They say a week is a long time in football.
If that’s the case, eight months is an eternity.
It certainly must have felt that way for Raith Rovers fans awaiting official confirmation of David Goodwillie’s departure from their club.
It finally arrived today – the controversial striker is no longer a Rovers employee.
“About time too,” seems a fitting response, given former chairman John Sim apologised way back in February for sanctioning the deal.
The fact he did so despite Rovers fans making their objections clear weeks BEFORE the eventual move, when the club’s interest was first mooted, remains difficult to understand.
Nevertheless, the club went ahead and tried to ride out the inevitable negative response.
Statement lacks detail
Within days they had U-turned – but that still doesn’t explain why it has taken eight months for David Goodwillie to be released.
The controversial striker didn’t make a single appearance for Raith, but he has been employed by the club the entire time.
His contractual presence spans a period that has seen the marketing of Stark’s Park as a family destination.
The statement from the club today, announcing Goodwillie’s release, is brief, lacking in detail and insists there will be no further comment from within Stark’s Park.
But aren’t fans, with whom they have tried so hard to rebuild bridges, entitled to some sort of explanation?
Those supporters who hand over their hard-earned cash deserve to know if their cash is going towards paying off a man branded a rapist by a civil court.
Why so long?
They also deserve an explanation as to why it took eight months to formalise Goodwillie’s departure.
Rovers’ move to draw a line under the most disappointing of sagas comes on the same day a situation with some parallels came to a head at ice hockey team Glasgow Clan.
It would appear fan power was – as at Stark’s Park – the decisive factor in forcing change.
For some fans, today’s statement from Raith Rovers may be enough.
For others, it won’t be – and they are entitled to want more.
Conversation