Typical of KP to turn a serious thread about the future of our great club into one about arses.
Club Future - Administration or bust?
+27
finlaymcdanger
okocha
Leeds_Trotter
Sluffy
wanderlust
Buellix
Hipster_Nebula
Natasha Whittam
bryan458
rogercpc
gloswhite
BoltonTillIDie
Nigelbwfc
observer
maconman
rammywhite
Norpig
boltonbonce
DEANO82
Cajunboy
MartinBWFC
terenceanne
scottjames30
Boggersbelief
xmiles
karlypants
y2johnny
31 posters
182 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Fri Mar 08 2019, 21:22
karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
Natasha Whittam wrote:Typical of KP to turn a serious thread about the future of our great club into one about arses.
Please see post #176................
183 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Fri Mar 08 2019, 21:58
boltonbonce
Nat Lofthouse
You shouldn't be speaking of such things.karlypants wrote:Natasha Whittam wrote:Typical of KP to turn a serious thread about the future of our great club into one about arses.
Please see post #176................
Wife. Can I spend £25,000 on breast implants?
Husband. Why don't you just rub toilet paper all over your chest?
Wife. I don't get it.
Husband. Well, it worked on your arse, didn't it?
184 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Fri Mar 08 2019, 21:59
observer
Andy Walker
The Me movement will be all over you and doubly so on International Woman's Day! Sleep with one eye open!boltonbonce wrote:You shouldn't be speaking of such things.karlypants wrote:Natasha Whittam wrote:Typical of KP to turn a serious thread about the future of our great club into one about arses.
Please see post #176................
Wife. Can I spend £25,000 on breast implants?
Husband. Why don't you just rub toilet paper all over your chest?
Wife. I don't get it.
Husband. Well, it worked on your arse, didn't it?
185 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Fri Mar 08 2019, 22:01
boltonbonce
Nat Lofthouse
I already do, Obs! Unless I'm at the match.
186 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Fri Mar 08 2019, 22:17
karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
boltonbonce wrote:
I already do, Obs! Unless I'm at the match.
187 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 12:09
wanderlust
Nat Lofthouse
That's unnecessary KP. Throwing out random insults is a sign of insecurity - possibly because of your undersized tool?karlypants wrote:Wanderlust obviously taught Martin as they both do the same!
188 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 13:33
wanderlust
Nat Lofthouse
There's an excellent article in today's Times by Oliver Kay which summarises the position of the club, our decline and the role of Anderson - well worth a read.
The article is very sympathetic to the club, staff and the fans and the overall situation we find ourselves in.
It makes a few good points e.g. (about Anderson's promise to the players that they'll get paid on Monday if the club isn't sold) what possible reason would the players have for believing that Anderson would or could pay if the sale has collapsed? Surely the financial position would be even worse than it already is?
Those who have been taken in by Anderson's self-serving rhetoric won't like it - it's entitled "Bolton's Trump has left club to rot" - check it out.
All good except he hasn't actually left.
The article is very sympathetic to the club, staff and the fans and the overall situation we find ourselves in.
It makes a few good points e.g. (about Anderson's promise to the players that they'll get paid on Monday if the club isn't sold) what possible reason would the players have for believing that Anderson would or could pay if the sale has collapsed? Surely the financial position would be even worse than it already is?
Those who have been taken in by Anderson's self-serving rhetoric won't like it - it's entitled "Bolton's Trump has left club to rot" - check it out.
All good except he hasn't actually left.
189 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 14:18
Guest
Guest
Look forward to Sluffys upcoming essay discrediting Oliver Kay as “just another anti-Anderson”.
