AFTER such a long silence, it took some time to digest the tidal wave of information that gushed out of Wanderers yesterday evening.

Phil Gartside is seriously ill, Trevor Birch has been appointed as a financial advisor and confirmation, long overdue, that Eddie Davies is not able to continuing funding the football club.

Three very significant developments in what feels like a defining week.

I am heartened to say that news of the chairman’s illness was greeted with utmost respect and compassion by Wanderers fans.

While many have had their axe to grind, the messages of goodwill and support were genuine on a night when it seemed the whole of football gained a sense of perspective.

Regardless of what it happening around the club, or your opinion on the past, any decent person would pass on their best wishes to a family man on his recovery.

On behalf of myself and everyone at the newspaper I certainly hope he is back on his feet and smiling again soon.

The club which has played such a central part in Gartside’s life since he joined the board in 1989 is undergoing its biggest test.

Financially there is no safety net after the admission from vice-chairman Brett Warburton that Davies “can’t provide any further funding.” We have all known that for some time but seeing it in black and white brings home just how serious this situation could become if a buyer is not found soon.

Enter Birch, a man who has trod his fair share of boardroom carpets. His arrival can be taken two ways – either as a positive sign that someone with his business acumen and history of brokering takeover deals is needed, or that his knowledge of dealing with a club in dire straits was necessary.

The truth, I fear is somewhere between the two.

I have on good authority that the Sports Shield Consortium are down to fine details in their effort to take on ownership at the Macron Stadium. But like everyone else, I’m reining in my excitement until I know more about the background and business plan of those involved.

Interestingly, unless I’m reading too much into the wording of the club statement, Birch was employed to negotiate with “various parties” – plural - which hints at more than one prospective buyer.

Wanderers could certainly use options. If the losses are as considerable as I have heard then time is really of the essence.

Worse still, matters on the pitch are about to be brought back into sharp focus. Neil Lennon will take his side to Reading without the new signing his hankered for before the international break, his limits of patience now pushed to the very limit.

With all this now in the open I hope the players take notice too.

I spoke with the manager about the potential effect takeover talk may have on players and he dismissed the idea – passing it off as a “local story.” Don’t worry, I’m not precious.

But if the players do not grasp the idea of just how serious this situation has become, how a town’s football club needs to dig in and fight its ground like never before then I ask they start now. This local story is getting very serious indeed.

Forget the notion that the club is “too good to go down” or that “there is too much quality in the dressing room” – Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich City, Coventry City, Sheffield United, heck, even Manchester City said that at one time or another in the last couple of decades.

Fans have long since criticised Wanderers for being too detached. I put it to them that some real world problems are now at their doorstep and they are not going to be able to achieve a thing without the complete support of the people who still dig deep every single week to watch them play.

We have clamoured for Lennon to make signings and improve his own options but now that is no longer a possibility, the players he has at his disposal need to raise their game.

Whether or not new ownership materialises this week, next month or next season, Wanderers need to get things right on the pitch right now.