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Costs will be scaled down at Wanderers this summer but Ken Anderson insists there will be no fire sale of players in League One.
The co-owner has played down concerns relegation would mean contracted young stars such as Josh Vela and Zach Clough would have to be sold to balance the books.
Short-term contract extensions for Rob Holding, Kaiyne Woolery, Tom Walker and Alex Finney have also left fans wary the club could be vulnerable to bids from higher divisions.
A clear-out of higher-earning players is expected this summer, but Anderson remains confident the Whites can retain the players they want next term.
Reports claimed at the weekend Anderson is looking for outside help to fill a shortfall in investment worth around £3million next season, and questions have also been asked about the level of his own investment in the club since taking over with the Sports Shield BWFC group in March.
But writing in his chairman’s column at the weekend, the former agent allayed fears the club would be forced into sales to operate on an even keel.
“We want to keep that nucleus of younger players around,” he said. “Our budget for next season allows us to keep these players at our club and we’re by no means in a position where we will be forced to sell our players.
“I have spoken to a number of agents of players we want to keep.
“We accept that if a big bid comes in and the player wants to leave, we won’t stand in their way.”
Both Clough and Vela have spoken in positive terms about next season and wanting to remain at the Macron Stadium.
A raft of academy graduates have come through this season to join them in the first team and will now form the basis of the squad inherited by the next manager.
“It has been encouraging to read the post-match comments from our younger players,” Anderson said.
“Whilst I haven’t been here to witness the work done in the academy down the years, it is fantastic to see the likes of Zach Clough, Rob Holding and Josh Vela featuring regularly for our first team. Jimmy Phillips and the rest of the academy staff deserve an enormous amount of credit for that.”
Darren Pratley is one of the higher earning players under contract for next season, with two years left to run on the deal he signed last summer.
The 31-year-old club captain is keen to stick around and help the next generation of Wanderers players through into the first team.
“It has been a bad season off and on the field. Now is the time to build for next year,” he said after the victory over Hull.
“We have a situation now where a lot of good youngsters are coming through and we have to take some positives from the last couple of games and try and bounce back from that.
“I have got two years left and until told otherwise I’m a Bolton Wanderers player.
“It is going to be hard, there’s no hiding from that, it’s a tough league – harder than this one.
“There are no international breaks, a lot of games, and there are a lot of good teams down there but if we stick together, get the right manager in, we have got a chance.”
The manager hunt also took an unexpected turn at the weekend, with Anderson causing a stir among fans by saying in his column Wanderers already had a new boss lined up – a fact which has been disputed by other sources around the club who claim a final decision has not yet been made.
After criticising “wholly untrue” speculation around possible candidates linked with the job, the co-owner admitted he and Dean Holdsworth had spoken to a range of people within football since taking over the club in March.
“Right now we are talking to all kinds of people from within the game, not only as friends but as allies,” he said.
“Between myself and Dean we have numerous contacts throughout the professional game and it is important to gauge opinion and tap into the knowledge of others wherever possible.
“As a club we’re heading to League One so we have to be ready as best we can come the first kick of a ball next season.”
Source
The co-owner has played down concerns relegation would mean contracted young stars such as Josh Vela and Zach Clough would have to be sold to balance the books.
Short-term contract extensions for Rob Holding, Kaiyne Woolery, Tom Walker and Alex Finney have also left fans wary the club could be vulnerable to bids from higher divisions.
A clear-out of higher-earning players is expected this summer, but Anderson remains confident the Whites can retain the players they want next term.
Reports claimed at the weekend Anderson is looking for outside help to fill a shortfall in investment worth around £3million next season, and questions have also been asked about the level of his own investment in the club since taking over with the Sports Shield BWFC group in March.
But writing in his chairman’s column at the weekend, the former agent allayed fears the club would be forced into sales to operate on an even keel.
“We want to keep that nucleus of younger players around,” he said. “Our budget for next season allows us to keep these players at our club and we’re by no means in a position where we will be forced to sell our players.
“I have spoken to a number of agents of players we want to keep.
“We accept that if a big bid comes in and the player wants to leave, we won’t stand in their way.”
Both Clough and Vela have spoken in positive terms about next season and wanting to remain at the Macron Stadium.
A raft of academy graduates have come through this season to join them in the first team and will now form the basis of the squad inherited by the next manager.
“It has been encouraging to read the post-match comments from our younger players,” Anderson said.
“Whilst I haven’t been here to witness the work done in the academy down the years, it is fantastic to see the likes of Zach Clough, Rob Holding and Josh Vela featuring regularly for our first team. Jimmy Phillips and the rest of the academy staff deserve an enormous amount of credit for that.”
Darren Pratley is one of the higher earning players under contract for next season, with two years left to run on the deal he signed last summer.
The 31-year-old club captain is keen to stick around and help the next generation of Wanderers players through into the first team.
“It has been a bad season off and on the field. Now is the time to build for next year,” he said after the victory over Hull.
“We have a situation now where a lot of good youngsters are coming through and we have to take some positives from the last couple of games and try and bounce back from that.
“I have got two years left and until told otherwise I’m a Bolton Wanderers player.
“It is going to be hard, there’s no hiding from that, it’s a tough league – harder than this one.
“There are no international breaks, a lot of games, and there are a lot of good teams down there but if we stick together, get the right manager in, we have got a chance.”
The manager hunt also took an unexpected turn at the weekend, with Anderson causing a stir among fans by saying in his column Wanderers already had a new boss lined up – a fact which has been disputed by other sources around the club who claim a final decision has not yet been made.
After criticising “wholly untrue” speculation around possible candidates linked with the job, the co-owner admitted he and Dean Holdsworth had spoken to a range of people within football since taking over the club in March.
“Right now we are talking to all kinds of people from within the game, not only as friends but as allies,” he said.
“Between myself and Dean we have numerous contacts throughout the professional game and it is important to gauge opinion and tap into the knowledge of others wherever possible.
“As a club we’re heading to League One so we have to be ready as best we can come the first kick of a ball next season.”
Source
