Have we reasons to be optimistic?

I was pleased to read what the new Vice Chairman has written. It is relatively low-key, but taken at face value it is encouraging and a commitment to the serious target of promotion which is backed up by deeds in the shape of the players who have been recruited. This close-season has been a refreshing change.

Even going back to the SOD era, potential transfers, many of which never happened, were protracted sagas where there was a obviously a desire to spend as little money as possible. SOD missed out on a lot of players and so did Dickov and it does not take much imagination to deduce that the Board was the common denominator.

Saunders may have set his sights somewhat lower and although he was well short of the full complement by the start of his first full season he seemed to get who he wanted and you can imagine that he might have had a firmer approach with the Board and conveyed a good deal of enthusiasm which must make a difference in persuading players to join.

If you wanted someone to promote a product neither SOD nor PD would be your first choice. So, it may well be that Ferguson's self-belief is significant both in his dealings with the Board and his appeal to potential recruits. The fact is that "ambition" is a thing all football clubs will say they have, but projecting it as a manager is something else.