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pause for breath

Blog written by basilrobbiereborn
Published: 20th February 2019 15:51

Even by our standards, the last week or so has been momentous for Blackpool FC. It all kicked off in the High Court - where too much of our future has been determined in the last two years.

A club being placed in administration or Receivership is normally a cue for supporters to reach for the Valium. But Blackpool are no ordinary club, and for many of us this was actually the catalyst we have all craved. It was, at last, a chance to take the Oyston family out of the equation and deny them any place in the club's future.

What happens next is liable to be a daily drama for some time. The Receiver should be able to take full control of the club in the next few days, and faces a busy time. Not only do bank mandates have to be changed, there is plenty of work for the local locksmith, the accounts needs to be scrutinised, one Board of Directors have to be ushered out of the door and another appointed and - last but not least - the EFL will need some assurances about the club's ability to complete the season.

Hopefully those assurances will be reasonably easy to give. There is some comfort in that Valeri Belokon's legal representatives indicated in court that he would personally offer some security for the club through this hiatus period. This is of course an initiative based partly on the need to protect his own position. But there is a strong degree of philanthropy to it as well, which suggests that his affection for the club remains.

It does though serve to remind us that his own position re the Owners & Directors Test remains unresolved, and it is to be hoped that if he chooses to pursue his case with the EFL, that they will look at the way he has conducted himself, compare it with the behaviour of the Oystons and then ask themselves - who SHOULD we have disqualified?

It would be nice to see common sense prevail, but the EFL under Shaun Harvey have not displayed much of it, let alone the will to exercise it. He may be leaving, but he leaves behind a culture of prevarication, delay and unwillingness to tackle major problems in owner behaviour. These will not change overnight, and it seems that for BST, on the national stage at least, the fight for reform must go on.

More blogs by basilrobbiereborn:

Unity
So Christmas came and went and for many the lasting memory will be of Valeri Belokon breaking a long, self-imposed silence to send we supporters festive greetings.
Published: 31st December 2018 10:41
Lee Clark - the half term report
For Lee Clark, we are more or less half way through the task he was given at the end of October, and it seems a good moment to have a look at how he is actually doing.
Published: 19th February 2015 9:38
will Christmas come early?
It's been a strange couple of weeks, if you are a Blackpool fan. Firstly, we got the much anticipated but equally much delayed departure of Jose Riga ; the uncharacteristically swift appointment of a replacement ; and then two games that could hardly have contrasted more had they tried.
Published: 7th November 2014 17:25
one fifth of the way in
Nine league games in and our season shows no real sign of picking up. A lot has been made in the last fortnight of the better performances we have been seeing since the first international break. We are undeniably playing better, and can say with some justification that we are probably not getting the rub of the green. But the stark fact is that this perceived improvement has yielded two points and one goal in four games. Whichever way you look at those statistics, they clearly don't give much cause for optimism.
Published: 30th September 2014 12:28
IN PRAISE OF…. BRETT ORMEROD
We live nowadays in a world where superstars are hyped up to the eyeballs by the media, portrayed as other worldly beings who are somehow different from, and remote from the rest of us. And of course, they need to be photogenic as well. That goes without saying.
Published: 12th August 2014 12:30
Forest away
I don't know what it is about us on blazing hot opening days, but they rarely seem to go well. So yesterday was just one of many, in some respects.
Published: 11th August 2014 18:36