Ructions in the Boardroom?

I came across this article this morning and I believe it's worth posting here. I don't know how much credence I personally give it but if it IS true then it suggests there may be even more worrying times ahead. It was referenced on JA606 and comes from Christopher Manning and the Lion Of Vienna site so how much stock you choose to set in it is entirely up to you.

Speaking purely for myself I believe it's got at least a core of truth to it and would explain some things like why the embargo is still in place and why it's taking so long to appoint a manager for our club. Anyway here is the full text of the article:

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Just when you thought that we had put our money problrms behind us, our sources at the club have indicated to us that our beloved Bolton Wanderers do not have the finance to pay the players wages this week, although fortunately did ensure that club staff did get paid.
We have been informed that the finance shortfall is due to the fact that Ken Anderson hasn't come good with the finance promised, when he joined the SS consortium, to buy our club.
It is believed that Anderson needs to provide the necessary funds today in order to ensure that the players receive their wages on time.
There are also rumours of an unbridgeable rift now between Holdsworth and Anderson, with their working relationship effectively being non-existent.
Obviously we'll update this when new news becomes known, but it sounds like another fun chapter in the recent tumultuous history of our great club is about to be written.
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And here is the link for those that wish to see it in situ as it were.

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What do you think? Do you believe LoV have it right? And if they do what's next for our troubled club?

How have the football league passed a two year business plan if it's all going tits up before pre season has even begun? 

They said (Ken and Deano) that the football league are satisfied that they have enough money to get through not only this season but next season as well. I can't believe they've already hit the stage where they can't even pay wages already, so hopefully this is all bollocks.

Bwfc1958 wrote:How have the football league passed a two year business plan if it's all going tits up before pre season has even begun? 

They said (Ken and Deano) that the football league are satisfied that they have enough money to get through not only this season but next season as well. I can't believe they've already hit the stage where they can't even pay wages already, so hopefully this is all bollocks.

I absolutely agree with your hope that it's all rubbish. Right now my hopes are pinned on it being some sort of either fiction caused by a false leak from disgruntled employee in the club or that LoV and Manning are stirring the pot for the purpose of strengthening the ST's position but somehow I doubt it.

I especially can't help thinking that there's something to the statement about Anderson not providing funds he'd already promised. If the League passed the books based on him saying he could guarantee more money in by a certain date and he's now failing to live up to that it could explain why they passed the books in the first place.

Personally I think the article has at least a kernel of truth to it; it would explain a great deal, most particularly why we still don't have a manager and why the embargo is still in place with no sign of it being lifted anytime soon. More worrying times ahead I fear.

Difference of opinion between KA and Dean are obvious. Think this 'article' is just clutching at straws really. SS don't have much money, but the football league confirmed they had enough to keep the club running until the end of next season.

Boggersbelief wrote:Difference of opinion between KA and Dean are obvious. Think this 'article' is just clutching at straws really. SS don't have much money, but the football league confirmed they had enough to keep the club running until the end of next season.

I really hope you're right boggers. But if the league passed our books with Anderson guaranteeing funds that he's not now providing for whatever reason this could get ugly very quickly indeed.

LOV broke the Sports Shield news first so my feeling is that Dean Holdsworth has some kind of contact there and maybe leaking this, regarding the payment of the wages I would have thought that early season ticket sales would cover them as many buy early to get a better price unless everyone is doing it via monthly payments.
Anderson appears to be turning out to be what everyone suspected he would after reading his history.
Hopefully it's just teething troubles and will get sorted soon.

Bwfc1958 wrote:How have the football league passed a two year business plan if it's all going tits up before pre season has even begun? 

They said (Ken and Deano) that the football league are satisfied that they have enough money to get through not only this season but next season as well. 

That's obviously why they (the FL) want to see the books every month - Their plan's got more holes in it than a sieve.

If what we're now hearing is true, the approval must have been contingent on Anderson sticking his share of the cash in.

Which he allegedly hasn't done, again, according to the breaking rumours this morning.

Anderson said a couple of weeks ago that they needed £3m and I asked why this was, given that supposedly he'd proved to the FL that the funding was in place to complete the season and beyond.

Well, now we know why: It's to cover the money he told the FL he'd be putting in because he either (A) doesn't want to pay it or (B) hasn't got it.

So he's either deliberately mislead the FL or he's just a dick who doesn't have a clue what he's doing.

And given what we know about the bent twat, I know which one I believe.

Breadman wrote:

Bwfc1958 wrote:How have the football league passed a two year business plan if it's all going tits up before pre season has even begun? 

