P'boro Chairman goes ballistic

[The Fish 8950]

I have to apologise to all Posh fans for this season and all the events on and off the field. It has been nothing short of a disaster and I can of course understand their frustrations. I am done with defending the players, previous management, current management and everyone else at the club from top to bottom.

 

Nobody has been good enough this season and we have failed our fans in the worst possible way and this has resulted in us being bottom of the Championship and heading for League One in a hurry. I promise the fans this will be the last time I speak in the press this season, but some home truths need to be told and as always I like to be honest with the fans and as open as possible. At the moment it’s all doom and gloom.

 

Here are the reasons I’ve heard inside and outside the club - and my responses to those reasons.

 

We didn’t sign the right players in the summer, we lack experience etc.

 

It was decided last April when we produced our budget for the Championship that we would keep loyal to the current team that had fought hard to get us promoted and not to bring in loads of players on massive wages that would have created big divisions within our camp. The previous manager made this decision 100 per cent and was given all the players he asked for during the summer. At no point was he told he could not bring in a certain type of player. It was even suggested to him that should we sell one of our main assets, he would get all of those funds to bring in three or four more expensive players on larger wages to help the current squad. He declined this offer and at no point brought this up as an issue until long after he left the club.

 

We keep making the same mistakes over and over

 

I actually pushed in the summer and again in August for the manager to bring in a specialist defensive coach and also a striker coach to help with the workload and for the challenge of the Championship, but again I was told this was not needed as it would only upset the balance of the coaching team. These are areas that we are looking to improve and recruit for at present.

 

Darren Ferguson should never have left

 

People need to move on as this was always going to happen and nearly did many times before including when he wanted to speak to other clubs on numerous occasions and I turned it down. I thought a new contract would stop all this in the summer, but I was wrong.

 

Barry Fry picks the team, I pick the team

 

I will say it for the last time as I am tired of this nonsense rumour that keeps coming up, the only person who picks the team is Mark Cooper win or lose and that was same under Ferguson. It is complete madness to suggest anyone else around the club picks the team. Neither me nor Barry have been in the dressing room or on the training ground at any time over the last three years and have no desire to be.

 

Mark Cooper is out of his depth and was a cheap recruitment

 

Mark was given an identical contract to Ferguson and money was never the issue when it came to his recruitment. He was given the job on merit and by me with no influence from anybody else. Nobody has given the bloke a chance since he was appointed 10 games ago and he has had to deal with one fiasco after another. I am of course unhappy that the results have not changed, but at the same time I am not ready to throw the towel in as quickly as others appear to be.

 

Our squad is too big

 

It’s being addressed and by hook or crook it will be a 22-man squad by July.

 

We play the long ball game now

 

Blame the players for this and not the manager. They are not told to go out and panic and lump the ball 50 yards and many of our players are used to playing football on the ground so it’s time they took responsibility for this criticism.

 

The referees are crap

 

No argument from me on this, they are worst standard of referees I have ever seen in my life at this level and have given our club nothing for most of the season. Before they try and fine me for those comments, they should review the majority of our games by tape and ask themselves if I am actually right.

 

We have had no luck

 

We haven’t, but then again you have to make your own luck and if we had converted our one on ones this season we would be in the top 10.

 

Barry Fry is ‘The Devil’ and behind every issue our club has ever had

 

If people really think I am the type of person who allows that type of person to be employed in one of my companies, then I shall throw the towel in myself. Our fans need to get over the whole Barry Fry issue as the buck stops with me when things are going wrong and I only try and do what’s best for the club. Barry is no different to any other person at the club and will be the first to admit that even he needs to up his game over the last few months of the season. He is not immune to criticism from me or indeed from being asked to leave the club if I felt it would be the right move to make.”

 

I have not put enough money in this season

 

There aren’t many other chairmen in the Championship who have broken their back to back his managers or his club and I have always paid my staff on time and looked after them. I have never put our club at risk of going bust or into administration and never will do.

