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Troubles continue to mount at Bolton Wanderers as efforts to sell the club drag towards the end of a season which seems bound to end in relegation.
There are no guarantees that a new owner will be found immediately - but we asked readers to tell us what they would want from the new hierarchy, and what changes they would like to see.
LIKE Jay Jay being so good they named him twice, I want stability and more stability.
The club needs to be put back on sound foundations, both financially and playing squad.
If that takes a couple of seasons in league one to achieve so be it.
From last season’s opener against Leeds, only two players out of the 18 on that team-sheet are still on our books (Wheater and Buckley) By my calculations we only have six outfield players in contract for next season, so next off-season’s churn is going to be similar to this.
This is especially worrying when David Lee and Jimmy Phillips are winning awards and working wonders with the youth set up developing players that should be the bedrock of the club for a decade and we have to sell them at bargain process to cover short term cashflow issues.
It is hard for a football club to create a culture and identity when so many new faces are around for a season and then move on. If a player is on a one-year contract they are not going to put roots down and relocate their family if nine months later they are off somewhere else. That’s why I worry so much about the potential new owner’s “two-year premier league” plan. The amount of trust and goodwill that has been lost via mismanagement in the last couple of years will take a structural reform much longer than that.
Mike Lamb
WHOEVER the new owner is, their first task is to reconnect the club with the fans.
Not so long ago, we used to get down to the stadium a few hours before kick-off, see friends and family and it was a day out. Now I’ll turn up around half-an-hour before kick off and leave straight after.
I’d like to see the whole matchday entertainment back, bring back the ‘fanzone’, let fans enjoy a beer, watch the early kick off and let their kids’ enjoy themselves. This way, even if the quality of football is poor, fans new and old will have enjoyed some of their experience.
As a season ticket holder, I tend not to look at the individual match ticket prices too much. However, I do have friends and family who support the club but can only make it to the odd game. The Wigan game last December was one they looked at going to, until they were looking at paying upwards of £30 for a ticket. In recent years fans have been priced out of attending games. I’d like to see a reasonable pricing structure which will bring in fans, new and old.
Finally, I’d like the new owner to act professionally. I don’t think there are many other clubs who would feel the need to ask this of an owner, but the way Ken Anderson has acted recently has been nothing short of childish.
The new owner should communicate with fans in a sensible way, pay the staff their wages on time and provide the stability which the club needs to get back on its feet. We’re not asking for millions of pounds investment, just leadership which will push this club forwards and put a smile back on fans faces.
Joshua Watton
WHEN the West was still being won, European frontiersmen liked to unwind from a hard day, clearing the land of bison and Native Americans, by playing poker.
Players took turns dealing the cards, the position of the dealer being indicated by a hunting knife placed on the table in front of him. Dealing hands to other players was hazardous - money, liquor, tough guys and guns. Some preferred to offer their turn as dealer to the next person along. As the hunting knives used often had buckhorn handles, this practice became known as ‘passing the buck’.
As for passing the buck in a modern sense, the current owner of Bolton Wanderers, Ken Anderson, excels. The buckhorn handle has been pointed towards players (past and present), former business partners, ‘time-wasters’, creditors, the Bolton News’s own correspondent, even the fans.
By all accounts, our next owner might be Laurence Bassini. Listeners to TalkSport last week would have heard him blame his chequered financial history on former business partners. While that may be the simple truth, it sounds worryingly like yet more passing of the buck.
Mr Bassini says he’ll instigate a two or three-year plan to take Bolton Wanderers back into the Premier League. Such ambition might be music to the ears of some fans, but not to mine.
Oh, I’d love to see African footballers of the year and World Cup winners pulling on a white shirt again. But before all that, I’d like any new owner to return stability and dignity to our club. I’d like an owner who shows integrity and consistency in dealing with employees, fans and other football clubs. I’d like a new owner who follows the lead not of the current U.S. President, but of one from the previous century - Harry S. Truman. President Truman had a four-word sign prominently displayed on his desk: The buck stops here.
Give me an owner who understands that message, takes it to heart, and acts on it every time he (or she) does business in the name of our club, and I’ll be a happier Wanderer.
