Transfer rumours !

Both Tubby and Gazza are keen anglers too!

Where's this legendary midfielder Cajun promised me?

So there you have it. Our manager deems us good enough not to need a new defensive midfielder and striker.

Expect a crazy January transfer window when, for the third season running, the team is in the lower reaches of the division.

Natasha Whittam wrote:So there you have it. Our manager deems us good enough not to need a new defensive midfielder and striker.

Expect a crazy January transfer window when, for the third season running, the team is in the lower reaches of the division.

He does seem to like the January window better, we could have done with another striker definitely and a better back up keeper.

Norpig wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:So there you have it. Our manager deems us good enough not to need a new defensive midfielder and striker.

Expect a crazy January transfer window when, for the third season running, the team is in the lower reaches of the division.

He does seem to like the January window better, we could have done with another striker definitely and a better back up keeper.

It all comes back to did FV have the money.

Bob and I have for sometime been flagging up that we don't believe they had.

One signing at the end of a contract (Iredale) three loan deal of youngsters plus a minor purchase (£25k or thereabouts) for Toal is the extent of our January window and seems to suggest our financial analysis of FV's position to be near to the mark.

I also wouldn't be overly optimistic about a decent January window either unless  Sharon or others of FV owners are prepared to dip into their own pockets to do so.

Sluffy wrote:It all comes back to did FV have the money.

Bob and I have for sometime been flagging up that we don't believe they had.

One signing at the end of a contract (Iredale) three loan deal of youngsters plus a minor purchase (£25k or thereabouts) for Toal is the extent of our January window and seems to suggest our financial analysis of FV's position to be near to the mark.

I also wouldn't be overly optimistic about a decent January window either unless  Sharon or others of FV owners are prepared to dip into their own pockets to do so.

Stop spoiling things with facts.

I want a defensive midfielder & striker, and if Shazza has to sell the family silverware to fund it then so be it.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Sluffy wrote:It all comes back to did FV have the money.

Bob and I have for sometime been flagging up that we don't believe they had.

One signing at the end of a contract (Iredale) three loan deal of youngsters plus a minor purchase (£25k or thereabouts) for Toal is the extent of our January window and seems to suggest our financial analysis of FV's position to be near to the mark.

I also wouldn't be overly optimistic about a decent January window either unless  Sharon or others of FV owners are prepared to dip into their own pockets to do so.

Stop spoiling things with facts.

I want a defensive midfielder & striker, and if Shazza has to sell the family silverware to fund it then so be it.

Sorry.

It's just how I am.

And yes, just because FV as a business couldn't afford to fund additional players it doesn't stop Sharon or any of the other owners dipping into their own wealth to do so.

That I suspect depends on how deep are their pockets and how much are they prepared to potentially lose of their personal wealth.

Certainly doesn't look as though anyone wanted to roll those particular dice this summer did it?

Maybe come January they may feel different - who knows?

(I wouldn't bet on it myself though).

Natasha Whittam wrote:Where's this legendary midfielder Cajun promised me?

Sadly he lost his way at The Angel of the North and hasn't been seen since!

Just a few days ago Evatt claimed there would be moves both in and out so he must have been expecting something to happen. The fact that it didn’t I’d suggest may have been more down to not being able to move any players out rather than no money to bring players in. We know that money is tight and the club is attempting to be run sustainably so although it was disappointing not to make new signings it was probably predictable. Despite Evatt claiming he’s happy with what he’s got I E no doubt that he knows he needs additions if he’s going to seriously challenge for promotion. My concern is that if he is continually refused sufficient funds to compete that he may decide for his own ambitions to jump ship and then we really are in a pickle.

Whitesince63 wrote:Just a few days ago Evatt claimed there would be moves both in and out so he must have been expecting something to happen. The fact that it didn’t I’d suggest may have been more down to not being able to move any players out rather than no money to bring players in. We know that money is tight and the club is attempting to be run sustainably so although it was disappointing not to make new signings it was probably predictable. Despite Evatt claiming he’s happy with what he’s got I E no doubt that he knows he needs additions if he’s going to seriously challenge for promotion. My concern is that if he is continually refused sufficient funds to compete that he may decide for his own ambitions to jump ship and then we really are in a pickle.

