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The Rebuild Conundrum and Inevitable Humdrum
Written by BaltachaFanClub on Thursday, 2nd Feb 2017 09:34

Regular readers of my posts and occasional blogs will know a few things about me, firstly I am not a kneejerk reaction kind of poster, secondly I have progressed through all the stages of football fan and am now whatever is considered the final stage, where although I still love the game, I have seen it, done it and have gone all 'more important things'.

As I stood at Portman Road on Tuesday, chatting with the anonymous people around my season ticket seat, these people whom have names which I know, and in some cases have sat near me for the best part of my adult life but are, outside of football, not connected to me I began to notice a different feeling amongst the (less than) masses.

The big talking points at the time were Luke Chambers and his on-off transfer, as well as the slamming shut of the transfer window and our unlikely frantic signings in the next few hours. But away from the content of the discussions there was an obvious tension, and certainly a nervous worry, because for once our loyal fans (and we are a remarkably loyal bunch at Town, if you look at the amount of crying and protesting that modern football sees now) were showing their dislike for many aspects of ITFC.

The manager is always a target when things are not going your way, and as much as I like Mick, he does love to say the most contentious thing possible, I don’t know if he likes to goad the reactive ones or whether he is oblivious to it, possibly it’s a defect of his mixed Yorkshire/Irish roots.

MD Ian Milne also gets air time as the face of Corporation Town FC he becomes a target too, perhaps a little unfairly as the puppet he surely doesn’t have that much responsibility or perhaps he is the purse holding villain of the piece, maybe when Mick said, “I want that lad Ward from T’rotherham” Mr Milne is the one who decides the value is wrong, or not viable. I don’t know.

Then kind of inevitably Marcus Evans is targeted as, it's claimed, the financial drain of our club. What an evil man he must be, taking us on with a level of debt that was about to see us expire, he has stripped our assets and pocketed the money, and not allowed Mick to spend, despite the now over coined 'Five-Point Plan' and “Money will be re-invested” etc etc.

Suffice to say that all three can be held accountable in some way, and also can be excused for various parts, they are the triangle of Town's demise the sum of their parts are the issue, OK fine I am now getting the gist of it all.

Since George Burley was dismissed, every manager has taken on an overhaul, a mission to rebuild and has subsequently spent a bit, sold a lot, terminated contracts, caused arguments and certainly divided opinions.

We once more find ourselves in this situation, but with the added uncertainty of who is doing the rebuilding, will Mick be given another go, will someone be installed in the summer? Signing seven players for a total less than Wayne Rooney's weekly wage, and mostly on short-term deals suggests that the one thing we are not considering this time round is 'build for the future' more of a let’s see what happens kind of thing.

July 1st could really offer a blank canvas for someone to decorate, lots of players out of contract, loans expiring and a handful of our more regular talent being available for sale, I mean you can’t tell me that Bart is not the best goalkeeper outside the Premier League, as he has certainly kept us alive at the back for a lot of the season, so surely the big boys are looking and the less big, but financially flush are also in the frame.

At what point can we say “OK, we are safe so let’s figure out what next year’s plan is”. Fifty points is widely regarded as a safe point, although lower may see us stay up, but I can’t believe we are even talking of such things, we began August feeling hopeful didn’t we?

We have been milling around for 15-plus seasons, with a dash of hope here and there edging the play-offs on occasion, although never quite doing enough, its been a bit of a rollercoaster, eh?

Actually no it hasn’t it’s been a bit more like a bungee jump, we got relegated bounced up and down the Championship for a little while, and we are now hanging in the control of the operator, either about to be lowered to the floor or pulled back up (I admit, I don’t know much about bungee jumps).

I don’t know how to get the seats filled, nor the atmosphere back and as that Liverpool fan said in the much watched YouTube clip football is becoming tourist-based, selfie sticks, the prop of the casual fan, and the opposite fans trying to be Danny Dyer about it all.

I guess what I am trying to get to is we are not in control, and we are seeing a different thing to what we have become used to, but I am not going to get all protest level bedsheet about it, because if we have learned one thing in the last 15 years, clubs no longer listen to fans, ask Karl Oyston at Blackpool what he thinks of a protest, or Coventry's SISU group. They don’t particularly care.
And Charlton fans? Yeah, thanks.

Anyway, I don’t know if I have written something worth a read or not, this could be nonsense, if so, I apologise. One thing is for sure, I am still and always will be a Blue.




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cornishblu added 11:42 - Feb 2
...I liked it as a read ....thank you .....the ostrich style management of a club ...of which we are sadly now experiencing forgets that below premeirship it is the fans that financially support the club .......when you stick your head in the sand it doesn't matter that the football you play is terrible...that for the first time in over a decade we have more empty seats than we do full ones.....that we embarrass our club when only 400 follow us away (I could have gone but stayed away) to all but the "Big " games (wanting to see an upset!!) ...with an owner that rarely comes to see us play and a stubborn manager it is the makings of a disaster ...Chenge direction shout the passengers and crew..there an iceberg ahead...why should we I built the boat and he,s steering it .....why should we listen to you ......see you all at the bottom of the sea!! COYB
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Daleyitfc added 19:30 - Feb 2
As a 'senior shareholder' (an expression the club doesn't use anymore, strangely), I need to correct you on the idea that the club was 'about to expire' when Evans took over : it wasn't ; it was in a stable financial position with a lot less debt than it has now, and with all its creditors on board for allowing it to continue in that vain forever if need be. I was one of 2 that voted against the Evans takeover, accounting for something like 0.17% of the votes cast : it was always a bad idea in my view, but 99.83% of those in the room disagreed!
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BaltachaFanClub added 20:30 - Feb 2
Thank you Daley for your response, I have messaged you privately to discuss this further.

Thank you Cornish too, its always nice to know someone has enjoyed/appreciated one of my ramblings.

Thanks to everyone whom has read this, or any of my posts.

feels like an Oscars speech now
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Edmundo added 22:37 - Feb 2
Well written BFC and thank you for the clairy, DaleyITFC: we need to realise that Evans did not save us, and now has no interest as his "punt" failed. We are now the forgotten betting slip in his back pocket. It's sad to say, but we needed 2015 to be our fluke promotion, and now that hasn't happened I fear for the future of our club. We have to realise that we could become another Portsmouth, or dare I say it, Rushden & Diamonds
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armchaircritic59 added 23:20 - Feb 2
Another excellent read, and great to get some input from a "senior shareholder". My late uncle was a shareholder way back in the sixties, and it was nothing unusual to visit and see a number of the town players there, relaxing. My, how times have changed! I expect, Daleyitfc, that were it not for the shambles the club is in these days, you'd have a smile as wide as the Amazon! It would be most interesting to learn what the 99.83% make of things now!
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Swn98 added 19:42 - Feb 3
Well worth the effort thank you.The club is in a dark place MM shafted by Evans with no proper investment.MM reaction to the decision of the owner is to let his contract run down to the summer. the new manager walks in with half the squad out or nearly out of contract 25% loans what a shambles and who are the innocent victims us the fans who the shows supposed to be all about sad sad days.
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