Yeah despite not being his biggest fan, I've never thought he was a bad bloke. He just doesn't know how to handle this and he made mistakes early on by being too creative with interpretations. He also did take us for a bit of a ride re: using the club funds for his shares, which is dubious behaviour. We'll find out in April if he's settled that one (my gut says he has fwiw) but I am not against the idea of him staying on. His biggest problem is wanting to be too involved on the football side of things. He seems to be trying to undo that too and in his defence... we are getting close without spending that FPP loan already. I'd have more confidence in a new owner who wasn't afraid to put some cash into a quick promotion effort, but my heart says that we'll need to consolidate in the Championship next year, and it'll be a struggle whoever comes in.
It is imperative we get promoted out of this league. However I do not think it is imperative we get promoted asap from the Championship to the Premier league. If and when we do get promoted I would not mind a few seasons in the Championship to build again so we will be better prepared for if and when we get back to the Premier league. Too fast or too soon could see us fall the way we did the last time.
I can see us ending up in limbo if this doesn't happen in February as we've been led to believe. Despite our recent good form under PP, I don't think we have a chance of finishing in the top 2, and we all know what a lottery the playoffs can be. I can't believe there's some other buyer out there waiting to take us on soon (i.e mid-season) for more money than FPP have bid. It doesn't make any sense, and I'm sure we'd have had a sniff of it before now. I'd love to be wrong on this, and for things to just suddenly spring into action from another purchaser, but I think we're heading into the final straight of the season without anything concrete happening behind the scenes. God knows who will have the job of sorting out the squad for next season. Regardless of the division we're in we'll need to sign ( or re-sign) a whole new bunch of players, as well as trying to hang on to what decent players we have ( and there's a couple of them who will already be attracting interest from other clubs) Sadly, I think we'll miss out on promotion again because of the circus that's going on around the club. That's the saddest part of this whole fiasco.
The circus is only generated by internet chatter though and forums like this. Donald will know where he stands and FPP will know where they stand. The club is clearly in good enough shape to recruit players and get results in the league. The more we work ourselves up about it, the greater the problems seem.
just my opinion, other teams going strong at the top, we still have the odd mare, and an injury to gooch or maguire could screw us. I just wish pp had turned us around a few games earlier. like i say, i really hope i'm wrong, but 50+ years watching SAFC has prepared me for a fall.