History repeating itself ?

Nobody needs reminding of the cringeworthy adulation of the oh so successful Charlton Athletic spread all over the national media at the start of Stapletondays. How embarrassing. I remember at the time thinking that Argyle should tell them where to go, they had just hit it lucky with Curbishley and Parker, and were riding the momentum of a new ground and the consequent fan involvment. Our success would happen with or without these sort blowing their trumpets.

Well, it's all happening again in fan terms. Last season saw the first spawning geeks spreading their wings from Brighton... one or two found fertile ground on Pasoti. And what with the Fans United thing, the Avivas are now fawning all over these travelling gurus and medicine men, expounding their theories on social revolution in a football sense... a bit like going to a Brent Bible lesson. I'm thinking of inviting HRH Charlie boy down to give me a talk on how to rule a country.

What is it about lost tribes that wish to embarrass themselves... do they really think it will rub off on them ?

Revolution is needed in football and the idea has value, it just won't be achieved by the "happy-clappy, so pleased to see you" types. I mean, how many had beards?

Were the Brighton fans listening to our stories of how it went so wrong?

Don't see a problem. Having myself 'got involved' to assist Albion back in the day I just see it as a favour returned, they see it the same way. And if you're going back to the Trust start-up, if you're going to start from scratch then it's sensible to seek advice from fans who've been in the same boat before and have gained (unwelcome) experience. The guys from Exeter were a great help.

Like I say, unless we wish to be considered a commudgonly old backwater that dismisses the words of 'furriners' as witchcraft, what's the harm in fellow fans helping us out?. Half the time we moan that the wider football world ignore Devon and Cornwall, that we're off the football map marked 'here be dragons'.............then we moan when people notice our plight, empahthise with it and resolve to help. That contradiction is just cock-eyed really

The irony is that it's the football fans that attend such events that allow and encourage the type of characters that we have only in the past ten years experienced, to rip them off. The day football becomes less profitable will be the day that football returns to its roots, but that won't happy whilst we have all singing, all dancing happy clappy mugs turning up and paying their hard earned cash straight into the accounts of the likes of Stapleton, Gardener, Todd and Ridsdale.

Football needs to go tits up, but it won't as long as people are keeping it alive by rattling buckets and attending "fan fest".

How I long for the days of Robert Daniels...I never thought I would say that!

GOB wrote:

The irony is that it's the football fans that attend such events that allow and encourage the type of characters that we have only in the past ten years experienced, to rip them off. The day football becomes less profitable will be the day that football returns to its roots, but that won't happy whilst we have all singing, all dancing happy clappy mugs turning up and paying their hard earned cash straight into the accounts of the likes of Stapleton, Gardener, Todd and Ridsdale.

Football needs to go tits up, but it won't as long as people are keeping it alive by rattling buckets and attending "fan fest".

How I long for the days of Robert Daniels...I never thought I would say that!

I must say GOB,that last sentence is taking angst/nostalgia a bit too far.

'I will never forget the Brighton fans'............................. says it all.............................. if you're a sad ass.

Greenskin wrote:

GOB wrote:

The irony is that it's the football fans that attend such events that allow and encourage the type of characters that we have only in the past ten years experienced, to rip them off. The day football becomes less profitable will be the day that football returns to its roots, but that won't happy whilst we have all singing, all dancing happy clappy mugs turning up and paying their hard earned cash straight into the accounts of the likes of Stapleton, Gardener, Todd and Ridsdale.

Football needs to go tits up, but it won't as long as people are keeping it alive by rattling buckets and attending "fan fest".

How I long for the days of Robert Daniels...I never thought I would say that!

I must say GOB,that last sentence is taking angst/nostalgia a bit too far.

I know but when you think about it and compared to others, he really wasn't that bad!

Here's my league table since I found the rub of the green..

1) Dawe - Never had the cash but had the heart
2) Bloom - Never had the cash and never had the bottle
3) Daniels - Never forgave him for selling Mariner & Rafferty just prior to his purchase of a house in Spain!
4) McCauley - Nutter, but I still think he would have liked to have taken us to the Premier.
5) Ridsdale - The name alone sends a shiver down any fans spine
6) Stapes - C-*-N-T
7) Gardener - C-*-N-T

GOB wrote:

Greenskin wrote:

GOB wrote:

The irony is that it's the football fans that attend such events that allow and encourage the type of characters that we have only in the past ten years experienced, to rip them off. The day football becomes less profitable will be the day that football returns to its roots, but that won't happy whilst we have all singing, all dancing happy clappy mugs turning up and paying their hard earned cash straight into the accounts of the likes of Stapleton, Gardener, Todd and Ridsdale.

Football needs to go tits up, but it won't as long as people are keeping it alive by rattling buckets and attending "fan fest".

How I long for the days of Robert Daniels...I never thought I would say that!

I must say GOB,that last sentence is taking angst/nostalgia a bit too far.

I know but when you think about it and compared to others, he really wasn't that bad!

Here's my league table since I found the rub of the green..

1) Dawe - Never had the cash but had the heart
2) Bloom - Never had the cash and never had the bottle
3) Daniels - Never forgave him for selling Mariner & Rafferty just prior to his purchase of a house in Spain!
4) McCauley - Nutter, but I still think he would have liked to have taken us to the Premier.
5) Ridsdale - The name alone sends a shiver down any fans spine
6) Stapes - C-*-N-T
7) Gardener - C-*-N-T

I think MaCauley was just completely unsuitable for football chairmanship in that he was too thin skinned and spiteful. I think he saw what had happened at Blackburn and fancied some of that for himself and who knows it might have happened had he not got his first managerial appointment so wrong. I think he wanted gratitude for what he had done and when it wasn't forthcoming it got nasty.

