Breadman wrote:
My theory (and that's all it is before Lusty pops up and shouts at me) is that ED obviously wants to deal with the ST (which he controls via his mates) but he's been keeping Holdsworth's lot warm just in case he couldn't get his mates in the ST to sort their act out in time and secure the necessary funding from "high net worth individuals" and local business (Disley?).
Pop.
It's a theory and it could be right, but so could a bunch of other theories.
What is clear is that Marc Iles is publicising the idea that ED is "moving the goalposts" as regards Deano's bid specifically that they got the £6million together and were then told that £8 million was needed.
Now the £6million was allegedly to pay off Director's loans plus a pound to buy the shares, but to my knowledge, no other Director's loans have been accrued - unless this car park thing didn't materialise as expected/in time so ED or another Director has bunged the club another £2 million to pay the January wages - but I've not heard anything about that.
Whether ED wants to deal with Deano has always been questionable especially as he insisted on certain undisclosed criteria are met (anti asset-stripping measures?) and there's this alleged association with Disley that might have put him off. Either way, it does appear that ED is stalling.
If ED is protecting the club from a load of sharks then that's commendable but if he's playing a game hoping that somehow the ST will find £8million down the back of the sofa and is hanging on in the hope they'll buy the club then he's an effing idiot.
Marc Iles is clearly promoting the ST but it wouldn't surprise me if ED will seek the same assurances and financial criteria as he has with Deano should the imaginary £8million appear out of the ether.
Then there's the alleged Korean interest. Deano wants the deal to be closed i.e. they are named the preferred bidder - but maybe ED and Trevor still reckon the Koreans could come through and are therefore reticent to give exclusivity to Deano unless every i is dotted and every t is crossed. Or maybe they're just being awkward to Deano because they prefer the security a bank could bring?
The fact that ED is in the Bahamas is irrelevant and wouldn't slow negotiations down at all seeing as he could conduct the whole thing by teleconference, Skype or Facetime.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to what Deano's and the contending business plans contain. Unfortunately nobody is going to tell us - mainly because I imagine that they will all feature a considerable amount of austerity and a minimal amount of investment in the squad which is what will be required to make BWFC a sustainable business in the short term.
Whatever is really going on will probably come out in the fullness of time, but like everyone else, I'm pissed off that they haven't managed to negotiate a solution yet.