190 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 14:28
BoltonTillIDie
Nat Lofthouse
A link would be useful
191 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 14:40
wanderlust
Nat Lofthouse
Search Oliver Kay times articles - but if you don't buy the paper you'll have to subscribe to the online version which is £8 for 8 weeks of papersBoltonTillIDie wrote:A link would be useful
I get the Times on Saturday but 'm not going to retype the whole thing
192 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 14:53
BoltonTillIDie
Nat Lofthouse
Ha ha I see
193 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 14:58
observer
Andy Walker
Can you cut and paste it for us to read? Thx Lusty! And while you are at it, print a story that we won today. Thxwanderlust wrote:There's an excellent article in today's Times by Oliver Kay which summarises the position of the club, our decline and the role of Anderson - well worth a read.
The article is very sympathetic to the club, staff and the fans and the overall situation we find ourselves in.
It makes a few good points e.g. (about Anderson's promise to the players that they'll get paid on Monday if the club isn't sold) what possible reason would the players have for believing that Anderson would or could pay if the sale has collapsed? Surely the financial position would be even worse than it already is?
Those who have been taken in by Anderson's self-serving rhetoric won't like it - it's entitled "Bolton's Trump has left club to rot" - check it out.
All good except he hasn't actually left.
194 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 15:01
wanderlust
Nat Lofthouse
I have the hard copy delivered - there's an excellent jumbo cryptic crosswordobserver wrote:Can you cut and paste it for us to read? Thx Lusty! And while you are at it, print a story that we won today. Thxwanderlust wrote:There's an excellent article in today's Times by Oliver Kay which summarises the position of the club, our decline and the role of Anderson - well worth a read.
The article is very sympathetic to the club, staff and the fans and the overall situation we find ourselves in.
It makes a few good points e.g. (about Anderson's promise to the players that they'll get paid on Monday if the club isn't sold) what possible reason would the players have for believing that Anderson would or could pay if the sale has collapsed? Surely the financial position would be even worse than it already is?
Those who have been taken in by Anderson's self-serving rhetoric won't like it - it's entitled "Bolton's Trump has left club to rot" - check it out.
All good except he hasn't actually left.
195 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 15:10
karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
wanderlust wrote:I have the hard copy delivered - there's an excellent jumbo cryptic crosswordobserver wrote:Can you cut and paste it for us to read? Thx Lusty! And while you are at it, print a story that we won today. Thxwanderlust wrote:There's an excellent article in today's Times by Oliver Kay which summarises the position of the club, our decline and the role of Anderson - well worth a read.
The article is very sympathetic to the club, staff and the fans and the overall situation we find ourselves in.
It makes a few good points e.g. (about Anderson's promise to the players that they'll get paid on Monday if the club isn't sold) what possible reason would the players have for believing that Anderson would or could pay if the sale has collapsed? Surely the financial position would be even worse than it already is?
Those who have been taken in by Anderson's self-serving rhetoric won't like it - it's entitled "Bolton's Trump has left club to rot" - check it out.
All good except he hasn't actually left.
Take a picture of it with the camera on your phone and upload it to here?
Unless you are still stuck in a time warp with 2 cans and a piece of string...
196 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 15:14
xmiles
Jay Jay Okocha
karlypants wrote:wanderlust wrote:I have the hard copy delivered - there's an excellent jumbo cryptic crosswordobserver wrote:Can you cut and paste it for us to read? Thx Lusty! And while you are at it, print a story that we won today. Thxwanderlust wrote:There's an excellent article in today's Times by Oliver Kay which summarises the position of the club, our decline and the role of Anderson - well worth a read.
The article is very sympathetic to the club, staff and the fans and the overall situation we find ourselves in.
It makes a few good points e.g. (about Anderson's promise to the players that they'll get paid on Monday if the club isn't sold) what possible reason would the players have for believing that Anderson would or could pay if the sale has collapsed? Surely the financial position would be even worse than it already is?
Those who have been taken in by Anderson's self-serving rhetoric won't like it - it's entitled "Bolton's Trump has left club to rot" - check it out.
All good except he hasn't actually left.
Take a picture of it with the camera on your phone and upload it to here?
Unless you are still stuck in a time warp with 2 cans and a piece of string...
