Chill pill, kiddies.
Gardner left the Club waaaay better than he found it. Debt,world class facilities(AAMI), membership, governance, Casey, FD personnel and resources, MCC relationship, inclusivity of women etc. His greatest failing was his propensity to take on Vlad and the Kremlin which hurt us (ironic given that many in his lynch mob also demand we take on city hall now).
The Stynes/McLardy board has made further progress as Gardner alluded to and praised in the SEN interview that few seem to have actually heard.
But the great achievement on his watch was unity and credible football/win- loss/finals appearances. The great fraud of the current administration is it's claim to have unified (they have not) a disunited (it was not) Club. The bitter divisions of 2011 are unprecedented since 1965. The raw wounds of this disunity are at the heart of the despondency we all feel and our dysfunctionality as a footy club.
Who wouldn't exchange the Gardner 2004-June 2008 40% plus winning record with the 20% winning performance of the last 4 years of weekend misery for which Stynes/McLardy/Schwab/Connolly are responsible?
Thanks Paul.