They said (Ken and Deano) that the football league are satisfied that they have enough money to get through not only this season but next season as well. 

Anderson said a couple of weeks ago that they needed £3m and I asked why this was, given that supposedly he'd proved to the FL that the funding was in place to complete the season and beyond.

Well, now we know why: It's to cover the money he told the FL he'd be putting in because he either (A) doesn't want to pay it or (B) hasn't got it.

I believe Anderson didn't say he was going to put more money himself - rather that he needed to find £3 million further investment so perhaps he's not identified anyone daft enough to do it yet?

However that shouldn't impact on the ability to player wages as the annual bill is in excess of £7 million so a £3 million shortfall wouldn't be important until the later on in  the season wouldn't it? Unless they haven't got the other £4 million either and were hoping to generate that through other streams over the course of the season.

As I keep saying, we are lucky to still exist and we'll be hanging on by a thread for some time to come - but we're still here for now and that's something to be grateful for.

wanderlust wrote:

Breadman wrote:

Bwfc1958 wrote:How have the football league passed a two year business plan if it's all going tits up before pre season has even begun? 

They said (Ken and Deano) that the football league are satisfied that they have enough money to get through not only this season but next season as well. 

Anderson said a couple of weeks ago that they needed £3m and I asked why this was, given that supposedly he'd proved to the FL that the funding was in place to complete the season and beyond.

Well, now we know why: It's to cover the money he told the FL he'd be putting in because he either (A) doesn't want to pay it or (B) hasn't got it.

I believe Anderson didn't say he was going to put more money himself - rather that he needed to find £3 million further investment so perhaps he's not identified anyone daft enough to do it yet?

However that shouldn't impact on the ability to player wages as the annual bill is in excess of £7 million so a £3 million shortfall wouldn't be important until the later on in  the season wouldn't it? Unless they haven't got the other £4 million either and were hoping to generate that through other streams over the course of the season.

As I keep saying, we are lucky to still exist and we'll be hanging on by a thread for some time to come - but we're still here for now and that's something to be grateful for.

Agreed lusty but I am seriously worried, not so much about this rumour alone as to what it implies in a wider context. If Anderson did guarantee funds to get the league to pass the books and they are now not forthcoming then where and how is he going to get the money from?

I'm not sure avoiding admin last season will turn out to be a blessing in the long run. It seems we may have just delayed the inevitable and a 12 point penalty next season could seriously hurt us, much more than it would have done when we were already bottom of the table and clearly not looking as if we'd get away from there. Perhaps it would have been better to simply bite the bullet and take the hit back in February.

Breadman wrote:"I believe Anderson didn't say he was going to put more money himself - rather that he needed to find £3 million further investment so perhaps he's not identified anyone daft enough to do it yet?"


If that is the case (and I doubt it but that's just cynical old me), the FL want fucking for approving the deal in the first place, conditions or not.


If you went to the bank for a business loan and they asked you how you were proposing to repay it, they wouldn't let you walk out with a big fat cheque if you said: "Erm, I haven't got any means of doing so yet but I will try and get someone else to invest in my plan soon, honest"....would they?


He must have indicated that the money was there and available right there and then, otherwise there's no way they'd have ratified the deal.


The bloke's a chancer and he's obviously trying on everything he possibly can to mitigate his expenditure before he sells up quick and fucks off.

Assuming that LoV isn't spouting garbage 'fed' to them by a hacked off ex-employee mate.

After all there's been a lot of axe swinging in the back rooms over the last few weeks and I personally feel sorry for the people who worked for nothing or with no clear idea if they'd ever get paid let alone when last Christmas and arguably kept the club alive by doing so only to be told less than six months later 'sorry you're sacked 'cos we're skint' by new owners. It's possible Manning's been fed this by someone who either just has lost their job or has been told they're done at the end of their contract (I believe some non-playing staff have deals ending in November or earlier and have been asked to stay and work them out) who wants to get a dig in on his or her way out the door.

I don't honestly think it's likely, I believe LoV is probably close to the mark if not right on it but the possibility shouldn't be ignored completely yet. There's no indication of this anywhere else, eg Beeb or SSN so for now it's still just a rumour rather than a fact.

Breadman wrote:
If that is the case (and I doubt it but that's just cynical old me), the FL want fucking for approving the deal in the first place, conditions or not.

If you went to the bank for a business loan and they asked you how you were proposing to repay it, they wouldn't let you walk out with a big fat cheque if you said: "Erm, I haven't got any means of doing so yet but I will try and get someone else to invest in my plan soon, honest"....would they?