197 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 15:31
DEANO82
Tony Kelly
The first thing that strikes you these days, walking up to the University of Bolton Stadium, is the grime. The place used to be pristine, sparkling in the sunlight. Now the brickwork is a dirty shade of grey and even the Lancashire red rose on the giant club crest has faded to pink. If you were to assume that Bolton Wanderers are in desperate need of a little tender loving care, you would be right.
Still, Bolton’s supporters have learnt to be thankful for pitifully small mercies, such as the fact that today’s Sky Bet Championship game against Millwall can go ahead. On Tuesday, the club were given a 24-hour deadline by their safety advisory group — consisting of Bolton council plus the local emergency services — to provide reassurances about meeting policing and stewarding costs, or their safety certificate would be revoked.
With great reluctance, judging by his latest missive, the Bolton chairman, Ken Anderson, agreed to cover the costs of the part-time match-day staff and, on Wednesday, the game was given the go-ahead. All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least the club’s office staff and even some of the younger players received their monthly wages yesterday — just the seven days late. Anderson apologised “unreservedly” for the delay but then threw in a reservation for good measure anyway, saying, “It is difficult to accept putting a further £1 million into a club that does not want you there and [when], worse still, it is not safe to even go to the club.” All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least the manager Phil Parkinson and all his backroom staff, plus the players, were assured yesterday that they will finally be paid on Monday — just the ten days late.
Like the office staff, they have grown sick and tired, under Anderson’s ownership, of having to regard payday as a moveable feast. The players went on strike last July, refusing to play in a pre-season game against St Mirren, after receiving no explanation for unpaid wages and bonuses. Their November wages were paid 14 days late, just in time to avoid a threatened walkout. There were more threats on Thursday afternoon, with the players saying that they would take the matter to the EFL if they were not paid by 5pm yesterday.
Yesterday morning, Anderson dispatched Paul Aldridge, who is running the club day-to-day in a consultant role, to the training ground to tell Parkinson and the players that they would be paid by Monday, one way or the other. They were grateful for that. All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least over the course of yesterday afternoon there was the appearance of what looked like it may — may — be a shaft of light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. Anderson has spent the past few months negotiating the sale of the club to various interested parties, most notably the British businessman Parminder Basran. After a week of twists and turns, Parkinson said at yesterday’s pre-match press conference that Aldridge had told him “the takeover was progressing well and we hope that keeps going in the right direction. However, if it hasn’t happened by Monday, Ken says he will pay the people who haven’t been paid.” All give thanks . . . etc.
How exhausting all this must be for Bolton’s manager, staff, players and supporters. No doubt Anderson is exhausted too, three years after he bought the club in what was initially a joint enterprise with the former Bolton forward Dean Holdsworth before the pair had a very public falling-out.
Anderson, a former football agent, does not shy away from saying what the past three years have taken out of him, emotionally as well as financially. The club were on their knees when Anderson and Holdsworth took over, facing relegation to League One and, even more seriously, a winding-up petition over an unpaid tax bill.
Anderson would point out that he has reduced the debts, cut costs and put the club on course to report a first operating profit since 2006. Under Parkinson’s astute management, they won promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt and, against the odds, stayed up last season. The problem is that the off-pitch turmoil has never stopped and that, with the threat of relegation looming once more, facing severe cash-flow problems from one month to the next, Bolton are on their knees again.
There are hopes that this weekend will bring a new start. There were strong suggestions yesterday that Basran may attend this afternoon’s game in the belief that the takeover will be agreed by tomorrow evening. But will it? There can be no guarantees with Anderson, who revels in pushing every negotiation to the brink of collapse — and sometimes beyond — in the hope of securing the best possible deal. Will he still own the club by Monday? If not, can the players and coaching staff really take it at face value that they will be paid? “They have to, really,” Parkinson said. “We have to believe that’s the case.”
