I think we all know the answer, in fact I think we all feel the answer somewhere deep in the pit of our stomach. This isn't a knee jerk reaction to the mess that was on the park tonight, in fact I started to write this a few days ago and thought seriously about not finishing it after the events at Easter road. But this isn't about a single game, not even an SPL record defeat, it's about the club we all love and the things that have been happening to it.
I can take a loss. Hell I can take a whole string of them as long as I can see those that matter feel the pain as much as I do.
And there lies the rub. When Lionheart arrived it was in a blaze of promises, big talk and spin. Pretty much how things have carried on every day since. They were not football people, they were business people and this club was to be run as a business. After the overspending of two previous owners this seemed like a fresh and potentially productive approach. Has it worked, more to the point has it even happened that way. I can't believe the arrival of names like Gough, Knox, Lambert, Dalglish and Hoolahan came cheap. Equally I can't believe the many early departures have cost us nothing either. Lionheart inherited this club with "NO DEBT" will Pearse assure us at tonights fans forum that the club remains debt free or has this so called business approach been corrupted by the whims of those involved.
Even if the finances remain on track (which my gut tells me they are not) the bigger picture as far as I am concerned is what is happening to club/fan relations and what has been done to the good name of our club.
I suspect many of you are like me and really wanted (still do) Pearse and Lionheart to deliver the goods. I'll happily eat these words if two years down the line they are still here and the club has become a fan friendly and successful place. The thing is right now it is neither. In terms of success the gate figures and results speak for themselves. The fan friendly side is a little less tangible but ask yourself do you feel valued, informed, listened to and welcome. Or do you feel like a mobile cash machine, kept in the dark, tapped for your cash with little in return, not even a smile or a listening ear? From where I sit there seems to be a definite them and us situation developing.
Livingston used to be seen by most as a good news story, the little club made good. Yeah there were a few in the lower leagues felt we had bought out way to success and perhaps in hindsight the overspending was there to see but by and large people had a soft spot for wee Livi. However in recent times the publicity has been so much more negative. Most of the football world see us as cheats over the Kachloul affair and I can't say I blame them. Lets face it the "Aberdeen did it too" and "he wasn't payed to play football he was payed for his other outstanding talents.." are about as weak as they come.
Then we have the stream of badly treated employees. Nobody likes to leave their jobs but think Hay, Preston, Lovell, Gough, Lilley, Easton, McMenamin, Kay... How many have exchanged public words with Lionheart? How many have felt hard done by? Remember the lads that battled away to keep Livi alive on nothing more than the verbal promise that if they done well by us they would get a new contract? And what happened to them? The word shafted springs to mind. Have we really had an incredibly self centred and vocal bunch of employees of late or has it been the management style causing the problems? Either way the net effect is more negative national publicity.
The tabloid slagging matches with the likes of Yorkston can't have helped much.
Is it any wonder Lambert can't get players to come here? Would you be eager to join a company not only the worst in it's field but with a national reputation that quite frankly stinks in so many areas?
Lets be clear I'm not condemning the people involved here, but I am suggesting many of practices they have employed have failed. The football world is like no other and no matter how good Pearse and co were in other fields they are amateurs at running a football team. Mistakes have and will be made. That isn't a problem, we all have to start somewhere. The key is can they recognize those mistakes and learn form them?