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ONE week away from the end of June and Wanderers’ players do not know when they are due to return for pre-season training.
Not a soul seems to know whether Phil Parkinson and his backroom staff will report back to take charge of said sessions, or who would do so in their absence.
Just 40 days remain before the League One campaign kicks-off at Wycombe Wanderers and yet there are no season tickets on sale, no new kit to purchase, no pre-season friendlies. Hell, there are not enough players in the squad to make a team and a full bench, anyway.
That is the stark reality on the football side of Bolton Wanderers right now, so it is little surprise that fans’ patience is starting to wear.
The message from solicitors’ offices, where the real action is right now, is that things are moving in the right direction.
“There are lots of moving parts but they are making progress,” said one source very close to the deal on Saturday morning.
Thrashing out a heads of terms agreement – which is basically a legal document with parameters set down for how the deal is to be completed – can be a complicated process, I am told. We were informed it was on course to be signed on Friday, along with the naming of a preferred bidder, believed to be the Football Ventures consortium.
Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case.
It was explained that legal paperwork had not been exchanged by close of business on the weekend, and so the grand reveal would take longer than expected. A couple of days later another delay was suffered, not connected directly with the process nor within anyone’s control, which affected things further.
I do not intend to go into detail but suffice it to say this is not a journalist overlooking a story to curry favour, nor a conspiracy designed to paint a prettier picture. It is a judgement taken with full backing from my superiors at The Bolton News.
Social media and online journalism caters for the public’s insatiable appetite for information. It can be fun, informative and helps me tap into the thoughts and opinions of supporters like never before. But there is a downside.
Providing a running commentary is not always helpful. Answering one question almost always leads to two more questions and without access to the inner workings of the negotiations I would be a fool to think I could answer everything.
There are only so many times I can report that progress is being made without people questioning if it is really the case. And so, last week, I decided to step back and allow the situation to breathe.
The questions continued, not least from players and coaching staff who will only be paid wages once the takeover is complete. They want to get on with their lives, get on with their careers, just the same as anyone else – and I feel for them.
Scepticism is understandable, particularly given the number of deadlines which amounted to nothing but dashed hopes under the previous ownership.
No time delay is good when you look at the amount of work which is required to rebuild this club in time for the new season. It is understood Football Ventures have planned ahead and injected £1million into the club for running costs but the bulk of the work can only be done once they have completely agreed a deal with existing creditors and put their name above the door.
As keen as we all are to see new owners installed and a semblance of normality restored, however, there has to be a little faith shown in the administrators who came in to sort this almighty mess just 42 days ago.
If there is a material danger to the takeover, then it will be reported.
If updates are given on the process from good sources, and they are responsible to report, they will be in the newspaper, no question.
Until then, I’ll be crossing my fingers and toes with the rest of you that this gets done quickly and we can all get back to talking about signings like the good old days.
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/17724433.inside-wanderers-why-fans-faith-has-to-hold-out-just-a-little-longer/
Not a soul seems to know whether Phil Parkinson and his backroom staff will report back to take charge of said sessions, or who would do so in their absence.
Just 40 days remain before the League One campaign kicks-off at Wycombe Wanderers and yet there are no season tickets on sale, no new kit to purchase, no pre-season friendlies. Hell, there are not enough players in the squad to make a team and a full bench, anyway.
That is the stark reality on the football side of Bolton Wanderers right now, so it is little surprise that fans’ patience is starting to wear.
The message from solicitors’ offices, where the real action is right now, is that things are moving in the right direction.
“There are lots of moving parts but they are making progress,” said one source very close to the deal on Saturday morning.
Thrashing out a heads of terms agreement – which is basically a legal document with parameters set down for how the deal is to be completed – can be a complicated process, I am told. We were informed it was on course to be signed on Friday, along with the naming of a preferred bidder, believed to be the Football Ventures consortium.
Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case.
It was explained that legal paperwork had not been exchanged by close of business on the weekend, and so the grand reveal would take longer than expected. A couple of days later another delay was suffered, not connected directly with the process nor within anyone’s control, which affected things further.
I do not intend to go into detail but suffice it to say this is not a journalist overlooking a story to curry favour, nor a conspiracy designed to paint a prettier picture. It is a judgement taken with full backing from my superiors at The Bolton News.
Social media and online journalism caters for the public’s insatiable appetite for information. It can be fun, informative and helps me tap into the thoughts and opinions of supporters like never before. But there is a downside.
Providing a running commentary is not always helpful. Answering one question almost always leads to two more questions and without access to the inner workings of the negotiations I would be a fool to think I could answer everything.
There are only so many times I can report that progress is being made without people questioning if it is really the case. And so, last week, I decided to step back and allow the situation to breathe.
The questions continued, not least from players and coaching staff who will only be paid wages once the takeover is complete. They want to get on with their lives, get on with their careers, just the same as anyone else – and I feel for them.
Scepticism is understandable, particularly given the number of deadlines which amounted to nothing but dashed hopes under the previous ownership.
No time delay is good when you look at the amount of work which is required to rebuild this club in time for the new season. It is understood Football Ventures have planned ahead and injected £1million into the club for running costs but the bulk of the work can only be done once they have completely agreed a deal with existing creditors and put their name above the door.
As keen as we all are to see new owners installed and a semblance of normality restored, however, there has to be a little faith shown in the administrators who came in to sort this almighty mess just 42 days ago.
If there is a material danger to the takeover, then it will be reported.
If updates are given on the process from good sources, and they are responsible to report, they will be in the newspaper, no question.
Until then, I’ll be crossing my fingers and toes with the rest of you that this gets done quickly and we can all get back to talking about signings like the good old days.
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/17724433.inside-wanderers-why-fans-faith-has-to-hold-out-just-a-little-longer/
