Port Vale fans can’t form an opinion without knowing bidders’ intentions
OVF editor Rob Fielding says it is an impossible task for fans to make a decision on whether Norman Smurthwaite should sell the club.
Rob Fielding writes…
It’s always been my intention to use this site to help the club if needed and as there was a phonecall from the Chairman asking for a poll on selling the club to be posted, it wasn’t something I would turn down.
I do fear that the vote could become an empty exercise…
However, I do fear that the vote could become an empty exercise. Speaking personally, I don’t really care who bidders are, what realm they operate in or where they are based but I am deeply concerned about two factors – do they have the finances to be able to run the club without plunging it into debt and most importantly of all, do they have the best intentions of the club at heart.
So, while Norman Smurthwaite says the bidders have the required finances, there is no information available to fans about their intentions for the club. What’s more as both are described as “hedge funds” the shambolic decline of Coventry City under hedge fund SISU immediately springs to mind.
So, while I am happy to agree to the chairman’s request, I do hope that the main element that he will draw from the poll and thread is that fans simply don’t have enough information to make up their minds.
And unless the interested parties decide to engage fully with the fans and can demonstrate that they care about Port Vale’s future, doubts will no doubt remain.