for mistrusting any statement coming from the directorship after the nonsense,spin and downright lies of the previous 4 years.Not his fault,i realise that but nonetheless major issues of trust rebuilding [in the general sense ] exist and need to be seen to be addressed by action, not words from the current regime.We shall see,from my point of view,perfectly reasonable to give the man a chance to prove that he's the real deal.

Greenskin wrote:

tonycholwell wrote:

Freathy wrote:

tonycholwell wrote:

Guys, you may not like what I type but I think it reflects the reality of our situation.

We may wish to live in a fools wonderland but Brent has not lied about the direction he is taking the club or his other interests and there never has been a queue of people wanting or believeing they could do better. Well, except the fantasists, but perhaps we leave them alone.

Sorry Penz and Tringy but look on the brightside, you wont have to sully yourself by entering HP and watching 4th division football for another season so at least your blood pressure will not rise above "normal".

Oh and Penz, you do love to try to tar me with the Squire allusion, but like so much of your rhetoric itt has no basis in fact.

Toodle Pip:)

Then brent should be looking to properly market the club and sell the club to someone who will invest or knows how to attract proper investment into the club.


Brent out now!!!!

Morning Freathy

To be fair to Brent, he has owned the club for less than one year and it is clear there was not a queue a year ago and clearly no one is beating on his door to say "Me please" now. Investment is going into the club in the form of the new stand but sometimes that same word is used in the context of "through money at in a reckless gamble"

Like others, I urged the Board to "invest" under Ollie to strengthen or position as the prize of the promotion was within our grasp. But the same is not required now in terms of fees, it is about building a capable squad to exit a pretty poor division.

Im not sure JB needs any help from us on how to attract proper investment, hes a banker remember:) The answer may be he is quite happy to remain as Argyles owner for at least 3 more years if not beyond.

Personally, lets relax and see what we have as a team v Portsmouth. If its what we have now I'll join in, brothers in arms at the gates, "Brent out"

Otherwise lets get some sun on our backs, chill out and enjoy the cricket. Somerset anyone?

Bit of a mixed season so far for Somerset,rubbish in the 40 over game,pretty good in the proper cricket,good win in 20 20 the other night,really must get up to watch a game or two this year,haven't been since the ground was redeveloped.

Mr Brent came up with a memory invoking phrase in his interview with the Herald today-.....Carl is working hard to bring in new signings but nothing is imminent............ Now,where have i heard that word before?

On wider issues,lets hope that JB's pre season stuff about "any talk of finishing first is defeatist" doesn't prove to be hot air,i don't think that the Argyle public could be blamed for mistrusting any statement coming from the directorship after the nonsense,spin and downright lies of the previous 4 years.Not his fault,i realise that but nonetheless major issues of trust rebuilding [in the general sense ] exist and need to be seen to be addressed by action, not words from the current regime.We shall see,from my point of view,perfectly reasonable to give the man a chance to prove that he's the real deal.

Amen to that Greenskin and fingers crossed for the cricket. Im off the pace this year, had hoped to see the Derby game at Bristol yesterday until the weather intervened. Shame we couldnt have an ATD outing.

Where is Cerbs?

You stick to your version Tony, I still maintain the club has never been properly and fairly marketed.

I 'trust' you'll get your own silly hat for services rendered, in due course.

Cerbs is big into his motor racing at the moment.Here he is at Silverstone-

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Tringreen wrote:

You stick to your version Tony, I still maintain the club has never been properly and fairly marketed.

I 'trust' you'll get your own silly hat for services rendered, in due course.

I stick to my version Tringy because on all available evidence it is correct. I accept that spicy rhetoric sounds a lot better, but somettimes life and Argyle are more Mundane (apologies to Peggy)

Marketed by whom?

In the 47 years Ive been a fan we have never been over whelmed with offers to buy and transform the Club, most times its been in the hands of small busnessmen who were fans and did their best to keep the club solvent. Thats easy to knock but not by me. Only in recent times when heads were turned by apparently, personal gain, did that collective ethos evapourate.

Plymouth and its catchment has never had a surfeit of multi multi millionairres prepared to back the club. In fact the richest one currently doesnt like football and publically expressed his desire to run in the opposite direction when offered!

So should the marketing have been further afield? Well in parellel look at the marketing of the City as a whole. Its fraught with negatives difficult to overcome to more cosmopolitan buyers. No: Airport, Motorway, decent rail link for starters. Its no surprise that our working Directors either live in the east of the County or beyond.

Im not after one of your "silly hats" but I am after a hint of boring realism of we are where we are. I do believe JB is the best option on offer and he is intent on fulfilling his promises to the club. If he deviates I'll be the first to give him hell with or without a hat on.

We could argue this for ever. I believe the administration process was a carve up from start to finish, with Ridsdale in the middle of it all and I also believe that had Stapleton and co. been prepared to relinquish some control to the consortium , or better still actively promoted the undoubted [imo] potential of England's 13th largest city club far and wide, a buyer would have been found with enough cash backed ambition to make a difference. They got greedy.
It will be some time before this latest model possibly gets us back to the second tier,with attendance figures of about 16k for a club that has never been to the top flight, then we should find out, as Brent has said he'll pass on the baton.So he clearly thinks there will be buyers available.
He just doesn't want to pay anything to get us there,

I recently asked Webby whether he thought this 'sustainable progress' was it, full stop. Or whether , if walleted directors could be found to actually invest in the playing side and get the club and latent support on a roll again,whether he thought it should happen.
He has still refused to comment.
What do you think Tony ?

If investment were to be offered, should/would Brent give up some/all control, or does he prefer those with silly hats and non walleted directors to chug along, while he gets on with his real business, keeping his fingers crossed that a miracle might happen and he can pass on the baton and receive a nice little earner for his lack of trouble ?

Chemical Ali wrote:

Cerbs is big into his motor racing at the moment.Here he is at Silverstone-

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Cheers Ali, thought it was something I said......................

tonycholwell wrote:

Chemical Ali wrote:

Cerbs is big into his motor racing at the moment.Here he is at Silverstone-

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Cheers Ali, thought it was something I said......................

No Tony,. It was something I said.