HOPING for the best, but preparing for the worst.
That neatly encapsulates the outlook of most Newcastle Jets fans I bump into, as we await confirmation of the embattled club's future beyond the end of this A-League season.
Unfortunately, hope starts to wear a bit threadbare over the course of time, especially for those of us who have been there and done it all before.
So when the Newcastle Herald broke the news this week that US-based consortium FC32 had withdrawn its offer to buy the city's A-League franchise, many were quick to jump to conclusions.
FC32, which has interests in football clubs overseas, had been widely touted as the Jets' most likely source of salvation, after the recent admission by A-Leagues boss Stephen Conroy that Newcastle might be forced to fold at the end of this season.
For quite some time now, it seemed FC32 were not just the Jets' preferred option, but the only option. Their representatives had visited Newcastle to conduct their due diligence, inspecting training facilities and the stadium, and impressed Jets coach Rob Stanton with their plans for the club.
FC32 seemed like a good fit, not least because the owners of rival clubs who have been bankrolling the Jets for more than three years want out, ASAP.
But after extensive negotiations, FC32 walked away from the table, not for the first time, by all accounts.
Does this mean the Jets are doomed?
Not necessarily. Newcastle's executive chairman Shane Mattiske reckons there are "at least" four other expressions of interest, two of which have advanced to formal takeover offers.
Speaking from the US, FC32 principal Paul Francis told my colleague James Gardiner: "We put forward the best bid we could. We increased it but it was not competitive with the other bids. We have to move on."
That would suggest maybe there are rivals in the mix with even deeper pockets than FC32. It would seem strange that it has taken so long for these other interested parties to emerge, but perhaps there will still be a positive outcome for the Jets and their long-suffering fans.
In saying that, the longer this drags out, the more conspiracy theories will inevitably float to the surface. And here's one that isn't too imaginative.
The Australian Professional Leagues, which run the A-League competitions, has seemingly lurched from one disaster to the next over the past few months.
They've just finished helping Perth Glory through an ownership transition, and now they still have to install new owners at Newcastle and at a proposed start-up Canberra franchise.
Bear in mind that a new Auckland entity, to be funded by American billionaire Bill Foley, is full steam ahead preparing to launch next season.
As an outsider looking in, it might appear that APL has enough to worry about, and the double-barrelled dilemmas in Newcastle and Canberra have dragged on far too long already. The easiest option in this case might simply be to allow the Jets to fold, "terrible tragedy" as Conroy said that would be, and defer Canberra's entry for at least another 12 months.
Auckland's inclusion would then ensure a 12-team competition proceeds, and they would presumably help fill their roster with former Newcastle players.
That would seem a fairly smooth and logical transition but, as stated before, it's only a conspiracy theory. If, hypothetically, it was decided that was indeed the way to go, when is the time to break such news?
My guess is that it would be a priority to get the season out of the road before informing Jets players, staff and fans that their club has been officially declared defunct.
As it stands, there appears every chance that, come full-time in Newcastle's final game of the season, at home against the Mariners on April 27, the club's fate will still be hanging in the balance.
Next season seems a long way off.
