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Simon Jordan, the former Crystal Palace owner, has launched a scathing condemnation of Ken Anderson’s time in charge at Wanderers.
The businessman, who made his fortune in the phone industry, correctly predicted that Bolton would be successful in their request to get a High Court case adjourned yesterday during an interview on Talksport.
Jordan was unimpressed, however, with the way finances had been allowed to wane during Anderson’s time in charge – culminating in the non-payment of February wages and the winding-up order sought by HMRC.
"I was at Palace for 10 years and in the final six months I was sticking in more than £1m a month,” he said. “I took my responsibilities seriously, to my own detriment.
"The obligations you have is the business of football. If you own a club you have to go into your pocket and you have to do better than Ken has done.
"Looking at the size of the deal, I'm perplexed at how a £25m deal isn't getting done. Bolton must be in a position where the bulk of their restructuring has been done and I can only assume Ken wants to be able to achieve the maximum return for Ken at the same time as Bolton.
"I earned that right at Crystal Palace and put £30-40m of my money in. I doubt Ken has, and shouldn't have to, but you do have a responsibility when you take on a football club. You become a custodian - especially one like Bolton which is having to be rebuilt.
"Otherwise you have no business being involved in football."
Jordan claims he was previously approached by a consortium interesting in investing at Bolton and holds the club in high regard, having fostered a relationship with late owner Eddie Davies and chairman Phil Gartside. His own time at Palace ended acrimoniously in financial problems but Jordan believes a lack of money injected by Anderson in his three years in charge has accelerated the feelings of ill-will which has left him unable to attend games on police advice.
"This is a significant football club,” Jordan said. “It might be a slightly parochial one, it sits on the outside of an area rich in football clubs, but it is one who has a wonderful stadium and a great fanbase,” he said.
"I was talking to Vernon Kay about it, the sheer intensity of feeling towards what is going on there is extreme.
"Like most things, when the wheels come off at a football club the dip can be quite significant - see Leeds United, so on and so forth, who fall into the mire.
"It comes alongside people who don't want to invest any money because they have done enough and then there are people who acquire a club who don't have their best interest in mind.
"I, unfortunately, would put the current incumbent/owner of Bolton in that category.
"Where they are now is in the mire. And that is because they don't have the cash or a benefactor like Eddie Davies. They have had a significant period of time where they had enormous salaries on their books.
"I think they have been badly managed by a variety of different people.
"If you buy or own a football club, even in the Premier League, you are going to have to go into your pocket and fund a football club.
"You don't get a free pass. You don't get to pay yourself, you support it, and I don't believe that is what has happened at Bolton. It has been seen as an opportunity to put a play into play to make money."
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The businessman, who made his fortune in the phone industry, correctly predicted that Bolton would be successful in their request to get a High Court case adjourned yesterday during an interview on Talksport.
Jordan was unimpressed, however, with the way finances had been allowed to wane during Anderson’s time in charge – culminating in the non-payment of February wages and the winding-up order sought by HMRC.
"I was at Palace for 10 years and in the final six months I was sticking in more than £1m a month,” he said. “I took my responsibilities seriously, to my own detriment.
"The obligations you have is the business of football. If you own a club you have to go into your pocket and you have to do better than Ken has done.
"Looking at the size of the deal, I'm perplexed at how a £25m deal isn't getting done. Bolton must be in a position where the bulk of their restructuring has been done and I can only assume Ken wants to be able to achieve the maximum return for Ken at the same time as Bolton.
"I earned that right at Crystal Palace and put £30-40m of my money in. I doubt Ken has, and shouldn't have to, but you do have a responsibility when you take on a football club. You become a custodian - especially one like Bolton which is having to be rebuilt.
"Otherwise you have no business being involved in football."
Jordan claims he was previously approached by a consortium interesting in investing at Bolton and holds the club in high regard, having fostered a relationship with late owner Eddie Davies and chairman Phil Gartside. His own time at Palace ended acrimoniously in financial problems but Jordan believes a lack of money injected by Anderson in his three years in charge has accelerated the feelings of ill-will which has left him unable to attend games on police advice.
"This is a significant football club,” Jordan said. “It might be a slightly parochial one, it sits on the outside of an area rich in football clubs, but it is one who has a wonderful stadium and a great fanbase,” he said.
"I was talking to Vernon Kay about it, the sheer intensity of feeling towards what is going on there is extreme.
"Like most things, when the wheels come off at a football club the dip can be quite significant - see Leeds United, so on and so forth, who fall into the mire.
"It comes alongside people who don't want to invest any money because they have done enough and then there are people who acquire a club who don't have their best interest in mind.
"I, unfortunately, would put the current incumbent/owner of Bolton in that category.
"Where they are now is in the mire. And that is because they don't have the cash or a benefactor like Eddie Davies. They have had a significant period of time where they had enormous salaries on their books.
"I think they have been badly managed by a variety of different people.
"If you buy or own a football club, even in the Premier League, you are going to have to go into your pocket and fund a football club.
"You don't get a free pass. You don't get to pay yourself, you support it, and I don't believe that is what has happened at Bolton. It has been seen as an opportunity to put a play into play to make money."
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