it is the way in which managers have been appointed during that period too

The Gunn appointment was extraordinary, but to follow that with Adams being confirmed in his job after caretaking it was just as bad.

Further back you had them consulting Dave Stringer, a man who'd been out of the game for more than a decade prior to Grant getting the job.

More recently, they brought Joe Royle in which as as much an admission of some of the failures and inadequacies on the Board as Neil Adams. He hung around for five minutes and wasn't replaced.

The rise of old brown-nose Ricky Martin during all this time has now concluded with him being in charge of recruitment.

Ed Balls got the Chairman's job on a nod and finally, Jez Moxey who may very well turn out to be a very good CEO for all I know, just happened to be looking for a job when one of Delia's best friends in football was selling up to the Chinese that Michael derided at the AGM.

All of these appointments (and the length of time it took to remove the likes of Worthington, Hughton and now Neil) have the whiff of Delia simply having too much influence.

Of course, they're the majority shareholders so they can pick who they like, but shoehorning Boy Tom into the owner's slot is more Blackpool than Wolves.

The Turners came and went after falling out with Delia and Bowkett and McNally's departures earlier this year have never been adequately explained. I am quite sure there were differences of opinion there, probably regarding the manager and whether such a large sum of money should be spent in January, and then about who stays or goes when it all went tits up.

Good leaders surround themselves with people who address their weaknesses, offer a different opinion and challenge the status quo, we've rarely done anything other than the opposite.

Posted By: Chalk Hill Bitter, Dec 12, 11:35:01