I really cannot agree with that comment Ardiles. Let us not forget that it was Diamandis that eventually pushed Cliff P. out. Some years ago, before the greek cunt's name was well known in the town, Cliff - who had been pushed out then - warned me about Diamandis, telling me a few things about him and basically not to trust him one iota. I never knew who Diamandis was then, but Cliff's words certainly came true!! And the guy is a self-made man, with STFC blood coursing his veins.
I'd agree that both Cliff and Mike Spearman are thoroughly decent guys and both undoubtedly have the best interests of the club at heart. But Cliff let Diamandis dangle him on a string - one moment he was cast out, next he was back in favour and all too grateful to be so and so scared of losing his inside track, he didn't dare say boo. I can sympathise with Delta to some extent (although I think he's harsh in dismissing either Cliff or Mike so blithely) - at the time they were most needed for the club, the "grandees", the old guard call them what you will, could have intervened, could have stepped up to the plate, could have come out and told the whole world what Cliff was happy to tell ronnie (and many others) in private. But they didn't.
Nice blokes, yes, decent men, yes. Best interests of the club at heart, yes. But they allowed themselves to be bullied into keeping quiet at a time when the club most needed them to speak out. And, at various stages, to actively collaborate in keeping the Diamandis spin machine turning. In doing so, they prolonged a bankrupt, both morally and financially, regime far longer than anyone who has the club's best interests at heart should be allowed to excuse themselves for.
So, yes, decent blokes, STFC through and through, but for many people, they lost a lot of the respect they had earned in years past by aiding and abetting though silence or active cooperation one of the most destructive forces ever to beset our club. There was a time when their club needed them and they shrank from it in the face of some pretty low-rent bullying.
It's the old line isn't it? "All that is necessary for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing"
