Sorry to intrude with some facts but our fans-owned club is fifth in division four with a great chance of making the play-offs. Why the relegation talk?

It’s Morecambe, Laurence. It’s a shit heap near Scotland.

Well Morecambe are NOT fan owned and got relegated yesterday. This is their present set up: Morecambe FC is currently owned by Bond Group Investments Limited, who own 78% of the club's shareholding. Bond Group has owned the club since 2018. There is also a Trust, the JB Christie Trust, which was created to ensure the club would always have a place to play. Jason Whittingham is the sole director of Bond Group, so in effect owns Morecambe FC. Then Morecambe FC Limited has this on their audit report: The audit report states that there is uncertainty concerning the company being a 'going concern'. And Whittingham has been trying to sell the club for two or more years. Headline here: Morecambe owner Whittingham 'can't wait to get out' [Link]

My Fishy prediction in February of finishing 5th on 76 points is looking slightly less likely now…. 🤪

Yes but only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Do the players all train together at the same time, at the same place?

Mark- I agree with you.

The penny is dropping that fan ownership is an ideology, a creed, a faith-based belief system for a footballing world free of financial sin. It’s not a pragmatic MO for the super-competitive dog-eat-dog EFL world we actually live in.

It might not take administration. Relegation might concentrate minds, as might an extended stay in this complete and utter dogshit division.

Agree Nick. It won’t happen (unless we go into admin). I just feel, we blame JJ, players, etc etc… but actually we should be looking at ourselves

Mark- that’s possible but, given the way that our governance is set up to prevent change, and the demonstrated ability of incumbents to block from standing or sideline potential DTB members with dissenting opinions I don’t think that there is any way that our ownership model is going to change, even if there was a desire in the membership to do so.

Nick: or finally decide that fans ownership can’t deliver in professional football

Spit- 5 0-0 draws could be enough to get us promoted. Hopefully the penalty shoot out training sessions are going well.

Actually that might be happening already looking at that clip with johnson.

I think a few more years of jackson and we will drift into that toxic period again like near the end of Ardley, when the fans and players were unsupportive of each other

Other than in the latter part of the promotion season under NA we have never really played great football and I think that that will be the case whoever is manager unless we can afford better footballers (and of course, given our losses, we currently can’t actually even really afford those we have in the team now, let alone better ones). We could change manager but there is absolutely no reason to expect that we would get someone materially better than JJ and we’d quite possibly get someone worse, given that we would only be fishing in the cheap/ inexperienced/ desperate end of the management pond.

I didn't say i am happy but if the job is to keep us out of non-league in the next few seasons I think he is probably qualified. The football has been dreadful the last couple of months.

Congratulations to Robert Dunford for 15 years at WARDLE WHITTELL LIMITED :)

Oi if you are happy with the turgid football provided by Jackson and his staff , good for you!

JAW - it depends on what you think the job is. Given we lose 1 to 2 million a year with no individual to fund it, the job for me is keeping us in the league whilst we sort the finances out. I think Jackson quite well suited to that.

Jaw, That sums up our recents season. Thank God I only travelled to the Sutton during that time. Feel very sorry for those who have spent thousands going to away games.

And 21 times we’ve been 0-0 at HT. 21. I actually make it 27 games where we’ve not scored in the first half.

mackie - Bromley game March 1st. In March and April, our record is W3, D4, L5. Averaging less than a goal a game in that time.

Oh and now 17 games we’ve not scored in this season.

I do wonder if the reason that we didn’t lose any players this January is less a matter of us choosing to keep the team together, despite the financial side and more a matter that we didn’t have anyone who was really wanted for decent money by another side. I don’t suppose we can ever really know but the cupboard does look pretty bare at present.