Veljko Paunovic And The Owners Nosedive In Approval Ratings

Last Sunday, we asked you for your opinion on how Veljko Paunovic and the owners were getting on after a turbulent 2022 so far.

Winning just one point from a possible 21 during this calendar year and being knocked out by Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup, things on the pitch haven’t exactly been smooth (understatement of the year) and there’s clear unhappiness off it too.

This is a real recipe for disaster - but am I just too pessimistic? Do the fans think we’re in a better place than it seems? Let’s just say the verdict on that one is a no - because these results are damning as a whole.

Veljko Paunovic

When we asked you to rate Pauno out of five, we knew we weren’t going to get many high scores considering recent events.

And unsurprisingly, the Serbian’s rating has dropped to an average 1.31 - and though his 2.63/5 back in September wasn’t exactly the biggest endorsement of his stewardship - he has plunged to new depths this month.

Over three-quarters (79.2%) of fans who provided their verdict gave the 44-year-old just 1/5 and to be fair, that’s no real shock considering we’re in real relegation danger at this stage.

And just 7.6% of our respondents were much more sympathetic to Pauno, giving him 3/5 or higher. Your levels of empathy and patience are unbelievable - and I can only commend you for that.

But those in the #PaunoOut brigade certainly made their feelings known and those who previously had sympathy for the manager have pretty much lost that now.

Bizarre post-match interviews with Tim Dellor have only gone on to increase anger in certain sections of the fanbase. He looks like a broken man and in my eyes, it’s clear his time is up.

Whether a dismissal/resignation is on the way remains to be seen though, although I would like to point out the 13.2% that opted to go with 2/5. Considering how polarising the Pauno in/out debate was in recent months prior to the shambles of 2022 - some (including) were in this category.

And my theory behind some still opting against a 1/5 is the fact he’s been dealt an awful hand. That’s true and many would argue the problems at the club run deeper than the manager so you can definitely understand the reason why 13.2% are still in this category.

The majority of people in this mini-survey have quite clearly had enough though.

Dais

Dai Yongge and Dai Xi Liu - you’ve taken one hell of a beating in this one.

Their overall rating may not be as bad as Pauno’s - but they aren’t far behind with 1.61 compared to the 2.29 they received back in September. Can that be classed a real surprise? Not at all.

A higher proportion of respondents steered clear from the 1/5 option on this one - but 58.1% of people still chose it with 28.3% opting for a more generous 2/5.

Quick maths tells me 13.6% of those who took the survey gave the Dai siblings a higher total than that. We were unable to ask the entire fanbase for their approval ratings - but this is still a damning indictment of what’s been happening in the boardroom and how dissatisfied some fans are with how the club is operating.

Just three people (1.5%) believe Mr and Ms Dai are putting in a five-star performance compared to one for Pauno - and you have to feel the former need to turn things around quickly if the atmosphere is to improve at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

The spotlight may be on the manager at this stage - but Mr Dai isn’t exactly helping himself in many peoples’ eyes with Paunovic still in a job, a statement yesterday afternoon not exactly reassuring supporters about where we’re heading and a prize draw that has gone down like a sand sandwich.

All of those factors and more make this the lowest-ever owners’ approval rating since we started this series way back in 2015.