Ken Anderson - update.

T.R.O.Y wrote:Was it King Phil when Gartside used to do the same thing?

Climb out LT.

Phil didn't save us from going under. What the problem with me thinking Ken is doing a great job?

Agree with you LT. He's done really well for us so far. Some people are never happy, and quite often too fixed in their opinions, and always look for ulterior motives.

gloswhite wrote:Agree with you LT. He's done really well for us so far. Some people are never happy, and quite often too fixed in their opinions, and always look for ulterior motives.

I don't think people realise the actual size of the job he's had to do. Granted, there is alot of work still to be done, but I have faith that Ken will sort us out and get us stable.

Leeds_Trotter wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:Was it King Phil when Gartside used to do the same thing?

Climb out LT.

Phil didn't save us from going under. What the problem with me thinking Ken is doing a great job?

I’ve no issue with you thinking he’s doing a great job, I think he’s doing fine with the resources he has. I was asking whether you gave Gartside as much credit when he did ticket promotions.

I’m all about consistency.

The thing is we don't know how good or bad a job he is doing yet. The fact that we didn't go bankrupt so far is promising but it's early doors especially as his previous form related to what and how he took money out of the businesses he got done for.
Probably best to leave it until we find out what's really going on - and that may be some years away.

wanderlust wrote:The thing is we don't know how good or bad a job he is doing yet. The fact that we didn't go bankrupt so far is promising but it's early doors especially as his previous form related to what and how he took money out of the businesses he got done for.
Probably best to leave it until we find out what's really going on - and that may be some years away.

The good thing, from your comments, is that we will still be around in a few years.

After two successive away games, which brought a precious point in each, we are now back at Macron Stadium in front of the Sky Sports cameras for a Sky Bet Championship fixture against high-flying Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
To come away from those games at Reading and Sheffield Wednesday feeling somewhat disappointed that we didn’t win, speaks volumes for how well we played. It is not often that you see visiting teams dominate play and possession like we did at the Madejski Stadium and Hillsborough.
That said, with most of the other results going in our favour, we actually gained ground on the teams in and around us.
The travelling support in both games was awesome and the passion you all evoked from the first minute to the end as the players came off the field was inspiring to experience. I know the coaching staff and players really appreciate it. With nine games remaining this campaign, your support remains as crucial as ever.

I was pleased for Aaron Wilbraham to get on the scoresheet at Hillsborough and to net such a decisive strike right at the death. He is the perfect example of a player on the periphery of the first team and patiently waiting for his chance. He has been the consummate professional during his time at the club and his attitude is a shining example to the younger players in the squad.
Another player who deserves a mention is Adam Le Fondre, who has also had to remain very patient this season. He grabbed his chance against Reading and scored the goal. Although he was unlucky not to get a goal against Wednesday his work rate was exceptional and he ensured that the Owls’ defenders never had a minute’s rest!

The game against Villa is our designated Bolton at Home Community Fixture and I’d like to welcome Bolton at Home and all their guests to Macron Stadium as well as all the supporters who will be attending a match at Macron Stadium for the very first time.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is central to the wider Bolton Family and we are proud to be at the heart of our great town’s community. Please continue to support all the fantastic work that the Bolton Wanderers Community Trust does in the town. We will be donating £5 from each adult ticket sold in the Carrs Pasties North Stand to the five designated charity partners of the Trust, one of whom is Derian House, who we will be delighted to welcome as special guests on Saturday evening.

As has been commented elsewhere, this Friday will represent two years to the day since I became involved at the club. I cannot believe where those 24 months have gone and what has happened in that time! There have been some tough challenges, which have been publicised elsewhere, but thankfully those have been consigned to history.
At the time, the club were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in over twenty years and there was a purported lack of passion from the players and unrest on the terraces among the supporters. It’s fair to say that the club was at its lowest ebb for a generation. We put Jimmy Phillips in temporary charge of the club following the departure of the previous manager Neil Lennon.
We didn’t want to rush the appointment of a new manager and coaching staff and that is why I waited as long as I did to ensure I got my first choice at the helm, Phil Parkinson.
For the club to win promotion at the first attempt whilst under a transfer embargo was nothing short of miraculous. As far as I am aware, this was the first time it had been achieved.
The squad that Phil and his staff have now assembled is the strongest and most dedicated, committed group of players we have had in my two years at Macron Stadium. The fight, spirit, character and camaraderie amongst them has come to the fore in recent months and has enabled us to get into a position which puts our destiny in our own hands following a dreadful start to the season.

