A New Era and a New Dawn

Recently, I wrote that I wanted Sam Allardyce as our manager. I’m not usually so prophetic – neither do my predictions always come about either so don’t lay the blame at my doorstep if the appointment of Big Sam goes the way of some of his predecessors.

I’m definitely not guilty of marking Fred’s card on this one.

 Speaking of Fred. He was in hospital this week, while he was there he learned that his partner in crime has sold his major shareholding in the club.

Is Fred feeling he has been stabbed in the back by his old friend ? Probably, but thats life, these things happen. A cheque for 50m+ plus is nice compensation for the curtailment of a friendship. What price is it in Freds eyes ? We now know what the Halls price was. They have taken the money.

What now for Shepherd and his allies on the board ? What now for the club ? What now for us the supporters ? What now for Allardyce ?

You could be forgiven for thinking for a moment that he is wondering how long he will be at his new job. Reports over the weekend suggest that our probable new owner – who currently is the owner of 41% – is a bit of a hard taskmaster. Maybe, like all businessmen, he simply wants his own men in charge. Did the people behind the scenes know a few weeks ago when Allardyce was appointed that the club was about to change owners ? I doubt it. The timing of Mike Ashley making his move was perfect, kept it quiet, and moved when his major opponent had his hands tied. Literally. This is in keeping with some of his other business ventures, apparently he has taken over one or two other companies in the past, with lightning speed and used the element of surprise.

Surprise ? It’s the biggest shock since Hereford beat us in the FA Cup, and our old directors Westwood, Seymour etc resigned en block when they realised their gravy train had came to an end.

The big question now is will Fred fight back and try and secure a hold on the club, and indeed a seat on the board. He has between 29% and 30% of shares. He can prevent Mike Ashley from securing 75% of shares. However, as in all business, 50% + 1 means that the holder can make decisions without the consent of others, Mike Ashley has not spent the money he has to stop now. I think that if Fred tries to buy more shares, and if he gets the 30% he has to make an offer for the remainer, Ashley will simply outbid him. He has more money. My money – which unfortunately is nowhere near Ashleys or Freds either for that matter – is on Ashley here.

If Freddie Shepherd however has any sense, he will realise it is time for him to walk away from the club. If he stayed and won, he will be a hated figure forever, because the vast majority of supporters want this takeover, and unlike some of the past groups or individuals linked with the club, Ashley is probably the right man at this point in time, who has the clout, business interests and ambition to move the club forward. Or if he hasn’t then the messages that have came out of his camp in the last week have certainly fooled me.

So. A few weeks ago, thats all, our season fizzled out to a damp ending. A Dire performance, a rare Dire goal from a player appearing to be drifting back to his dire ways, and we were looking forward to a dire summer, and wondering how the clubs financial situation was going to effect our dire prospects. Yes, there is a jackpot payout from sky tv on the horizon, but I doubt that the club was in a position to spend this money, or an effective portion of it, on the players we so badly needed, and still do.

Move on to Allardyce. Great news. The club had appointed the manager they should have done 3 years ago, but he turned it down. 3 years too late is better than never I suppose.

All of a sudden, I’m looking forward to the new season, for the first time in quite a few years.

Now this. It’s taken a few days to get my head around, personally I have not doubted the ambition of the outgoing board, they have backed their managers, and they would have backed Allardyce, I’m certain of that.

You know how it works. Good manager + backing from the board + time = success.

Now however, there is another ingredient. Money. Maybe not on the scale of Abramovic, but we can safely say that our “manageable” debt has been taken care of, this in itself means there is more money for the manager, immediately. In the long term, a person like Ashley hasn’t bought the football club for any reason other than to expand his business empire. He sees that there is money to be made. This is not going to happen if he allows the club to run down. He wants to see the stadium full. He wants to see us playing where the money is. He might want to carry on with the stadium expansion plans ? I wonder what his thought on this are.

I also wonder what his thoughts on Allardyce are. I’m sure Big Sam will get some time, but I hope he isn’t too hasty. The target next season is a top 6 place, a sense of obvious improvement, maybe the bonus of even the League Cup. If Ashley wants more than this, quickly, he’s going to have to dig deep and realise we need a bigger squad of more quality. The balls in his court.

This morning, I sent of my season ticket renewal. I want to make sure it is in early and leave nothing to chance.

This article is by NE5. It can be discussed on the howaythetoon message board.

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