When do you think a deal will be done

Statement from Eddie Davies

It has been an honour to have initially been on the board of directors and then majority shareholder of the club I have supported all of my life. 
 
From 11 years in the top flight and seeing us topple some of the Premier League’s greatest teams down the years, to two successful UEFA Cup campaigns, my memories will last a lifetime. Together we have had some great experiences and we should embrace our wonderful history.
 
Recently, we have gone through what has been a challenging period both on and off the field, but we now hope that we can once again move our great football club forward. I of course wish Dean Holdsworth, Ken Anderson and the Sports Shield consortium all the very best and thank the supporters for their loyalty and continued backing of the club.
 
Eddie Davies

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Norpig wrote:shouldn't it be the other way round? I would have thought it would be better to have Deano as Chairman as he's a familiar face

I agree, well that's what I was expecting anyway!

Dean Holdsworth speaks following completion of takeover deal

Bolton Wanderers Football Club and Sports Shield Investments are delighted to announce the completion and sale of the club from Eddie Davies. 

On behalf of Sports Shield I would like to thank Mr Davies for his dedication and contribution to Bolton Wanderers over many years. We are of course pleased that Eddie will remain as honorary club president of Bolton Wanderers. 

We would also like to thank the staff, fans and club sponsors for their continued support during what has been an incredibly difficult period for all involved. Securing the club’s future was of paramount importance. This is a great day for Bolton Wanderers Football Club and Sports Shield.

We very much hope that we can build on the continued support of a club steeped in history for many years to come.

We will not give up the fight of maintaining our Sky Bet Championship status. We believe we have a group of excellent players to work with and we hope that today’s news will give everyone a lift, both on and off the pitch.

The performance and atmosphere against Ipswich Town was excellent and we hope that the fans will join us for an important game at the weekend against our local rivals Preston North End.

Up the Trotters!

Dean Holdsworth.

Sports Shield haven't got a pot to piss in, in their own right.

Big Ken brings money to the table.

Ergo, Big Ken holds the power.

It might say that Sports Shield own the club, but it's clearly been done that way to avoid any difficulties with the FL when it came to assessing whether or not Ken "Banned from being a company director for eight years" Anderson was a fit & proper person to own a football club.

I wouldn't be surprised if Big Ken suddenly decided he wanted to buy Sports Shield (if he's not already got a controlling interest in it, that is), once all the fuss dies down.

Holdsworth is obviously just a stooge brought in to sweeten the deal with the happy clapping, "Deano's a proper Bolton fan" brigade.

I'd be amazed if he had any real say in anything which transpires from here on in.

We have new kit sponsorship for next season, could be a way of putting money into the club by the new owners, a sort of FFP loophole

"This is a great day for Bolton Wanderers Football Club and Sports Shield" 

Nope ...... a great day is when they announce we are immediately going to pump some money into the team in an effort to escape relegation...... for some reason I doubt it since we already have a great group of players.  Not to mention It's a long shot even if we signed Messi & Ronaldo.

Still we have to give SS a little time to get it the plan together I suppose.

Boggersbelief wrote:Hipster would call the queen a fucking chavvy, scummy arsehole. Take no notice

No I wouldn't. 

There's nothing wrong with respecting class boggers. 

I want my club to be respectable, not run by chancers.

Wonder if Disley is ITK on this lot. 

It's back to work day at for fraudsters, ex cons, bankrupts, the board at SS with their dirty money. RIP [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] it's game over now. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

How can he call anyone a fraudster.. The cue ball headed prick.

Anyone remember BoltonHater. Well he's back but this time he's trolling the bwfc fans on Twitter

terenceanne wrote:"This is a great day for Bolton Wanderers Football Club and Sports Shield" 

Nope ...... a great day is when they announce we are immediately going to pump some money into the team in an effort to escape relegation...... for some reason I doubt it since we already have a great group of players.  Not to mention It's a long shot even if we signed Messi & Ronaldo.

Still we have to give SS a little time to get it the plan together I suppose.

Fuck off. Just fuck off.

