Fan backing crucial to hopes of Hibs takeover bid SOONER or later, whether together or separately, Sir Tom Farmer and Rod Petrie will part company with Hibernian. That much is certain. What is unclear is when the club owner and chairman will go, and what state they will leave the club in when they do. The umbrella body of Hibs fans which will be launched today by Pat Stanton wants Farmer and his long-term lieutenant to leave sooner rather than later. It wants a peaceful takeover, one in which Farmer, who has always said he bought the club nearly quarter of a century ago for the good of the community, returns it to that community. In essence, it is saying two distinct things to Farmer, appealing to his good will and to his business brain. "You've always liked to be seen as a philanthropist, especially where the Leith community is concerned," is one implicit message. This is your chance to show it, by negotiating a smooth exit for yourself and Petrie, and handing over control to that community. The other message adds a dash of monetary realism to that idealism. And by the way, we'll make it worth your while. In public at least, neither Farmer nor Petrie has put a price on Hibernian, either just as a football club or together with Easter Road and the training ground at East Mains. So the new group are as yet unaware of how much money they will have to raise if they are to have a reasonable chance of winning control. But they are determined to buy club, ground and training ground together, in order to ensure that if and when they do take over, they will retain a permanent home for the club to play in and a permanent centre for the players to train in. There are a number of major obstacles that the new group needs to overcome before it realises its dream, perhaps the most obvious of these being the willingness of Farmer and Petrie to negotiate. So far, while appearing content to have preliminary discussions with prospective purchasers of the club, the owner has given no sign of being actively eager to sell, and until that stance changes the campaign may look a bit like an academic exercise. The key to credibility is to recruit as many members as possible. If only 1,000 people sign up and pledge to pay a monthly sum to the campaign, Farmer would be entitled either to ignore it completely, or to point out that it simply lacked the backing of a big enough section of the Hibs support. On the other hand, if the number of pledgers gets close to the average home attendance at Easter Road, it will be clear that the campaign has won the backing of the majority of those who care most about the club. There is no set tipping point; no magic number which, once reached, will force Farmer to the negotiating table. But every new member adds to the chorus demanding change, and to the pressure on Farmer to work with the community he claims to serve. The success of the Foundation of Hearts, which now funds the Tynecastle club together with the cash input of executive chairwoman Ann Budge, proves that the model of monthly subscriptions is viable - provided enough fans sign up. Budge only agreed to give the Foundation a cash advance once it showed it had mass support, and business people minded to invest in Hibs may also wait until sufficient people have signed up. But while in that sense Hearts offer an encouraging model for their city rivals, in another the circumstances are very different. Hearts were in administration, their very existence under threat, when the Foundation really got its campaign under way - before then, previous owner Vladimir Romanov had refused to countenance any negotiations. Hibs, a debt of several million pounds notwithstanding, do not face that kind of threat. What is more, although Hibs fans would not thank you for mentioning it, their core support is somewhat smaller than that of their Edinburgh rivals, and - despite the current efforts of the Hands On Hibs group - considerably less militant. No matter how anguished they felt as their club slowly declined over the past few years, all but a hard core opted for resignation rather than revolt when relegation became a reality. However, having said that, the lack of trust in Petrie in particular remains deep-seated. The new group needs to tap into that latent mistrust of the present regime, and turn it into active support for a more optimistic alternative. Initially at least, the group can expect a lot of opposition from within Easter Road - indeed, Hibs have already responded in a manner by announcing plans to have fans become directors. In the end, though, this campaign will succeed or fail not because of what Farmer or Petrie does, but because of what supporters do or do not do. When Farmer bought control of the club, he secured its medium-term safety, but at a price - he and Petrie would determine its direction. For several years now that has been downwards. By joining the new group, Hibs fans have a chance to secure the long-term safety of their club - and to help it to head back on an upwards trajectory. Hibernian fans to launch community ownership bid