They say it’s the hope that kills you in the end, but let’s make sure it’s not apathy instead - from the longest suffering fans in the land - that lets this hated regime off the hook.
This should be the few weeks where the David Sullivan regime hears loud and clear that we’ve had enough. There has to be change, if not now then pretty damned soon. The vote of no confidence should have struck home.
A march and protest at the directors gate on Saturday (12.30 from Stratford Station) and a boycott of the Monday evening home clash with Brentford next month will grab the attention. If you give up they’ve won, haven’t they?
We’ve been this way before. The infamous Burnley match, the 10,000-strong march that made feelings very plain may well have forced action from this board of arrogant inertia had it not been for covid and the lockdown. We’ll never know.
But things haven’t changed, in fact they’ve got worse. We are still being run and ruled by an owner who is universally disliked; I think that’s the best way of putting it. Some might say that Sullivan and his henchwoman Lady Brady are hated. Either way it’s not a foundation for a progressive club, arguably one of the wealthiest and best supported clubs in Europe.
But following yet another ‘on the hour’ mass walk-out of fans at the London Stadium who witnessed a feeble, incompetent defeat by Spurs, the sense of apathy was all around.
Now I’ve had this debate online and in the pub: what’s the point of protesting if nothing is going to change? Sullivan is in an impregnable position and has no intention of leaving any time soon. As long as Vanessa Gold uses her 25 per cent stake to support her late father’s pal, nothing will change.
I do get that. But does that mean we all shuffle off quietly into Stratford, Hackney Wick and beyond? Is that the signs of a beaten, ‘couldn’t care less any more’ fan base? I sincerely hope not.
Change may not happen soon, but as someone once said, change is gonna come. If we can just make a few directors and their mates feel uncomfortable as they park their cars, if they hear the dissatisfaction, see the flags, then that’s good. If sponsors feel and see our pain, then that’s what may well be discussed over the fine wine in the directors box.
And then we do it again. And again. Outside the stadium, not inside. Support the team, not the regime is the requirement. And please, no-one running onto the pitch to attack people, there’s no Mark Noble this time around.
But some abuse of the directors box (not trying to get into it like last time at the Burnley game) would help add to the discomfort of the Sullivan camp. If only a “Board Out” chant could ring around the ground. But that’s my point about apathy. My KUMB colleague Steve Barlow, has already expressed a frustration that fans’ anger is not being directed in right direction.
Mind you, fans will have to hang around longer than they did on Saturday, and I don’t excuse myself from this criticism. I managed to get the early train back to Manchester from Euston, which looked like a war zone full of pissed-up folk with flags. And the train journey was no better.
I’ll leave that there, without any comment about the motives, people have a right to protest. But getting tanked up, pissing in shop windows and fighting the police tends to lose the focus of the protest.
It’s why the behaviour of our fans over the next weeks of our protest, has to be exemplary. Don’t give the regime the chance to ban folk and claim the high moral ground.
This organised protest is different from last time, this has come from the Fans Advisory Board, the club-organised collective of the broad church of fans’ groups. It’s there because legislation, proposed by the last government and brought into law by the current one, says it has to be in operation.
It has clout, there has been several significant articles in the national media. It cannot be ignored. The club eventually, and after what is believed to have been a emergency board meeting, sent out Brady and her mate Tara Warren to discuss the issues. Over Facetime, or whatever the kids call it maybe, but the meeting took place last Thursday.
It’s governed by NDA agreement, which is the usual format and then minutes are agreed and released. It could take some time. And it won’t stop Saturday’s protest. There are still some who don’t see the point, or any change, because what is being proposed is a wholesale change in the board structure, ownership and future direction of the club, including general improvements to the hated athletics stadium.
So yes, this is the beginning, a symbolic show of anger and determination for change, and it won’t happen overnight. But if you are unhappy with the direction of the club, the way it’s run, then why not spare an hour of your time helping to make that point on Saturday before moving on to see whether Graham Potter can fashion a team on the pitch that at least know how to defend corners?
Our start to the campaign has been disgraceful, apart from a decent victory at Nottingham Forest. The stats are damning and Potter is under severe pressure. It stunned me to discover that we don’t have a dedicated set piece coach, like everyone else does.
What do we do in training? We must have known what set plays Spurs utilise. But as it was pointed out to me by a learned friend, you can practice for 20 hours but not much will change while you have our centre-backs.
Spurs admitted that they set out to expose ‘keeper Mads Hermansen, who was described as “weak.” But he can’t be blamed for the appalling defending for that opening goal, zonal marking against back post overload. It’s more shocking the more you see it.
Tomas Soucek then gets sent off for a desperate lunge after a poor first touch, and then we conceded e another headed goal with our ‘keeper in no mans’ land. But again, the challenge on Lucas Bergvall was pathetic.
Potter, though, makes the excuse that the first Spurs goal was ‘a mistake’ defensively. Yes, we could all see that. Then he points out that Chelsea and Spurs , who have out eight past us this season on our own ground, are Champions League standard clubs with obviously better players to match.
Clearly saying that he has not been able to recruit players capable of competing at that level. And that’s the crux of the matter. He’s working for a board and owner who have not backed him with the players he wanted to sign.
The owner and the board that fans want out, or at the very lease not involved in selection and buying of players. Been here before, haven’t we?
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