It may have gone quiet but it hasn't gone away.

Wednesday

Mar162011

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 12:10PM

In the aftermath of the clusterf**k that was the Olympic
Stadium bid, how do you feel now? Glad it's over? Regretful that we
didn't 'win'? Patiently waiting for our clubs response regarding what we
do next thanks to the clear message that the Northumberland Development
Project is still non-viable?
If there was any time for In the Know to make itself known, its
probably now. Not just in terms of how Levy plans to progress our
ambitions with a bigger bolder stadium. Although we might not find out
or care for the reasons that led to us being interested in Stratford,
being invited to show an interest and then going fully fledged head
first into bidding for it only to lose the vote emphatically. Even if on
paper our bid was the stronger of the two.
Was Stratford ever really viable itself? Do you feel foolish for
throwing your heart at it? Or do you see the positives of leaving behind
history and creating a new chapter on new territory?
I guess somebody was required, a fall guy, to highlight what it would
mean to the OS if the legacy (running track) was removed. We served our
purpose. Landslide. Hence the reason why you can look back and scratch
your head at how obvious a choice we were for some, but not for the ones
that mattered (the ones making the decision).
This has been done to death I know. I don't want to cover old ground.
Just want to gauge your gut reaction now that the dust has settled.
Whether you were pro-N17 or pro-moving out of N17. Because statements
were made that were evidently clear that leaving N17 was a necessity to
survive and evolve.
Would the same statements be made if we now looked to move further
away from N17? Would people that are pro-N17 validate such a move if we
moved towards the deeper north rather than the east of London? If NDP
remains non-viable, will there be a further demonstration of disapproval
if we had to move out of Tottenham completely or would it be acceptable
if hands remained tied politically with the local council? And if so,
was Stratford really such a bad idea in logistical terms?
Personally, yes it was. But that's my opinion. My main issue was
always with the way all eggs appeared to be placed into one basket, with
the previous basket thrown out with the garbage. I guess Levy and the
club saw an opportunity and went for it. As an investment, it was the
best fiscal move the club could make. Who are we but just fans who need
not fully understand the art of business and political negotiations. We
get told one thing that might well be spoken out loud to disguise the
truth. Which is fine. I'd like to believe Levy was not as giddy and
blind to failure as it appeared on tv and in the press in the lead up to
the OS bid decision. That he was simply playing the game, a gamble -
had it paid off he'd have made ENIC proud. As it hasn't, it allows him
to shift back to Plan B which is now Plan A again - whatever that might
be.
One thing I know for sure is, our future did not rest on having to
move to East London. If the Olympics were in Paris, what would we be
doing right about now? Not wondering about Stratford, I'd hazard a
guess.
We're not naive to think business is played out any differently in
any other industry. On the surface its one thing, behind the scenes the
agendas altogether something else. Which is why the bane of frustrations
weighs us down so much. We want answers we wont be given because we
can't have them. The club does have to protect itself outside of the
bubble we exist in, I understand that.
Now that we're back to square one, and a slice of transparency will
go a long way. Although I'm happy to wait until after the season ends
before the next bout of in-fighting kicks off.