There's never a dull moment when you follow a team like Blackpool. No sooner have we gained promotion to the Premiership and won our first game, we are informed by the club's chairman, Karl Oyston, that he is stepping down as from yesterday. He's been in charge for the last 11 years, during which time we have managed to move the club from oblivion to where we are today. It's not been an easy ride for him, because not being a football fan he ran the club from a business perspective, which alienated him from a lot fans. He ran the club successfully, albeit on a very tight budget, which caused managers under him problems in attracting and recruiting good players to the club. He alone introduced a wage capping system whereby the maximum wage payable to players was in the region of £10k during the playing season and £90 per week out of season. He also stalled with the modernisation of the ground, which made the club a bit of a joke with other clubs, especially when away supporters were housed in a temporary "golf like" stand without a roof, affectionally known as the "Gene Kelly stand" by the home fans because it left the away supporters out in inclement weather "singing in the rain". So, his epitaph will read, "Good businessman but never truly won the fans over". Very recently he has been stating the reason for considering stepping down was because of his dislike in how agents and players negotiate deals. He alone tried to convince other chairmen to follow his example, but came across a stubborn refusal to entertain his ideas. People felt there were other reasons for him wanting to step down and it now appears that he is facing bankruptcy, which under Premiership rules would disallow him being chairman or a director of the club under "the fit and proper rule". This latest disclosure will add to the distrust a lot of fans have towards the Oystons. Like I said earlier, there is never a dull moment when you follow the Seasiders. Let's hope Ollie sticks to his promise of staying with the club and not do an "Owen Coyle" on us like what at happened at Burnley last season.
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave your comments here. Please do not use abusive or offensive language. Thanks for your understanding.