Cet Homme Charmant

Indeed, he has shown a lot of resilience and overcame several adversities in the past 3-and-a-half years. But I think the current shitestorm and losing Andy to boot will be his biggest challenge to date. If he can get us through this and keep us in the Championship, it'll be yet another impressive accomplishment. All assuming he stays of course.

No one can grudge Dougie's chance at moving on to another team with a bigger budget, even if it is plucky wee Partick. And if he does go I'm sure he'll do so with the gratitude and best wishes from the vast majority of Ton fans for everything he's done in the last 3-and-a-half years. I'm just a bit worried if he doesn't get it that might negatively impact his enthusiasm and motivation in carrying on with us, also taking account Andy's abrupt departure and the current uncertainties caused by the ongoing bin-fire. Hopefully his professionalism will not let any of that have a negative influence on him, but you'd have to be concerned.

Fair points, and in the main I agree with all of them. But even getting these basic structural changes in place will require people with the willingness and wherewithal to step up. I really hope there are such people standing in the wings, because if there aren't, I really can't see where any sort of meaningful change will come from.

That's obvious, but unless there are more willing and able replacements ready to step-in, it'll just be like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic

It's all gone tits up, hasn't it. I fear it will be very difficult to turn this clusterfuck around any time soon. Even if the deadweights and culpable are purged, do we have replacements ready to step up who are more willing and capable? If not, it's difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel. Very concerning.

I was talking about the respective Boards, not the actual organisations. I do believe if they don't do everything in their power to save the sponsorship deal it would be remiss of them in the extreme, especially if it's down to ego, hubris, or personal agendas. I do also accept your premise that it could just be brinkmanship on behalf of the sponsor, but personally I wouldn't take that risk and let the deadline pass without a response, and just hope for the best. So yeah, I would hope and expect that if the club's major sponsor walks away because of in-fighting, then the GMFC shareholders and MCT members immediately demand EGMs to vote on the removal from their respective Boards of those deemed to be responsible. I also understand that without a shareholding the sponsor doesn't have any actual 'legal' right to exert any influence on the composition of the board, but it would be naive to believe they won't try to do so indirectly. I guess that could be considered either reasonable or blackmail, depending on what side of the fence you're on. I'm not saying that's right, just that it doesn't surprise or shock me that they are. I guess from their point of view they'll claim they're just wanting to protect their investment, irrespective of the actual validity of that argument. Of course telling them to fuck off and get back in their lane is also an option, but maybe not the wisest one given our current financial situation.

Yeah I know, it could of course just be brinkmanship, and it's entirely possible they've just given them a 'deadline' to force their hand. But that's a dangerous assumption to make and I wouldn't want to put it to the test by fannying about and letting it expire without any sort of reaction. So aye, I would buy it just in case they are serious. I'm not entirely comfortable either with the amount of power and influence they have either, but rightly or wrongly, they could argue they're bought that right.

If the GMFC and MCT Boards fuck this up because of ego and/or personal resentments and vendettas, both need to be hounded

Remember the tears and snotters from some some when Dougie released him?

Board splits like this are certainly not unique to fan-ownership, it can happen in any business, so that's probably not the specific cause. Purging a board of dissenting members can in certain circumstances be a good thing in the long run, if they were a hindrance in improving the efficiency or profitability of the company. Obviously in the information vacuum, we're in no position to know if that's the case here. But irrespective of the type of organsiation, if the cause of the board split is personal advancement or ego rather than a straightforward business disagreement on the governance and/or direction of the club, it will almost certainly not end well.

Pretty obvious there's some kind of power struggle going on between two factions of the erstwhile MCT board. Not unusual in any organisation and not necessarily a bad thing, if the direction the 'winning' faction wants to take is the better of the two. It could also be destructive though, if the cause of the split is down to personal ego trips, rather than simple but genuine disagreements on policy. Hopefully it's former and not the latter. But as many have already pointed out, it's impossible to come to any kind of conclusion while the reason(s) for the spilt are unknown.

Has it been confirmed that Andy's contract won't be extended? Meeting was today and there's nothing on the official website

Unlike Sterling though, he didn't lack ability, he could actually play football. He could have had a very decent career in the game if his heart had been in it.

And yet, by your own admission, you're outraged every time you see a black person on the telly

For me it peaked in my early-to-mid 50s. Nowadays, apart from my immediate family, a few close friends, and of course the Ton, I pretty much don't give a fuck about anything anymore. Much healthier way to be.