This is a great day because those of us that actually attend matches have somewhere to waste our money/lives on a Saturday afternoon.

i agree, i only go to get away from the wife and kids for a few hours

I'm not sure I'd call it a great day but certainly a good one provided Sports Shield do at least 'steady the ship' so to speak. Whether they invest in the squad or not is at this moment immaterial due to the embargo and the very low likelihood it will be lifted in time to even loan a player or two from elsewhere. 

My primary concern is the tax bill, that really has got to be paid pronto and then be kept up to date. I also would like to see them not selling or releasing the likes of Clough and Kaiyne. As both are still (I believe) under 23 we would get some sort of fee for them but my fear is such money would be used to fund the ridiculous wages the high earners are on. We can't really do much about the high earners other than wait for their insane contracts to end. They aren't going to disappear overnight because they know as well as we do that no other club is going to match their wages. 

If SSI can get the taxman off our backs and keep the better young players on our books while we wait for the (nat's entirely accurate description) 'overpaid ponces' contracts to run down then I would count that as a reasonably successful start. It's not ideal of course, I wish we had a billionaire at the helm and the embargo was already gone but this is the best we can hope for as things stand in my opinion.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:I'm not sure I'd call it a great day but certainly a good one provided Sports Shield do at least 'steady the ship' so to speak. Whether they invest in the squad or not is at this moment immaterial due to the embargo and the very low likelihood it will be lifted in time to even loan a player or two from elsewhere. 

My primary concern is the tax bill, that really has got to be paid pronto and then be kept up to date. I also would like to see them not selling or releasing the likes of Clough and Kaiyne. As both are still (I believe) under 23 we would get some sort of fee for them but my fear is such money would be used to fund the ridiculous wages the high earners are on. We can't really do much about the high earners other than wait for their insane contracts to end. They aren't going to disappear overnight because they know as well as we do that no other club is going to match their wages. 

If SSI can get the taxman off our backs and keep the better young players on our books while we wait for the (nat's entirely accurate description) 'overpaid ponces' contracts to run down then I would count that as a reasonably successful start. It's not ideal of course, I wish we had a billionaire at the helm and the embargo was already gone but this is the best we can hope for as things stand in my opinion.

The tax bill will get paid.
There is however, a big question as to whether we are going to be allowed to resign Woolery and Holding in the summer though. We'll lose 4 of the 13 high earners including Feeney but it's not clear what wriggle room (if any) we'll be given once the embargo is lifted especially as the FL are monthly monitoring the accounts and the investment doesn't match the expenditure.
I still reckon we're £3 to £4 million short this year and will be around £6 million short next year if the figures in the public domain are to be believed  - but somehow (God only knows how!) the FL and Court seem to think it's workable despite us being stuck with at least 9 high earners for the next 2 years on Premiership wages but in League 1.

I can see us having to sell our young talent if only because the has-beens have long, fat contracts so we are stuck with them.

Breadman wrote:What have you got against Joop?

I used to wear it a lot in the early to mid 90's.

I still wear it . I happen to like the fragrance. Does that make me a young fogey?

Breadman wrote:

It's going to be about rationalisation and building a secure platform which leads to sustainability and which will, hopefully, make the club an inviting proposition for someone else further down the line.

So it could be a good thing but it will be painful.

It's been painful for a long time now, but hopefully these guys will have the sense to sort out the mess we are in whilst paying the bills.

wanderlust wrote:I still reckon we're £3 to £4 million short this year and will be around £6 million short next year if the figures in the public domain are to be believed  - but somehow (God only knows how!) the FL and Court seem to think it's workable despite us being stuck with at least 9 high earners for the next 2 years on Premiership wages but in League 1.

I can see us having to sell our young talent if only because the has-beens have long, fat contracts so we are stuck with them.

That's exactly what I'm afraid will happen in the end. With Sports Shield's apparent lack of working capital we are going to have to rob Peter to pay Paul (or Emile if you prefer).

Reebok Trotter wrote:

Breadman wrote:What have you got against Joop?

I used to wear it a lot in the early to mid 90's.

I still wear it . I happen to like the fragrance. Does that make me a young fogey?

My missus bought me some Brut at Christmas. Thing is it doesn't smell like Brut or at least how I remember it to smell. Either way I still won't wear it and am sticking to the tried and tested Carven.