WELL, if a week is a long time in politics, it can be an eternity in football. Especially in footballing limbo.

Last Thursday, there were farcical and disgraceful scenes at Bloomfield Road. A press conference, which, with the benefit of that wonderful invention, hindsight, should have been cancelled, ended in the unseemly sight of a manager slagging off his board of directors while simultaneously pledging to continue working for them.

One week later and, while it's not all sweetness and light, McMahon infers that he will be besides the seaside for some time yet.

It is the view of this supporter that McMahon should have gone and should still go. An agreement should have been reached for the parties to go their separate ways.

Contact with Oldham is the key issue for me. His denial of contact with the club was followed by a reported confirmation -- by a respected TV station, which McMahon is happy to work for -- that the Blackpool manager had 'applied' for the Oldham job.

If that is correct, he has lied to the fans and to the board of directors. If that is true his position is untenable.

There followed (here we go again) a denial, this time by Oldham, that they had 'approached' McMahon or 'offered' the manager's job to him.

With Oldham still in administration (announced between McMahon's resignation and its withdrawal) it looks like an appointment there will be some time away. Perhaps the new American owners will not want to pay the compensation Blackpool will demand or, perhaps, have had cold feet about the whole idea of bringing in a manager who isn't short on controversy.

And, while the possibility remains that the Oldham link was a red herring (though not many around Bloomfield Road believe that), McMahon's excuse -- that he couldn't wait a few hours to find out the conditions of a contract he signed just a few months ago -- is unconvincing.

Whichever way, the Oldham escape route now appears to be closed, though the reaction of both sets of fans will be fascinating on Saturday.

Supporters understand McMahon's frustrations. Of course we'd all like to see the manager's budget given a stretch. And I agree with the manager -- it could and should be done on the basis of some of the extra income which has flowed in from three decent cup runs.

But, looking at it from the opposite perspective, the chairman and directors are in charge of a club whose major sponsor has collapsed and which is about to start building a major new stand. And, contrary to what some people like to think, Blackpool FC is not immune to the intense financial pressures placed on nationwide league clubs up and down the county.

And I doubt that anyone else in this division, or many in the division above, would come up with £200,000 for transfer fees and, presumably, much more in wages, on their manager's demand.

Some of the personal attacks made by McMahon on his chairman in the last week have also been outrageous and have widened, rather than healed, the rift between McMahon and those he needs to work with.

While both men are big enough to keep on working together, their relationship has surely gone too far beyond creative tension to survive. If they can still work together after this, they should try their hand at something else -- how about settling the Arab Israeli conflict for starters?

McMahon's tendency to criticise, often in graphic terms, the local media while pouring his heart out to the very TV station that directly reported he had applied for the Oldham job is also a disgrace.

If McMahon wants to remain Blackpool manager, I'll be 100 per cent behind his team. But that doesn't mean he'll get my trust or respect back. What is really needed is for McMahon to walk away with dignity.

The chairman obviously wants him to respect his contract, but surely some kind of deal can be reached that allows both parties to make a fresh start?

That way, perhaps, McMahon will keep his reputation intact and, one day, get the dream job in football he so clearly wants.

And Blackpool FC will be able to bring in a manager who can work on a budget no tighter than those at some clubs which are flying high in this division. We live in hope.

A personal view -- by Citizen news editor and longstanding Blackpool fan, Steve Dunthorne...

Got a view on 'Maccagate'? Backing the boss or cheering on the chairman? Let the Citizen know -- write to us at Citizen letters, 13/13a Clifton Street, Blackpool, FY1 1JD or email gmorgan@blackpoolcitizen.co.uk