This is a club who have spent 11 consecutive seasons in the Premier League, securing four consecutive top-half finishes under Sam Allardyce, but they overstretched financially under Eddie Davies’s ownership and were ill-equipped for relegation when they fell off the gravy train in 2012. By the end of the next season, debts had risen to £163.8 million. Turnover continued to fall, dwindling from £58.5 million in their final season in the Premier League to £8.3 million in League One five years later. Average attendances have fallen from a high of 26,795 under Allardyce in 2003-04 to 14,584 this season but, if anything, crowds have held up remarkably well given the negativity that has engulfed the club in recent years.
One of Davies’s final acts, prior to his death last September at the age of 72, was to write off the £197.9 million debt that Bolton owed him. Another, in the final week of his life, was a £5 million loan to help the club avoid the threat of administration. As for whether Anderson is prepared to take even a relatively small hit for the good of the club, it remains to be seen.
Some argue that, economically, these northern mill towns have had their time in the Premier League but if the success stories and failures of the past decade tell us anything, it is that good management — at executive and at football level — is the key to everything. Whereas Burnley are thriving, Bolton’s decline and fall, like that of Blackburn Rovers, has simply been a story of mismanagement.
Anderson would say that he has managed the club better than those who went before him, but he has done so with no empathy whatsoever. His stream-of-consciousness missives on the club website read like the ramblings of a spoilt and unstable child — or, to put it another way, like those of President Trump. His every self-serving comment creates more resentment among office staff as well as the players. Morale has taken a battering. Nobody at the club can say with any certainty what Basran or any other potential investor may bring but there is, among players, staff and supporters, a desperation for a new start under new ownership.
“I think all the supporters just want the reputation of the club back intact,” Parkinson said. “I think that’s the key because it’s a famous club with a great history and they just don’t want any more bad press. They don’t want to pick up the paper or turn on Sky and see bad things about Bolton. We’re all tired of it. The fans just want the club to move on. And if it does that, what a fantastic base you would have to build the club back up. The stadium is fantastic. A lot of people don’t know how good the training ground is. There are so many good points about the club. Everyone in football knows what a great club Bolton Wanderers is.”
Parkinson is right. It is what makes their decline — like the struggles of Charlton Athletic, Coventry City and so many other proud clubs up and down the country, which have fallen into the wrong hands — so sad. Fans can live with defeats, they can even live with relegations, but it is altogether harder to tolerate seeing your club being dragged through the dirt. During those halcyon years in the Premier League, the stadium stood as a beacon of pride for the town. Now it bears the scars of neglect. It is a long way back but, for now, Bolton’s fans just want to feel that sense of pride again.
Still, Bolton’s supporters have learnt to be thankful for pitifully small mercies, such as the fact that today’s Sky Bet Championship game against Millwall can go ahead. On Tuesday, the club were given a 24-hour deadline by their safety advisory group — consisting of Bolton council plus the local emergency services — to provide reassurances about meeting policing and stewarding costs, or their safety certificate would be revoked.
With great reluctance, judging by his latest missive, the Bolton chairman, Ken Anderson, agreed to cover the costs of the part-time match-day staff and, on Wednesday, the game was given the go-ahead. All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least the club’s office staff and even some of the younger players received their monthly wages yesterday — just the seven days late. Anderson apologised “unreservedly” for the delay but then threw in a reservation for good measure anyway, saying, “It is difficult to accept putting a further £1 million into a club that does not want you there and [when], worse still, it is not safe to even go to the club.” All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least the manager Phil Parkinson and all his backroom staff, plus the players, were assured yesterday that they will finally be paid on Monday — just the ten days late.
Like the office staff, they have grown sick and tired, under Anderson’s ownership, of having to regard payday as a moveable feast. The players went on strike last July, refusing to play in a pre-season game against St Mirren, after receiving no explanation for unpaid wages and bonuses. Their November wages were paid 14 days late, just in time to avoid a threatened walkout. There were more threats on Thursday afternoon, with the players saying that they would take the matter to the EFL if they were not paid by 5pm yesterday.
