There comes a time in the affairs of struggling football clubs that fans can, in the fullness of time, look back at and say, "There. That was the point when I knew things had to change, and change quickly." It's the tipping point, the time when fans stop being patient and giving the benefit of the doubt; the time the boos start and the abuse rains down from the stands to the pitch and the dugout, and, if there's any justice, to the posh seats in the Main Stand where the Board sits.
Tuesday night's 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth may just have been the tipping point in Terry Skiverton's reign as manager of Yeovil Town FC. It's not so much the loss that people have found hard to take, after all Bournemouth are way up there in the league table and have only dropped 4 points at home all season - no-one with any sense seriously expected the Glovers to get much if anything from the game. No, it's the manner of the loss that's the problem. The same old problems on view, the powder-puff attack, the meaningless long-balls, and most damning of all, the cluelessness in defence. Add to that the dissent shown when Adam Virgo was substituted and Sam Williams angry reaction to the Glovers supporters jeering of him when he was hauled off; it all adds up to the feeling that events are conspiring to undermine the manager and his staff. Just at the time he needs a bit of luck to go his way, he's getting none.
Having said, he's not helping himself. In my last blog I asked why, when it's patently obvious that the defence is the weak link in the team, did Skivo bring in another striker on loan (Adam Phillip)? To compound that why did he then add another attacking player, winger Ivan Sproule, on a month's loan from Bristol City? Especially when, according to City boss Keith Millen, Sproule's objective was to get match-fit in order to challenge for a place in City's first team in the new year. If he's not match-fit, why the hell is he playing for us? Now, at last, the gaffer's talking about bringing a defender in (and as I write it's been announced that 18-year-old Leicester defender Tom Parkes has signed on a month's loan), but he's beginning to resemble the little boy sticking his finger into holes in the dyke while the water is lapping up to his chin and rising steadily.
The last 7 league games tell their own story: Won 0, drawn 1, lost 6, goals for 9, goals against 17. We are now 23rd in the league, 6 points away from safety and with the worst goal difference in the division. We now require play-off attaining form to guarantee League One football next season. The bookies make us 10/11 on to be relegated at the end of the season, and it's not often at this stage of the season that the bookies are wrong. We have a huge mountain to climb.
And what is the Board doing, while all around them Rome burns? Fiddling, obviously! Not content with the ludicrous decision to increase ticket prices by £1 all round in January, chairman John Fry has today decided to insult supporters intelligence further by announcing an announcement that there may be an announcement concerning improved facilities at the club in a few weeks time; that is, there may be an announcement in a few weeks time, not miraculously improved facilities, obviously. It seems the Board have been talking to the South Somerset District Council amongst others, which of course brings the long-delayed Sportzone project to mind, though maybe I'm guilty of making 2+2 equal 5 there. Talks are evidently on-going with interested parties, including the Council, with Fry saying: "At this stage I am optimistic of a positive outcome which it is anticipated will provide economic benefits to the town and the club." And, of course those economic benefits will also go to the main shareholders in Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd, the company that now owns the land surrounding Huish Park on which any development will take place. And the main 2 shareholders? Club chairman John Fry and club owner Norman Hayward. Let's watch this space, though it's got to be said we've had this kind of talk from Fry many times in the past and nothing has ever come of it.
Back to Skivo and I suppose it's time I got off the fence. Should he stay or should he go? I'm reluctantly coming round to the view that time is running out for him to turn things around. I am naturally reluctant to call for a manager's head even at the worst of times as I strongly believe that continuity is the best policy nine times out of ten; I'm also reluctant to see change for changes sake simply because all too often you're better off with the devil you know. However there does come a time when one cannot ignore the signs of failure all around and indeed it becomes unfair to everyone - not least the man himself - to keep an obviously out-of-his-depth incumbent in a job. Not that I think we're quite at that stage yet, but the signs aren't good. For what it's worth I would give Skivo the next month to find a winning formula. By January he'll have been in the job a month shy of 2 years. That's long enough to make his mark and show he's got what it takes to turn things around. The ball's in his court.
In the meantime we all get a break from football league action this weekend with a trip to Hartlepool in the 2nd round of the FA Cup, weather permitting. The bookies make the home side evens favourites, the draw is priced at 12/5 and a Glovers win at 27/10. My fiver, more in hope than expectation and proving once and for all the old adage about a fool and his money, is going on the draw. The running total tells you all you need to know about what kind of season we've had up 'til now: -£30.25p. Perhaps the best outcome of all this weekend would be for the game to be postponed. At least that way we would definitely be in the hat for the 3rd round draw!
Showing posts with label Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Friday, 8 October 2010
Ya win some, ya lose some.
Another quickie post tonight, ahead of tomorrow's visit to Rochdale. It's been win some and lose some in YTFC-land this week. The Glovers Board has gained 2 new Directors in the form of Andy Rossiter and David Lee, who have responsibility for the Centre of Excellence and Community Trust respectively; against that we've lost a couple of fans, if this thread on the Green Room II is anything to go by.
