Battey: Let's look forward

7:00am Saturday 9th February 2008

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By Neil Perrett »

CHERRIES director Ernie Battey wants inquiring fans to call a temporary truce as they bid to search for answers to the cause of the club's grim financial state.

Battey, one of two supporters' trust representatives on the main board, took his place on the top table during yesterday's press conference.

And he was asked by the Daily Echo how he felt supporters could help during the club's hour of need and whether they should try to forget the past.

He replied: "I don't want people to forget the past because I'm a supporter as well and feel pathological about looking back and doing a forensic analysis of who got us into this mess at some stage.

"But let's agree for the next three, four or five months while we're looking for a new owner and investment that the real thing for us to do is to look forward and secure the future of the club.

"Then, I will be up for it as much as anybody else and, that given the opportunity, we should look at what happened in the past, if only for our own satisfaction so we understand better, even if there is nothing that can be done about it."

Battey added: "There's a range of things that fans can do. The first and most important thing is to keep turning out in large numbers. We're trying to overcome a 10-point deficit, which is severe, but we need to give the players every chance to perform for us.

"If the supporters turn out in their numbers, the players will do better and it will also improve the finances going towards the end of the season and ensure we can survive through and have enough time to be able to find a new buyer and new investment.

"The other thing that supporters can do is help us in any way they can. Of course money would be nice but even if money isn't there, if they could help us in practical ways that would be very welcome too."

Discussing the administration route, Battey said: "What has happened in terms of this administration is that we are using a route that wasn't obvious to us a year ago. If we'd gone into administration a year ago - and I know a lot of people are saying in hindsight we should have - we wouldn't have gone into administration in this way and I think that would have exposed us to liquidation much faster.

"This route is an interesting variation because it does create space for us to properly negotiate with new investors and ensures that the club can stay alive during that process because we've found a mechanism that enables the administration to be funded and take us forward."