Completely agree with this, and the idea that we’ll easily be able to regroup and bounce back is just unrealistic. Breaking down the ‘losing mentality’ at a club once it’s set in like rot can be extremely tough, time-consuming and costly - as the Wilder/Thomas/Leneghan and Appleton/Ashton/Eales administrations found.
But at the same time, can you blame fans for being resigned to going down? Given the utter paucity of any real tangible information around the future of our club, the plans for a sustainable future, and a prolonged period of being obviously and outright lied to by chairmen - not just Tiger - going back to the ‘three fee-paying players in January’ farce which realistically convinced Appleton it was time to go what other conclusion can fans reach?
All we have to go on is the crashing reality of what we see on the pitch, i.e. three goals from three strikers all season (only one of which is available), and probably another month before maybe a reinforcement arrives, our best defender going just short of temperamentally admitting he wants out on live radio, an ‘unbeaten run’ which didn’t actually contain that many league wins at all, a catastrophic first quarter of the season, and a festive trio of fixtures which saw 0 points and 0 goals, including a thrashing at the bottom club, which is nailed on relegation form. Oh, and the actions of our ‘eccentric’ (elusive, confusing, deliberately vague) chairman who delivered one of the most shambolic ‘welcome to the club’ pressers ever conceived and has followed that by overseeing a club barely away from the relegation zone at any point whilst repeatedly not paying tax bills.
I’m not saying it’s over - but the pressure on recruitment this month is immense. There’s time to turn it round - but it’s January now. Our abysmal form isn’t fluke or unlucky, it’s symptomatic of a bad team, an uneven squad and a losing mentality starting to set in. Those aren’t easily fixed.