The Sky Blue Trust would like to welcome Russell Slade to the club and wish him the best of luck for the rest of the season because he will need that commodity in spades if he is to succeed.
Tim Fisher promised Jim White on Talksport that much needed money will be made available for new players in January, however he also said that the supporters protests at the last home match would dissuade managers from joining the club so Fisher’s statements can best be described as variable in accuracy.
Without experienced new additions the team will undoubtedly continue to struggle and whilst Slade is a seasoned manager he will be expected to make a silk purse from a sows ear. The fact that his contract is only until the end of the season not only appears to show little faith that Slade can turn things around but is typical of the short term approach that has characterised the SISU years and hindered the club’s progress.
Whilst as supporters we wish Slade and the team every success on the pitch, hopefully correcting the abject failure of Mark Venus, it is simply papering over the cracks that run deep through the club. It doesn’t address the other massive problems facing the club:
- the imminent homelessness of the Academy
- the plan to sell Ryton with no demonstrable replacement on the horizon
- the failure to secure a long term home stadium
- the failure to build real relationships with the supporters
- the fact that the threat of continued litigation, against parties the club should be building relationships with, is still in the air.
Whilst a capable manager is a good stocking filler for the Sky Blue faithful the real present would be the departure of Tim Fisher and the news that SISU were going – unlikely but Christmas is a time for miracles.