I think we do need to shift ourselves out of the 'plucky, cheap, working-class, northern town football club' persona we have held for years and start looking and acting like a force to be reckoned with. Odd how the pigs managed it a few years back and still have some sort of aura about them as a 'big club' whereas we have always seemed like some sort of bargain basement version of them. This has to stop. We had Bassett, who gave us a Wimbledonesque mystique but we were always destined to fail to sustain any momentum, however fleeting our success, and then Warnock who Sheffieldised the club somewhat but we still looked like imposters, whether trying and failing to be promoted, or even later actually playing in the Premier League. Wilder is almost a carbon copy of that, except he hadn't the agility to make changes (in the case of Warnock, sometimes bafflingly crap) and furthermore spunked valuable resources on dud players showing his true naivety. Then he bailed before the ultimate humiliation descended and allowed a makeweight to ship the pelters.
This next appointment HAS to be meaningful and effective. We can't afford to just hand the reins to a clearly incapable Heckingbottom, and can't afford to bring in lukewarm crap like Appleton or PL unknowns like Blessin. We also can't be dicking about with surprise, fringe gambles like Curbishley, Hughes and any other strange, stupid appointments who will invariable divide the fanbase further. We need a name who has kudos and attracts capable players and we need one who plays a system which is nowhere near this ridiculous one we play at the moment. And he needs to have the potatoes to terminate effectively our dealings with some players who believe they have a future next season playing the same shit they have this season and utilise restricted resources to bring in experience, control and ability. That needs to be on show from the first whistle to the last and if we do lose, it needs to be in games where we are 'beaten' and not 'rolled over'.
This is why I think HRH is taking his time.
pommpey