Not at all, I think he did a mad thing by buying the club, I think he thought it would be great in a moment of madness and it was there at a bargain price, but as he admitted right from the off, other than being a Pool supporter he had absolutely no idea how to run a football club and that he must be mad. Well Simon, I think you weren't mad, you were absolutely bonkers. It was taking on a wounded, stray animal, you do the right thing because it tares at your heart but you have no idea how to deal with it or how it's going to end up.
I have no doubt he has the money to run the club and I have no doubt it was extremely exciting to be the owner of the club you love. But just because he is a super successful Hedge funder it doesn't make him an effective football club owner. Firstly, and I credit Tim for this, being a football club owner will take up all your time 24/7, he already has a busy business life as well as a young family and he has to squeeze this in when actually it wants his attention all the time.
There is no guarantee of success either, even with the best of intentions it can go tits up much more easily than it can go right. He found out pretty early by taking on Grayson how difficult it was going to be, but they moved quickly, made an astute managerial appointment with Quitchley and there is no doubt he was the man for their long term vision of the future. However, you still can't guarantee it will work. He backed Quitch massively in league 1 and we were excellent in that season and fully deserved to get promoted, happy days, piece of cake this football club ownership. hen he supports Quitch again the next summer and we are safe by March, a great achievement, but we had had a really poor Januar transfer window and rumours Bowler was going to be off the football became really turgid and Quitchley began to show his limitations and he was later to show his true loyalty. He had been rewarded with a new long contract with the chance to really build on what he had already achieved but was he the real deal, doubts were creeping in but no one thought he was leaving, then out of the blue he just stuck 2 fingers up at Sadler and the supporters and went where the money was to be second assistant. Any coach with ambitions who had a club willing to put the world at his feet would have to be a flake to walk away for a pay check to a job that was never going to last.
There is no doubt that hurt Simon, it would and all of a sudden they had to find a new manager. Not much choice, first day of training and it boiled down to Appleton & Rosenior (Evatt wasn't considered, others weren't interested) neither option were particularly blood stirrers and Appleton I particular was a no no right from the start as far as the supporters were concerned. Somehow we end up getting Appleton and on a 4 year contract.... Why? How??? It was a terrible decision and Sadler was left in no uncertain terms from the supporters what they thought. His response was to issue a statement in conjunction with Mansford, that was basically a fuck you to the supporters. Things were clearly not going as he hoped, stress builds pressure grows and there is a transfer window to deal with. The window is a disaster which puts pressure on Appleton and also puts more pressure on Sadler, it must affect you and your family as well as his main work. The season doesn't start too badly but the lack of signings, the loss of Bowler and a ridiculous amount of injuries mean we are in trouble. The wall of sound and the anticipation of the crowd we had from him taking over dwindles quickly as results get worse and Appleton is more and more isolated by the supporters, it is clear, and it must be clear to Sadler that he has made a massive mistake in employing Appleton and also by not getting players over the line in the window, What does he do, he has a manager who is doing badly, who the supporters are against and who is on a 4 year contract. Well, we are where we are now and if McCarthy is the answer then it would appear Simon has learnt nothing and he cannot be beyond criticism, he bought the club, he must have done due diligence, he has employed his team and he knew there was a substantial financial outlay to repair the damage the stains inflicted. He was lucky that we got to the Championship so quickly, but we hear nothing from him, we have Appleton telling us to remember who we are and we don't get anything from the club saying their aim is to be a Championship club with designs on the EPL, instead ift feels like those in charge think we are a league 1 club designs to be a Championship club. That isn't how it should be, and if it isn't how it is he needs to come out and say so, Raggy nailed what being a Blackpool supporter should be last night and I don't see that passion from Sadler or Mansford.
So I don't dislike him, I think he is tired of it and not enjoying it, I have heard that he would be happy to sell and all I am doing is pointing out his vulnerabilities and there is no shame if he has made a mistake and doesn't want to carry on. But as I have said, we need a real leader now, someone who gets the supporters and the town and who wants to paint the streets tangerine! This new manager appointment is absolutely massive, give it to someone like McCarthy and we could be right back where we began. If he hasn't got the right person to appoint yet but feels he has to get someone then give it to Dobbie as caretaker and then go and get the right person, if it means approaching another team then so be it, don't just go for someone who is out of work.
Do I dislike him? Not in any way. Do I think he's the right person to run the club, I don't, not as it stands and I'm not sure he does either. It's his club, he can do what he wants so if he is going to stick it out he has to learn fast and do some PR and get the supporters back on side it is the most important things. This is Blackpool FC Simon, you know that, Tangerine and White, use your heart more, believe in us because we believe in the club.
