Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 12 September 2011

12 September 2011

Mardy Diary writes: I won't talk about the match today. It was a good result, but it's covered in our factfile and match report and also in the excellent Too Good To Go Down, What About The Orange and All That And A Bag Of Chips blogs. Wow - what an excellent collection of websites we now have available to choose from. If only the club could match the standard it attains in other people's coverage on the internet.

No, today I'm worried about John Fenty. Really worried. I'm worried he doesn't know when to stop, worried he's already way past the point of no return, worried that now he feels he can't bail from his failed project. This car that he is driving - already out of control - threatens to smash head first in to the cataclysmic truck of despair that's hurtling in the opposite direction. And all the time Fenty screams that he's happy for someone to invest in his car and help him steer it. But it's headed down a steep hill and the brakes long since failed.

I hear the arguments in favour of Fenty but none really stand up to scrutiny for me. That he's a big fan of the club - but aren't we all, otherwise why do we still go to matches after ten years of failure? That he saved the club after the ITV Digital collapse - he certainly steadied the ship briefly, before sailing it straight back in to choppy waters. True, the Huxford board were stupid to commit to spending large sums of money they didn't have. But even then, when Fenty came in he cut the wages of the low earners while signing large contracts for journeymen players. He made cuts that were neither incisive nor effective. Just scratches to the surface.

Regardless, the club made enough money after the ITV Digital rip-off to more than pay off the tax debt. Big cup matches, a play-off final and a League Trophy final all contributed large sums of money to the pot. More than enough to clear the debt. However, they were coupled with a constant cycle of signing-on fees followed by clearing-off fees, over and over again. Fenty didn't prop up the club with his loans: he wasted the money the club made. And, like Leeson and Barings Bank, he had to take bigger and bigger gambles with the club's money (loaned from him) to try and bail it out. But it failed. And now the club owes Fenty big time for the failure. And anyone who wants to take over the running of the club will have to financially mitigate for Fenty's mistakes in order to wrest control from him.

So the loans are 'benign', although some (after persuasion from Mike Parker) were converted to increase Fenty's shareholding. Let's assume that all his shares were bought at the nominal value of one pound, and that he will most likely only sell them for at least that nominal value. Add to this the fact that his loans will be repaid when (if) the club ever finds itself in better financial shape. In that case, the net 'investment' that John Fenty will have made to the club will amount to about zero pounds. Less if you consider the free entry to the matches and other 'perks of the job'. That's a lot less than those of us who've continued to buy season tickets under his tenure.

So what then, what do I suggest? A sugar daddy coming in? I don't think so. What's that? Fenty has offered for people to join the board but no-one has come forward? Ever wondered why that is? Let's go back to my weak car analogy from above: would you accept a lift from someone driving the wrong way up the M1? No, no-one is going to come in while Fenty has his hands on the steering wheel. And that is why I'm concerned, because in spite of the occasional idle threats he makes, he's never going to let go, is he?