Ins
Jack Iredale - Cambridge United
Conor Bradley - Liverpool (loan)
James Trafford - Manchester City (loan)
Eoin Toal - Derry City
Owen Beck - Liverpool (loan)
Outs
Matthew Alexander - released
Alex Baptiste - Waterford
Nathan Delfouneso - released
Liam Edwards - Chester FC
Liam Gordon - Walsall
Jay Fitzmartin - Atherton Collieries
Mitch Henry - released
Max Wilcox - Brentford
Ronan Darcy - Swindon Town (undisclosed)
Matty Grivosti - Yeovil Town (loan until November)
Finlay Lockett - Atherton Collieries (loan until late September)
Arran Pettifer - Atherton Collieries (loan until late September)

With the return of Sheehan - who looks in good shape and Isgrove - who is probably a makeweight ATM - and the loan of Beck without Decberto moving on in conjunction with a bit of a clear out, it's been a financially prudent window.
We could speculate about the club's finances but the fact is we now have a shedload of decent players in every position - and Evatt is backing himself to get the best out of them.

I don't think Bonne would have been an upgrade on Charles or JDB so why waste money?  And whilst I'm sure we could find DMs better than MJ and George, it would cost an arm and a leg to get anyone who would be a significant upgrade - there's no sense in busting the budget for a slight improvement.

Somehow, we have to get our out and out finishers - Dion and JDB - in the box with decent service and the goals will come instead of them having to chase around in midfield all the time. I think Evatt is right in saying we have the players to be competitive in this division, but he has to get them playing well and the system needs a slight tweak.

Whitesince63 wrote:My concern is that if he is continually refused sufficient funds to compete that he may decide for his own ambitions to jump ship and then we really are in a pickle.

A pickle? Definitely not.

He's done ok, nothing more. We're a mid-table League 1 club, hardly the stuff of dreams.

Parky got us out of this league under far harsher conditions yet he's derided by the majority of Bolton fans.

I think Evatt is more highly rated by some Bolton fans than the rest of the football world.Stoke and Sunderland changed managers in the last few days without considering Evo.Sharon stated last season she is providing the 9-10th highest budget in the league and that is the sort of team Evatt is producing.He isn't overachieving relative to the budget although it's harder to gain points playing attacking football than defensive long ball stuff like Parky

Natasha Whittam wrote:

He's done ok, nothing more. We're a mid-table League 1 club, hardly the stuff of dreams.

I think we're just about playoff material rather than "mid-table"
Currently we're 8th and would probably be in a playoff spot if Santos hadn't got himself sent off early doors against Port Vale.
We only got 1 point from 3 games against the teams currently in 1st, 3rd and 4th but we've won every game so far against the teams below us apart from that PV draw.
Cheltenham (21st)  and MKD (19th) up next.

Sluffy wrote:



Sorry.

It's just how I am.

And yes, just because FV as a business couldn't afford to fund additional players it doesn't stop Sharon or any of the other owners dipping into their own wealth to do so.

That I suspect depends on how deep are their pockets and how much are they prepared to potentially lose of their personal wealth.

Certainly doesn't look as though anyone wanted to roll those particular dice this summer did it?

Maybe come January they may feel different - who knows?

(I wouldn't bet on it myself though).

FV haven’t disclosed where the £2.4million came from on 28 June 2022. However it has the appearance of being just enough to get through this season and get the 2021 accounts signed off by the auditors.

Not nearly enough though to repay the PBP or Brett Warburton debts despite the considerable interest savings if they had been able to do so.

Sharon’s main source of income seems to be Made in Brittan Too and it’s profits are a fraction of the profits when Sharon agreed to the takeover.

To be fair to Ian Evatt and the Board, I think they are doing the best they can in the circs. Getting into a play-off position would be a major achievement and the football is a huge improvement on the standards the last time we found ourselves in League 1.

We are doing very well since Sharon took over - however I don't see enough money in the pipeline to survive in the Championship if and when we get there. FV could form a partnership with someone with real money to burn or move us on. What other options are available?

terenceanne wrote:We are doing very well since Sharon took over - however I don't see enough money in the pipeline to survive in the Championship if and when we get there. FV could form a partnership with someone with real money to burn or move us on. What other options are available?