Well yes they would. Take any business plan to a bank or angel for a loan and you'll have to demonstrate income. That said, sales forecasts are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard unless they are based upon confirmed advanced orders so it's hardly surprising that the FA felt it was reasonable to assume that a football club could find £3 million investment. In exactly the same way that they would back a bakery on a high street - zero sales at this point but it's a reasonable assumption that they'll get some sales providing they're not planning to open the shop smack bang between Artisan Oven Productions Ltd and Gregg's. 

People do lend money without all the evidence.

Surely not another negative thread based solely on an attention seeking website rumour?

wanderlust wrote:

Breadman wrote:
If that is the case (and I doubt it but that's just cynical old me), the FL want fucking for approving the deal in the first place, conditions or not.

If you went to the bank for a business loan and they asked you how you were proposing to repay it, they wouldn't let you walk out with a big fat cheque if you said: "Erm, I haven't got any means of doing so yet but I will try and get someone else to invest in my plan soon, honest"....would they?

Well yes they would. Take any business plan to a bank or angel for a loan and you'll have to demonstrate income. That said, sales forecasts are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard unless they are based upon confirmed advanced orders so it's hardly surprising that the FA felt it was reasonable to assume that a football club could find £3 million investment. In exactly the same way that they would back a bakery on a high street - zero sales at this point but it's a reasonable assumption that they'll get some sales providing they're not planning to open the shop smack bang between Artisan Oven Productions Ltd and Gregg's. 

People do lend money without all the evidence.

I'm not sure they would do that for an already troubled business lusty, especially not one who has just barely avoided administration or a winding up order due to unpaid taxes. In this case it's moot of course since the League didn't provide any funds, they only said they'd seen the books and were happy to let the deal go ahead under certain conditions. My guess is Anderson promised funds by today either from himself or via investors he'd already obtained and the League wants to see the books monthly to ensure he kept that bargain.

However, as I already said there's nothing about this on Beeb or SSN which may mean LoV are off the mark either through being misled or (much less likely) through deliberately planting a scare story in order to strengthen the ST's position. There may be a core of truth to it since we already know Anderson himself said he was looking for another 3million in outside investment but they may have inflated the situation more than is warranted.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Surely not another negative thread based solely on an attention seeking website rumour?

It's not negative and had you bothered to actually read it you'd know I clearly stated it's source and possible conclusions to be drawn from it.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:
It's not negative and had you bothered to actually read it you'd know I clearly stated it's source and possible conclusions to be drawn from it.

The source is an attention seeking website.

Forum envy......it's a terrible thing.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

luckyPeterpiper wrote:
It's not negative and had you bothered to actually read it you'd know I clearly stated it's source and possible conclusions to be drawn from it.

The source is an attention seeking website.

I totally agree the source is somewhat suspect which is why I said read into it what you like.

Personally I hope they're miles off the mark but given the current actual circumstances at the club I believe there may be some truth to it. I doubt the working relationship between Anderson and Holdsworth is anywhere near as bad as LoV suggests but the financial situation is clearly still difficult which tends to explain why we're still under embargo and don't have a manager.

However the "news" that wages aren't going to be paid to players (or might not be) strikes me as highly suspect. Such a thing would have shown up on SSN or the Beeb by now if only because one of the players agents would be likely to leak it. There would be just too many people in the know for such a thing to be known only to LoV and no one else for the better part of a full day.

Have they been misled? Possible, maybe even probable given how many staff have been or are about to be made redundant. Have they made it up themselves in some sort of bid to make the ST more attractive to the rest of us? I can't see that myself, it would be just plain stupid but I suppose it has to be possible. Since I don't know Chris Manning myself I can't claim to know if he'd really do such a thing or how likely he'd be to think it would do any good.

Quite a few have questioned how the Football league could have signed off on this masterpiece.  That one is simple .....they are even bigger moron's than I first thought !!!.
Well all joking aside .....everyday thousands of bad business decisions are made...millions probably around the world. Everyday salesmen talk companies into bad investments or put on a great dog & pony show. Figure Kenny as the fast talking salesman & Deano his yes man did this to the football league....the presumption is that the football league have great wiz bang people working there. I don't know one way or the other but cracks and loopholes in the plan do seem to blatant at the moment.          
Around the league we have ex-footballers who now are chairmen of clubs.... no business training of any sort. Err.....Deano comes to mind for an example.

It's been rumoured for ages that Dean and Ken have fallen out.

and it's been rumoured for ages that there's no money in this takeover.

not really news is it.