A number of players will be out of contract at the end of the season and new contract discussions with several of them and their agents are already taking place. Others will follow over the coming weeks and I will not forget the fantastic job they have done in getting us into this position where our fate is under our own control. There is an old adage in football about players playing for their contracts and this is very much the case!
The task ahead is to ensure that we retain our Championship status and to have a commercially prudent business plan going forward, which will allow us to progress and aspire to climb the heights the club enjoyed not too long ago.

The success of the Eddie Davies Academy, and in particular the Under-18s and Under-23s who both top their respective leagues, has been a source of pride and thoroughly vindicates our decision to retain Category 2 status. I firmly believe in our Academy structure and I will continue to ensure that the club invests in this very important area of the football club.
The Dome was critical to maintaining that status and I cannot thank enough the Bolton Wanderers Development Association for their support. As well being used by the local community under the auspices of the Community Trust, it has also played a crucial role for the first team in providing a suitable venue for them to train during the recent bad spell of weather.

The Hotel and in particular the Premier Suite have hosted an increasing amount of events which is putting us back on the map as an all-round entertainment and sporting venue.
The stadium is a 365-day-a-year operation and we cannot solely rely on income from the turnstiles and hospitality suites. Therefore, it is imperative that we enhance all our other revenue generating capabilities.
With two headline concerts returning to Macron Stadium this summer, in the guises of Little Mix and The Killers, this is something that we all should be proud of.

There is still time for supporters to buy our Final Five ticket package which commences at the Aston Villa game this Saturday. From just £80 adults will be able to watch our last five home games, which offers a tremendous saving compared to buying tickets on a match-by-match basis. You can buy your Final Five tickets by clicking HERE.
Our replica kit sale also ends this Saturday, so you still have time to buy your home and away shirts for just £29.99 each and also take advantage of the 50% off printing offer. Make sure you wear your colours with pride as you get behind the team for the remainder of the season. Click HERE to visit bwfcdirect.co.uk and buy your shirt online.

We really need to make Macron Stadium a cauldron of noise which generates an intimidating atmosphere for all the visiting teams. As I have mentioned, the support on our travels has been inspiring and phenomenal. There is no place like home, so let’s try and match that for these final five games.
Over these past two years, I’ve been enthralled by the support I have received from all our staff, season ticket holders, box holders, suppliers and sponsors, without whom none of this would have been remotely possible. I therefore offer you all my sincere gratitude.
I’d also like to thank Brett Warburton and Michael James for their support and financial assistance throughout my tenure at the club. They have the club’s best interests at heart and I’m very grateful for what they have done for the club.
It would be remiss of me not to mention Eddie Davies and the huge financial assistance and support he has given the club for many years. Over the past two years, this has continued and he has always made himself available whenever I have sought his advice and guidance. I cannot begin to tell you how passionate about the club he is and always will be. That the Academy bears his name is indicative of his love for Bolton Wanderers Football Club. He may not have got everything right, but he has tried his best and I hope I can try to emulate as much as he did during my time at the club.
As far as I am able to and wherever possible, I will always endeavour to be open and transparent with you all. So, if you ever wish to get in touch with the club please contact our head of marketing and communications Paul Holliday via [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Finally, we will be filing our audited accounts later this month on time and these will be publicly viewable on our website. We will also be holding the AGM and we’ll be in a position to confirm the date very soon. Our debt levels are now at the lowest for many years and the last quarter’s management accounts were the best since I have been involved at the club. A lot of hard work is still required going forward but I have nothing but praise for the club’s staff for their passion, diligence and loyalty to the cause.

