It is staggering the change at STFC. Is it any wonder we are stuck in the depths of Div 4 all the time? Stability off and on the pitch is going to be the key to try and move us forwards...
I think the trouble is probably post Macari, the club was generally on the rise and those that followed did a good job (Ozzie and Hoddle) and then McMahon were keeping Town in the now top two divisions. Even if they hit the peak/peaked too soon?!
I believe many of us know if Town hadn't been made an example of (amongst several others) in such a destructive way, who knows but Town would likely have gone on to have been one of the founding members of the Premier League but 1990 syndrome hit and Sunderland were the beneficiaries. Who really knows how that could have dictated the clubs long term future.
Following all that, Town obviously did get to the top flight but those PL wheels were already in motion and what was a difficult task then is only much more difficult today.
Town have had a lot of false dawns, even if say Danny Wilson got Town up I don't think there was enough to stay there. I think there were some good off-field stability with the Fitton set up and Black & Arbyb funding it all. A regime similar to that could easily bring stability again. I think they thought they struck gold with the appointment of PdC and it all seemed like Town could go all the way. If most of us are honest, we all got drawn into it and it was bloody exciting. Call it lust rather than true love because when we reflect, we all know it could never last. A double promotion was definitely and highly likely on the cards but the excitement (or lust) of getting to the Championship, appeared to cloud the sensible and steady vision that both Wray & Fitton had previously executed. Ultimately that overexcitement led to overspending at the hands of a somewhat scattergun manager (a good one but that's where the stability now began to falter). The on pitch erraticness now impacted the once stabilised off-field actions at board level and Wray for all his good parts had become a lovestruck teenager to PdC's demands. They should have wrote a musical about it. I still think they were the best board Town have had since though.
Incredibly since then, Mark Cooper has been the longest serving Town manager at 2yrs 3months (Wilson was 2ys 2months I believe) but it is seldom now that a manager lasts or stays beyond a 2yr mark, whether for poor performance or for being a bit too good. For Town, Andy King (Part II) has been the longest serving for a quite some time nearly racking up 4yrs and certainly crosses it if we include his shorter initial stint (Part I).
Possibly this 2yr "barrier" is the indignance of how football management (but football as whole too) is perceived now. Every single club wanting to be top dog but failing to realise that there can only be one top team in each division. Which is why we now see a lot of movement within football today, nearly everyone chasing where they think they should be (another step up) and there's nothing wrong with ambition of course but not everyone can be winners all the time. We as fans also do this to some degree too; it's natural for most to want their club to do well.
To come to a head, maybe it isn't really a strive for stability (in some parts) that hold Town and so many other clubs back, maybe it's more to do with the fast pace and ever changing landscape of football. Those down the chain are playing it like "10 bob millionaires" or "keeping up with the Joneses", in order to maintain that facade; forever playing catch up as that divide staggeringly widens year upon godforsaken year. Then the mask drops and it all comes unravelling to show itself for what it really is. Beneath that mask in so much as Erik the "Phantom" was so afraid to show, often in football and as Town seem yet to find out again, it looks very very ugly.