Bloom was like a benign Stapleton.

Stapleton had too much success, too easily and tried to take the credit for it. We saw him for what he was, when things stopped going so well, still lapping up the prestige of being a football club chairman but without any of the responsibility. The way in which he has been promoting his "Everything was OK when I was chairman, and Toddy told me nothing" just speaks volumes of the quality of the man.

Gardener should never have been at the club in the first place.

Football has 'changed' a lot in the last decade. The Championship is full of clubs with top flight history and the fanbases to reflect that history, then there are the parachute payments. A club like Argyle is quite unique. I still maintain it has top flight potential and at least now, Brent via Jones understands what is needed when we get there again.
The lessons of the Pasoti backed Stapleton regime have to be learnt but I fear that the dullest of fans, several of whom hold some form of sway, still don't understand and blame apathetic janners, or even more amazingly, actually blame the fans for 'making Stapes go for it !'

It's all I ever said when Pasoti was 'enjoying the ride'. I tried to alert them to football reality in the 21st century. I couldn't big gay bear what was obviously coming next.

Tringreen wrote:

Football has 'changed' a lot in the last decade. The Championship is full of clubs with top flight history and the fanbases to reflect that history, then there are the parachute payments. A club like Argyle is quite unique. I still maintain it has top flight potential and at least now, Brent via Jones understands what is needed when we get there again.
The lessons of the Pasoti backed Stapleton regime have to be learnt but I fear that the dullest of fans, several of whom hold some form of sway, still don't understand and blame apathetic janners, or even more amazingly, actually blame the fans for 'making Stapes go for it !'

It's all I ever said when Pasoti was 'enjoying the ride'. I tried to alert them to football reality in the 21st century. I couldn't big gay bear what was obviously coming next.

The Championship is full of clubs that have been in the premiership who are on a different plane to Argyle, already you notice the clubs that haven't had that bite at the cherry suffer. Preston have been kept afloat for years by a benefactor subbing the clubs losses, as have Bristol City. The former has been relegated, the latter are already in trouble this season and will surely need another financial shot in the arm to avoid the drop. How long will Forests owner continue to pump money at odious and ungrateful little shits like Billy Davies?

Where we got it wrong was that we thought we could bottom feed in the championship when clearly you can't.

You look at Swansea, Blackpool and Hull and that is how you get sucess through continued momentum. Not by selling all your best players and replacing them with Scottish crap in the hope that the fans all of a sudden start turning up again.

Thankfully Brent has seen this and says he will handover the reigns if the club returns to the championship. However I am deeply alarmed about anyone thinking that Carl Fletcher is a long term appointment, we need another Sturrock type appointment.

peter_dout wrote:

Tringreen wrote:

Football has 'changed' a lot in the last decade. The Championship is full of clubs with top flight history and the fanbases to reflect that history, then there are the parachute payments. A club like Argyle is quite unique. I still maintain it has top flight potential and at least now, Brent via Jones understands what is needed when we get there again.
The lessons of the Pasoti backed Stapleton regime have to be learnt but I fear that the dullest of fans, several of whom hold some form of sway, still don't understand and blame apathetic janners, or even more amazingly, actually blame the fans for 'making Stapes go for it !'

It's all I ever said when Pasoti was 'enjoying the ride'. I tried to alert them to football reality in the 21st century. I couldn't big gay bear what was obviously coming next.

The Championship is full of clubs that have been in the premiership who are on a different plane to Argyle, already you notice the clubs that haven't had that bite at the cherry suffer. Preston have been kept afloat for years by a benefactor subbing the clubs losses, as have Bristol City. The former has been relegated, the latter are already in trouble this season and will surely need another financial shot in the arm to avoid the drop. How long will Forests owner continue to pump money at odious and ungrateful little shits like Billy Davies?

Where we got it wrong was that we thought we could bottom feed in the championship when clearly you can't.

You look at Swansea, Blackpool and Hull and that is how you get sucess through continued momentum. Not by selling all your best players and replacing them with Scottish crap in the hope that the fans all of a sudden start turning up again.

Thankfully Brent has seen this and says he will handover the reigns if the club returns to the championship. However I am deeply alarmed about anyone thinking that Carl Fletcher is a long term appointment, we need another Sturrock type appointment.

We appear to agree Peter. My crime on Pasoti, which resulted in my banning and resultant unpleasantness, was pointing out this very situation to them years ago.

ps I was a tad persistent with my warnings, when they were obviously, not for listening. The ride was so exciting after all.

peter_dout wrote:

However I am deeply alarmed about anyone thinking that Carl Fletcher is a long term appointmen.

I agree with you Peter, and I am hoping Fletcher's appointment was nothing more than the underhhand strike breaking measure it was always intended to be. Not a peep from the players since Fletcher's rise to the heady heights.
Unfortunately, Fletcher gained a lot of supporters for some reason, and Jonah, his more accurate name I feel, will be a hard nut to shift. He's seen off two managers in Mariner and Reid, and he now fully intends to build his new career sooner than later. The only good thing about his appointment is that he is now less likely to stretch those ever so slow tired limbs on the pitch. Truly, one of the main reasons for our demise, but few have the courage to say so .. more evidence of the dominant group within the club that have held sway for some time now.