Ken Anderson - update.

MartinBWFC wrote:Just put a new statement out there, he claims the ST has cost the club 25k to contest the ACV, what a set of wankers they really are costing us monies we simply don't need to be splashing out.

The ACV is valuable as it protects the club's assets from sharks trying to flip it for a quick buck. Obviously Kenneth is frustrated and it shows where his heart belongs. Bit unnecessary to do it so publicly.

Despite still searching for our first win this season, your support has been unbelievable and constant throughout.
You have backed us home and away, and I know the lads are determined to pick up the points that will see us climb the table and repay your continued support and backing.
I believe this is only a matter of time. I thought we performed well against Sheffield United but we didn’t have the rub of the green; however, the hard work and endeavour was there for us all to see.
Sheffield United have had a decent start since they won promotion and have built upon some good performances with three successive victories but I think we are only one win away from finding the momentum that will see us go on a winning streak and climb the table. 
We knew prior to kicking a ball in anger that this season in the Sky Bet Championship would be very challenging. You only have to look at the clubs who were relegated from the Premier League last term and the wealth of resources they have at their disposal.
Then, of course, you have the teams who are consistently pushing for promotion and have been established in this division for some time.
Finally, you’ve got another group of teams who are looking to consolidate and perhaps improve year on year.
In effect, as has been said by the manager, there are several mini-leagues within this league, and, as a team that won promotion last season, we must see ourselves in that latter group and we need to make sure we finish as high as we can in that mini-league. Anything else would be a bonus.
Like I mentioned earlier on, your support is crucial in helping us to overcome our challenging start to the campaign and I hope this continues throughout the season. Your cheering and backing towards the end of the match last night really lifted the players and encouraged them to give it their all.
There is no let-up in our schedule and we have two long distance trips coming up in quick succession. On Saturday we travel to Ipswich for another tough game before we have a break from the league with a Carabao Cup tie against Premier League West Ham United on Tuesday.
I know we will be backed by our wonderful, vociferous travelling fans and the lads will be giving it their all to get a positive result from each game.
These matches are taking a toll on the squad but fortunately a couple of our injured players will soon be returning to strengthen the squad.
I had the pleasure of meeting up with Alan Houghton and Rob and Stephanie Howell from the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Association prior to the game last night. We are very supportive of their work and efforts and we will be looking to help them. I would urge as many of you as possible to follow them on social media and to attend the social gatherings they have throughout the year.
Elsewhere, having seen the latest Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust notification, I feel compelled to point out that I am very disappointed by the Asset of Community Value (ACV) situation we now find ourselves in. As you may recall, the Supporters’ Trust lodged this action with Bolton Council.
We are contesting the ACV as we believe it is fundamentally restrictive to the progress we are trying to make at the club. It could have a knock on effect for any refinancing of the club and/or the Hotel and the properties that were sold before my involvement, but that we are hoping to buy back in the near future.
As I said earlier, this whole process is wasting our valuable time and is eating into our cash reserves, which could be better used elsewhere in the business. We have so far had to spend in the region of £25,000 contesting this. 
Hopefully, the Supporters’ Trust will see sense and not object to our appeal and save the club a great deal of cash and time, as well as the Trust’s funds.
I look forward to seeing many of you at Portman Road on Saturday and as usual let’s be loud, let’s be proud and let’s get behind the team.
Kind regards,
Ken

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Kane57 wrote:

MartinBWFC wrote:Just put a new statement out there, he claims the ST has cost the club 25k to contest the ACV, what a set of wankers they really are costing us monies we simply don't need to be splashing out.

The ACV is valuable as it protects the club's assets from sharks trying to flip it for a quick buck. Obviously Kenneth is frustrated and it shows where his heart belongs. Bit unnecessary to do it so publicly.

Well yes and no.

An ACV doesn't stop the ground/hotel being sold.

It doesn't even mean that the ST can buy it.

All it means is that the ST has a period of time (3 months iirc) to put in a bid if the owner of the property on which the ACV is attached wants a sale.

Seeing that any proposed sale will be for millions - and the ST only has what, less than £100,000 in the bank - they would be extremely hard pushed to raise the money for a purchase AND even then Anderson would not have to sell to them even if they offered the most money!

Anderson could still sell the land to a property developer to build shops and houses on and the ST would be powerless to do anything about it.

We all know where Anderson's heart is - in making money.  

There's nothing wrong in that, in fact it's the basis of western democracy.

As far as I can fathom the only way Anderson can make money though is by improving the club - the better he makes it, the more valuable it becomes.

