Perfect Storm
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Posts posted by Perfect Storm
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Hard to believe it, but the Wunderers pulled a rabbit out of the last minute {almost} hat again. With 5 minutes left on the clock Cheltenham were 1/12, the draw was a miserable 6/1 and I damned near threw a score at it to jinx the buggers, but by the time I'd thought it through there was just 3 minutes left, surely Cheltenham would be able to keep them out for 3 minutes.
Obviously I hadn't taken into account "the luck of the Irish", Doyle {unmarked} tapped one in during a mad scramble in the box, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
So the Wunderers grabbed a point, I was GUTTED, then again they are "the point a game experts", they had 18 points to play for at the beginning of this month, I'll be happy enough if they drop 12 or more of those points.
The Wunderers are well on course for that, they've dropped 7 of the 9 points they've played for, it would have been better if they'd bagged just 1 from 9, that would have put them under massive pressure.
There's 3 BIG games coming up for the Wunderers, the next one is away to Tranmere, 3 days after that away to Mansfield, their last game of this month is at home to promotion contenders Leyton Orient, no easy games there for the Wunderers.
All in all it wasn't a bad day for our relegation bet, Bolton went into the day in 17th spot, 8 points ahead of Southend, they came out of the day in 17th spot, 8 points ahead of Southend, who have a game in hand on the Wunderers.
Southend drew 0-0 at Grimsby it's looking like Grimsby are done for, they have played 24 games, that's 2 more than Southend and 3 more than Stevenage, Harrogate and Bradford.
Then again it's not over 'till it's over, things could turn around from Grimsby .
If Harrogate and Bradford win the games they have in hand on the Wunderers, that would put then both ahead of the Wunderers, yea, I know, it's asking a lot, but it's something to cling to.
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Another CRUCIAL day today in the relegation battles, a no bet day for me, I don't want to jinx Cheltenham or Southend.
As for the other games, Barrow at home to Sc.unthorpe will be a desperate affair, Barrow have won 2 of their last 5 games, Sc.unthorpe just 1 of their last 5, maybe a point apiece would suit both teams. The game has all the hallmarks of a draw but my gut feeling is Sc.unthorpe could win this, but who would fancy Sc.unthorpe beating anyone away, but the way Barrow play I'd take 3/1 if Atherton Collieries were playing them.
There's an old adage about betting on football, don't try to look for the best team to bet on, they let us down consistently, scour the leagues for the WORST team, then bet against them, it's easier to be shyte all the time than it is to win all the time.
I won't be rushing round to Bald Fred's to take 5/4 against Barrow but the 3/1 against the "Knuts" {as they used to be called}, temps me, I hope I won't be feeling the urge to rearrange the spelling at 5 o'clock.
As for who is the WORST team between these two, Barrow have won 4 games out of 21, not good hey, Sc.unthorpe have won 7, not bad hey, enough to tip the balance in their favour in my book. I'm damn near talking myself into throwing a few quid on the Iron Men.
Ah well, we'll see what today brings, there's one thing about these long term bets, they give you an interest / involvement every week, in fact several times in a week. Once yer "invested" you don't have to empty you pockets every week just to get a Buzz.
C'mon Sc.unt.horpe and the other "knuts" playing the Wunderers today....
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£20 win Southend @ 3.40
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It's taken me a couple of days to get over that goal the Wunderers grabbed at Exeter, not to mention how Gilks made a couple of miraculous point blank saves in extra time, to add to my chagrin Exeter being the highest scorers in L2 put just 1 past the Wunderers. The only saving grace was Mansfield winning away at Oldham, so it looks like Mansfield with form and confidence coming from that have dropped out of the relegation race.
What is it with the Wunderers, they haven't the brains to throw the towel in when they go one down, FFS. I wouldn't mind if Exeter had drawn 2-2 after being 2-0 up, seeing as how Bet365 pay up as soon as yer team goes 2 up ?
The Grimsby v Southend relegation battle is definitely a 6 pointer, I'm hoping the team I have a soft spot for, Southend, will pull themselves off the bottom with a win at Grimsby.
That and a win for {blow hot, blow cold} Cheltenham at the Reebok would make my day, seeing as how it's been a roller coaster of a week with Bitcoin, all explained in my Bitcoin thread...
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If historic stats are anything to go off, Exeter have never kept a clean sheet against the Wunderers, lets hope they put that stat to sleep tonight...
