Whoever has been advising Stephen Thompson, no Sultan of Spin can help the Dundee United chairman now.
His purchasing power with club supporters is equal to those old Drachmas lying in your kitchen drawer from a Greek holiday 20 years ago.
With the prominent fans group the ArabTrust calling on him and his board to resign, and a financial threat looming from fans baulking at buying season books, Tannadice is in turmoil.
Thompson has done many good things as chairman, but just as players or managers are only as good as their last game, chairmen are only as good as their last big decisions.
The hue and cry from United fans at the selling of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven to Celtic in February last year, at a time when United were serious rivals to the Glasgow side, was further exacerbated when it emerged that manager Jackie McNamara received a percentage of transfer fees.
Perception is crucial in football and many supporters were aghast that star players could be sold to a rival while the manager profited from the arrangement.
Almost at a stroke the United chairman’s successes were swept into the waste bin. Three cup finals in six years and three Europa league qualifications counted for nothing.
Perception is crucial in football and many supporters were aghast that star players could be sold to a rival while the manager profited from the arrangement.
A reduction in inherited debt from a claimed near seven million pounds to one and a quarter million today, became irrelevant, and the four and a half million pounds cost of Thompson family ownership counted for not a jot.
Instead, the fans fury at Thompson’s continued financial backing for a failing manager, instead of sacking him as results worsened, was further enraged as a plethora of second rate signings found a billet at Tannadice, which became a home for football’s waifs and strays.
When defeat at St Johnstone saw McNamara, who had guided United to two cup finals get his P45, former player Mixu Paateleinen was appointed.
The Finn’s tenure has been a disaster. Having inherited a United side at the bottom of the table, he has firmly welded them there, and faces almost certain relegation and the sack once demotion is confirmed.
The distance between Stephen Thompson and United supporters is as wide as Invergowrie bay
His signings have failed to inspire, and again fans feel that the United chairman has frittered away a lot of cash on backing another clutch of expensive mistakes.
Added to almost complete disconnection with the fans, there is a deep level of distrust which has surrounded the chairman since his attempt to buy an Australian club. That adventure may have had sound intentions, but if so, they were poorly explained to fans, who felt his attention had wandered at a critical time.
Now the distance between Stephen Thompson and United supporters is as wide as Invergowrie bay.
With his sister Justine recently jumping ship from the board without any explanation and fans protesting outside the ground last Sunday, panic, not love, is in the air.
There is a sense of a boardroom not in control of events, and talk of fresh investment is disbelieved by the supporters who have stopped listening.
The time for clear vision from the board has gone. The fans see only smoke and mirrors.