It would seem to me that his rush to raise money against the club is to buy back assets sold off by Davies, such as the car park.  If this is the case he clearly sees greater potential for investment into the club if we own the land around it such as the car parks already sold, than if we didn't, being the position we are in now.

If by doing so by having the ACV revoked and financing the purchase by raising money against the hotel, he is able to bring in a substantially richer owner, would that be a bad thing - or would people rather have the ST playing dog in a manger by constraining an asset that clearly they will never be able to buy and all the while watching an inevitable relegation build up against us and devalue our appeal to any wealthy suitors KA may already have?

I know which I'd prefer.

I'm sure the ST got the ACV with all the best intentions but if it does end up delaying KA selling the club and bringing in much needed finance then it will be another cock up in a long list of cock ups from the ST

Norpig wrote:I'm sure the ST got the ACV with all the best intentions but if it does end up delaying KA selling the club and bringing in much needed finance then it will be another cock up in a long list of cock ups from the ST

They say the road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions too.

To be honest I felt that the ST leadership did this for their own reasons at the time more than anything else.  There was clearly no love loss between them and Anderson (there still isn't) and they clearly wanted ownership of the club for themselves - so nailing the ground with a ACV was obviously to their benefit (and not Anderson's) more than anything else.

To add a bit more to my last post above -

Maybe Anderson doesn't have a buyer, maybe he needs money to keep the club going - isn't it better he sells off the hotel and keeps us afloat rather than us having to go into Administration, get the points deduction and certain relegation - then have the Administrator do exactly the same thing and sell off assets?

It's also pretty obvious (if its not been already) that Anderson has no time for the ST - his praise of the Supporters Association and the condemnation (once again) of the ST clearly shows this.

How does the ST claim to be the voice of the fans when clearly the majority of the fans don't support their actions and the clubs owner has no time for them?

They clearly are not fit for purpose as they stand now.

Their job should be a backstop just in case the club ever needs one and everything else should be supportive of the club in deeds and actions - not trying to force the current owner out for their own ends.

It's 6 months, which could prove a real stumbling block for an interested investor

Chairmanda wrote:It's 6 months, which could prove a real stumbling block for an interested investor

So what are the benefits of investing in the team?  We understand no one would want a minority position with KA.  Hence, that leaves a big number for a majority owner.  With the team already appearing as relegation fodder, what can we offer a potential buyer?  In the same vein, why will fans still come to the Macron if we can't win a game.  This is a lose-lose situation... and we know KA is a very smart businessman.  Hence, he needs something  to end the financial embargo and show the business is worthy to remove the restraints.  He also needs an infusion of cash to move the club forward.  Finishing anywhere but in the last three spots is fine for this year.  My guess is he has potential investors after the financial embargo is lifted. Again, he is a very smart businessman, and the future of the club is in his hands.  If he can achieve a break even this season, and if we escape relegation, he could potentially make big money.  Those are big if's.  Right now, escaping relegation is also a big if.  The only salvation is ending the embargo and buying the "right" players in January to move us up.  Yesterday's game was enormous... a team that we should get at least a point from.  Losing at home to another recently promoted team is why everyone is bickering on the forum.  It's frustrating to the fans as well as to Parkinson and to Anderson. How do we stop the rot?  How do we move forward?  Maybe Nat is right... we need a team leader on the pitch.

Selling important assets is hugely risky and benefits Anderson first and foremost. I'm comfortable with him being stopped from doing that. The motives of the Trust can be questioned, of course, but I believe the assets should be protected where possible

15 minutes after the deal was done, Paul Aldridge was emailing entities who had previously expressed an interest in the club. A sale is his primary focus, that much is clear.

Kane57 wrote:15 minutes after the deal was done, Paul Aldridge was emailing entities who had previously expressed an interest in the club. A sale is his primary focus, that much is clear.

There's nothing wrong in buying and selling on.

Maybe he had Aldridge emailing round once he found out what stupid business Holdsworth had done and how only £4 million of the £5 million was not received into the club.

Maybe it was Holdsworth who got Aldridge to contact the others - after all his terms on the loan was for it to be paid back to BM just over a week from taking it out.  He certainly expected to receive £5 million into SSBWFC within the week to pay the loan back - and clearly something didn't work out as planned for him there - did it?

And has Aldridge told you this or has it come from a camp not particularly supportive of Anderson?

Kane57 wrote:Selling important assets is hugely risky and benefits Anderson first and foremost. I'm comfortable with him being stopped from doing that. The motives of the Trust can be questioned, of course, but I believe the assets should be protected where possible

But an ACV doesn't actually protect the asset - it merely delays a sale of an asset and brings it out into the public domain.

Nobody thought about putting an ACV on the assets when Davies and Gartside let the club slide financially, so much so that they actually DID sell off assets.

