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I don’t think there is an expectation amongst anyone on this board that there must be a queue of kind hearted millionaires looking to buy the club nor is there an expectation that we have a given right to be even moderately successful.
But, the argument above from 99 seems to be akin to ‘better the devil you know’ which in this case is flawed.
This isn’t about funding, this is about bad decision making.
Football club ownership is voluntary. No one forced Peter Swann into Scunthorpe.
No one forced him to choose us over Lincoln City who he was also talking to.
No one forced him to explode the playing budget with a series of early high profile signings that he knew we had no prospect of funding without his continued bankrolling of the show. Note use of the word ‘continuing’ there.
If he didn’t know the future implications of his actions at that fine then more fool him.
No one forced him to make multiple share issues and certainly no one forced him to end up hocking the ground to the parent company to pay for his own past decisions.
No one forced him to make a series of promises relating to the club and the ground.
We now have what is surely the smallest budget in the league but yet we are not the smallest club.
There are some sides in league 2 who will still be behind us in terms of income and numerous more who are comparable.
We have seen, over the last 4 seasons, a systematic dismantling of the club through bad decision making and a now apparent ‘wash my hands of the whole affair’ attitude – snd that is why we are where we are – not because we aren’t run by a multi millionaire who is happy to pump cash in.
There are lots of similar sized clubs above us in the pyramid who don’t have wealthy owners but survive to their means with quiet dignity (and avoid becoming a laughing stock).
There are times this season, for the first time in a long time, that I’ve been genuinely embarrassed watching us.
Swann takes the credit for that so in this case ‘better the devil you know’ doesn’t apply.
I’d take virtually anyone at this time – millionaire or not – as long as they have the best interests of the club at heart.
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That I think is the key.
Whether you rated him or not, letting Loft go tells you everything you need to know.
Anything not nailed down and worth more than a tenner gets sold – so the only striker we have with any sort of experience leaves the building without an experienced replacement coming in. All we get is another cheap short term loan.
As I say, whether he’s a long term loss is irrelevant.
His performances last season were materiel in keeping us up and if you have any intention of trying to stay up this season you aren’t parting company with one of the very few sources of goals you actually have unless you are looking to trade up.
All this nonsense about him leaving on a free in the summer is rubbish as well.
Relegation will come at a much greater price than the £50k or whatever they chiselled out of Rovers and everyone knows it, or at least should do.
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We’re a long way off the bottom of the curve yet.
This is the weakest side I can remember, and I go back nearly 50 years.
The last time we finished in the bottom 2, back in 81/82 – there were players in that side – such as Andy Keeley, Bob Oates, Cammack, Neenan etc who would absolutely walk into the current side.
Anyone who thinks the National League is as low as we’ll go is in for a rude awakening as well even if we survive as a football club – this lot would be bottom 6 in that league as well.
For that, Swann has to take full credit. We are being penalised for his profligate and ultimately fruitless early spending.
Bad decision has followed bad decision – whining excuse has followed whining excuse – and everyone will surely agree that the numerous statements he’s made over the years as to the future of the club and the ground have not been borne out in truth.
Had he any intention of trying to repair the damage he’s inflicted the loan would have been paid off and there would have been early incomings.
The departure of Loft and the arrival of a replacement with no league experience tells you all you need to know.
We’re off down without a shadow of a doubt and Swann takes full blame – not Covid, not the supporters, not bad luck, not the players, not the plethora of ex managers – just Swann.
I’d have more time for him if he owned up to his failed stewardship of the club and owned his mistakes rather then blaming the world and his wife for his own miserable shortcomings.
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Anyone with any credibility won’t take the job without the promise of serious money to spend in January – which will also mean paying the loan off.
It would be a remarkable sea change for Swann to suddenly reverse tactics which he has employed over the last 3 years and suddenly start spending big again.
As for Cox – I have little sympathy for him because he knew what he was letting himself in for when he came.
That said, he can’t be blamed for our league position.
If the players aren’t good enough as a whole then it doesn’t matter if you have a tactical and motivational genius in charge – you still have a sub standard side.
Any argument that it’s ‘Cox’s side’ is rubbish as well.
It’s a side assembled on the cheap, laughably no doubt with input from our ‘chief scout’.
Cox has played the cards Swann has dealt him – full stop. Whether he played them badly is irrelevant – it was a crap hand and he simply couldn’t win.
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The problem at this club isn’t Cox – in the same way it hasn’t been the fault of the half a dozen who have gone before him.
He’s a manager not a water diviner.
The problem is the systemic poor decision making and what appears to be the blind arrogance at the top level of the club -which has degenerated into nothing more than an abject comedy over the last 3 seasons.
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