Yesterday morning, Anderson dispatched Paul Aldridge, who is running the club day-to-day in a consultant role, to the training ground to tell Parkinson and the players that they would be paid by Monday, one way or the other. They were grateful for that. All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least over the course of yesterday afternoon there was the appearance of what looked like it may — may — be a shaft of light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. Anderson has spent the past few months negotiating the sale of the club to various interested parties, most notably the British businessman Parminder Basran. After a week of twists and turns, Parkinson said at yesterday’s pre-match press conference that Aldridge had told him “the takeover was progressing well and we hope that keeps going in the right direction. However, if it hasn’t happened by Monday, Ken says he will pay the people who haven’t been paid.” All give thanks . . . etc.
How exhausting all this must be for Bolton’s manager, staff, players and supporters. No doubt Anderson is exhausted too, three years after he bought the club in what was initially a joint enterprise with the former Bolton forward Dean Holdsworth before the pair had a very public falling-out.
Anderson, a former football agent, does not shy away from saying what the past three years have taken out of him, emotionally as well as financially. The club were on their knees when Anderson and Holdsworth took over, facing relegation to League One and, even more seriously, a winding-up petition over an unpaid tax bill.
Anderson would point out that he has reduced the debts, cut costs and put the club on course to report a first operating profit since 2006. Under Parkinson’s astute management, they won promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt and, against the odds, stayed up last season. The problem is that the off-pitch turmoil has never stopped and that, with the threat of relegation looming once more, facing severe cash-flow problems from one month to the next, Bolton are on their knees again.
There are hopes that this weekend will bring a new start. There were strong suggestions yesterday that Basran may attend this afternoon’s game in the belief that the takeover will be agreed by tomorrow evening. But will it? There can be no guarantees with Anderson, who revels in pushing every negotiation to the brink of collapse — and sometimes beyond — in the hope of securing the best possible deal. Will he still own the club by Monday? If not, can the players and coaching staff really take it at face value that they will be paid? “They have to, really,” Parkinson said. “We have to believe that’s the case.”
This is a club who have spent 11 consecutive seasons in the Premier League, securing four consecutive top-half finishes under Sam Allardyce, but they overstretched financially under Eddie Davies’s ownership and were ill-equipped for relegation when they fell off the gravy train in 2012. By the end of the next season, debts had risen to £163.8 million. Turnover continued to fall, dwindling from £58.5 million in their final season in the Premier League to £8.3 million in League One five years later. Average attendances have fallen from a high of 26,795 under Allardyce in 2003-04 to 14,584 this season but, if anything, crowds have held up remarkably well given the negativity that has engulfed the club in recent years.
One of Davies’s final acts, prior to his death last September at the age of 72, was to write off the £197.9 million debt that Bolton owed him. Another, in the final week of his life, was a £5 million loan to help the club avoid the threat of administration. As for whether Anderson is prepared to take even a relatively small hit for the good of the club, it remains to be seen.
Some argue that, economically, these northern mill towns have had their time in the Premier League but if the success stories and failures of the past decade tell us anything, it is that good management — at executive and at football level — is the key to everything. Whereas Burnley are thriving, Bolton’s decline and fall, like that of Blackburn Rovers, has simply been a story of mismanagement.
Anderson would say that he has managed the club better than those who went before him, but he has done so with no empathy whatsoever. His stream-of-consciousness missives on the club website read like the ramblings of a spoilt and unstable child — or, to put it another way, like those of President Trump. His every self-serving comment creates more resentment among office staff as well as the players. Morale has taken a battering. Nobody at the club can say with any certainty what Basran or any other potential investor may bring but there is, among players, staff and supporters, a desperation for a new start under new ownership.