Where they 'bad guys' too - and should have been stopped?

There was nothing to stop Anderson selling the ground/assets before the ST got round to getting one - if he was so hard up as you claim (Aldridge emailing prospective buyers 15 minutes after becoming the owner) why didn't he cash in then when he easily could?

Maybe someone wants to invest into the hotel but won't touch it if they are severely constrained with there being an ACV on it.

Should there even be an ACV on the hotel because I doubt anyone truly sees it as an Asset of Community Value - it's just an out of town hotel that just happens to be built into a football club?

And that isn't what ACV's are intended to be involved with.

Sluffy wrote:

Kane57 wrote:15 minutes after the deal was done, Paul Aldridge was emailing entities who had previously expressed an interest in the club. A sale is his primary focus, that much is clear.

There's nothing wrong in buying and selling on.

Maybe he had Aldridge emailing round once he found out what stupid business Holdsworth had done and how only £4 million of the £5 million was not received into the club.

Maybe it was Holdsworth who got Aldridge to contact the others - after all his terms on the loan was for it to be paid back to BM just over a week from taking it out.  He certainly expected to receive £5 million into SSBWFC within the week to pay the loan back - and clearly something didn't work out as planned for him there - did it?

And has Aldridge told you this or has it come from a camp not particularly supportive of Anderson?

From Blumarble

Kane57 wrote:

Sluffy wrote:

Kane57 wrote:15 minutes after the deal was done, Paul Aldridge was emailing entities who had previously expressed an interest in the club. A sale is his primary focus, that much is clear.

There's nothing wrong in buying and selling on.

Maybe he had Aldridge emailing round once he found out what stupid business Holdsworth had done and how only £4 million of the £5 million was not received into the club.

Maybe it was Holdsworth who got Aldridge to contact the others - after all his terms on the loan was for it to be paid back to BM just over a week from taking it out.  He certainly expected to receive £5 million into SSBWFC within the week to pay the loan back - and clearly something didn't work out as planned for him there - did it?

And has Aldridge told you this or has it come from a camp not particularly supportive of Anderson?

From Blumarble

How would BM know what Aldridge was doing and who instructed him to be doing it?

The best time line you could possibly get is you being told directly by whomever Aldridge had spoken to himself.

If that is the case you've got exceptionally good contacts but on a personal note and have being in a similar position of responsibility in a large organisation myself, you simply don't get to such levels if you are indiscrete and can't hold confidences.

Unless your mole is your best mate or family member it is more likely that you have been fed gossip (or speculation) at best or have been 'played' (for whatever reason) at worst.

Anyway whether Aldridge did or did not send out emails - and if he did, who told him to do so - is irrelevant now.  

Circumstances have moved on significantly since then.

You'd have to ask him that.

Kane57 wrote:You'd have to ask him that.

Ask who what?

If you mean your mole I clearly don't know who he is, nor I would suspect he be too pleased if you were to tell me, or for his bosses at Bluemarble to find out who one of their employees is, passing on confidential client information.

As I've said it is all meaningless now anyway because things have significantly moved on since then.

Sluffy wrote:

Kane57 wrote:Selling important assets is hugely risky and benefits Anderson first and foremost. I'm comfortable with him being stopped from doing that. The motives of the Trust can be questioned, of course, but I believe the assets should be protected where possible

But an ACV doesn't actually protect the asset - it merely delays a sale of an asset and brings it out into the public domain.

Nobody thought about putting an ACV on the assets when Davies and Gartside let the club slide financially, so much so that they actually DID sell off assets.

Where they 'bad guys' too - and should have been stopped?

There was nothing to stop Anderson selling the ground/assets before the ST got round to getting one - if he was so hard up as you claim (Aldridge emailing prospective buyers 15 minutes after becoming the owner) why didn't he cash in then when he easily could?

Maybe someone wants to invest into the hotel but won't touch it if they are severely constrained with there being an ACV on it.

Should there even be an ACV on the hotel because I doubt anyone truly sees it as an Asset of Community Value - it's just an out of town hotel that just happens to be built into a football club?

And that isn't what ACV's are intended to be involved with.

Nothing is constrained, the ACV doesn't mean he can't sell it just means he can't do it overnight. Quite happy for this restriction to be in place

Kane57 wrote:

Sluffy wrote:

Kane57 wrote:Selling important assets is hugely risky and benefits Anderson first and foremost. I'm comfortable with him being stopped from doing that. The motives of the Trust can be questioned, of course, but I believe the assets should be protected where possible

But an ACV doesn't actually protect the asset - it merely delays a sale of an asset and brings it out into the public domain.

