The Illusory Truth

[leightonr]

Whether or not Peter Swann has a Machiavellian motivation for owning the club purely to acquire its assets by stealth is conjecture. I don’t believe that, but whether it is true or not, the facts are that the club is at a crisis point because of the way it has been run under the Swann ownership.
I believe it is down to lack of skill and basic competence rather than malevolent intentions. I haven’t done enough of my own fact checking to know whether Peter Swann is a great businessman, but it could be the case that we are suffering from an illusory truth effect. The “illusory truth effect” is a glitch in our cognition that equates repetition with truth. Donald Trump was a great exponent of this, repeatedly telling people that he was a “great businessman” until people think that is true.
The “Improvements” thread has already listed a lot of the things that have worsened during the Swann era. The PR has been woeful and for many fans, like me, our connection with the club has weakened.
The bad decisions started with trying to maintain control by appointing only family members to the board of directors and other key positions. Looking beyond the fundamental issue of whether family members are equipped to be on a board, that brings lots of other problems with it. For one, family members are more likely to tell you what you want to hear. This not only weakens decision making and amplifies bad decisions, but it can also lead to the leader believing in his own infallibility.
If Scunthorpe United was a publicly traded company, shareholders would be demanding independent director presence on the board. However, we are beyond that now because having the humility to admit to bad decisions is not the action of an infallible leader.
The doomsayers on here predict that this year will see the end of our 72-year membership of the Football League will end this season. I think the same and believe that it will get worse under the current ownership. I hope that we don’t drop further than the National League North where we will play the likes of Bradford Park Avenue, Darlington, Chester, Hereford, Kidderminster Harriers, Southport and York city who were also once football league clubs in my lifetime.
However, the history of a team who were elected to the Football League one year after Scunthorpe and were once managed by Bill Shankly casts an ominous shadow. Workington Town now play in the eighth tier of English football.
Our club is in freefall. It’s just a matter of how far we fall.

[Square Ball Bullimore]

Interesting points Leighton, I thought this piece read a little bit like Jordan Petersen.

Scary when you list those clubs all similar size to Scunthorpe really, could easily be us down there never to return.

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York Iron

[leightonr]

Square Ball Bullimore wrote:

read a little bit like Jordan Petersen.

:( Unhappy face

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Kenny Spennymoor

[alcazar]

Well written and thought out…apart from the lack of enough bottle to blame Swann wholeheartedly.
I do.

Always have, always will.

[Sanfran49]

Superb Leightonr.

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bartonscorpion

[Cliff Byrne’s Right Peg]

Good post.

The only point I’m not sure on is the motivation behind acquiring the assets; don’t fancy a libel case landing on my doorstep so I’ll leave the blanks empty for others to fill.

One thing i am sure on is that our fall won’t stop with one relegation. Scunthorpe supporters have one thing in abundance, and that is stubbornness; we are voting with our feet in droves already and there is no way Swann will subsidise the losses incurred. It will end up in a vicious circle and I cannot see any other outcome other then the club folding.

It’s ridiculous it’s got to this stage.

4 users thanked author for this post.

leightonr, alcazar, Sanfran49, Peter Promise

[leightonr]

Alcazar, I do blame Peter Swann. I intentionally don’t accuse him of something that I cant substantiate

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alcazar

[Anonymous]

Great thread. It was ominous when it became a family operation for the exact reasons you cite. I feel this was too often ignored, by some, as a red flag years ago.

Square Ball Bullimore wrote:

Interesting points Leighton, I thought this piece read a little bit like Jordan Petersen.

Not enough lobster talk.

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leightonr

[Deereyme66]

Interesting and plausible observations in the OP. I would add that it’s possible the original motivation may have been superseded by a new intention based on the outcomes of the past failures. Just my opinion. Time will tell.

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leightonr, alcazar

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