Normally I hate the end of the
football season, but I make this one the exception. If last season was a bad
dream this one has been an absolute nightmare.
Ok, Paul Ince managed to stop
us getting relegated after the Ollie debacle, but thankfully his rule finally
came to an end via a KO text. This followed a shambolic course of
ill-discipline starting with him getting a 5 match stadium ban and players
being sent off for fun. The club’s reputation was unravelling in front of our
eyes. His style of management was always questionable and yet if we hadn’t got
off to the best start we’ve ever had we might have been relegated. Ok, most of
us knew we were bound to come unstuck because although we were winning, the way
in which we did it was very lucky. Our play was awful to watch, relying too
much on defensive rather than attacking football and we scraped wins by the odd
goal, nothing spectacular, just boring stuff. Resentment started to grow when
despite son Tom turning in mediocre performances he was never dropped and only very
rarely substituted.
So when he finally went,
Oyston was left with the problem of who to turn to as a replacement. Normally he
would have installed Thommo as a stop-gap solution, but he decided it was time
for Thommo to go as well. It was obvious he didn’t want to go through the
embarrassment of advertising the job again, especially after being previously turned
down by all and sundry. So it came about that Barry Ferguson was put temporary
charge until the end of the season to keep us in the championship. Although his
CV will confirm he did it, how he did it was more by luck more than judgement.
He looked increasingly like the proverbial “fish out of water”, when defeat
after defeat plummeted us down the league towards the drop zone. I didn’t fancy
our chances against Charlton even at Bloomfield Rd, so the unexpected win at
Wigan gave us the lifeline we were looking for. Matt Gilks’s penalty save was
priceless and paved the way for a rare 2-0 win. Funnily enough we actually did
the double over promotion seeking Wigan, firstly 1-0 at our place & 2-0 at
theirs. We avoided the drop by 2 points in the end, but it was squeaky bum time
all the way.
So now the search is underway
to get a new manager installed within the next 5 to 10 days, according to
Oyston. I hope for once his time scale is right and not another drawn out
farce. Who he gets is another fear the fans have. Obviously his past reputation
will be a big stumbling block for whoever he approaches. He has managed to
frighten off many experienced managers in the past with his stringent attitude
towards how the club should be run. It seems every player who comes here has to
take a pay cut or failing that he resorts to signing loanees. With Matt
Williams due to leave the club and take up the role of Chief Executive at
Shrewsbury Town, Oyston will be without his right hand man in any negotiations
with prospective managers. All we can do is hope Oyston has finally realised
his way of doing things has got to change, otherwise we might not manage to
stay in the championship beyond next season.