“I think all the supporters just want the reputation of the club back intact,” Parkinson said. “I think that’s the key because it’s a famous club with a great history and they just don’t want any more bad press. They don’t want to pick up the paper or turn on Sky and see bad things about Bolton. We’re all tired of it. The fans just want the club to move on. And if it does that, what a fantastic base you would have to build the club back up. The stadium is fantastic. A lot of people don’t know how good the training ground is. There are so many good points about the club. Everyone in football knows what a great club Bolton Wanderers is.”
Parkinson is right. It is what makes their decline — like the struggles of Charlton Athletic, Coventry City and so many other proud clubs up and down the country, which have fallen into the wrong hands — so sad. Fans can live with defeats, they can even live with relegations, but it is altogether harder to tolerate seeing your club being dragged through the dirt. During those halcyon years in the Premier League, the stadium stood as a beacon of pride for the town. Now it bears the scars of neglect. It is a long way back but, for now, Bolton’s fans just want to feel that sense of pride again.
198 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 16:15
xmiles
Jay Jay Okocha
Thanks DeanoDEANO82 wrote:The first thing that strikes you these days, walking up to the University of Bolton Stadium, is the grime. The place used to be pristine, sparkling in the sunlight. Now the brickwork is a dirty shade of grey and even the Lancashire red rose on the giant club crest has faded to pink. If you were to assume that Bolton Wanderers are in desperate need of a little tender loving care, you would be right.
Still, Bolton’s supporters have learnt to be thankful for pitifully small mercies, such as the fact that today’s Sky Bet Championship game against Millwall can go ahead. On Tuesday, the club were given a 24-hour deadline by their safety advisory group — consisting of Bolton council plus the local emergency services — to provide reassurances about meeting policing and stewarding costs, or their safety certificate would be revoked.
With great reluctance, judging by his latest missive, the Bolton chairman, Ken Anderson, agreed to cover the costs of the part-time match-day staff and, on Wednesday, the game was given the go-ahead. All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least the club’s office staff and even some of the younger players received their monthly wages yesterday — just the seven days late. Anderson apologised “unreservedly” for the delay but then threw in a reservation for good measure anyway, saying, “It is difficult to accept putting a further £1 million into a club that does not want you there and [when], worse still, it is not safe to even go to the club.” All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least the manager Phil Parkinson and all his backroom staff, plus the players, were assured yesterday that they will finally be paid on Monday — just the ten days late.
Like the office staff, they have grown sick and tired, under Anderson’s ownership, of having to regard payday as a moveable feast. The players went on strike last July, refusing to play in a pre-season game against St Mirren, after receiving no explanation for unpaid wages and bonuses. Their November wages were paid 14 days late, just in time to avoid a threatened walkout. There were more threats on Thursday afternoon, with the players saying that they would take the matter to the EFL if they were not paid by 5pm yesterday.
Yesterday morning, Anderson dispatched Paul Aldridge, who is running the club day-to-day in a consultant role, to the training ground to tell Parkinson and the players that they would be paid by Monday, one way or the other. They were grateful for that. All give thanks to chairman Ken.
And at least over the course of yesterday afternoon there was the appearance of what looked like it may — may — be a shaft of light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. Anderson has spent the past few months negotiating the sale of the club to various interested parties, most notably the British businessman Parminder Basran. After a week of twists and turns, Parkinson said at yesterday’s pre-match press conference that Aldridge had told him “the takeover was progressing well and we hope that keeps going in the right direction. However, if it hasn’t happened by Monday, Ken says he will pay the people who haven’t been paid.” All give thanks . . . etc.
How exhausting all this must be for Bolton’s manager, staff, players and supporters. No doubt Anderson is exhausted too, three years after he bought the club in what was initially a joint enterprise with the former Bolton forward Dean Holdsworth before the pair had a very public falling-out.
Anderson, a former football agent, does not shy away from saying what the past three years have taken out of him, emotionally as well as financially. The club were on their knees when Anderson and Holdsworth took over, facing relegation to League One and, even more seriously, a winding-up petition over an unpaid tax bill.
