For sale mystery surrounds Linnets

Your Local Paper columnist Mark Hearle reflects on what has been happening at The Walks in his latest weekly column.The Linnets probably produced their best performance of the season last week when they dispatched National League North high flyers Kidderminster Harriers by a 4-0 margin at The Walks.However, before, during, and after the game, much of the terrace talk was taken up with chairman Stephen Cleeve’s social media post, made a few hours before the Tuesday evening kick-off, in which he appeared to make either part or all of the club available for sale if the right person or offer came along.All of the chat should have been about Adam Lakeland and his squad.To add further mystery to an already cloudy-looking situation, the post was removed the same evening but not before it had been saved and shared by many Lynn fans, wondering what was happening.From a club perspective, the timing wasn’t the best, and that’s being polite.I’m sure Lakeland would have been less than pleased to have been made aware of such things when he should have been preparing his side for a big match and his chairman appeared to be attempting to test the water on either a part or full sale of the football club. It was only a couple or so weeks ago that the chairman was enthusing about the Linnets achieving ‘global branding’, with many plans in the pipeline to stabilise the club’s financial base for the future also being mentioned, so to see this kind of statement has left many with any interest in the club confused. To date, the club or the chairman have not commented on either the statement’s contents or its withdrawal after posting which has only served to add more fuel to a fire that continues to smoulder before igniting fully.In truth, the club’s media hands are tied on the matter.The statement came from the chairman’s account and not the club’s so the club as such has nothing to comment on as it stands. As well as that, a football club’s media team can only issue any kind of statement or information when they are told something, and as of yet they appear to have not been told anything. The problem is that, in this instance, silence isn’t golden and it’s down to Mr Cleeve to clear up the mess his post has created and fill in the supporters with the full picture, not just half of it. Over recent weeks I have noted the club offering discounts on tickets purchased ahead of games to try and bolster up the attendances, which to date have mostly been on the disappointing side.Last week’s Kidderminster game had a few pounds saved on advanced tickets bought and I’ve again noticed similar offers for this weekend’s game and the following home game with Alfreton Town. Despite the savings on offer, only 800 turned out for last week’s game under the lights on an evening that was very kind with the weather, considering the time of year.The club will be hoping that the next two home games see a much greater turnout of supporters taking up the offers at a time when many are thinking of Christmas and all of the expense that brings. On the pitch, the club appear to have turned the corner following their recent tricky spell with two solid home wins, seeing them move to only a couple of points away from the top spot in the league.Bearing this in mind, it shouldn’t surely be out of the question to see four-figure gates at The Walks over the next two Saturdays should it?Apart from a few exceptions, gates have never really returned to pre-Covid levels for some reason and it’s an area which the club should take a close look at to try and figure out the reason why.People will usually mention the prices are too high, a reason that does keep some away I’m sure but I also feel there are other factors as to why the attendances aren’t what they should be. Maybe a questionnaire handed out to supporters may be the way to gauge opinion and attempt to solve a problem that has been around now for a few seasons.The club now must be upfront with its supporters as to what is actually going on and to break the deafening silence.The enforced break in games couldn’t have come at a worse time for Adam Lakeland who will be very happy to see his team back in action this Saturday with Scarborough Athletic at The Walks in a rearranged National League North fixture.Impressive home wins over both Southport and Kidderminster have seen Lynn move back close to the summit of the league table, with a win over former Manchester United star Jon Greening’s side adding extra pressure to the teams around them in the play-off and automatic promotion places. Lakeland has endured a few difficult weeks of late with important players missing through injury but their gradual reintroduction and others returning to their best form has provided a timely boost to the club as a whole.Greening’s team will be another tough nut to crack without doubt but the Linnets appear to have regained some momentum as they emerge from their recent difficult spell.A win at the weekend and another the following over an always difficult Alfreton Town will put Lynn in good stead for the traditionally busy Christmas period – now only a few weeks away.