Yes agree with that. Donald isn't ideal, but his heart is in the right place and seemed to genuinely want the best for the club. There was no animosity towards Donald until the American interest came, and when the proposed takeover (if there ever was one) didn't come off, people vented there anger at Donald. We are now left with an owner who doesn't feel comfortable going to games, and a fanbase who long for multi billionaire owners. The worst part is, it seems everyone's eyes have been taken away from the pitch, where we are languishing in league 1 but still have an opportunity of promotion. The fans, owners, management and players should all be focused entirely on one thing right now, and that's the 20 games we have left this season, to get out of this poxy league.
@Dancingstripes [QUOTE=" There was no animosity towards Donald until the American interest came, and when the proposed takeover (if there ever was one) didn't come off, people vented there anger at Donald. should all be focused entirely on one thing right now, and that's the 20 games we have left this season, to get out of this poxy league.[/QUOTE] Agree with these two key points . Although it's painful to watch the stripping down of the club , it was necessary to start again. In my opinion SD has done the unpopular part and we are now best placed for a generation to be rebuilt. Constant turmoil isn't the answer.. FPP resources with UK management is the right plan we need to give SD more time..
This is a generally good post but it's entirely incorrect to say animosity only arrived with the Americans. There was animosity from the moment Donald arrived and had continued through the lack of signings, the failure to go up, the hesitation in sacking Ross, etc. Donald informed the media, fanzines, etc, of a takeover and even introduced them to Ross as the new owners. He allowed them to use the SOL as the address for their new company and handled the whole thing as badly as possible. Yes we all need to pull together but that starts at the top with Donald who needs to be at the club directing operations, not occasionally speaking through Twitter or whatever. He needs to show some leadership and courage otherwise he will really find out what animosity is.
You're right that people had concerns from quite an early stage, but I definitely think the pressure has been turned up massively since FPP appeared on the scene. Certainly speaking for myself I had worries about Donald but was only desperate for him to sell when I thought that FPP were waiting in the wings to take over. I still think he should sell (or at least become a minority shareholder), but I'll be anxious about who he sells to whereas previously I thought we had ideal buyers waiting in the wings
I think SD has done OK considering the state of the club on his arrival, why he has come to the decision he has, at this time is not clear, but agitating for him to go is not helping the cause one way or the other.
I agree with all of that but he invited much of the FPP takeover speculation himself. If it isn't a possibility, and the money is still there, he needs to pay them off. Otherwise the money will go and we could become unsaleable. He needs to sort it out because we're just drifting imo.
I think both he and FPP need to take some of the blame tbh. I get that you get confidential commercial arrangements etc, but how often has Donald spoken about getting the right people involved, people who do business in a similar fashion to himself? For me, that means he should be looking for good people who are prepared to go along with his ethos of being at least slightly transparent and open. If you're investing in a football club I don't think it would have been too much to ask for them to confirm the arrangement, at least in general terms. Just a simple "we are investing because we believe in the vision of the management team, we intend to remain as silent investors over the medium to long term and do not intend owning a majority shareholding in the foreseeable future" would have done. Again, I know they don't have to, but by being completely silent it's raised expectations and put a lot of pressure on Donald (who as you rightly say also needs some criticism because I'm certain he was talking it up to the fan groups). If all they were going to do was invest in the management team (such as it is now since most of them have ****ed off) I don't get the silence
I don't think he did say it so categorically, he just said he didn't think they would because they would have done it by now and they are investing in him so if he goes, they go. He could be just saying FPP won't takeover to take the pressure off of himself. We think FPP are waiting in the wings so many fans are putting pressure on SD to leave.
The pressure came on Donald because we were losing too many and playing badly. People are backing off "SD Out!" now that we appear to be improving on the pitch Failure to sell to the Americans just added fuel to the flames
I have no inside info and am purely putting it out there for discussion, but what if the 3 main fan organisations (who dont speak for me btw) had been 'infiltrated' by AN. Other takeover group who were in for the club b4 SD?
That he gave credence to the Campbell property group speaks volumes to be honest. By the time that sort of 'investor' is finished we would be playing at seaburn rec and having meat raffles to buy the kit.
Yes that's true, there were a few 'grumbles' before the American interest. But the failed takeover really was the catalyst for the fan unrest. I think Donald would have been given this season to get us promoted, and if that didn't happen, he would have had a problem. Nevertheless, after reading Donald's comments before and after the takeover, it's clear to see he's not being entirely truthful about the subject. The most worrying thing is he's trying to spin us fans in a web of half truths and confusing statements, and I think that will be the reason for his eventual downfall.
All he had to do was keep his gob shut about FPP instead of blabbing to the fanzines and media. I think he did it to attract rival bidders, in what he thought was a really smart move, but he blew it and pissed off FPP. When it faltered he left the likes of ALS looking stupid hence the 'retaliation'.
I'm not sure we will ever find out the true facts of it all. But until we do (if we ever do) it's all just guesswork and speculation
