The thing about people with fraudulent intent is that they know how to prey on other people's weaknesses and desperation, and as we know, Alan Hardy's weakness is that he does (or perhaps did) enjoy the profile of being Notts County chairman when things were going well. So perhaps it isn't surprising if they offered him a chance to retain the profile and sold him the dream that they will invest enough to turn the club around and restore his reputation. In reality, it's more likely he would simply be used like another Peter Trembling, the PR man trying to paper over the cracks and hide all the chaos behind the scenes.