Let’s be loud, let’s be proud and let’s get behind the boys as we take on Aston Villa this Saturday.
Kind regards,
Ken

I can't believe he's been involved with the club for 2 years either.

It has certainly gone quick!

Interesting that he will again publicly show the clubs accounts, will file them at Companies House on time and even call an AGM (which I assume those small army of people who held on to their couple of shares or so when Eddie took over - will be invited to attend).

And the ST who set themselves up to watch over the club haven't held an AGM in getting on for two years now, and similarly haven't submitted any accounts in that time either (both of which must be against its constitution) nor have pledged to make their accounts open to public scrutiny - unlike Ken Anderson, whom the moonmen still to today think he is here only to rape and pillage the club.

Funny how they stirred up shit for all that time about the club not filing its accounts on time when they can't be bothered doing it themselves.

It is fair to say that Saturday’s victory against Aston Villa was one of our best wins of the campaign and it was important that we headed into the international break with our heads held high, especially after the results from earlier in the day which allowed us to make further ground on the teams in and around us.

The way we contained Villa – a team that is challenging for promotion to the Premier League – shows the progress we have made. I was also impressed with the resilience we showed as a team and it is impossible for me to single out a man of the match – as far as I’m concerned the entire team deserved that accolade.

Considering the weather, I thought we had a fantastic crowd who played their part in creating a tremendous atmosphere. It would be great if we could maintain that level of passion for our remaining fixtures, both home and away.

I’d like to pay special credit to our groundstaff once again for their sterling efforts in ensuring that Saturday’s match was able to be completed. I must admit there was a real worry that the referee may have decided to abandon the game due to the very heavy snowfall. But the work of Chris Simm and his team, particularly during the half-time break, ensured that we were able to hold on to the victory and claim those precious three points.

The Under-23s continued their tremendous run of form when they beat Cardiff City 3-0 on Monday evening in the Professional Development League. They now sit at the summit of the North division and with six games remaining they are seven points clear. Connor Hall got his 18th goal of the season which is an amazing feat. I would like to praise David Lee, Tony Kelly and all concerned. Let’s hope they can continue this remarkable run.

I’d also like to remind you that Bolton Whites will be staging the British Heavyweight Title fight between Sam Sexton and Hughie Fury on Saturday 12 May. We are thrilled to be hosting such a prestigious sporting event which also showcases the versatility of the Premier Suite. You can buy your tickets for this event by clicking here.

Away from the field, I am pleased to confirm that for the first time since 2014 Burnden Leisure and the associated companies have filed their accounts at Companies House within the required reporting period.

I would certainly hope going forward this will be the norm and not worthy of mention in future years, but given the traumatic recent past it is encouraging to be able to report this achievement.

Shareholders and supporters who have previously read the club’s accounts will notice that this year’s set includes far more information than previous years, something I hope stakeholders will appreciate and find helpful and enlightening.

The Chairman’s statement and strategic report give a much greater level of transparency than previous years and detail the financial performance of the business over the past five years. I am sure you will agree this makes very interesting, if not comfortable reading.

I am also pleased to include a detailed Corporate Social Responsibility statement for the first time. I am sure like myself you will be extremely proud of the great work carried out by the Bolton Wanderers Community Trust around the town. Phil Mason and Ben Lawton, along with all the team, deserve great credit for the varied work undertaken. I do hope you will find time to read about the many schemes your club is involved in.

I would also like to thank Eddie Davies and his family for their unwavering support since I arrived at the club. Ed has always had, and continues to have, the best interests of the club at heart, the incredible amount of money written off by him reflected in these accounts pays testament to his generosity. I am aware of some criticism he has faced in the media and by a small section of our supporters in the past, this is most unfair and I certainly hope that I can continue to count on his support and wise counsel throughout my Chairmanship.

Shareholders will also be pleased to learn that an AGM has been set and it will be held at the stadium. Details will be sent along with the relevant notice in the next few days to all shareholders.

