Bolton Boys We Are Here

[Bredbury Blue]

This might give you hope Champers

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/mar/03/football-fans-owen-oyston-blackpool-charlton-coventry

 

[mrbojangles]

So Champers, D day tomorrow. Winding up order scheduled. Didn't realise you had fended off 5 already. With being 8 points adrift off safety are you better off taking the 12 points deduction now?

[champers]

22 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

So Champers, D day tomorrow. Winding up order scheduled. Didn't realise you had fended off 5 already. With being 8 points adrift off safety are you better off taking the 12 points deduction now?

12 point deduction now is probably the best option if it comes down to it. Anderson has always coughed up the money at the last minute before. The club was due to be sold last week and the week before. Relegation could drive the asking price down. We will see.

Edited March 19, 2019 by champers

[champers]

Winding up order adjourned for 2 weeks till April 3rd. Apparently, last night an agreement was drawn up to sell the club with the buyer agreeing to pay any debts due. Value of debts is £1.2 million.

Kit supplier Macron are owed £193,000. I thought they were supposed to pay us money and not vice-versa.

The buyer is unknown at this stage; it is not the consortium from Cheshire with whom talks broke down last week.

If the club does go into administration on April 3rd, the points deduction will be next season. There is a 28th March deadline.

[mrbojangles]

33 minutes ago, champers said:

If the club does go into administration on April 3rd, the points deduction will be next season. There is a 28th March deadline.

They must be confident it'll go through then

[mrbojangles]

34 minutes ago, champers said:

Kit supplier Macron are owed £193,000. I thought they were supposed to pay us money and not vice-versa.

So did I. Maybe they borrowed money off Macron or it's performance related or something

[champers]

30 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

 it's performance related or something

What performances?

[champers]

38 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

They must be confident it'll go through then

Barristers are not going to stand in court and spin a line of BS to a judge. Solicitors have seen the sale agreement.

[Rc2702]

It's Amir Khan.

[champers]

14 minutes ago, Rc2702 said:

It's Amir Khan.

Good guess. I don't think it is him. Whoever it is, is already involved in another high profile football club, as stated in the wind-up hearing last Wednesday.

[Rc2702]

14 minutes ago, champers said:

Good guess. I don't think it is him. Whoever it is, is already involved in another high profile football club, as stated in the wind-up hearing last Wednesday.

Maybe the sheikhs are putting plan b in place. Sorry I mean plan K as there is no way the emptihad was plan A

Edited March 24, 2019 by Rc2702

[champers]

10 minutes ago, Rc2702 said:

Maybe the sheikhs are putting plan b in place. Sorry I mean plan K as there is no way the emptihad was plan A

I don't presume the other high-profile club is English. Someone on a fan's forum says he knows but can't/won't say who the buyer is. He does say they will deploy the Moneyball strategy (sabremetrics) for player recruitment, as at Brentford, Preston and Barnsley.

Edited March 24, 2019 by champers

[champers]

Two potential buyers being rumoured to be "the one"

1. Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, the current owner of Malaga FC. He is a member of the Quatari ruling family.

After reaching the QFs of the Champs Lge under Manuel Pellegrini, he stopped spending money after they got a one year ban from UEFA comps for breaking FFP rules. Malaga are now near the bottom of Liga Secunda and the owner is now a hate figure. Filthy rich.

2. David Beckham and Simon Fuller. Beckham is viewed as merely an investor in Salford City, so there would be no conflict of interest.

Fuller has represented Steve McManaman, Andy Murray, Lewis Hamilton and Bradley Wiggins. Owning Bolton would be the icing on the cake for him, obviously. Not quite as filthy rich as Shelkh Al Thani, but plenty rich enough for us.

All will be revealed within the week. Watch this space. Up the Whites!!

[mrbojangles]

39 minutes ago, champers said:

Two potential buyers being rumoured to be "the one"

1. Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, the current owner of Malaga FC. He is a member of the Quatari ruling family.

After reaching the QFs of the Champs Lge under Manuel Pellegrini, he stopped spending money after they got a one year ban from UEFA comps for breaking FFP rules. Malaga are now near the bottom of Liga Secunda and the owner is now a hate figure. Filthy rich

 

He won't like the rules in England either. Think Birmingham got docked 9 points last week for failing FFP

[champers]

40 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

He won't like the rules in England either. Think Birmingham got docked 9 points last week for failing FFP

Someone worked out that you can run up a debt of £13 Mill a year for 3 years and no more. 