As I write this I've just seen a brief feature about the club on the BBC's Points West programme, asking if the club can survive in League One and even push on into the Championship in the future. Kudos to well-known supporter Mark Kelly for telling it how it is by criticising the facilities at Huish Park and explaining the need for a social club for supporters. But perhaps the most interesting moment came in a rare interview with Director Stephen Allinson, who threw his weight very much behind the controversial formation of the new Holding Company, saying: "We want to invest in this whole infrastructure [Huish Park]. Many major operators/retailers these days will not invest in a football club, but will invest in the grounds that support that football club. And what that will do is enhance us, because the more money that comes in off the field, the more money can be ploughed in on it. We're fans on the Board as well, that's the important thing."
Allinson's words are significant, as far as I'm aware he's the first Board member other than Chairman John Fry and Chief Executive Martyn Starnes to publically support the formation of the Holding Company. His words carry weight because he is regarded by many as a genuinely independent voice in the Boardroom as well as enjoying a reputation throughout the game for financial expertise. If Stephen Allinson is comfortable with the formation of Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd and believes it will bring some much-needed investment into the club then, just maybe, there's less to worry about than some of us have previously thought.
As mentioned before the Glovers travel to Spotland tomorrow to face Rochdale, who've got off to a real flyer in their first season in League One for many years. The bookies make the home side evens favourites, the draw is priced at 23/10 and a Glovers win at 14/5. My fiver is once again going on the draw. Running total: +25p.
Just read: Heartstone by CJ Sansom: I've been looking forward to this, the 5th in the Matthew Shardlake series of novels, for a couple of years now and it doesn't disappoint. For the uninitiated, Shardlake is a hunchback London lawyer alive during the reign of Henry VIII, and the novels focus on his life and work. He defends the underdog and tries, generally without success, to avoid getting embroiled in the politics of Henry's Court. The novels work on many levels; as crime thrillers, as history lessons, as chronicles of how ordinary people lived and survived in Tudor times. All five of the novels in the series are standalone works and Heartstone is as accomplished, thrilling and satisfying as any of the rest. Roll on the sixth in the series, whenever it emerges.
As I write this I've just seen a brief feature about the club on the BBC's Points West programme, asking if the club can survive in League One and even push on into the Championship in the future. Kudos to well-known supporter Mark Kelly for telling it how it is by criticising the facilities at Huish Park and explaining the need for a social club for supporters. But perhaps the most interesting moment came in a rare interview with Director Stephen Allinson, who threw his weight very much behind the controversial formation of the new Holding Company, saying: "We want to invest in this whole infrastructure [Huish Park]. Many major operators/retailers these days will not invest in a football club, but will invest in the grounds that support that football club. And what that will do is enhance us, because the more money that comes in off the field, the more money can be ploughed in on it. We're fans on the Board as well, that's the important thing."
Allinson's words are significant, as far as I'm aware he's the first Board member other than Chairman John Fry and Chief Executive Martyn Starnes to publically support the formation of the Holding Company. His words carry weight because he is regarded by many as a genuinely independent voice in the Boardroom as well as enjoying a reputation throughout the game for financial expertise. If Stephen Allinson is comfortable with the formation of Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd and believes it will bring some much-needed investment into the club then, just maybe, there's less to worry about than some of us have previously thought.
As mentioned before the Glovers travel to Spotland tomorrow to face Rochdale, who've got off to a real flyer in their first season in League One for many years. The bookies make the home side evens favourites, the draw is priced at 23/10 and a Glovers win at 14/5. My fiver is once again going on the draw. Running total: +25p.
Just read: Heartstone by CJ Sansom: I've been looking forward to this, the 5th in the Matthew Shardlake series of novels, for a couple of years now and it doesn't disappoint. For the uninitiated, Shardlake is a hunchback London lawyer alive during the reign of Henry VIII, and the novels focus on his life and work. He defends the underdog and tries, generally without success, to avoid getting embroiled in the politics of Henry's Court. The novels work on many levels; as crime thrillers, as history lessons, as chronicles of how ordinary people lived and survived in Tudor times. All five of the novels in the series are standalone works and Heartstone is as accomplished, thrilling and satisfying as any of the rest. Roll on the sixth in the series, whenever it emerges.
Friday, 23 July 2010
Silence from the boardroom is deafening
A few weeks ago the board announced plans to form a new company - Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd - to coexist alongside the existing company, Yeovil Football and Athletic Club Ltd. The reason for this as far as one could glean from the titbits of information doled out by the club was to separate the club's property assets from it's football operation. The property assets - in other words Huish Park Stadium and the surrounding land - would be owned by the new company with the football operation run by the existing company.
Since then we've heard nothing, at least nothing from the club. We found out this week that South Somerset District Council have earmarked approximately half of the Huish Park site as one of 7 possibilities on which the proposed Yeovil Sportzone - a multi-million pound development including a 50m swimming pool, gym, indoor tennis centre and climbing centre - might be built. One might have thought that such a potentially important development on the Huish Park site would have been worth a comment from the board, even if it was just to confirm that fans would still have somewhere to park their cars should the proposed development go ahead, but as usual the silence from the boadroom is deafening.
