.. well we've still got not a Scooby Do! 16 days since Lee Clark packed an Aldi shopping bag with his 'I love David Perkins' mug, his Tony McMahon tea towel and a memo from the Chairman telling him not to play the kids, we're still in the dark as to who the new manager is. In the meantime, we've elected a new government, failed again at Eurovision and allowed PNE to leapfrog us again in the league - if this decision takes any longer then AFC Fylde might overtake us as well.

Of course there are two sides to every story and if Karl Oyston would have appointed this new manager in the speed he appointed Lee Clark then the accusations would have been he was making the same mistake twice. However, as OneDaveBamber has pointed out we need to sign a player every 2.4 days to make up an 11 a side game for the start of pre-season. That is the task in hand for any new manager and they won't thank Oyston for delaying a decision and eating in to their precious preparation time.

Crediting Karl Oyston is like congratulating Preston North End on promotion - it just feels wrong on every level - however the fact that he has kept this whole process so quiet and out of the media spotlight is unusually professional. Names that have come out have been more predictable than probable - Ian Holloway, Richie Kyle and any recently unemployed or discredited manager seem to have been linked but after that it's been very hush hush (although don't be surprised if there's rumours of Nigel Clough speeding down the M55 with his CV in his hand after being potted by Sheffield United).

Unlike with the appointment of Jose Riga, you'd like to think this one will have been talked through. Who's the transfer targets. how realistic are they, what's the budget, will agents be involved, how soon can they join us, what's their pedigree, have they got a work permit, who's the backroom staff and what's the timetable between now and pre-season training? All of these questions have to be asked and answered. This isn't just a case of plucking a manager from the applications, there has to be a strategy, a knowledge of who's available, an idea of what's needed in this league and a radical overhaul of the whole playing side of the club. Not only that they have to realise that the club's name is on a par with woman at Wembley who nicked a shirt from a young boy at the moment and there won't be a queue of players wanting to come to a club with such a bad reputation.

So maybe this is why it's all taking so long or maybe it's more down to the manager being given time to think if he wants the job rather than the Oyston's deciding who gets it. There'll be a lot of soul searching going on this weekend and the question 'what the Hell am I doing' will go through the mind of at least one of the applicants.

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BertandErnie added 18:00 - May 25 Absolutely spot on with the assessment but I fear the only question that will have been asked is 'can you do the job for a bag of chips and a family ticket to Tussauds!'
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