Cod Almighty | Diary

Calm heads needed... and a boardroom clear-out

1 October 2018

White rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits. Pinch, punch, first of the month to you. Trentside Diary is not superstitious but I'll grasp any straw. It all feels a bit panicky at the moment but it's calm heads that will pull us out of this.

Trudging out of Blundell Park on Saturday was a pretty miserable affair. There was much chuntering and the Football Manager experts put the world to rights, frequently with the solution of sacking Jolley. At least they had been prepared to stay until the bitter end. Jolley was an unusual appointment and has a huge job on his hands. If the Thomas shot that hit the bar had been half an inch lower, the outcome against Morecambe would probably have been very different. Such are the fine margins between success and failure in some matches, and chances are Morecambe wouldn't have come back if they'd been two down.

Without Jolley we would have been in non-League again this year – so we should give him time to sort out the team on the pitch and get them to a position where we play at least as well in the second half as we do in the first. So what would sacking Jolley now achieve? Another short-term fix? Another has-been like Slade? Another January clear-out with the only players likely to come to Town being out-of-contract journeymen?

There is something very wrong at GTFC. There has been no investment in 15 years, and our non-chairman and his cronies remove or force out anyone who disagrees with them. The club has been allowed to rot and John Fenty remains in charge. This toxicity makes us unattractive to players and managers alike, and few are keen to make their way along the A180.

There are those who believe Fenty's money has kept us afloat but clubs thrive on far smaller budgets and crowds than ours. Those loans are the millstone around our neck. If you genuinely invest in a football club, you don't expect to be reaping a profit from it. There doesn't appear to have been much reinvestment from players sold. According to John's numpty friend, Operation Promotion didn't buy players in 2015-16. If that's the case, I want my money back: you could call it a benign loan.

Performances on the pitch need to improve quickly but GTFC won't advance until the board are removed and the club and fans can move forward together.

UTM! Fenty out!