Be fair to Hardy

[countygump]

Al tried, spent a lot of money he couldn't afford along the way and failed, ultimately costing us our league status. I don't think any of those are the reasons that fans seemed to turn against him. It was the sale and the lies and false hope he kept giving us. Non payment of wages seemed to be the start of it and it emerged that he seemed to be asking far too much for a something that was worth next to nothing and deliberately putting us in jeopardy to save his own neck. That might seem a tad harsh on someone who has lost so much wad but he chose to spend it and he pretty much chose what to spend it on, no-one forced him into such a high risk venture, his choice.

[Old_pie]

Very little positive I can say about the man. We may have been extinct if he hadn't stepped in and some of his promotions were encouraging but what a plonker. Arguing right from the off on Twitter, I don't recall everything but:

1. Taking photos of kids in the changing rooms then arguing there was nothing wrong with it
2. Arguing with the Notts fan who wasn't going to the Tin Pot trophy and saying he would refund his season ticket
3. The speed limits he saw as being inappropriate eg A610 Kimberley by-pass
4. Seriously the excuses for doing 77 in a 40 limited
5. Arguing with Mansfailed supporters, "what's your attendance going to be", "we'll be promoted" etc.
6. It was around the time of 5 that he was pointing out some "fickle" fan that he tweeted Little Al.

The nonsense since. Don't anyone ever say that just because someone's had success (luck) in one line of business that it cuts them out for being football owners.

He did say last week a deal was done, the magic appearance of the photo of the Danes was genuine though I suspect there is another story to be told that we won't hear.

He's had enough air time, his 15min of fame (or infamy). He's made the National Press all for the wrong reason. Goodbye, good riddance - a horrible man and owner whose legacy will be long be remembered hopefully on how not to run a football club and that's as fair as I can manage.

[theory_extinct]

Very little positive I can say about the man. We may have been extinct if he hadn't stepped in and some of his promotions were encouraging but what a plonker. Arguing right from the off on Twitter, I don't recall everything but:

1. Taking photos of kids in the changing rooms then arguing there was nothing wrong with it
2. Arguing with the Notts fan who wasn't going to the Tin Pot trophy and saying he would refund his season ticket
3. The speed limits he saw as being inappropriate eg A610 Kimberley by-pass
4. Seriously the excuses for doing 77 in a 40 limited
5. Arguing with Mansfailed supporters, "what's your attendance going to be", "we'll be promoted" etc.
6. It was around the time of 5 that he was pointing out some "fickle" fan that he tweeted Little Al.

The nonsense since. Don't anyone ever say that just because someone's had success (luck) in one line of business that it cuts them out for being football owners.

He did say last week a deal was done, the magic appearance of the photo of the Danes was genuine though I suspect there is another story to be told that we won't hear.

He's had enough air time, his 15min of fame (or infamy). He's made the National Press all for the wrong reason. Goodbye, good riddance - a horrible man and owner whose legacy will be long be remembered hopefully on how not to run a football club and that's as fair as I can manage.

Wait for the TV interviews, maybe a book....can't see him going away easily.

[Livid]

And he promised to sell Notts to someone who had the best interests of the club at heart. The Danes seem on the face of it seem to be such people, as opposed to the South Africans, May etc who appeared to be looking at a well positioned building site.

And he has made the National League seem like a good place to be by frightening the bejazus out of for the last 3 months!!!

He was negotiating with property developers, because he knew he'd destroyed any value there was in the football club. When details of Alex May/whatever he is actually called's conviction May said that he'd been upfront with all parties about that conviction, but Hardy still tried to sell the club to May. When the conviction became public, Hardy continued trying to sell our club to May.

My contempt for Hardy is boundless.

[Livid]

He also swept "Pullengate" under the carpet.

[nw6pie]

Thankfully, we can now move on with new owners - which seemed inconceivable just 24 hours ago - and hopefully Alan Hardy will become a distant memory (although we will be paying for his hubris for as long as we remain in the National League). I hope he’s sensible enough to stay away from Meadow Lane for a very long time (don’t worry, Alan, we’ll forward the shredder to you), as he will only receive a villain’s welcome.

In retrospect, him buying Ilkeston was the first warning sign missed. How big does your ego need to be to own two local football clubs? He is the classic example of failing to recognise when he was in a hole. He also needed people around him to tell him the truth rather than a bunch of yes-men massaging his ego. Let’s hope the new owners are a little more camera shy.

I just hope that one day we get to hear what really went on at the club these past 12 months, as I’m sure it would make great tragi-comic material for a writer like Billy Ivory.

[upthemaggies]

He also swept "Pullengate" under the carpet.

If you're referring to what I think you're referring to then I'm not sure Hardy should be criticized for that. He inherited that situation from the Trews and Notts are not the only institution to be linked with that name.

I expect Hardy will give an interview at some stage, but I hope he's not going to blame everything going wrong on the loss of Ryan Yates or any other set-back that football clubs typically have to overcome in any given season. If you're the owner of a football club then you've got to expect that a loan player might be recalled by his parent club or that key players will be out injured etc. If the entire five year plan collapses over something like that then you're definitely not cut out for the job in hand. He seemed to expect that absolutely everything would go for him just the way he wanted it to. Maybe that's how life had been for him up to this point.

[Frigiliana Pie 1]

It was, to a degree, a reign of two halves. It all looked so good at the beginning - a locally based owner, genuinely enthusiastic about football, who backed his manager in the transfer market and who introduced some successful initiatives to increase attendances.

It’s hard to decide which was the turning point. The unimpressive transfer window of January 2018? The loss in the playoffs in May ? The managerial changes in autumn 2018? But for certain, by last January, we were in big trouble and AH was well on the way to being the villain of the piece. Since then, the very least he’s been guilty of is a continuous policy of misleading everyone connected with Notts County and there’s possibly more to come out.

IMO it’s best to draw a line under his reign, as we have with the likes of Trew and Scardino, and hope he can achieve some measure of success with Ilkeston. Best to look to the future.

[LilCrazyKim]

While he might have 'tried his best', it will be hard to forget the terrible treatment of the staff at both Notts and Paragon, the constant misleading over the takeover, or the fact that he continued talking to one prospective consortium even after one of their group was exposed as a convicted fraudster. And while he certainly delivered some tangible improvements off the field with good marketing and a boost in gates, his behaviour over the last few months has probably undermined that work to a significant degree.

[marshall55]

Alan who?