A Tale of Two Cancers

Hi everyone.

I've been away from the board for several months due to serious health issues. I'm battling pancreatic cancer for the second time and into my 9th month of chemotherapy. Thankfully, the cancer has reduced by 50% and is under control so the fight goes on. Fatigue is the main culprit connected with my treatment, and though I've been reading all the articles and threads on a daily basis, I simply haven't felt strong enough to get actively involved myself. Today is a good day and I feel as well as I have done in a long time, so it's time to dust down the keyboard again.

When you are faced with your own mortality, you inevitably have time for reflection and gain a different perspective on life, but it doesn't stop you seeking solace in those things that you love and that enrich your life, family being one example.

I wish I could say that our football team is another example that enriches my life but like so many of us have found, it has been nothing short of a humungous, stressful disaster going back well over 18 months.

I don't propose to go over all the madness of last season and the litany of stupid mistakes that our previous owners are guilty of - it has all been well documented by your good selves on the board and much of what was said was echoed recently by Radrizzani. How noble of him to admit culpability for his part in those errors. The brutal fact is he allowed too much power to Victor Orta, and even when perhaps his instinct told him that Orta was veering out of control, Radrizzani was too spineless to stand up to him until it was too late.

That, coupled with a squad of players largely assembled from continental leagues, and whose modus operandi from the outset was, and had proven to be, nothing more than self-interest (taking into account all the release and loan clauses), is the reason we are where we are now.

I would question if a player who has a release or loan clause in his contract in case of relegation cares enough about his contribution to the cause. Does the safety net of a get-out change the mentality of a player when things aren't going well? They know that if the worst comes to the worst they can just walk away. I don't know - just thinking aloud and wondering.

What I do know is that, thanks to the previous owners and some of the players they recruited we are now right back to where we started when they took over, and in a dire and chaotic situation. It would be no consolation for me to know that Seville give Orta the boot sooner than later - it would just highlight the stupidity of our previous owners in sticking with him for so long.

As for the Gnonto fiasco - he's only 19 years old, probably still wet behind the ears, and being terribly advised by an unscrupulous agent. If the client stays put, the agent isn't making money and that's where the trouble starts. It's the reason I've never had any respect for agents.

If the click-bait merchants are to be believed, Gnonto has already agreed personal terms with Everton. I need to stress it may be untrue, but if it is true, it reminds me of the Deco/Raphinha farce. What is a player contracted to a club doing agreeing terms with another club via his agent without the permission of the club that holds the player's contract? Added to this, Mancini needs to wind his interfering neck in. I hope the 49s get tough and stand their ground. A contract is an agreement between two parties and Gnonto needs to realise that.

I'm not hopeful of much more incoming activity before the window slams shut and can't help thinking that the market we're targeting this summer is the one we should have been targeting last summer - not chasing some obscure continental player with little experience who, the minute he gets an eye-lash in his eye, is unfit to play.

Aside from my own cancer, I feel that what we're seeing now is a cancer within LUFC which grew under the previous ownership and has been left to the new owners to weed out. With so many "warriors" like Wober coming back at the end of the current season, the weeding out is not going to be complete before then.

We face Birmingham today with who knows how many players available. The squad resembles a string vest with more gaping holes than the original design intended. Consequently, I'm not expectant of a good result but I'm always naively hopeful.

We never learn, do we?

MOT