“WHAT have I got to do to make you love me? What have I got to do to make you care?”

We all know the chorus.

Elton John knew football too. In two spells as chairman at his beloved Watford, he oversaw their rise from the bottom tier to the top and got them back to the Premier League nearly two decades later.

But it’s that lyric of his, “Sorry seems to be the hardest word”, that hits the nail on the head.

It sprung to mind when Edin Rahic put his head above the Valley Parade parapet with a public apology.

Rahic was “truly sorry” for “some of the decisions” he had made.

The obvious one, which he did ’fess up to, was the appointment of Michael Collins.

Others he did not outline but it remains a lengthy list since axing Stuart McCall after the one wobble of his tenure.

The reaction to Wednesday’s statement was predictably divided.

“We’ve heard it all before” shouted the critics. The battle lines, for now, remain entrenched.

It is, after all, only three months since Stefan Rupp informed the player-of-the-year audience: “We’ve learned our lesson.”

Again, what lessons these are and what exactly the owners have learned remains unclear. Efforts to sit down with Rahic for a question-and-answer session are still ongoing.

The anti-brigade, and that is sadly how fractured the City fanbase has currently become, dismissed Rahic’s words as half-hearted; designed more to protect himself from the protests that have been mooted.

The statement also followed in the wake of some damning national scrutiny.

The tabloid column ghosted by an informed “source”; sharp words on TV from Simon Grayson and Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth; former fitness coach Chris Short highlighting the “lack of respect” he felt from his previous employer.

Rahic had to come out and say something as the case against his leadership built on a daily basis.

But that’s not to suggest that his admission is worthless.

Talk is cheap may be the accepted mantra but I saw it as a small step in the right direction. “See you’re back on the payroll” was typical of the jibes I received for daring to tweet that. But you have to start somewhere.

A line has been drawn in the sand. Time will tell whether it just washes away or becomes that point where the scenario can change.

Rahic has already made a start by bringing in David Hopkin, a boss with proven experience and success.

By identifying early enough the blunder made in fast-tracking a rookie for the post, he is probably back to even on that score.

Of course, it still begs the question what stopped Hopkin’s arrival in the summer? Getting him in now leaves the Scot scrabbling for free agents, such as his first signing Jim O’Brien, and still four months off being able to carry out a proper sort-out.

But there are strong indications that Hopkin will be his own boss with recruitment.

The tweaks at the training ground that he has already instigated, such as the return of ice baths to speed up recovery, show the head coach is being allowed to do the role exactly how he wants.

By stepping away like that, Rahic can again start to rebuild confidence in a fanbase who view his rule as consisting of wanting his finger in too many pies.

Maybe it would also help to listen a bit more to those former employees with the club at heart like Julian Rhodes, James Mason and David Baldwin.

I understand that Mason never wanted to leave but felt he had to. Would the owners now entertain a conversation to try to get him to come back?

But the fans can also do their part by calling a truce – and certainly on matchdays. A negative backdrop will not help Hopkin and his team attempt to pick up the pieces from the difficult start.

The average wage-bill for promoted sides now is around £4 million. I would hazard a guess that City’s would be half that.

Owning a club is an expensive business. And contrary to rumour, there is no syndicate of white knights waiting to swoop in any time soon.

As Rhodes and Mark Lawn discovered, City do not have a long line of potential suitors. Rahic and Rupp were the only serious party.

Hopkin has called this a fresh chapter, “the past is the past”. Let’s see if all sides can do it by the book.