Will Imraan actually kill the Poppies?

With Rocky Road being locked-up, baliiffs sniffing around, Imraan not turning up with meetings with people looking to buy the club, and the few members of staff we had either being sacked or resigning, you have to ask yourself whether Imraan has decided to kill us off.

We know the club generates very little income on matchdays due to a combination of most of us having season tickets, and Imraan running the off-field operation like an early-round reject from "Young Apprentice".  If he is not prepared to even consider plugging the shortfall, or sell the club to someone who will, it is difficult to see how the club can carry on.

All of this brings to mind a couple of statements Imraan has made in the past, which seems a little hollow now.  He has always put great stock in being considered a "real fan", and pointing to his continued investment as evidence that he is in it for the long run. Hmm....

Allied to this stance is the fact that he has always insisted he wasn't another Mark English, and until recently no-one really thought he was.  However, similarities are starting to emerge.  Both came into the club under the cover of former England midfielders.  Both claimed to be paying bills, changing the ground (ok, re-roofing a terrace in English's case), insisting that everything was under control, even as we could all see it wasn't.  By the end of respective reigns both seemed to be trying to, how to put this.....?  Liquidise as many financial assets as quickly as possible.  For English this meant breaking into the fag machine, and for Imraan it would appear to be the slightly classier packing of as many Luton fans into the ground on New Years Day as humanly possible.

Because of the actions of many Poppies supporters back in the early 1990's English didn't destroy us.  It remains to be seen whether Poppies supporters circa 2012 can emulate their predecessors.  One thing is for certain, it's going to far more difficult to pull things around this time, given the state of the economy, the fact we're no longer tied into Kettering, and being at Imraan's mercy.

All we can do at the moment is pray that our Chairman somehow decides to pull us out of our current nosedive, but it doesn't look promising.  A while ago we suggested we would happily take Conference North and Rocky Road for the next 10 years.  Now I'd take Southern League at Rocky Road for just next year, at least keeping us alive for a year longer than we now anticipate.