The last three years’ accounts including the 2017 sets can now be accessed via our website by clicking HERE. This section will be regularly updated with corporate information and should be the portal for all financial and shareholder information in the future.

I believe that readers of both my statement and the accounts in general will see that from a very difficult situation when I arrived, the club continues to improve its position both on and off the field.

There is much still to do but I do hope you will agree we are now certainly heading in the right direction, something that could not have been said in the past few years.

Indeed, I would like to let you know that the improvements we have continued to make in the last nine months have resulted in some positive news going into the last quarter of this financial year. The management accounts of both the football club and Whites Hotel are looking very encouraging and with a strong finish in the last quarter we should be able to report a profit for the first time since 2005.

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It was important that we signed off for the international break in style when we played Aston Villa at Macron Stadium in front of the Sky Sports cameras at our last home game.

I thought it was one of our better performances of the season against a team who I have no doubt will be competing for one of the promotion places come May, and we were very good value for our 1-0 victory

In what were trying circumstances, given the weather conditions, I thought we adapted very well, contained Villa and didn’t allow them to play their game.

Now, in what seems like no time at all, domestic football returns with two crucial games over the Easter period.

We will be taking 2,500 fans across the Pennines on Good Friday for our game against Leeds United, and I know that you will all be singing your hearts out with that famous Lancashire pride from the first minute right up until the final whistle.

For this match, the manager and I wanted the players to prepare in the best manner possible so that they are fresh for the game.

Therefore, and despite Elland Road being a very short distance from Macron Stadium, the players will be travelling the day before and staying overnight.

I believe that this will help with the camaraderie and ensure that their preparedness is optimised for what is the start of another busy period of fixtures.

Hopefully, we will get the result our performance merits and will go into next Tuesday’s game against Birmingham City in good shape and determined to get the win in front of our own fans.

With four home games remaining, it is vital that the Bolton family gets behind the club and helps to turn Macron Stadium into an intimidating fortress - we’ve seen just how vociferous our fans have been and just how much of a difference they can make.

Birmingham City will be bringing just over 4,500 fans to Macron Stadium for the game and I’m sure they will be trying their best to out-sing our fans, but given the noise and passion you have all showed, particularly in the recent home fixtures, I’m sure this won’t happen.

With our ‘Kids for a Quid’ offer, and the fact that tickets for this game are priced at just £15 for adults and £7 for concessions, I’m hopeful that the town of Bolton will turn out in their numbers to help the players get the victory which will put some more breathing space between us and Birmingham.

Tickets can still be bought by clicking here, but please let your friends, family and colleagues know and bring them to the game with you.

As I have said all along, there will be many twists and turns along the way between now and the end of the campaign, and teams’ destinies are very much still to be determined. Nothing is a far gone conclusion yet, and that’s at both ends of the table.

Games are coming thick and fast and league positions will to and fro, but I believe that if we maintain the momentum that we have shown since the turn of the year, we can continue to look upwards at the table.

It’s particularly pleasing to note the success of our Under-18s and Under-23s who continue to solidify their positions at the top of their respective divisions. The former made it four successive wins when they beat Coventry City 5-1 last Saturday, while the Under-23s picked up a hard fought 1-0 victory against Millwall on Monday evening at Leyland.

Jimmy Phillips, David Lee and the rest of the coaching staff are doing a great job with our youth structure and this is an area of the club which we’ll need to continue improving, particularly from a scouting point of view, so we can cast our net further.

Having a solid and successful Academy structure is vitally important for the future of the club.

Once again, there has been some speculation in the press and on social media about players’ contracts. What I can tell you is that we are already talking to the agents of some of the current squad about extending their deals.

Once our destiny is known for certain, we’ll be in a stronger position to speak with the other players and their representatives. I think it is pretty evident that the higher up the football pyramid one goes, the fruits of one’s labours are commensurately rewarded.

Last week, we announced our financial results for the year ended June 30, 2017 and I’m sure that you will agree with me that they make far better reading than in previous years.

