A long polemic (not suitable for the ADHD brigade)

So where do we stand?

Cards on the table: from what I?ve read over the past three days I?m in favour of the club negotiating with Peter Cullum and ultimately allowing him to assume control. The reason is simple: the club needs a large injection of cash now, and in the absence of any announcement to the contrary it appears that Cullum is the only show in town. Beggars can?t be choosers.

No-one should be in any doubt that cash is needed ? we can all see the weaknesses in the squad: a back four two of whose members the manager seems to have little faith in, a third he had never even seen train until yesterday. There is a relative embarrassment of riches in midfield granted, but up front Roeder will have to perm any two from Cureton, Martin and Renton. Let?s be clear ? unless there is considerable transfer activity in the next few weeks ? we?re going down.

So how to pay for the new arrivals? Well?er?um?dunno? What none of us can know is just how dire the financial position is. What we do know is that there is a ?7 million gap in income between now and the previous three grim seasons. Last season we filled the parachute payment shortfall by selling Earnie and Etuhu, and by borrowing ?2 million from the Turners. We could sell our whole remaining squad and not get ?5 million this year ? and there has been no announcement of any more borrowing. So here?s the scary bit ? even taken with the savings that have been made the cheque for ?5 million that Cullum would write immediately were his offer accepted would do little more than put us back where we were this time last year. Going up? Yeah, right.

So what is the current board?s solution to all this? There doesn?t seem to be one: insofar as anything has been said Doncaster uttered something about being run for the long-term for the benefit of the community. What actually does that mean? I?ve no idea ? but it doesn?t appear to encompass the concept of ?promotion?. What irritates me most is the notion, parroted time and again, that NCFC is a ?well-run? club. In some ways I suppose it may be, but in the only way that I actually care about ? putting successful teams onto the pitch it isn?t. In the twelve years since Chase departed we have had just two good seasons (the first because we spent money we didn?t have, the second because someone outside the club put up money for Huckerby) ? the rest have been tales of mid-table obscurity punctuated by the occasional relegation battle. It ain?t good enough, and no amount of self-serving spin will make it good enough. But if you tell yourself that you are running something well then I guess you don?t notice that your hugely expensive Academy is yet to produce one footballer of Championship standard. Or notice that money is wasted on players who are simply up to the rigours of Championship (check out Luke ?17 games in 18 months? Chadwick?s own comments on his fitness and decide whether signing him was something a ?well-run? football club would have done).

There will be no success under the current board without an injection of funds. And with the smug complacency with which the club is run I wouldn?t bet against any such injection just being pissed away. I?m sure we all remember Robert Chase challenging his opponents to ?put up or shut up? during the dark days of 1995. Delia?s comments at the last AGM seem eerily redolent of that ? and what we know now is that even as she was speaking someone was preparing to ?put up?. Time to negotiate and go quietly ? before we are all forced to the barricades.

Posted By: Mr Creosote, Jul 2, 23:49:26