I’m not going to lie, this is not an easy piece to write.
I hate that my club has become something of a laughing stock; that one decision has cost us so much.
Moreover, I hate the feeling of frustration that nothing can or will change.
Gianfranco Zola is going nowhere. The noises from the club have been consistent for months – that they back him 100%.
Furthermore, the word I’ve heard from inside the club is that he will be given money to spend in the summer and a chance to make things work in the new season.
Even with the fans turning on the club demanding his sacking at the New York Stadium, I believe nothing will happen.
Panos Pavlakis isn’t going anywhere at the moment either. I know people are ranting at him online exhorting him to leave and take Zola with him but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
I will admit I’m curious if Panos is unwilling or unable to make a managerial change.
If he’s unwilling, then I’m at a loss. While it is late in the day to change things I think things are genuinely that bad anything would be better – even if it meant Paul Robinson stepping up for a couple of weeks.
If he’s unable… then I think he’s a fool for sticking around. If I was in the position he is in, taking the flak he is, and I couldn’t do anything about it, I’d walk.
Then there is the ownership of the club.
I’ve seen people demanding new owners. For me, this is pissing in the wind – Paul Suen can’t legally sell the club for another 18 months… and even if he could, I don’t see a queue of people lining up to pay the going rate for the club.
Sure, when things had gone to pieces and the club was available for a pittance there were a few interested parties. Now the club has had an influx of cash and isn’t looking administration in the face, it’s a seller’s market.
What’s more – people are complaining that Suen has “ruined the club”. Sure, he’s made a decision which has turned out to be as unwise as it was unpopular in some quarters – but he’s put his money where his mouth was.
I sometimes get the impression all people want from an owner is a walking wallet – someone to put bottomless amounts of money in and to keep quiet while doing it. That is not going to happen.
I’ve said it before, division is killing the club – and it is killing it from top to bottom. It’s not just in the stands; there’s evidently something not right in the dressing room either. I don’t think I’d surprise many people if I said that there are divides behind the scenes too.
Something has to change to end this division.
How – I don’t know.