Rate Donald’s time as owner so far out of 10

A generous 5

give everyone a fresh sense of hope, opened communication channels and there was a sense of us "getting our club back" however it was short lived and unfortunately that is about it as far as praise goes. when going well everything was rosey however the apparent inability to take criticism and his mates ability to say the wrong things. It has became fairly obvious fairly quickly why clubs of a certain size their owners don't give a running commentary

I think sitting in with the fans causes all sorts of issues, it is ok when things go well but looks amateurish regardless but when you stop when things are going tricky is a poor look.

Recruitment, well the less said the better the only positive is that the majority of them are on 2 year contracts, however this summer it will prove problematic, we get promoted you release them but then have to replace them, if we don't get promoted, well you release them because they haven't been good enough but then you have to replace them.

As for outgoings, credit has to go to them for getting rid of Pappy, N'Dong and Rodwell, however, we were repeatedly told "we don't need to sell" yet repeatedly we have sold our better players and the almost hilarious length of time it took to sign a replacement for Reece James for a back up left back.

Will Grigg? Leadbetter? I don't believe they were signings of the manager.

No plan beyond getting promoted last season, the summer felt it felt like it was under Short, slightly lost and stuck.

Jack Ross shouldn't have been sacked and it showed weak leadership and just listening to fans, well, it isn't always correct. A number of journalists said that we won't know the scale of the job Ross done until a later date. If this is true, then surely Donald would know this?

I also feel they have divided the fans and I haven't known the fan base to be as split and I am very much on the fence whether or not they hold any responsibility for this.

Credit where credit is due, Donald has put himself in a god like situation with some of our fans, bit like Rafa did up the road without actually doing much to deserve it.

The club seems to have lost direction and purpose unfortunately however, unlike with Short, when he sold it felt like everyone needed the change, as for Donald, he does have some change in the bank and there isn't an desparate need/wish to get a new owner like there was with the majority of the fan. That will change rapidly if we are were we are come February/March.
 


3-4, started off with good intentions and positivity, lost his way and now hasn’t got a clue how to pull it round or at least stabilise the foundations to stop the rot.
 
A generous 2 for me.

But that is more reflective of where were previously when he joined than anything else.

When he joined he was very much all jazz hands, and all talk. Since then we've come to realise that he has very little substance.

I liked what they did with the seating, but it can be spun either way in that it was a "cheap" tactic getting people in to do it, or a way of "reconnecting" with the fans. At the time it was very much a reconnecting exercise, but perhaps, looking back with hindsight, it was a bit of both.

I am absolutely astounded that they have publicly came out and said the money that has been invested is going to go on fixing a lift. I struggle to imagine that's what the investors planned on the money being spent on. Someone mentioned elsewhere, that it's no use having good speakers if there's no one in the ground, which next season should hit home, especially if we don't get promoted this season which unfortunately is looking very likely.
 
8. He's doing about as well as I thought possible with the shit-show he inherited, but hasn't exceeded it.

If we're a steady Championship club in 5 years he'll have done well.
 
I think overall, the owners have done well. Team performance hasn't been great and we are probably all disappointed over the 'dilution' of what seemed like a takeover to the repair of the lift and speakers. People giving low scores are probably influenced by these factors and SD's current reticence to engage.

A few wins and a good transfer window and SD will be popular again.
 
All I care about is results, they aren't there. We're a football club at the end of the day and the aim should be to build a quality team and to win games. I just don't get where they're coming from with this appointment at all. I'm yet to see any improvement, we seem to be going gradually backwards, it's so frustrating. Gutted.

2.

We have an average league 1 side but league 1 is a very average division.
We were pretty average last season but stayed there and there abouts.

As a fan last season was great to a degree but we ended up with nothing.

When you have an average squad can a manager make much difference, I’m not sure.

The thing is although we are pretty woeful we are still hanging on the tails, it wouldn’t normally make much sense but that’s where it being an average league comes into play.
 
I think overall, the owners have done well. Team performance hasn't been great and we are probably all disappointed over the 'dilution' of what seemed like a takeover to the repair of the lift and speakers. People giving low scores are probably influenced by these factors and SD's current reticence to engage.

A few wins and a good transfer window and SD will be popular again.

People aren't giving low scores on SD's reticence to engage! People are giving low scores and the complete dismantling of any form of talent, catastrophically bad recruitment decisions, giving hugely important job roles to his friends, THE LIES, the U18's and U23's being adrift at the bottom of their respective leagues, employing Phil Parkinson because he cost £200k a year and being in the lowest league position in our entire history. Come on man, the lift stuff is an embarrassment but it's just one of many truly humiliating things to happen to this club.
 
Started well, felt like a breath of fresh air, sorted some long standing issues, seemed to engage with supporters.
It's recently gone a bit sour in terms of supporter relationship and it strikes me (yes, I know he's a businessman) that he's in this to make a buck not to do anything for SAFC. On the pitch is a joke, jobs for mates, poor managerial appointments and we're the poorest I've seen in terms of enjoyable football. Getting investment to fix lifts and speakers is like painting the funnel on the Titanic whilst it's got a huge hole below the waterline.

It's a 3 from me.
 
Thought we were shoe-ins for back-to-back relegations too and that happened.

Live in Sheffield so unfortunately I'm canny aware of what constitutes Championship Survival / League 1 promotion club and we've not looked like one for 5/6 years.
 

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