Grovesred

I've been resigned to relegation for some time, but with even a slight chance that survival was possible, you'd have hoped everyone would be pulling together to try and save the club. The last thing any club would want, is to learn from an announcement on another club's website that this wasn't the case. Relegation might have a negative impact on our new stadium (yet another hostile council meeting in a couple of hours) and if that goes belly-up, our proud little club will certainly die. So yes, the manner and timing of the announcement are of great significance. Coulson's departure of itself won't finish us off (he'll certainly keep your physio busy and save us a fortune in insurance) but the fallout has the potential to be extremely damaging to York City. That said, we've been ****ed over before, and no doubt will again - it's something the diddy clubs in England have had to get used to, just as they have in Scotland.

No, we won't be getting relegated. But you have to love the picture City have stuck on the official website: http://www.yorkcityfootballclub.co.uk/news/article/jackie-mcnamara-york-city-partick-thistle-dundee-united-celtic-2783190.aspx

McNamara seems to be City fans' choice out of the confirmed candidates, if the comments on the local paper's website are anything to go by. He's now being quoted at 1/4 or 1/5 by the bookies as a result. I've placed my bet, but won't jinx it by naming names.

McNamara now 4/6 favourite for the York job. Im holding out for Clough (10/1) or Wilson (20/1), but Russ Wilcox might be an interesting bet at 16/1 only 9 days after being booted out of the job. Top work, SkyBet.

...and things could be an awful lot worse; just had a peek at the odds and see that Di Canio is quoted at 40/1. McNamara is 6/4 favourite for the moment.

McNamara would be a big step forward from the alleged favourite over the weekend, Greg Abbott, but with Nigel Clough rumoured to have been interviewed as well, and Danny Wilson possibly in the running I'm taking nothing for granted. That said, I've already dusted off my cup final programme and selected a nice spot for an autograph just in case.

We didn't blink; we just waited until Steve Evans was safely installed elsewhere Russ Wilcox had been on borrowed for a few weeks, and it was no surprise when the axe fell after a series of truly awful performances. Former player Richard Cresswell has been installed as caretaker, and is currently joint bookies' favourite along with Nigel Clough to get the permanent job. A more realistic option in my opinion is Danny Wilson. The board has been good at selecting mangers to stave off the threat of relegation, but this time really need to appoint someone capable of taking the club forward as well.

I wasn't aware of this, so thanks for posting it. Never thought of myself as a groundhopper, but it would seem I've racked up 126 grounds over the years. No wonder I never have any money.

Mehdi Abeid's Newcastle on the wrong end of a 2-1 drubbing at York tonight.

Not if it means York City joining the SPFL, sorry And standing candidates in Yorkshire would quite likely disgruntle the SNP's co-members of the European Free Alliance, Yorkshire First, who averaged around 1% of the vote in their first general election.

I take the point about clubs who've come up through the ranks being well-run, but I'm not so sure it's the case that relegated clubs struggle because they're run in a profligate manner (though some may well be). York City was always known as a well-run club, but what changed was that it was asset-stripped by two successive owners. Despite promotion back to the League, we're still struggling against the legacy of those owners who ran the club not so much "badly", as purely in their own interests. If we can get through next season in one piece, our long-awaited new stadium should put the club on a more secure footing, but it's been a long hard struggle which may well have contributed to the recent premature death of another former chairman Steve Beck who in my opinion was the single most important person in the fight to save York City (RIP big man). Even a healthy club will struggle after relegation to the Conference though; it's reckoned that the relegated club will be around £500,000 a year worse off as various League payments are cut off, funding for youth and community schemes dries up, etc. The transition is traumatic and morale-sapping, which is why I believe the loyalty and passion of the supporters is so important: they have to learn the fund-raising skills that has always been second nature to their non-league cousins; they have to learn to take it on the chin when they attract 5,000 fans to a game, but still can't beat a team that plays in front of 750 week in and week out; and they have to learn to accept that for the time being, they're the big time charlies that everyone else loves to hate, and wants to beat. I know next to nothing about the circumstances behind Tranmere's relegation, but I do believe their fans will carry them through this, no matter how long it takes. Good luck to both them and Barrow next season!

It's not "bye bye", honest! The Conference (or National League as it will be next season) is a dreadful place for a proper club to find itself, but I'm sure a club with Tranmere's tradition and passionate support will find its way back, even if it takes a few years. It took York City 8 gruelling years, so anything less than that is a bonus! There are more ex-League clubs than ever competing at that level, so there'll be some great battles with the likes of Wrexham, Lincoln, Chester, Halifax, Barrow, Bristol Rovers and/or Grimsby, etc to compensate for the Braintrees and Dovers. The biggest shock we got (apart from not getting promoted at the first seven attempts) was the tiny away followings that came to Bootham Crescent, the worst being Leigh RMI who brought 11 to a Tuesday night fixture. When the home fans applauded the dedication of that select few, the Leigh chairman though we were taking the p!ss, took offence, and it nearly kicked off in the directors' box Yes it's a dismal league, but keep faith and you'll have some great laughs along the way, and the passion of the fans who remain loyal will become deeper than you ever thought possible.

Wilcox was appointed York City manager last night, following the resignation of Nigel Worthington at the weekend. I'm desperately sad to see Worthington go just days after we took another giant step towards our new stadium, and despite our bad start to the season, but hopefully Wilcox can repeat last season's exploits for us.

Not yet, but give us time...

I really hope he doesn't go to play for Steve Evans.