During recent games, half of the fans have chanted their approval of the former
So Footymad decided to investigate the matter further, and armed with a dictaphone, we caught up with some Wednesdayites in
Steve Hodkin from Heeley is in favour of Bates coming on board. He said: “Bates is willing to invest a fortune in Wednesday; he says his money won’t go to pay off debts or pay off the current board but we could bring in some decent players at the very least so we can move forward.”
Another fan in agreement was George Elliot from Hillsborough, he says: “Bates is looking to the future and not many people in power have done that at Wednesday recently. There is massive potential there and it looks like he is the only one who can see it.”
James Unwin of Crookes thinks that Bates character could come into question but he is willing to oversee that for the amount of money he could invest, he said: “Bates is a prat, but he is a prat with £10million and he wants to put into us so I say let him on board!”
But those who disagree with Papa Smurf’s interest in Wednesday are just as vocal. James Plant from Gleadless says: “If it wasn’t for Abramovich at
Another supporter who believes that Bates will do no good is Mick Wooton from Highgreen. He said: “Bates is just a bully trying all sorts of underhand tactics to put pressure on the board. Dave Allen has done a great job and we would be in administration without him, once we sell the training ground there should be some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Someone who seconds that notion is John Nolan from Norton, he says: “Bates is just a walking publicity circus who just wants to boost his own profile to get back on board with the FA, we don’t need someone using our club like that, money or no money.”
Never has one off-the-field matter been so hotly contested by Wednesdayites, what is true though is that both Allen and Bates are talking, although what comes out of those discussions is anyone’s guess.