It might be that the Sportzone proposals have nothing to do with formation of the new Holding Company at the club, and indeed it would seem highly unlikely that any such large-scale development would be given the go-ahead at Huish Park when there would appear to be at the very least several more advantageous sites around the Yeovil area; nevertheless is it a coincidence that these proposals have come to light just after the board's separation of the stadium and grounds from the club's football operation?
The history of clubs going down the road of splitting property assets from their football operations is a short and unhappy one. AFC Bournemouth, Southend Utd, Rotherham and Crystal Palace are all recent examples and warnings. In this case silence is not golden, the board owe supporters a full explanation of what they are doing and why they are doing it. Chairman John Fry is very fond of claiming that the club is run transparently and openly. It's time for him to prove it.
Back to the football: There's still no real movement to report in terms of Skivo adding to his squad, though the gaffer has said this week that he has a verbal agreement in place to sign a keeper on loan. ITK's suggest that David Button of Tottenham or Elliot Parish of Aston Villa are possibilities, and either would be very acceptable; but I'm still hoping that Alex McCarthy might yet fancy another season in deepest Somerset. Time will tell.
As far as the rest of the squad is concerned there's been no additions or subtractions that we've been told about this week and Skivo has said he's only looking for a couple more players to complete the squad. Which would give us a senior squad of around 16 players by my maths, not even enough for a full bench without the addition of a few academy lads. Again, time will tell and with another fortnight before the start of the season proper Skivo still has room for manoeuvre.
Tomorrow sees the visit of Manchester United's reserve side for Darren Way's testimonial game. I know a lot of people don't agree with the very idea of testimonial's in this day and age and to be honest I do have some sympathy with that point of view, but if ever there deserves to be an exception to that general rule then surely this is it. Good luck to Weasel for tomorrow.
Just Read: We Joined The Navy by John Winton: Actually this must be about the 30th time I've read this book and it still makes me laugh even now. Written in 1959, it's a wonderfully warm and witty look at life as a cadet in the Royal Navy and even though it's very dated it's still well worth reading, both for the humour and as a chronicle of more innocent times. Wonderful.
Since then we've heard nothing, at least nothing from the club. We found out this week that South Somerset District Council have earmarked approximately half of the Huish Park site as one of 7 possibilities on which the proposed Yeovil Sportzone - a multi-million pound development including a 50m swimming pool, gym, indoor tennis centre and climbing centre - might be built. One might have thought that such a potentially important development on the Huish Park site would have been worth a comment from the board, even if it was just to confirm that fans would still have somewhere to park their cars should the proposed development go ahead, but as usual the silence from the boadroom is deafening.
It might be that the Sportzone proposals have nothing to do with formation of the new Holding Company at the club, and indeed it would seem highly unlikely that any such large-scale development would be given the go-ahead at Huish Park when there would appear to be at the very least several more advantageous sites around the Yeovil area; nevertheless is it a coincidence that these proposals have come to light just after the board's separation of the stadium and grounds from the club's football operation?
The history of clubs going down the road of splitting property assets from their football operations is a short and unhappy one. AFC Bournemouth, Southend Utd, Rotherham and Crystal Palace are all recent examples and warnings. In this case silence is not golden, the board owe supporters a full explanation of what they are doing and why they are doing it. Chairman John Fry is very fond of claiming that the club is run transparently and openly. It's time for him to prove it.
Back to the football: There's still no real movement to report in terms of Skivo adding to his squad, though the gaffer has said this week that he has a verbal agreement in place to sign a keeper on loan. ITK's suggest that David Button of Tottenham or Elliot Parish of Aston Villa are possibilities, and either would be very acceptable; but I'm still hoping that Alex McCarthy might yet fancy another season in deepest Somerset. Time will tell.
As far as the rest of the squad is concerned there's been no additions or subtractions that we've been told about this week and Skivo has said he's only looking for a couple more players to complete the squad. Which would give us a senior squad of around 16 players by my maths, not even enough for a full bench without the addition of a few academy lads. Again, time will tell and with another fortnight before the start of the season proper Skivo still has room for manoeuvre.
Tomorrow sees the visit of Manchester United's reserve side for Darren Way's testimonial game. I know a lot of people don't agree with the very idea of testimonial's in this day and age and to be honest I do have some sympathy with that point of view, but if ever there deserves to be an exception to that general rule then surely this is it. Good luck to Weasel for tomorrow.
Just Read: We Joined The Navy by John Winton: Actually this must be about the 30th time I've read this book and it still makes me laugh even now. Written in 1959, it's a wonderfully warm and witty look at life as a cadet in the Royal Navy and even though it's very dated it's still well worth reading, both for the humour and as a chronicle of more innocent times. Wonderful.
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