Bolton players strike!!

How come Parky hasn't commented on all this? Manager should have his say.

Sure he’s had plenty to say behind closed doors.

Amos could be on his way to Ipswich as number one goalkeeper.

That should improve the situation.

Any legal experts on here?

Anderson admitted in his statement that he hasn't paid Ben Amos his wages and he hasn't paid retention fees and bonuses to other players.

Could Ben Amos or the unpaid players take Anderson to court and win if he won't pay what's in their contracts?

Cajunboy wrote:Amos could be on his way to Ipswich as number one goalkeeper.

That should improve the situation.

Rebellion has no up side for this club.  The question is how to rid the club of the ringleaders... right or wrong KA has a huge problem to deal with (not to say he was right in not paying on time).  This bodes poorly for attracting new players and for the season.  I would have hoped senior players would have been smarter before walking out.

observer wrote:
Rebellion has no up side for this club.  The question is how to rid the club of the ringleaders.

What upside would there be to losing players given how thin the squad is at this point?

T.R.O.Y wrote:What upside would there be to losing players given how thin the squad is at this point?

There's no upside, but some things are more important than football.

Bollocks to that, in supporting Bolton Wanderers I only care about what makes the team successful - as do you.

T.R.O.Y wrote:Bollocks to that, in supporting Bolton Wanderers I only care about what makes the team successful - as do you.

Can you honestly say your love for BWFC hasn't been tarnished by this saga?

If Ken said he was sacking all the strikers tonight I would be right behind him.

The sooner Amos is shipped out the better. He's forcing a move and disrupting the squad with it.

T.R.O.Y wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:I am 100% behind the chairman. Sack the fucking lot of 'em, ungrateful wankers.

They've turned a minor irritant into a big deal, embarrassing the club in the process.

And let's not forget, many of these wankers demanding their money were the same players who "played" at Burton. The fuckers should be paying us!

You can’t play fast and loose with contracts and get away with it. 

He knows the terms of the contracts in place, he’s had warnings in the past and this won’t have been an easy decision for the players.

You’d imagine the squad made a commitment that should it happen again they’d take action - would you seriously allow a business to do that to you?

When our wages didn’t get paid on time at my last company, if we had just gone on strike we could be sacked. Normally any strike action has to be endorsed by a union for it to be legal, so I am guessing the PFA must have been involved. Anyway for these underperforming excuses for footballers to strike is an insult to every fan of Bolton. Just maybe the money not paid to that one player is needed to make sure the loan can be repaid on time ? If so, fuck the “player”. The Club is way more important. For what it’s worth, we did get paid a few days later but then the Airline closed down a month later and they still owe me more than a grand which I will never see. If I was on a one million quid per year contract for being a very average player, I wouldn’t be bleating about not getting paid on time one month.

I agree, and footballers - as we know - are largely, money-grabbing wankers. But this isn't the first time it's happened so if you want a successful team you need to keep your players happy. Had Ken talked to the players he may have avoided this situation.

T.R.O.Y wrote:Had Ken talked to the players he may have avoided this situation.

How do you know he didn't?

The players statement said so didn’t it.  Said they had no explanation

BoltonTillIDie wrote:The players statement said so didn’t it.  Said they had no explanation

It's only one side's version, it may be true.

finlaymcdanger wrote:The sooner Amos is shipped out the better. He's forcing a move and disrupting the squad with it.

How, by expecting his employer to  pay his contracted wages?

When we sign an employment contract, we all expect our employer to pay our wages, don't we?

Growler wrote:Any legal experts on here?

Anderson admitted in his statement that he hasn't paid Ben Amos his wages and he hasn't paid retention fees and bonuses to other players.

Could Ben Amos or the unpaid players take Anderson to court and win if he won't pay what's in their contracts?

No experts but loads of people with access to Google

One thing that stinks in all this to me is Iles being used as the voice of the players.

If the players wanted to go on strike and had the backing of their union (the PFA) then any formal announcement should have been issued by them.

(This also assumes the PFA had tried to mediate the issue with the club owner in the first place - did that ever happen?).

For Iles to be asked to put something out on social media and write an article for the Bolton News because all of the players/a few of the players/ just one of them had asked him to, seems to me to be irresponsible of him - he's supposed to report the news not become involved in it.

It all smacks to me of being an 'unofficial' spur of the moment type action by the players - facilitated by a gormless journalist, sticking their grievances in the public domain for all to see - and without consideration as to the ramifications to the club, or its fans (particularly the ones who are no financially out of pocket after paying to travel and stay in Paisley for the St Mirren game) in what they were doing.

Did Iles even contact the club for comment before publishing?  

It's done now but maybe if Iles hadn't rushed to publish the player unrest in public then things could have been resolved in private and the reason for the game being cancelled could have been said to be something else, such as a tummy bug hitting the squad or such like.

The smarter journalists know which story's to print and which to sit on, wouldn't it have been better for all concerned - the club, the players, the owner and the fans - if this particular story hadn't seen the light of day - particularly when we are actively looking to recruit eight other players and desperately seeking new investment or sale of the club!

If the players wanted to go on strike then where was their official announcement from their union supporting this course of action and when in God's name did Iles decide to act as the mouthpiece of the players?

If Iles was on holiday  the players would have  contacted another journalist at the Bolton News
A newspaper is always going to print a message from the local professional football team explaining why they have gone on strike.
The strike happened because Anderson didn't pay Amos his wages and he didn't pay the other players their bonuses.It isn't Iles fault or the local paper's fault for reporting it.
I half expect you to search for a reason for the strike being Owen Coyle's fault rather than Anderson's fault

Growler wrote:If Iles was on holiday  the players would have  contacted another journalist at the Bolton News
A newspaper is always going to print a message from the local professional football team explaining why they have gone on strike.
The strike happened because Anderson didn't pay Amos his wages and he didn't pay the other players their bonuses.It isn't Iles fault or the local paper's fault for reporting it.
I half expect you to search for a reason for the strike being Owen Coyle's fault rather than Anderson's fault

Yes, let's blame Owen.  Seriously, a paper has the duty to report the story.  I disagree with Sluffy on this issue.  The paper also has the obligation of getting both sides of the story... and if the club did not respond, report that fact.  This in no way mitigates a really bonehead strike by the players.  This could and should have been settled behind the scenes.  While KA does have an obligation to pay wages (and bonuses) on time, the players have an obligation to the fans.  No one will win in this dispute... the club will lose potential players... KA may lose money to the FA if they find he fell behind on payments... and the legal implications could be that players may be able to void their contracts, or conversely, that KA could have a clause that would enable him to fire them for cause.  Without the contract in hand, it is beyond us to speculate that both sides may have cause for relief.  The fans who ventured up to Scotland lost money, and the good name of the club has taken a nosedive.

Listening to Stu Holden who is commentating on the World Cup, I think back to the two injuries that cost us the premier league... his and YCL.  Look how far we have fallen, and this stupid bonehead stunt by the millionaires will just take us down in the eyes of the fans and the FA.  This may be a very long season ahead.  Can't wait to hear the truth of what truly precipitated this event. I don't often feel sorry for millionaire players who got paid on Monday instead of Friday!  Amos, on the other hand, must have pissed off KA in a big way... or his agent did the same.  Something happened and one day we will learn it.  For now, we need to mend fences and start working on improving our lot in the Championship.