Burnley seem to have cracked it, whatever "it" is, to get up and stay up without overspending. 

[champers]

Takeover update.

The Bassini stuff in the papers is falling apart; no proof of funds.

Salman, Crown Prince of Bahrain is heading the consortium to buy the club. Rich, as in filthy rich.

All will be clearer today, by 4.30 UK time.

 

[champers]

Update to update:

Things are not clearer. Macron, one of the creditors, asked for a further extension, so the club has another 5 weeks to sort things out. It is 5 weeks because that is the next time the court is in session. Coincidentally, that takes us to the end of the season.

There are at least 3 potential buyers:-

1. The Bassini consortium. Bassini is a 2 times bankrupt, the last time for just 40 grand. He seems to be a front for a SE Asian consortium (Thailand, Phillipines & Singapore). Sir Dave Richards (ex FA & EPL big cheese) and John Williams (ex Blackburn CEO) are supposedly on board. This is Bolton chairman Ken Anderson's preferred option. Yet to provide proof of funds.

2. Gaspard Holdings. A shell company with just £100 capital, supposedly set up just to buy the club. Consortium includes local businessmen and possibly Indian and South African investors.

3. Crown Prince of Bahrain plus money from US & UK.

Ken Anderson regards options 2 and 3 as "tyre kickers".

There are rumours that Big Sam will be Director of Football and Kevin Nolan will be team manager.

A sale may; or may not; take place in the next week.

Oh, and the team has been on strike for 2 days and our next two home games might have to be played behind closed doors.

Up the Whites!!

[champers]

Update. Since my last update Laurence Bassini has, supposedly, bought the club, subject to EFL approval. He says he has £20 million to invest and we will be back in the Prem in 3 years. Worryingly, he has not bothered to do any due diligence before buying the club and he wasn't aware that the Whites hotel was included in the deal. Players have not been paid for March and April wages are due next week. No other creditors have been paid, including HMRC who need their money before the 8th of May or we are wound up.

Oh, and we have been relegated to League 1 (3rd division, in old money). As ex manager Ian Greaves once said: we are on the crest of a slump. 

Up the Whites!!!

[champers]

Today's home game v Brentford is off, postponed by EFL because Bolton players refuse to play. They have still not been paid March wages. The "new owner" cannot pay as he is not yet a director of the club.

Some worries that we could be demoted two leagues. If we have a club to be demoted, that is.

 

[champers]

Might pop down to A-One hotel in Patts tonight to watch this lot:

Not to be confused with Portugese punk band The Parkinsons (Bob'll know 'em).

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by champers

[Bredbury Blue]

5 hours ago, champers said:

Today's home game v Brentford is off, postponed by EFL because Bolton players refuse to play. They have still not been paid March wages. The "new owner" cannot pay as he is not yet a director of the club.

Some worries that we could be demoted two leagues. If we have a club to be demoted, that is.

 

Bit of a strange decision by the players don't you think. Doesn't help the club and doesn't help them. Sure they could have come up with a better strategy.

 

Had Fat Sam stayed at the club, is there a feeling amongst the supporters that the good times would have continued and all of this averted?

 

Very sad that this is happening. Hope Bolton come through it ok.

 

[champers]

Most of the players are out of contract and they have all had contracts breached by the club. This has been going on since pre-season and the owner has slagged them off in public. I don't blame them.

If Big Sam had stayed he would have spent more and more money. Would we have had a return on investments? Unlikely, as we never sold top players under Big Sam: Jaaskelainen, Gardner, Okocha and others.

[champers]

Admin update: We have been in admin for about 10 days (from 13th May), put there by the estate of former owner Eddie Davies. The Whites Hotel has also gone into admin. 10 accountants have been auditing the books, suggesting a fast track process for a quick sale.

There has been much publicity about a food bank set up to help non-football staff at the club. They are now being paid by the auditors, but back pay from the previous ownership cannot be paid. All other unsecured non football creditors will lose out too.

Yesterday, the 22nd, admin opened the bidding process to sell the club. There has been over 30 expressions of interest. Proof of funds of £25 million is required to include running the club for 2 years and the purchase of the club. Bidders must also concurrently pass the EFL fit and proper test and have a business plan approved by them. A further £25,000 is required as a non-refundable fee to view admin's "war room" where financials are available to view. All bidders must sign an NDA valid till a purchase is completed.

A Chinese consortium flew over 10 days ago to look around the club and the town. They own the Chinese team who bought Marouane Fellaini recently and Graziano Pelle from Southampton a while back. They are filthy rich, but have no local links. 