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Evatt just announced the team for tonight's game, don't forget it's a 7pm kick off.
The game will be on Radio Manchester, if you can get it on FM, if you are further afield in the NW you can get the game on Radio Manchester, Freeview, if you even further away you could twiddle you Freeview box and change your region to NW, same sort of thing if you're closer to Exeter, Radio Devon, maybe ?
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Hello Alley Cat,
What's that you said ?
The squad does not seem that deep with quality.
There's only thing the squad and BWFC are deep in, the way things are going it's almost like someone put a curse on them, what else could go wrong for the Wunderers, there's no team in L2 with more problems than they have.
I thought I'd done me money in on the Hammers, what a shyte game, fair enough the pitch would have been better suited to water polo than football, but it looked like they could play until midnight before one of them scored a goal.
I almost had to learn that lesson again "don't back Good Teams playing in Bad Weather", one that I learned when Man U didn't fancy playing in the pouring rain at Huddersfield was it ? or Barnsley ? on cold, rainy, blustery day, 20 years or so ago, can't remember the score or much of the details of the game, other than the weather, but they pain is still there, burned a few quid that day.
As for tomorrows game, I'll reinvest what I scraped out of the fire tonight, that'll do for me...
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Bolton sign Declan John from Swansea...
Even though the lad stepped onto the pitch just once since May 2019, it looked like a promising signing until he stepped onto the training pitch this morning only to be carried off with a hamstring injury, it'll be 4-6 weeks before he laces his boots up in anger again.
Evatt must feel like he killed a Priest in another life. Hard to believe ain't it, one thing after another. Then again when the tide is running against you nothing seems to go right, speaking of which…
Luton Town boss says Peter Kioso will stay on at Bolton.
Aye, well, that was the plan, 3 days ago, until Luton full back James Bree got injured on Saturday so Luton have "changed their mind" Kioso is back on the bus the Luton.
There's still no word on who the two players are who have tested positive for Wu Flu. They say bad things come in 3's gawd help the Wunderers if the 3rd strike turns out to be Gilks sidelined with Wu Flu.
All of the above brought to my attention by Alley Cat, {thanks for that, I'd been in the garage most of the day making a bird feeder} so I hadn't checked the Bolton News.
The odd thing is, with all this turmoil going on and "making the news up here" the parasites have lengthened the odds for Exeter, the best rate right now is 5/6 with BetVictor.
https://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-2/exeter-v-bolton/winner
I'll have a slice of that...
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I'll keep my ear to the ground regarding who in the Wunderers camp has tested positive, if Gilks is one of them I'll be lumping up on Exeter before the parasites get wind of it. I suspect it's at least one of their key players, that could be why nothing is being said yet.
Chances are it's the new strain of Wu Flu, the more infectious strain, that's the one doing the rounds in Bolton right now, long before the whole team is down with it !!!
Did you see on TV where they are naming the new strain "Alice" the way they do with Storms, women's names, in alphabetical order. They don't know how many people have it, but thanks to the vaccine they've dodged it at Buckingham Palace, but Christopher Robin came down with it.
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Well the results could hardly have gone better for us on Saturday, I thought the 12/5 against Southend was way over the odds, I hope some of you grabbed a slice.
With 10 minutes to go it looked like my Southend +1 bet was "weighed in" but it felt like I was dragging Southend over the line. I wanted the 3 points for them, not just to add to their points tally but to boost the teams moral. Southend have bagged 13 points from their last 6 games, that doesn't look like relegation form to me, lets hope they keep up the good work.
The only team in the relegation battle that let us down was Harrogate, they were 1 up against Cambridge but finished up getting beat 2-1 that didn't help them, or us, but even though they are 1 point below the Wunderers in L2 I think there's more banana skins ahead of the Wunderers than Harrogate. February will be the telling month for all the teams fighting relegation.
It looks like Port Vale have stepped off the trap door with that 3-0 win against Grimsby who look to be in real trouble now having played more games than anyone in the relegation zone leaving them just 1 point ahead of Southend who have 2 games in hand on them, it doesn't look good for Grimsby, they face one 6 pointer after another this month.
As for the Wunderers, there's no word yet as to who the two players are who tested positive for Wu Flu, if Gilks is one of them it'll be game over in more ways than one for BWFC.
