Reply To: Mr Bell

[Anonymous]

Max loves being the centre of attention and has a large ego, which doesn’t help matters when clashing with Swann’s ego, but I don’t see why we need a club statement put forward on this matter.

If the club doesn’t want to sell Max’s book, then that’s their prerogative. However, to publicly complain about Max offending the Swanns is just petty. Has Max said anything offensive to Swann, other than criticism for him being sack happy with some snarky remarks over Twitter? I don’t recall there being anything too personal, and criticism should be allowed, even if we don’t agree with it.

This just makes the club look like a grievance minded outfit out to demean anyone who dares utter a word negative about it. There’s been a lot made of ‘cancel culture’ recently, and this smacks of it. I have no plans to buy Max’s book, I find his writing style grating at times, but this could have made some money for the club. Instead we’re not because the statement suggests that Max has hurt feelings, which may not amount to anything more than saying Swann hasn’t induced a stable environment for managers. Like I say, they are not obliged to sell the book, but to state this as a reason is poor form.

As for lifetime bans for Max, get a grip. Are we not allowed to criticise leadership any more? Do we want Scunthorpe Utd run like the NKVD?

This whole matter should have been handled far more privately and maturely. If the club felt that Max’s behaviour on social media means there is conflict with them wanting to sell the book then they should have asked for as private meeting where they could iron things out or just don’t sell it and ignore his antics. Either way, I think it’s small minded to lose out on an opportunity for some extra funds just because the author has been critical of Swann for sacking managers, so far as I can tell.