The January Blues

Jen Kelly – a.k.a. Cheshire’s Revenge / The Word Nerd – brings ilovemacc her own take on the highs and lows of The Silkmen

As January 2020 enters it’s 4,597th week, it feels like a lot has happened in the Silk World since the new year rolled in. Plenty of comings and goings, some more cryptic and confusing messages, as well as a bit of football in the mix….

• Daryl & Steve have left for pastures new
• Clarke, Evans, Ntambwe and Gomis have all departed
• Another court appearance
• Caretaker Danny gets the keys again, for a bit at least
• Two new(ish) faces in Mark Kennedy and Danny Butterfield
• 5 points gained over 4 games
• Non-disclosure agreements, potential buyers and ongoing discussions

Quite a lot really for a year that is just 19 days old, isn’t it?!

Old girl Moss Rose

I’m still very changeable when it comes to attending home games. I went to Oldham, avoided Cambridge. No particular reason why I chose one over the other, other than my mood on the day. There was a kind of morbid fascination that tempted me to go to the Oldham game. With the loss of Evans a few days prior, I was interested to see how we’d hold up without him. I was also painfully missing the Moss Rose, kind of like you’d miss an old but annoying friend. A pain in the arse at the time, but something you notice when it’s gone. 

Walking into the ground on the 11th, it was evident that the old girl was hanging on in there by the skin of her teeth. Fraying around the ages at breakneck speed, our beautiful blue girl is looking hagged and worn. Almost 9 years to the day since we sadly lost our number 21, the sight of Butch’s Bar collapsing before my eyes was a stark reminder of where we are as a club.

But, on the pitch, things seemed okay. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t exactly game changing. But, all things considered, the team were holding their own. A draw was probably just about the right result, although I thought we’d had the better chances to put the game to bed. It was obvious that Whit had managed to steady the ship and was installing the ‘business as usual’ mentality among the team. Perhaps with everything that has happened, the team have been brought closer together and forced to focus on the job at hand. 

There’s only Stevenage who have drawn more games than us this season; 13 to our 12. It feels like we’ve drawn a lot more. Finding ourselves 3rd from bottom is frustrating, given that without the points deduction we would be 17th. Not amazing, granted, but in a good position going into the second half of the season. Apparently we’re appealing the deduction, so only time will tell whether it’ll have a part to play as we head towards the spring.

Mark and the Dannys

In some news that no-one was expecting, the club announced a new head coach a few days ago. Mark Kennedy has taken the reins, with Danny Butterfield his number two. Our own Danny stays on to complete the managerial hat-trick. After Daryl left, I certainly wasn’t the only one to assume that Whit would be the man leading the charge for the foreseeable, or at least until the ownership saga entered it’s next chapter. So the fact that anyone would even consider joining us did knock me sideways somewhat. But hey, just when you think you’ve seen everything…!

There seemed to be an out-pouring of disappointment at the announcement. Not so much against Mark, but beguiling the fact that Whit wasn’t given the chance. I don’t think it’s a bad thing really, either for the team or for Whit himself. If nothing else he’s now worked alongside 4 managers (and a load of assistants) since 2018. He’ll have had the chance to learn from them all, shape his own style and expand his knowledge so that when it IS his turn he’ll truly shine. And not just from his shiny bonce!

Sell, sell, SELL!

And so on we rumble. With new leadership, a thinned down squad and a ground that is one step away from collapsing into a deep hole, you’d have to be utter fool to place a bet on what’s going to happen next. Our latest court appearance seems to be business as usual, except for the fact that the potential sale of the club seems to be the reason for this months dismissal. As if by magic, on the same day of the court appearance, another short and sharp statement from Amar popped up in everyone’s news feeds:

Back in December, I advised that negotiations regarding the sale of a controlling stake in the club were at an advanced stage with various third parties. Much progress has been made in this regard since then and this is exemplified by the fact that bids have now been accepted in principle.  

Legally, I cannot divulge any further information on these as they are subject to non-disclosure agreements which I have to respect.   Suffice to say that every effort is being made to conclude this process in a timely manner and that I will work tirelessly with everyone concerned until the sale is complete.

From the actual man himself. Apparently.

The thing that stood out to me was the reference to “…the fact that bids have now been accepted…”. Bids, Amar? As in, more than one? My first thought was that it was a typo or bad wording. But, knowing this man, it would definitely not surprise me to learn that he’s sold the club to multiple people and is planning to skip off into the Ibiza sunset, swag bag full of money slung over his shoulder, before anyone realises. 

So all things point to a new owner just over the horizon. Rumours are obviously rife as to who these saviours might be, although the murmurs that one of them is ex-Port vale owner and all round ridiculous bloke Norman Smurthwaite could be one of them fills me with absolute dread. Surely the EFL wouldn’t allow this man, who spent most of time at Vale shouting at people and generally pissing everyone off, to bid for yet another club? Oh, wait, of course they fucking would.

I’m still holding out for a hero in Joe Sealey. He seems to be the right mix of football and business to actually give a shit. The fact that he’s pals with Scott, Bianchi and Askey gives me confidence that he ‘gets’ little old MTFC. But that fact probably means he’s Amar’s least favourite for the job. Because, for now at least, he’s still the one pulling the strings.

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