Cod Almighty | Diary

A takeover? What's a takeover?

17 December 2020

Trentside Diary writes: I'm sitting here listening to Pop Master Champions League, a cultural reference that shows my age, and thinking, "what on earth do I put in a diary?" A year of scrabbling around for some diaries has culminated in a tsunami of stories engulfing Town fans. Seemingly dubious dealings on the board and the council excused away with "We didn't know when we had the discussions". I really hate the way modern politicians and people with a public persona think they can do whatever they like and then play it down when it comes to light. Their sense of entitlement is grotesque. Not your cute, cuddly grotesque like the Gruffalo but your original Troll from Norse mythology. Grim would have sorted them out. Where are the people with honour? Certainly not visible on the Town board or leading the council.

Previous diaries this week have covered much of what has happened so far and I’m not going to double down here but have a quick update. In what is probably the shortest ever statement put out by the club we found out that the figurehead of the board has met with Tom Shutes, Jason Stockwood and Andrew Pettit. There is no suggestion of what was discussed but I don't think they were commenting on the major shareholder's snooker room curtains; they are far too professional for that.

We're not going to hear more but I hope that the chairman can relay any messages clearly and accurately to the major shareholder, if he wasn't actually there. It's like estranged parents forced into a room for mediation: "Tell him I'm not paying that. "Tell them I’m not vacating the house without my share." We hope it ends well but these negotiations are usually painful, especially when dealing with someone who has unrealistic expectations.

Ian Holloway having described us as the best-run club he has ever worked at, the Hollow One now appears to be preparing his defence saying he will release a statement: "I won't do it now, but I will make one. I'm a fully grown man, I knew why I came here, and all of those reasons are now changing, and I don't like it". That's either a man covering his back or planning a quick exit to preserve his reputation. Time will tell.

I don’t know about you but it's giving me the jitters. The strength of feeling is nothing like I have known previously, including 2009-10. Even one or two of the Fenty apologists appear to have had enough. We have options. It's hard to boycott the club when we can't go anyway but we could stop buying match passes. There's talk of fans putting their name to a letter or writing to the club themselves, like we would to our MP. Shareholders united would be an excellent idea. I'm behind anything that lets the club know our strength of feeling.

Personally, I would stay away from Shutes et al. They will pick up how much fans want major change at the club. Let's work together and individually to do what we can to make our voices heard.

UTM! Sack the board!