Nobody thought about putting an ACV on the assets when Davies and Gartside let the club slide financially, so much so that they actually DID sell off assets.

Where they 'bad guys' too - and should have been stopped?

There was nothing to stop Anderson selling the ground/assets before the ST got round to getting one - if he was so hard up as you claim (Aldridge emailing prospective buyers 15 minutes after becoming the owner) why didn't he cash in then when he easily could?

Maybe someone wants to invest into the hotel but won't touch it if they are severely constrained with there being an ACV on it.

Should there even be an ACV on the hotel because I doubt anyone truly sees it as an Asset of Community Value - it's just an out of town hotel that just happens to be built into a football club?

And that isn't what ACV's are intended to be involved with.

Nothing is constrained, the ACV doesn't mean he can't sell it just means he can't do it overnight. Quite happy for this restriction to be in place

Of course it is a constriction if you are obligated to wait at least six months before you can sell your asset.

Think not of the constraint on how it applies to Anderson but more of a disincentive for someone who wants to buy the hotel and perhaps will re-sell it in the future.  The last thing they would want is to wait a year to buy (6 months wait) and sell (a further 6 months wait) a business.

The ACV will undoubtedly have a negative effect on the value of the hotel - and the hotel is not the reason why the ST obtained the ACV in the first place.

Perhaps BM would have been informed of any intentions to find a buyer as they are now a creditor and would need assurances as to how they would get their money back. It may also be possible that in getting BM to agree to allow Anderson to take Deano's shares and the accompanying debt that Anderson gave them assurances at the time of the negotiation that a buyer would be sought.
If either of these is the case, BM could have released the info in order to reassure their own shareholders and customers that everything was being done to avoid a bad debt.
That doesn't necessarily mean that Anderson actually wants a buyer at this stage - he just needs to say he's going down that route in order to assuage his creditors. After all he can always say that potential buyers don't meet his criteria or price, shifting the blame on them as he has done previously.

It has certainly been a frustrating few weeks for the team, but as has been reiterated by the manager, players and myself of late, it is at times like this that togetherness and unity across the club is vital.
It has been a challenging start to the season and our current situation is not ideal, but it is still very much early days in the campaign and I can assure you that there is plenty of hard work going on up at the training ground to ensure that our fortunes are turned around sooner rather than later.
At the moment, it is clear to see that the players’ endeavour and determination is there – they are simply missing that bit of luck in front of goal to turn their performances into points.
I am confident however that once we get that first league victory under our belts, the only way will be up from thereon in.
It will be good for the players to get back onto home soil too this weekend, especially after a disappointing result against Sheffield United last time out here.
That night, I think everybody of a Bolton Wanderers persuasion left Macron Stadium scratching their heads as to how we hadn’t secured anything from the game given our dominance.
And heading down to Ipswich Town last weekend, the players’ dedication to the cause was clear to see yet again as we commandeered proceedings, only to be undone by a deflected long-range effort.
When you are down at the bottom of the table, those moments of luck will always go against as opposed to fall for you and that has certainly been the case for the most part this term.
In the Carabao Cup against West Ham United on Tuesday evening meanwhile, the team did not disgrace themselves against top flight opposition and can take plenty of positives from the game as a whole heading into Saturday's league clash against a team who are in the bottom three with ourselves.
Brentford will make the journey north this weekend with the same mindset as ourselves – that of the importance of picking up their first league win of the season.
Our fortunes must change at some point however and with the combined efforts of everybody across the football club, from the players and coaching staff to those behind the scenes here at Macron Stadium and of course, you, the supporters, we can make sure that starts this Saturday.

Reflecting on matters off the pitch, I have read the comments expressed by Daniel Izza, the chairman of the BWST, concerning the ACV which are of course disappointing, but not unexpected.
I have already expressed my views on this matter and won't be commenting any further at this time other than to say that l have received many expressions of support from Trust members and from what l have seen on social media, not all those involved in the Trust share Daniel’s opinions.
Hopefully, he consulted the members before submitting the application, although my experience to date has shown that this has not always been the case.
As it stands, l cannot see the club working in tandem and harmony with the Trust going forward, but we will continue to work with the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Association, who we have found to be far more supportive and helpful in trying to assist the club in its quest for financial stability and success on and off the field.

I hope many of you have taken advantage of our Category D ticket prices for this fixture too and in turn, I know that you will make our home ground an intimidating place for the opposition.
For those of you yet to do so, with adult tickets just £15 and concessions £7, please CLICK HERE, visit Bolton Central in person or phone 0844 871 2932.
As usual, let’s be loud, let’s be proud and let’s get behind the team.
Kind regards,
Ken

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Sigh here we go again