Period of Transition

It's out in the open now.......need to cut the wage bill.....not shopping at Harrods....etc, etc.

The question that has to be asked is, "Why?"

Last summer, barely 5 months ago, with the transfer committee in place, we saw Ole, with Vincent Tan's backing, spending big in an effort to bounce back to the PL.  

Five weeks and seven games into the new season, Ole is gone.  There are still nearly 40 league games to be played at that point.

The appointment of Russell Slade, who clearly could not relate to or work with the squad in place, was bizarre at the time.  Surely what was needed was someone who was experienced with players of that calibre to come in, trim the squad, but take advantage of the talent assembled to press on in an effort to gain promotion.  There was plenty of the season left.

With the events of this transfer window, it is clear that the goal posts have moved (somebody forgot to tell the City strikers, but that's another matter) and we are restructuring for life in the Championship.  

At what point was that decision made?

Could it be that after just seven games, Tan decided that enough was enough and any ambition harboured of a quick return to the top level was shelved with the appointment of Slade?  At the end of the day, the finances for the season would have been mapped out during Ole's tenure, so the present "cost-cutting" just doesn't seem logical to me.

More likely, Tan felt that Slade could still get us thereabouts, until the recent run of very mediocre performances.  The penny finally dropped that he has hired a dud and it was already too late to go for an alternative man, who just might still get us there.

The alternative was for Tan draw in his horns and formulate an exit strategy.  That might be two or three years down the road, but that is where we are.

All ambition in our club died shortly after the appointment of Russell Slade, not before it.

when tan decided on slade i think he had made the decision that it was time to go as he felt russell could do the dirty work

Yes, it looks like you are right TDA. 

The truth is though, for the ambition that Tan once had, the club could not have moved forward with such division over the colour of our shirts. 

"A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand".

I still don't understand why it had to be so black and white (or is that blue and red). Red = investment. Blue = no investment. 

Finally, I'm not sure what Tan has to gain from pulling all funding...unless he can make the club sustainable enough to sell?

Rhys wrote:Yes, it looks like you are right TDA. 

The truth is though, for the ambition that Tan once had, the club could not have moved forward with such division over the colour of our shirts. 

"A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand".

I still don't understand why it had to be so black and white (or is that blue and red). Red = investment. Blue = no investment. 

Finally, I'm not sure what Tan has to gain from pulling all funding...unless he can make the club sustainable enough to sell?

That's about it...........

As Ive said many times before, the Vincent Tan effect has been to practically double our debt, half our attendances, alienate massive parts of the fanbase while actually achieving a worse chanpionship position then we had before he took over. And some people still think he's 'saved' us.

Slades comments regarding having to slash the wage bill are interesting - is he basically saying that despite Malky being dragged over the coals for paying over the top wages, he didn't learn his lesson and also let Solskjaer do the exact same thing? Is the man an idiot?

Under Ole, the club had ambitions of getting back to the PL. Those rapidly disappeared under the present management.

Tan did save the club. The feeling is that we would have gone under back then. I don't think we will be worse off in the long run. The figures might seem scary at the moment, but Tan won't get out unless the club is saleable.

He won't get out unless the club is saleable, and if it isn't saleable he won't write off the debt. If the club is saleable, he won't write it off either because he'll probably have to sell at a loss.

The only way to get out of this positively is if we pushed for success again, and he's made clear he has no interest in doing that. He's already chosen to try and sell us then bend us over the table with loan repayments.

Going downhills for years, until Slade/Tans gone.