COYWM!!

[mrbojangles]

5 hours ago, champers said:

Admin update: We have been in admin for about 10 days (from 13th May), put there by the estate of former owner Eddie Davies. The Whites Hotel has also gone into admin. 10 accountants have been auditing the books, suggesting a fast track process for a quick sale.

There has been much publicity about a food bank set up to help non-football staff at the club. They are now being paid by the auditors, but back pay from the previous ownership cannot be paid. All other unsecured non football creditors will lose out too.

Yesterday, the 22nd, admin opened the bidding process to sell the club. There has been over 30 expressions of interest. Proof of funds of £25 million is required to include running the club for 2 years and the purchase of the club. Bidders must also concurrently pass the EFL fit and proper test and have a business plan approved by them. A further £25,000 is required as a non-refundable fee to view admin's "war room" where financials are available to view. All bidders must sign an NDA valid till a purchase is completed.

A Chinese consortium flew over 10 days ago to look around the club and the town. They own the Chinese team who bought Marouane Fellaini recently and Graziano Pelle from Southampton a while back. They are filthy rich, but have no local links. 

COYWM!!

Really hope it all gets sorted and quick, champers. Really sad state of affairs

 

Read the other day that even though Bury have just been promoted, they are in a similar situation and food banks have been set up for their staff who also haven't been paid. The players haven't been paid for 10 weeks

[champers]

8 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

Really hope it all gets sorted and quick, champers. Really sad state of affairs

 

Read the other day that even though Bury have just been promoted, they are in a similar situation and food banks have been set up for their staff who also haven't been paid. The players haven't been paid for 10 weeks

Macc are deep in it too, so hats off to them and Bury for succeeding against the odds. The big boys in the EPL might consider a bit more money trickling down the leagues. How, I don't know.

It is also clear that the EFL test for a fit and proper person is flawed. 

 

[RickG16]

10 hours ago, champers said:

 

A Chinese consortium flew over 10 days ago to look around the club and the town. They own the Chinese team who bought Marouane Fellaini recently and Graziano Pelle from Southampton a while back. They are filthy rich, but have no local links. 

COYWM!!

I know that the main thing is for you to survive, but do you not find this a bit depressing in a way? A football club with all the history of Bolton, being bought by Chinese who just want a little plaything at a good price and have no clue about the traditions of the club.

 

Well I guess if you live in Pattaya, you'll be used to the Chinese ????

[champers]

1 hour ago, RickG16 said:

I know that the main thing is for you to survive, but do you not find this a bit depressing in a way? A football club with all the history of Bolton, being bought by Chinese who just want a little plaything at a good price and have no clue about the traditions of the club.

 

Well I guess if you live in Pattaya, you'll be used to the Chinese ????

Yes, I would like a local owner but we had one, he passed away and his family are not interested enough to carry on owning the club. Foreign ownership has spread down the divisions and the notion that an English owned club could ever make the top 6 of the Prem seems fanciful now.

Burnley were 7th last season but way off the top 6 in terms of points. They are English owned, over £60 million in debt and they could be up against it if/when they are relegated.

[RickG16]

1 minute ago, champers said:

Yes, I would like a local owner but we had one, he passed away and his family are not interested enough to carry on owning the club. Foreign ownership has spread down the divisions and the notion that an English owned club could ever make the top 6 of the Prem seems fanciful now.

Burnley were 7th last season but way off the top 6 in terms of points. They are English owned, over £60 million in debt and they could be up against it if/when they are relegated.

Wouldn't Spurs count as English (offshore) owned? Even if the guy does spend most of his time in the Caribbean. 

[champers]

29 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Wouldn't Spurs count as English (offshore) owned? Even if the guy does spend most of his time in the Caribbean. 

Yes, of course. I wonder if he ever attends games.

[Bredbury Blue]

4 hours ago, RickG16 said:

I know that the main thing is for you to survive, but do you not find this a bit depressing in a way? A football club with all the history of Bolton, being bought by Chinese who just want a little plaything at a good price and have no clue about the traditions of the club.

 

Well I guess if you live in Pattaya, you'll be used to the Chinese ????

Asks the man who supports a football club with all the history of ManU, who were bought by americans who didnt just want a little plaything at a good price but a cashcow and have no clue about the traditions of the club.

 

Strikes me that there is general feeling running  through TV footie forum that it's not on to be foreigned owned (when the reality is most if not all our clubs are foreign owned) but hey Americans don't  count.