Quote Originally Posted by valefaninpeace View Post
Ok, I’ll leave you to carry on pretending nothing happened. It’s all a conspiracy against Crewe, the real victim in all this.
Well it's difficult for any one of us to speak for our body of fans, least of all you VFIP, since you're either a Port Vale fan or a 'troll' or both. As a club, Crewe are clearly on the defensive. They are vulnerable to the headlines and the inferences that they 'must have known', which, as I will keep saying, is the nub of the matter.There is still such a great deal of judgement from a 21st century standpoint. Safeguarding had been in place nationwide for some considerable time before Andy Woodward waived his right to anonymity. Lessons had already been learned, and Crewe will have put procedures in place with more sensitivity than most simply because Bennell was on their payroll; they didn't need the last 15 months' publicity to know that.

If they show 'empathy' it almost becomes an admission of guilt. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Try to imagine the potential conversations if the players from Victoria Derbyshire's couch, one or two of whom we are led to believe are considering some civil action, were invited in 'for a chat'. It's a little different for the victim who is now a police officer (I forget his name) who was abused by Bennell when playing for a youth team associated with Manchester City; none of the board or coaches from that time are still at that club.