The Ingrams are the new owners of the club and predictably some people are responding by behaving as if Godfrey and Graham have drowned the family cat and stolen Granny's pension.
Firstly, and I have to make this abundantly clear, I am no apologist for the Ingrams. We don't know them and they don't know us. As far as I am concerned that means that until such time as we have information to judge them then we give them the opportunity to prove themselves. The same goes for their opinion of us.
Clearly their association with Maison does them no favours and it is incontrovertibly true that their association with him is the only reason that they are at Halesowen Town in the first place. However, they know the depth of feeling against Maison and they have publicly said that he has no role at Halesowen under their ownership. Personally, I don't believe you can do anything other than take them at their word. To do otherwise is to label them as liars.
However, some people choose to see deception and double speak in their every utterance. When they say that a statement will be made shortly about the club's management then obviously that means Matt Clarke is getting sacked. Healthy scepticism about anything is always a pretty good attitude as far as I'm concerned but this goes way beyond that. We are in the realms of pathological distrust that has no basis in any fact that is in the public realm.
What have the Ingrams said about their ownership? They have stressed their belief that Halesowen Town should be a community club, living within its means "with a broad base of footballing and commercial experience in the management structure." What is there to object to there?
It is not unreasonable to be curious as to their desire to become involved with Halesowen. Let's face it there is no obvious reason for them to do so yet to use this to condemn them out of hand is premature. Take them at their word for now and if, later on, they let us down then there will be plenty of time for recrimination. In the meantime they might just surprise us and run a tight ship.
What about their opinion of us? Well, if they've been reading the Yeltz forum then it might not be too complimentary. If they see that they have been 'hilariously' labelled the 'Inbreds' then maybe they've decided that the fans aren't worth listening to. I wouldn't be over keen to engage with people who have been so openly hostile. It cuts both ways.
Maybe, just maybe, some of the sceptics may realise that without the Ingram brothers we would have gone down that path too. Although I feel that there are some fanatical 'antis' who wanted us to fold anyway!
The new owners are criticised for non-communication with The Trust, and the fanbase in general - why would they wish to talk with those that insult them?
The business acumen of the Ingrams has been proven with the ease with which thay outwitted the other bid to effect the takeover.
To those out there who dream of a 'local hero' to run the club, dream on, it's not going to happen.
The comments that have appeared on the forum regarding the Ingrams have been nothing short of scandalous. It has been suggested that the Ingrams should have a public forum to answer questions from the "fans?"; - really? It would be similar to a public execution with the mob baying for blood.
The amazing thing is that the Ingrams are accused of non - communication with the fans, after what has been said I can understand their reluctance to have any contact whatsoever.
As far as I am aware the other party involved in the take-over battle (or should that be rout), hasn't held a fans Q&A session to outline his plans for HTFC, but this has been conveniently overlooked.
As to those who still persist in advocating a boycott I say: "carry on, you won't have many for company!" As a final thought, how many of the "keyboard commandos"; who have posted derogatory and personal comments regarding the Ingrams, would be brave enough to repeat those comments to Graham or Godfrey Ingram face to face?