Cod Almighty | Diary

I've found another mouse with his house on fire

1 November 2016

Wicklow Diary writes: It's day eight without a permanent manager. There is uncertainty over the next boss. But this is also a rare sweet spot for the GTFC collective. Even managers who bring success don't receive universal support. Managerless limbo must be a confusing and difficult time for fans who thought Alan Buckley was crap. Where to direct the ire? This rule doesn't seem to apply to caretaker bosses. The baying mob won't get warmed up unless we lose a few games – and even then the anger will be directed towards the board for not making an appointment.

Let's make the most of this pleasant time until AN Other's appointment divides us all before his or her team kicks a ball. Marcus Bignot is officially a contender for our love and hate. An unnamed source/snitch has informed Matt Dean that we've made a formal approach to Solihull Moors and will interview Bignot this week. If, like me, your knowledge of him is limited to being brother of Paul and seller of Omar, this article will fill in many of the gaps. His hard-working Moors career is somewhat similar to Paul Hurst's at Town – manager since 2011 and a promotion in 2016. And obviously if we need to sell Omar for a few bob to balance the books, he's a man who knows the ropes.

That brings us nicely to the release of the club's annual accounts. More fun times. The good news is we made a profit of around £50k after tax last season. The bad news is the report reckons Blundell Park is worth about half the amount we thought. I know we've let it go a bit, but come on. In fact, the more I read financial reports, the less I understand. Can one of our readers tell me how the Operation Promotion money is accounted (is it a tax-free gift to the club?) and where it appears in the report? Would the club have made a loss without it? I'm not suggesting anything underhand here: I just expected to see it mentioned in the figures as some type of non-standard income.

The Blundell Park valuation is the obvious cue for the house band to start into the relocation tune. Director Stephen Marley reiterates the point in the Telegraph:

"That really illustrates to me, that the only way this club can be self-sustaining, on its own two feet – and not reliant on the directors to keep it in existence – is to relocate."

A shiny new stadium opens up opportunities, some obvious and other less so. The 2021 Rugby League World Cup candidate venues were announced last week – Peaks Parkway didn't make it, but it's easy to see the benefits to the club and the town if we were in a position to host such events.

Self-sustainability goes beyond a new stadium though. We don't get to see much of the internal operations of the club. We can, however, make judgements on what we do see: results on the pitch, the annual reports and the club's public relations. Is the club's poor PR an anomaly, a blip from an otherwise well-run machine? Or is it symptomatic of a operation that's poorly run overall? If it is the latter, we'll probably still be losing money whether we're in a new stadium or playing on the rec every Sunday morning.