Cod Almighty | Diary
How you get your kicks is not our concern
26 November 2020
We're a fickle bunch aren't we? Or possibly more accurately, there's no middle ground for fully paid-up members of the Holloway fan club. If there is any criticism, it's said we want Ollie out (we don't), whereas some fans hang on his every word, even when he's talking bollocks. At the last update the club has received 140+ emails telling Holloway how wonderful he is. I'm sure there are some who think we should all carry on like the Pope on Good Friday, prostrating ourselves at his feet when we're in his orbit. I hope there is a huge silent majority who really sit somewhere in the middle.
The devotees remind me of teenage crushes in the early-1980s when we would go and watch the Town training sessions at KGV playing fields. At least I had the excuse of being 16. The biggest excitement of the week was driving past Kevin Kilmore's house on Laceby Road if he was out cutting his grass. I still wasn't as embarrassing as some on social media. Still, if it brings them happiness, I shouldn't knock it in these difficult times.
The club and manager have blamed Covid for our ills. Taking their lead from the Trump/Johnson playbook, they are not really admitting that they misjudged this season. We cocked-up our pre-season preparation and despite the hope that the manager's fame might bring in some great signings, it hasn't happened yet. As Casual Diary wrote, the Covid clause may have put players off coming to Town.
This is where Holloway is at a disadvantage to the rest of us. We have had many years of observing the inept machinations of our board. I almost feel a little sorry for him. No, he hasn't yet put the promised cash in but he's on the board so he has to own the decisions taken before the season started. There is logic in "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst" but it appears we only prepared for the worst. It will be interesting to see which players eventually leave between now and January. Mohsni has gone/is going/may be going, which puts a question mark against the manager's judgement.
"Have faith. Look at the managers pedigree. He's done it before. He took Blackpool to the top flight." He did, and all credit to him for doing it, but the implied comparison has limited value.
Blackpool were in the second division when Holloway took over and before the new season the club president announced a transfer fund so that Holloway could bring in the players he wanted. He immediately broke the club's transfer record by bringing in Charlie Adam. Even though most players were brought in as loanees or free transfers (sound familiar?), he still spent over £1 million on three players and the estimated market value of all the incoming players was over £12 million. Blackpool had 53 staff listed as footballers, coaches and managers that season, 118 staff in total and employment costs of £12.6 million for the year.
Town reported 297 staff costing £2.2 million. Our accounts for this last year are due very soon but for the year to May 2019, we averaged 219 staff in total costing £2.8 million for the year (Blackpool 114 and £4.7 million). In other words, little change in 10 years in what we spend on staff and nowhere near on a par with Blackpool in either year. Without significant financial investment from the board Holloway will struggle to achieve success.
It will be May before we know if the right decisions were taken this year. We've gone cheap and cheerful, with lots of players bought in the bargain basement. Many of us would have preferred "Buy less, buy better". If we had brought in a few high-quality players with no covid clause, we could have been looking at play-offs. Season Covid could have been a positive for Town: we could have been contenders!
But enough negative stuff. Set all of that against a good result on Tuesday and we bounce back again. All of us want the club to do well. Some decent football would be a bonus and the cherry on top for me would be a club that is looking to the longer term and making year-on-year progress.
UTM!