JgFc for I suspect this is one of your posts, I have very mixed feelings about the whole issue but on balance would agree that for the Club to stand any chance of halting the decline both Smith and the Hobbins have to go.

Basically the Hobbins started the Club and are still offering a local side for people to go and watch if the choose so to do and many have chosen no to. What is very sad is the way that they have let all that they achieved become history and many will only have experienced and therefore only recall the decline. The reality is that they should have at the very least sold a majority interest in the Club years ago when things became too much for them but they didn't and now they probably can't afford to.

Ultimately Barrie and Barry (who seems very much in the mould of his father from the little contact I've had with him) are responsible for this season which has seen an acceleration in the decline but I'm not sure what alternative but to carry on they had available. I suspect that the Club has declined to such an extent that its value on the open market is minimal - all that there is is the name and a 50 year lease which ain't going to be worth a great deal. If the Club were to be sold rather than sink into oblivion a purchaser is going to want to use most of their investment on rebuilding the Club and not paying off the Hobbins.

Its easy for us to criticise from the outside since beyond a sense of attachment to the Club we have no direct involvement but it is probably very hard for the Hobbins to take a step back and look at the situation objectively. All I can say is that I don't think I have seen Barrie smile once this season which is most unlike my experience of him in past seasons and I fear that if he doesn't call it a day it will take its toll and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.