Martin Thomasson
Source
There are no guarantees that a new owner will be found immediately - but we asked readers to tell us what they would want from the new hierarchy, and what changes they would like to see.
LIKE Jay Jay being so good they named him twice, I want stability and more stability.
The club needs to be put back on sound foundations, both financially and playing squad.
If that takes a couple of seasons in league one to achieve so be it.
From last season’s opener against Leeds, only two players out of the 18 on that team-sheet are still on our books (Wheater and Buckley) By my calculations we only have six outfield players in contract for next season, so next off-season’s churn is going to be similar to this.
This is especially worrying when David Lee and Jimmy Phillips are winning awards and working wonders with the youth set up developing players that should be the bedrock of the club for a decade and we have to sell them at bargain process to cover short term cashflow issues.
It is hard for a football club to create a culture and identity when so many new faces are around for a season and then move on. If a player is on a one-year contract they are not going to put roots down and relocate their family if nine months later they are off somewhere else. That’s why I worry so much about the potential new owner’s “two-year premier league” plan. The amount of trust and goodwill that has been lost via mismanagement in the last couple of years will take a structural reform much longer than that.
Mike Lamb
WHOEVER the new owner is, their first task is to reconnect the club with the fans.
Not so long ago, we used to get down to the stadium a few hours before kick-off, see friends and family and it was a day out. Now I’ll turn up around half-an-hour before kick off and leave straight after.
I’d like to see the whole matchday entertainment back, bring back the ‘fanzone’, let fans enjoy a beer, watch the early kick off and let their kids’ enjoy themselves. This way, even if the quality of football is poor, fans new and old will have enjoyed some of their experience.
As a season ticket holder, I tend not to look at the individual match ticket prices too much. However, I do have friends and family who support the club but can only make it to the odd game. The Wigan game last December was one they looked at going to, until they were looking at paying upwards of £30 for a ticket. In recent years fans have been priced out of attending games. I’d like to see a reasonable pricing structure which will bring in fans, new and old.
Finally, I’d like the new owner to act professionally. I don’t think there are many other clubs who would feel the need to ask this of an owner, but the way Ken Anderson has acted recently has been nothing short of childish.
The new owner should communicate with fans in a sensible way, pay the staff their wages on time and provide the stability which the club needs to get back on its feet. We’re not asking for millions of pounds investment, just leadership which will push this club forwards and put a smile back on fans faces.
Joshua Watton
WHEN the West was still being won, European frontiersmen liked to unwind from a hard day, clearing the land of bison and Native Americans, by playing poker.
Players took turns dealing the cards, the position of the dealer being indicated by a hunting knife placed on the table in front of him. Dealing hands to other players was hazardous - money, liquor, tough guys and guns. Some preferred to offer their turn as dealer to the next person along. As the hunting knives used often had buckhorn handles, this practice became known as ‘passing the buck’.
As for passing the buck in a modern sense, the current owner of Bolton Wanderers, Ken Anderson, excels. The buckhorn handle has been pointed towards players (past and present), former business partners, ‘time-wasters’, creditors, the Bolton News’s own correspondent, even the fans.
By all accounts, our next owner might be Laurence Bassini. Listeners to TalkSport last week would have heard him blame his chequered financial history on former business partners. While that may be the simple truth, it sounds worryingly like yet more passing of the buck.
Mr Bassini says he’ll instigate a two or three-year plan to take Bolton Wanderers back into the Premier League. Such ambition might be music to the ears of some fans, but not to mine.
Oh, I’d love to see African footballers of the year and World Cup winners pulling on a white shirt again. But before all that, I’d like any new owner to return stability and dignity to our club. I’d like an owner who shows integrity and consistency in dealing with employees, fans and other football clubs. I’d like a new owner who follows the lead not of the current U.S. President, but of one from the previous century - Harry S. Truman. President Truman had a four-word sign prominently displayed on his desk: The buck stops here.
Give me an owner who understands that message, takes it to heart, and acts on it every time he (or she) does business in the name of our club, and I’ll be a happier Wanderer.
Martin Thomasson
Source