Don’t get me wrong - there is still a lot more hard work to undertake across all areas of the business, but we are now heading on the right path.

You may have also read in The Bolton News about us looking for investment. It is plain to see that if we are to compete with our peers and strive for promotion back to the Premier League, then we will need to increase our budgets.

It is my job to find investment and as always, I will keep you updated as and when we have any information to share.

If we can start to consistently get crowds in the 20,000 region – like we did towards the end of last season – it will make the club a lot more of an attractive proposition towards investors, and that’s not to mention the added benefits from revenue and atmosphere.

Finally, we have launched an ‘Easter Egg-stravaganza’ sale across our replica kit range and I invite you all to take advantage of this and wear your colours with pride for the remainder of the campaign.

More details of this can be found online via [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

As always however, let's be loud, let’s be proud and let’s get behind the team!

Kind regards,

Ken

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I still can't believe that Anderson's PR team haven't worked out why we were getting 20k attendance in League 1 but not in the Championship. 
A large number of fans want to see a winning team, i.e. fair weather supporters - it's as simple as that.
Success on the pitch breeds success in the trading figures.

People will turn up when the team is winning and near the top of the league. Any league.

I'm not convinced ticket price has a huge impact on attendances, they could give away 27,000 free tickets for a home game against QPR or Barnsley and we'd still only get 18-20,000 in our current league position.

A lot of people are glory hunters, I have no doubt if we were in Cardiff's position we'd be getting 25,000 at home games regardless of the price.

There is no way of dressing up last night’s performance other than to say it was very disappointing. The players will be left in no doubt that the display wasn’t up to the standards we set ourselves recently.

In recent matches lapses in concentration have cost us dearly and we need to get back to the levels of dedication and total commitment we had a few weeks ago.

The Bolton Family have really played their part in turning up in numbers and showing your passionate support, especially at Leeds United and also in front of our biggest home crowd of the season.

In light of this, the defeat against Birmingham was all the more galling as you all did your utmost to lift the team.

As I keep repeating, there will be many more twists and turns before the final game of the season against Nottingham Forest and, having looked at the fixtures of everyone around us, I still remain confident that despite our terrible start to the season, our destiny is still in our own hands.

On the back of these two defeats, l feel sure that the management team will look long and hard at our recent performances and maybe think it is time for change and select a team that are more than capable of going to Derby County on Saturday and getting a result.

Obviously it’s a tough game and with all the top ten teams still challenging for play-off places, there will be no let-up so we need to grind out match-winning performances as we did away to Sheffield United and at home to Bristol City and Aston Villa. That is the level of commitment now required.

As l have said previously the majority of our squad are playing for new contracts and evidently it is financially more rewarding for everyone concerned that we ensure we retain our Sky Bet Championship status.

As they say, we are now at the business end of the season and it’s imperative that the squad as a whole gives 120% in every game for the full game, not just in patches, and unfortunately this has not been the case for several players recently.

These players all know who they are and they need to step up their performance if they want to stay with us next season.

We now have six games remaining – six cup finals – and it is crucial that you all stay with us – home and away - and maintain that fantastic level of support you have shown us in recent games.

We’ve got to put those bad results firmly behind us and remember that our future remains in our own control.

Games are coming thick and fast and after our trip to Derby on Saturday, we are back at Macron Stadium on Tuesday for the game against Millwall.

I hope to see as many of you there as possible and hopefully the players can reward you for your wonderful support.

Kind regards,

Ken

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Start by refunding the ticket price from last night, then we'll talk.

Ken needs to tread carefully, really not his place to start talking about selections and players not putting in effort. Best off keeping his orange mouth shut in public when it comes to playing issues.

Anderson wrote:There is no way of dressing up last night’s performance other than to say it was very disappointing. The players will be left in no doubt that the display wasn’t up to the standards we set ourselves recently.

So negative.
Have 'im Stuffy 

Ken speaks his mind.

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Buckley's contracted for another year? Fuck off.