When Mel went public with his intentions to sell, I made a suggestion, write an autobiography when this is all over, and I hope he does once the dust settles.
What happened, what was the tipping point that saw him pull the plug, how did we manage to rack up this huge debt to HMRC when Fawaz down the A52 was facing winding up orders every couple of months.
Whilst ultimately his decision cost jobs, left behind a lot of debt to local businesses, which I am a creditor myself, leaving the existence of this club in jeopardy, I can’t sit here today and lay all the blame at his door, of course he must accept his part in this, not suggesting for a second he completely blameless.
Being a long time supporter of Mel, I have largely avoided discussions around him as there are still questions that I feel need answering, more clarity of what went on, closure. It would be easy to sit here and call him all the names under the sun, but I feel like I owe him the opportunity to explain, I hope he does find a way as his final Radio Derby interview didn’t really explain anything we didn’t already know, no gaps in the timeline were filled, and it’s those gaps which have left so many questions.
Do not think I am here to defend Mel, only Mel can defend himself, I have no intention of getting into drawn out debates as it will only cause more anger and frustration when right now we should be focussing on the future of this club.
You can drag up posts from the past that I and others made, but they were made with the information that we had at the time, others that raised concerns, had their doubts whilst hurt may feel smug with “I told you so”, which is their choice. I have made my enemies just from running this platform, sure there’s a few out there finger pointing.
However Mel came in, spent money, created excitement and dared us to dream which is exactly what football fans want, we had no idea it was ever to be a poo or literally bust, we were led to believe that we were on the line, pushing it at times which many clubs do, but that line was dragged out of reach when the EFL decided to review our accounts over previous seasons, accounts which they signed off.
I still to this day believe that EFL, Boro and Wycombe must also take some responsibility in all this. I also don’t think we can just ignore the impact that Covid has had, both financially and personally. Mel did not have a crystal ball, for all this to come at a time when trying to sell the club placed a fuckload of barriers in the way.
Whilst you can argue you shouldn’t live life on the edge, be prepared for the worst, I have been around 40 years and this is the first global pandemic which has changed life as we know it and seen sporting events played behind closed doors. Over the next 12 months I’m sure we will see others start to show the impact that alone has had without the EFL on their backs.
His own health issues which remain private and may not have played no part in his decision, but many things happen in life that can make you question your own mortality, did his, was his primary concern his family where the outside abuse questioned his financial support? I honestly don’t know and not trying to manufacture excuses here, losing close friends, illness, it can and does make you question where you are yourself in life.
I don’t know if we will ever see a book, if some already feel they have closure and wouldn’t be interested or believe a word he says, I for one believe it would give closure those that supported him during his tenure and feel hurt with how the club has been left, all the memories which should have been left have now been tarnished, including the one at Elland Road.
Life does go on though, I'm not going to spend another day questioning why as another mental drain that I have no desire to entertain.
