And so it changes....

When news of the takeover first broke, I wrote a piece on how things might never be the same. Now that it has finally happened, have perceptions changed?

Firstly, the most immediate factor is that its now truly evident that the football club is owned by a Company. The difference between this reality and the prospect of simply a multi-millionaire owned is quite significant. The initial reaction of most supporters when the takeover news was first made public was to assume that we were going to have a Jack Walker-style figure pumping money into the club and hoping to influence some of the decisions being made. However, the reality is that we now have a board where half of its members are employees of a multi-national business and that those members hold the advantage should a decision be split.

Secondly, most fans were delighted at the prospect of the club being rid of its huge debt burden and there was a distinct air of "can this really be possible?". Well, now the deal is done, its clear that it hasnt quite worked out as some of us might have hoped- or perhaps simply wished. The debt isnt gone, its still there and its now gaining interest again. Of course, the burden of paying it back right now, when we cant afford it, is now gone completely, which can only be a good thing.

Thirdly, the expectation of £12m to spend seemed to provoke much hysteria as to who we were going to be able to go out and buy as we cut a swathe through the rest of the Championship, alongside cautionary tales of "spending it wisely". But it seems more likely that once that money has been used to deal with current and future shortfalls, not all caused by the increase in the wage bill, we arent left with an awful lot left to spend.

However, who am I kidding?! It was never going to be the fairytale we wanted it to be. But when is a takeover ever that? In some ways, removing the threat of financial insecurity and giving us a bit of money to spend in the transfer market is way beyond even the wildest dream any self-respecting town fan would have allowed himself to have two months ago.

Its a time of change and its a time of unfamiliarity. But it can be nothing if not a time for real optimism, at last.