Time to take a break from mixed media messages?
OVF editor Rob Fielding thinks it may well be time for the club to conduct any potential sale behind closed doors.
Rob Fielding writes…
I wonder if like me, you could do without this latest Vale Park drama?
The quotes given to the local media by club owner Norman Smurthwaite have created concern, confusion and anger in seemingly equal parts.
I am not sure it is the wisest move for someone who confesses to be not “PR savvy” to be talking to the press so freely…
At the moment, I am not sure it is the wisest move for someone who confesses to be not “PR savvy” to be talking to the press so freely.
After all, there seems to be real mixed messages at the moment. Here’s just one example – in seperate pieces in the Sentinel, Norman claims that manager Rob Page is a “great guy” and has a “good relationship” with the owner but also that he was “disgusted” with the management team after the Exeter game. He then said “there would be changes at the club.”
There has been similar confusion over his comments on possible investment in Torquay United while his comments on a section of Vale support has caused uproar in some quarters.
If Smurthwaite wants to move aside from Vale and sell the club on then that is his prerogative but perhaps now its the time to do so behind closed doors and not involving the media.
I’m all for keeping the fans informed but the controversial articles this week have both fanned the flames and inflamed the fans.