Cod Almighty | Diary
Fingers in pies
1 May 2019
May day! The start of the month that traditionally sees the end of the football league season before a summer of reflection, rumour and hope heralds a new start in August. With Town sleepwalking to a far from progressive 17th position, the final whistle on Saturday will see a few shrugs and the preparations for the three-month sabbatical begin.
Mayday! The international distress call is one that could certainly be applied to the predicament our neighbours down the M180 currently find themselves in. After successive finishes of seventh, third and fifth in the third division, Scunny find themselves on the cusp of relegation – one game from a return to a couple of derby games, for what would be the first time in the league for 15 years.
During Town's Conference incarceration, Scunthorpe had a spell in the second division and also yo-yoed between the third and fourth tiers. Fairly successful campaigns which saw some exciting players and games but not many people coming to watch.
Thunderdiary notes that since Town returned to the League fray, the Iron's everage attendance is lower than that of their fishy rivals. I'm sure if you stripped out away fans the deficit would be greater still.
Of course, crowds don't always have to correlate with league position – Accrington last year are a prime example of that. But the fact remains that the benevolence of the Scunny chairman over the past six seasons has allowed them to punch above their weight.
When he became Scunthorpe chairman in 2013 Peter Swann was reported to be worth £340million. His wife is joint chair of the Wilkinson hardware group. Their business acumen has ensured Scunthorpe is run in a more professional way and less 'like a hobby'.
Swann's bold plans for a new ground have been shelved among acrimonious public wrangling and there is currently a hold-up with redeveloping Glanford Park. So far, so normal, and there can be no dispute that he has put his money where his mouth is to try and make Scunthorpe successful.
Should Town be jealous of this? Should we be expecting Fenty to write similar cheques to get the likes of Paddy Madden to fire us through the leagues? Certainly, the issue of a competitive budget has been brought up as a thorny subject by many this year, including Jolley.
Let's suppose that Fenty does invest funds in this way. Highly sought-after players sudddenly arrive and the fans are dreaming of third-tier football. The wage bill is high but the calibre of players means we can complete at the right end of the table. It's what it's all about, isn't it?
Maybe. But let me ask you this: how would you feel if Fenty did back the manager financially but Jolley had little or no say in who was bought? If, in essence, players were recruited by committee? That they sign for the club rather than the manager?
That's what happens at Scunny. Swann himself scouted Conor Townsend while he played for Town on loan, and his son was instrumental in getting Duane Holmes in. Both these players were sold for a fee last summer, incidentally.
Stuart McCall was reportedly left nonplussed by the signing of Kevin van Veen and was the second manager sacked by Swann this season as the Iron failed to find that winning formula.
Swann said in an interview with Radio Humberside that signing players for a manager can be destructive if that manager is then no longer with the cluib and you are left with players who the new manager didn't buy. But if the manager didn't have the final say in any signings anyway, what would that matter?
It's another case of being careful of what you wish for. A chairman who offers the kind of funds that allows a manager to be competitive is one thing, but if Fenty stumped up the cash on condition that Jolley didn't have the final say, there would be mutiny – on and off the pitch.