The United Arab Emirates state fund has bought Man City 6 Premier Leagues , 6 League cups and 2 Fa Cups and the Saudi Arabian State fund is starting its funding of Newcastle, they bought the Geordies a £59 million striker last week.

As far as i am aware the two larger state funds than those are owned by China and Norway.Could Sharon not flutter her eye lashes and attract one of those?

terenceanne wrote:We are doing very well since Sharon took over - however I don't see enough money in the pipeline to survive in the Championship if and when we get there. FV could form a partnership with someone with real money to burn or move us on. What other options are available?

Not getting promoted again?

That's a bridge to cross when we get there although I suspect Sharon et al would have given it plenty of consideration - in fact it wouldn't surprise me if they're already working on in-principle conditional deals to secure the requisite investment/purchase providing we get promoted.

I think they're packaging a potential future deal pretty well - fan/community engagement, tarting up the ground, attractive playing style under a young manager and (ostensibly) reasonably balanced finances - they've done OK without splashing loadsa dosh in that respect. The "product" is progressing towards being the best it can be under the circumstances.

Good summary Lusty, can’t disagree with any of that. I’m not really concerned if it still takes a year or two to get back into the Championship and I certainly don’t want the club to over stretch itself and get into the mess we’ve been in before. We know FV don’t have money to burn but I think together with IE they will keep us moving forward and if we do succeed in promotion this year I think next season would take care of itself. Most of the players we have are young and still have improvement in them so I believe they could form the basis of a good enough squad to keep us up if that happens.

Whitesince63 wrote:Good summary Lusty, can’t disagree with any of that. I’m not really concerned if it still takes a year or two to get back into the Championship and I certainly don’t want the club to over stretch itself and get into the mess we’ve been in before. We know FV don’t have money to burn but I think together with IE they will keep us moving forward and if we do succeed in promotion this year I think next season would take care of itself. Most of the players we have are young and still have improvement in them so I believe they could form the basis of a good enough squad to keep us up if that happens.

Well you are entitled to your opinion and echo what Wanderlust has said but neither of you seem to have understood the point that Bob has again made in the post just before yours, namely £2.4m was clearly put into the club by person/s unknown to us for the obvious intention to enable the last accounts to be signed off as a 'going concern' (ie should be able to complete this season in full without going bust!).

As Bob goes on to say, that doesn't means that the best part of £10m (including interest) outstanding to PBP and Warburton (both of whom clearly never expected their loans not to have been settled by now!) will be being settled anytime soon and that completing the season financially is not the same as doing so sustainably as it seems clear FV will show another financial operating trading loss unless players are sold to reduce/clear the deficit.

Window dressing such a fresh lick of paint on the stadium and signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the ST doesn't cut any financial ice with hard nosed business people looking to invest/buy the club - they do due diligence by looking at the books and not put their hands in the pockets because we play pretty football or that we are all 'one Bolton' or whatever the marketing tag line is that FV are pushing.

The world economy is coming off the back of the financial effects of Covid and now the weaponising of energy costs by Russia, which will/is impacting greatly on peoples disposable income and cut back in non essentials - such as spending money on football clubs rather than necessities such as food and heating!

FV may sell the club on but they certainly will take a loss on doing so - is that what they want?

I don't believe there are any deals in the pipeline from investors (other than the ones we already have) whether we get promoted or not.

If you think I'm being negative look at Wigan who were promoted last season to the Championship and clearly had no new investment to strengthen their squad or even Leicester who clearly had to have a fire sale of players to get their costs down because their owners core business King Power, has been badly effected by the pandemic and the current world economy problems resulting in the  fall in worldwide travel.

I certainly don't believe that everything in the FV financial garden is looking rosy, although that is the picture they are keen for people to see.

Whitesince63 wrote:I’m not really concerned if it still takes a year or two to get back into the Championship

What a load of bollocks. We keep getting dicked by clubs in the top 6, how does that translate to promotion?

Whitesince63 wrote:We know FV don’t have money to burn but I think together with IE they will keep us moving forward and if we do succeed in promotion this year I think next season would take care of itself.

Take care of itself? Dear me.