Anderson would point out that he has reduced the debts, cut costs and put the club on course to report a first operating profit since 2006. Under Parkinson’s astute management, they won promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt and, against the odds, stayed up last season. The problem is that the off-pitch turmoil has never stopped and that, with the threat of relegation looming once more, facing severe cash-flow problems from one month to the next, Bolton are on their knees again.
There are hopes that this weekend will bring a new start. There were strong suggestions yesterday that Basran may attend this afternoon’s game in the belief that the takeover will be agreed by tomorrow evening. But will it? There can be no guarantees with Anderson, who revels in pushing every negotiation to the brink of collapse — and sometimes beyond — in the hope of securing the best possible deal. Will he still own the club by Monday? If not, can the players and coaching staff really take it at face value that they will be paid? “They have to, really,” Parkinson said. “We have to believe that’s the case.”
This is a club who have spent 11 consecutive seasons in the Premier League, securing four consecutive top-half finishes under Sam Allardyce, but they overstretched financially under Eddie Davies’s ownership and were ill-equipped for relegation when they fell off the gravy train in 2012. By the end of the next season, debts had risen to £163.8 million. Turnover continued to fall, dwindling from £58.5 million in their final season in the Premier League to £8.3 million in League One five years later. Average attendances have fallen from a high of 26,795 under Allardyce in 2003-04 to 14,584 this season but, if anything, crowds have held up remarkably well given the negativity that has engulfed the club in recent years.
One of Davies’s final acts, prior to his death last September at the age of 72, was to write off the £197.9 million debt that Bolton owed him. Another, in the final week of his life, was a £5 million loan to help the club avoid the threat of administration. As for whether Anderson is prepared to take even a relatively small hit for the good of the club, it remains to be seen.
Some argue that, economically, these northern mill towns have had their time in the Premier League but if the success stories and failures of the past decade tell us anything, it is that good management — at executive and at football level — is the key to everything. Whereas Burnley are thriving, Bolton’s decline and fall, like that of Blackburn Rovers, has simply been a story of mismanagement.
Anderson would say that he has managed the club better than those who went before him, but he has done so with no empathy whatsoever. His stream-of-consciousness missives on the club website read like the ramblings of a spoilt and unstable child — or, to put it another way, like those of President Trump. His every self-serving comment creates more resentment among office staff as well as the players. Morale has taken a battering. Nobody at the club can say with any certainty what Basran or any other potential investor may bring but there is, among players, staff and supporters, a desperation for a new start under new ownership.
“I think all the supporters just want the reputation of the club back intact,” Parkinson said. “I think that’s the key because it’s a famous club with a great history and they just don’t want any more bad press. They don’t want to pick up the paper or turn on Sky and see bad things about Bolton. We’re all tired of it. The fans just want the club to move on. And if it does that, what a fantastic base you would have to build the club back up. The stadium is fantastic. A lot of people don’t know how good the training ground is. There are so many good points about the club. Everyone in football knows what a great club Bolton Wanderers is.”
Parkinson is right. It is what makes their decline — like the struggles of Charlton Athletic, Coventry City and so many other proud clubs up and down the country, which have fallen into the wrong hands — so sad. Fans can live with defeats, they can even live with relegations, but it is altogether harder to tolerate seeing your club being dragged through the dirt. During those halcyon years in the Premier League, the stadium stood as a beacon of pride for the town. Now it bears the scars of neglect. It is a long way back but, for now, Bolton’s fans just want to feel that sense of pride again.
199 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 17:14
wanderlust
Nat Lofthouse
Don't think anyone would argue against the idea that Bolton Wanderers are "in need of some TLC" right now. Hopefully today's result is the start of better things to come - both on and off the pitch.
200 Re: Club Future - Administration or bust? Sat Mar 09 2019, 17:39
karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
wanderlust wrote:Don't think anyone would argue against the idea that Bolton Wanderers are "in need of some TLC" right now. Hopefully today's result is the start of better things to come - both on and off the pitch.
All fingers and toes crossed for a good outcome!
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