It was a rare feeling to greet the morning after a Poppies defeat with renewed optimism about the club’s future, but we live in unusual times.
The joint statement announcing agreement in principle to the sale was big on mutual appreciation before George gave us his version of the departing PM’s address in Downing Street. We can give him that – his time as owner undoubtedly delivered some good things – but the reason we were reading all this was fundamentally because his controlling tendencies went too far, alienated too many people, and stored up trouble for the club in other ways.
Just how much trouble is something that Brad & co will no doubt be keen to dig into as they do their due diligence. We can only hope there is nothing in the closet that derails the bid completely.
Assuming the deal is eventually done, there is a lot to look forward to but at the same time we need to try to not get carried away about what to expect in the near term. Yes I know, this is Kettering so about as realistic as appealing for world peace, but somebody had to say it. Brad so far has seemed to avoid hype of the kind that tends to come back to bite, and it will be interesting to see if this survives his first fans’ forum!
Off the pitch it’s an opportunity for a reset of the relationship between the club and its public. The door should be thrown open for volunteers old and new, with no pre-conditions, and the end of the schism that split fans and killed the LP atmosphere can’t come soon enough.
On the pitch, this season is already a chase to finish as close to 2nd as possible, secure a favourable playoff berth and take our chances from there.
The position with the current management duo is an interesting one. Until the club formally changes hands, decisions presumably still sit with George, though it’s hard to see how an arrangement that screams stop-gap and sticking plaster will last even until the end of the year. With every passing game the feeling grows that the squad, which has few obvious weak links, ought to be more dominant and free scoring, despite a longish (but unconvincing) unbeaten start.
Do we stick (until new ownership can make its choice but risk falling behind) or twist?
Lots to ponder as we contemplate an ownership by former Poppies players for the first time. Not an automatic guarantee of success by any means - there are plenty of examples elsewhere of returning heroes soon finding out that running a club is very different to anything else. Brad's background in business will help, but there will be a learning curve for sure. Perhaps we also all should keep that in mind because as welcome as this news is, we are not suddenly over the rainbow.
No comments:
Post a Comment