 

Our football policy is wrong

 

Total nonsense as shown with the 200 goals, entertaining football and back to back promotions over the last two years. We don’t always get it right, but overall our policy is unrivalled and makes sense for our club for years to come. I asked people to judge me over the seven years I set in motion when I bought the club and so far we have had more ups then downs

 

Truth is that none of this rubbish above matters come kick off as we all expect whichever 11 players are blessed to be chosen to compete for Peterborough United to go out and give it their all, play with passion, endeavour and total commitment to win a football game. The team spirit from the last two years has nearly been destroyed by greed, skullduggery, tapping up and disloyalty from within and this has all occurred over the last 120 days or so, non stop and is eating away at our inner core.

 

Every week brings another drama and it usually involves an ex-manager, a current team member and the promise of bigger wages followed by a derisory £100k bid and all this after the player has been unsettled and offered terms behind our back.

 

Our club took chances on many of our players when nobody else did and rewarded them all with good long term contracts that included the promotion bonuses and wage rises. They in turn repay the club with below par performances, temper tantrums off the field and making it clear they no longer want to play for our club when the going gets tough. Well it’s time for all of these players to grow up and act like professionals and stop letting themselves down and to stop blaming everyone bar themselves and most importantly to stop letting the Club and our fans down. I have never lied to the Posh fans about anything and have always called it the way I see it and this will always continue. I told the fans the kind of policy our club would have and would use during our seven year plan for success and at the same time promised we wouldn’t sell the family jewels to which I have not.

 

I always respected Darren Ferguson before and thank him and Kevin Russell for the success they delivered whilst here, but the nonsense that has gone on since they have gone has left me fuming with him and very sad as well. Ask him why he would take most of our first team out drinking during an important Christmas period when a new manager is trying to establish his own mark on the team. Ask him why in the last seven days he has offered terms to some of our players without agreeing terms with our club for them and of course totally unsettling these players.

 

Ask him to name all these players we allegedly couldn’t bring in to the club in the summer with experience that he wanted and agreed to come to us. Ask him about the five other clubs his representatives have contacted in the last 12 months of his Posh career to engineer a move away from us. Hopefully in time he will be honest and admit to the mistakes he has made recently and start showing some respect for those who gave him his chance when nobody else did . Our football club and its fans deserved better after the the wonderful times we had with him and his staff but they have made their choices and have to live with them.

 

Tuesday’s game gives our club the chance to put the ghost of Darren Ferguson to bed and allow us to move on once and for all. It also gives our players a chance to show some character and most importantly some balls for the challenge ahead. What the club, me and our fans need is to see our football team showing that they care as much as we all do and that they aren’t going to lie down and accept relegation with 20 games to go.

 

Let me say this to our fans for the record, should our players give up and throw the towel in and get us relegated, I will back our football manager with the funds to start again in the summer and rebuild our squad so we can go and deliver some silverware next season and with players who care about wearing the shirt and will break their backs to play for this great club. I promised our fans success when I took over and mapped out where we wanted to go and I shall not let those that matter the most down, I only wish everyone else employed by Peterborough United felt the same.

 

Everybody thinks we are as good as down and have given up on us already, well I am ready to go down fighting tooth and nail to the final game and if the last two years has taught me anything, maybe its best not to write off this team just yet. Just maybe they will rediscover the team spirit we have had for so long, just maybe they will perform like they are capable of, just maybe they will play with pride and passion, just maybe they will repeat the previous two years Jan - May form and win over 60% of their last 20 games, just maybe our loyal die hard fans will push our team to 10 home wins from 10 before the season is over, just maybe our players will show some guts and play with no fear and some pride, just maybe it all starts again against Preston when DF and his players will feel our pain and our fans will make London Road sound like the nosiest football stadium in England come Tuesday evening.

 

Just maybe everybody who works for my Football Club has 20 games left to show me and our fans that they are worth keeping here for next season!

[Andrew 4183]

hes right about the refs mind

[ewerk 26189]

He's nearly as much of a cunt as Simon Jordan.

[Giraffidae 0]

he sounds a bit knarked like.

[TheMoog 0]

I heard it was a different 'allegded' reason that had Ferguson leaving.

 

To be fair thier chairman has done a lot for them over the past couple of years and he does seem to have the club's best interests at heart. However... I've got little sympathy for the Peterborough fans as their attitude usually stinks and the ones I've met (and that's a few because I live just outside Peterborough) are full of shit most of the time.

 

He's deffo right about the refs like Andrew said though!

[andy_w_1986 0]

Met the bloke, can confirm he is a twat.

[ewerk 26189]

Their manager has left/been sacked.