Daniel Fagan

Reading back through @AndyhHolt's tweets about the situation at Accrington Stanley, it's hard not to sympathise with his position. He has poured a chunk of his personal wealth into the club and been nothing less than a model custodian since the day he saved the club from a dire fate in 2015. Among his many investments was building a wonderful facility for fans (Coley's Bar), the name of which immortalises the manager he inherited. John Coleman's name is synonymous with the club and his achievements over the past 25 years give him enormous leverage. But that leverage needs to be used wisely. If you're going to flex and put your personal situation ahead of the tribe momentarily, then you better be on solid ground and get the timing bang on. Now is not that time. Jimmy Bell's power play on @BBCLancsSport was premature and uncalled for. Demon behaviour. It must be reassuring for Holt to know that his team's immediate fortunes are in competent hands. To not have to constantly assess the manager's position and suitability for the role. Nonetheless, relegation last season must have been a huge blow to him personally. A positive chapter in the club's history came to an end, revealing an altogether different reality. Not only is the bottom line worse for Holt but the potential downsides of running this club suddenly outweigh the potential upsides as well. As non-business people, Coleman and Bell perhaps only appreciate the first half of that equation. Stanley might be 7th in the table all of a sudden and feeling empowered again but they're highly unlikely to be promoted at the end of this season with the likes of Stockport, Wrexham and Notts County around. The threat of a return to non-league might not be immediate but it could yet be the most likely door by which they exit League Two in the next 4-5 years. So there's nothing untoward about Holt holding back on new deals for Coleman and Bell at this junction, it's just plain common sense. Coleman and Bell do good work, everybody knows that. But good work with average players doesn't always get results, as last season showed. A Colby Bishop can make a world of difference. So why should Coleman and Bell be exempt from the jeopardy of Accrington's current plight? They are more responsible than anyone for what happened last season, so they need to feel the pinch like everyone else and earn their future comforts. Results matter. Attitude matters. Holt needs some reassurance that things aren't going to go stale. He needs to be absolutely sure that last season was just a blip and not the onset of a harsh winter. He needs to be certain that Coleman still adds value to the overall playing budget. Pumping money into a small-time football club is like dancing with the devil, you have to wait for the music to stop. Coleman can disappear at any moment, leaving behind a club destined for nowhere good - and his unrivalled legacy will remain intact. Holt can't just walk away, he still has to pick up the tab whatever the future looks like. Judging by his tweets it's tough, but tolerable. The only thing that makes it intolerable is when you suddenly find yourself being played by the people who made the mistakes that created this uncertainty. This isn't a story about good people or bad people. It's just the dark side of human nature, when survival instincts take over. A moment of misjudgement under trying conditions. Uncertainty isn't nice. All other needs pale into insignificance against the desire for personal security. Remove a chunk of resources that were taken for granted and this is what happens. Our demons grab hold of the steering wheel. Things turn ugly and relationships break down. It would be a huge shame if there's not a reconciliation between Holt and his management team this week. Clear-the-air talks are desperately needed to prevent this minor betrayal escalating into more demon behaviour and a situation of deeper mistrust. This matter should never have been made public. The responsibility for that is clearly on Bell but it would be naive to think Coleman wasn't party to Bell's intentions. Right now, Coleman and Bell need to get their heads down and just crack on with the business of getting results. Which they are perfectly capable of doing. If they stick to that side of the bargain, then you would assume everything else sorts itself out. As someone who has been vocal about the lack of stability in football nowadays, I'll be rooting for Accy to sort this mess out. But if it goes the other way, I won't be viewing Holt as the guilty party.