Now that the shock is dissipating and we start to absorb what this could mean for the future of our beloved club we are left in that uncomfortable space where we are second guessing everything and rumours fill the void of information. We have emerged from a period of secrecy and a lack of communication to a period of... well secrecy and a lack of communication.
I am no expert in corporate takeovers by any stretch of the imagination and there may be those out there who are, if so perhaps you could let us know what the protocols are with things like this. However, what is clear is that there is a consortium of sorts behind Stewart Donald. That is the information we really crave. The photographs of Mick McCarthy today have fuelled speculation in a different direction, which I guess is pretty welcome for the potential new owners, who want to carry out their last pieces of business behind closed doors. For those of us facing uncertainty we are left in split camps. There are those who (rightly so) are delighted the debt has gone, that Short has gone, that we have light at the end of the tunnel. Then there are those who are thinking “yeah, but...”.
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but let’s not get carried away here. We don’t know anything about the terms of any debt write off and we know nothing of the new consortium. Are they football men or business men? Do they have the necessary bags of money to turn us around? Are we going to see price increases in an attempt to drive the club to profit for a resale in a few years’ time?
The latter of those we won’t really know about just yet but why can’t we know who the consortium are? When will they show themselves to us and give us the honesty that has been in desperate neglect at Sunderland for years? We have seen a huge disconnect with fans and at the heart of that has been a lack of honesty. Let’s not get off on the wrong foot here.
Chris Weatherspoon highlighted a number of reasons to be cautious here about new ownership and I won’t repeat them in this piece. Perhaps we are all a little scarred by false messiahs and just need a bit certainty. I have seen nothing to suggest huge investment or a major turnaround at the club.
I don’t really want to suggest the potential new owners are not the right people to take us forward, but it would be nice to get some reassurance. If this is a new dawn you have to address one of the biggest issues we have. That is the distance between the boardroom and the terraces.
This is not a negative piece aimed at the chargers on the hill coming to our rescue. This is a plea to them to address that disconnect. Talk to us, we don’t bite. In silence they whip up rumour. Be that suspicion or hope. Either way, wouldn’t you like to start the revolution by actually engaging Sunderland’s proudest asset. The fans.
To celebrate being complete and utter shite once again, we’re bringing bring back this classic t-shirt from the 05/06 season. Looking back to those halcyon days under Mick McCarthy when we managed to amass an incredible 15 points to see us relegated from the Premier League.
Don’t worry we will reach those lofty heights again but until then we can take comfort in the fact that we’re all... still here when we are shit! Hardcore fans and Sunderland till we die, whichever league we are in and whoever owns the club. Players, manager and chairman come and go. Fans remain. We are the club… click here to view product