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Southend know this game against Barrow is a 6 pointer, looks like they've been busy building up the ramparts, let's hope Arsenal's Akinola is firing on all cylinders...
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I think you're right about Southend being over the odds, 12/5 seems generous to say the least but, not wanting to jinx them I'll stick with my Southend +1 at 4/6.
As you say if results go our way three teams could clamber over the Wunderers, wouldn't that be nice. In fact it could be the beginning of the end for the Wunderers, especially if one of the two players who tested positive for Wu Flu turns out to be Gilks. He's 38 years old, at that age Wu Flu would put him out of the game for those 5 vital games coming up before the end of this month.
There would be panic in the camp if they lost Gilks, rumour has it that Crellin has packed his bags and is on his way back to Fleetwood, that would leave the Wunderers without a goalkeeper, other than Alexander their Academy lad, if that's the case it will be the end of BWFC. As I've said before, the first team to put their foot on a banana skin in January won't have time to regroup, they'll go down and the won't get back up, all the other desperado's would eagerly step on their heads.
As for the other 3 games in L2 tomorrow, I wouldn't want to guess which was any of those cookies might crumble, I'll just keep an eye on the scores as they come in and leave the rest to the wife's Rosary Beads...
Other than the above, I watched Aston Villa v Liverpool game tonight, no point in backing Liverpool at 1/16 unless you've found that missing £16 Million down the back of the couch, I didn't fancy giving 4 or 5 goals away, the parasites wanted 5 goals start and then were only offering 5/6. I've burned my fingers more than once giving Sunday League teams 4 or more goals start only to see the 1/12 team stroll around for 90 minutes and walk off with 1-0 or 2-0 result in their pocket, so...
Being desperate for an interest in the game I look at the BTTS betting, No was 1/3 ish, Yes was 12/5, little did I know that Villa would be turning their Academy team out, but the 12/5 looking inviting so I threw £50 at it hoping for a Penalty or the scousers letting Villa have a consolation goal. I thought I was seeing things when 17 year old Louie Barry scored, cool as a cucumber the lad was, I hope he and the rest of Villa's youth go on to great things.
A decent start to the week end, let's hope for more of the same...
PS: I just spoke with one of the Wunderers faithful, asked him if he knew who the two players are who tested positive, he said...
"The only thing I know is, it isn't Crellin, he can't catch anything" !!!
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Wu Flu strikes the Wunderers !!!
It was just a matter of time, in fact I'm surprised they kept it at bay as long as they did...
Looks like the parasites have got wind of it, the boards have just been {as good as} wiped clean...
https://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-2/exeter-v-bolton/winner
Other that that, I had to take a second look at the 5/2 being offered against Southend at home to Barrow !!! Have Barrow signed Messi without mentioning to anyone other than Bald Fred & Co.
Barrow must have one of the longest journeys in L2, it's a LONG way from Barrow to anywhere, most so in weather and road conditions up here and probably all along their route.
It's not like Barrow in 20th spot in L2 are in form, in their last match they needed a Penalty to draw 1-1 against Tranmere.
Prior to that they won 2-0 at Port Vale, played at home to Cheltenham winning 3-0, so far so good, but they got beat 2-1 away to Sc.unt.thorpe and lost 4-2 at Crawley, before that losing 1-0 at home to Salford and by the same score away to Morecambe.
Barrow have won 2 of the last 13 games they've played since Nov 1st !!! https://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-2/southend-v-barrow/winner
I'll nip round to Bet365 and take 4/6 Southend +1 should be a safe bet.
https://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-2/southend-v-barrow/handicaps
That's my missive for the day...
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It's all going on at the Wunderers, supporters are starting to pick up the cudgels now the prospect of relegation is dawning on them. Add to that, a good many of them are furious at Delfouneso after hearing what he has to say, read their comments on the link below.
What is it they say about "a house divided". Players are getting it in the neck from supporters, Evatt turns one way then another, blaming players, then himself when it looks like self flagellation might work, gawd knows what Punch & Judy and the shadowy shower think of the goings on.
There's a few teams in L2 with problems of one sort or another, but I don't see any club with more problems on and off the pitch than the Wunderers have.
The next 5 games are critical for the Wunderers, they have taken just 4 points from their last 5 games, and just 25 points from the 21 games they've played this season. If they can't improve on that in the next 5 games it's game over for the Punch & Judy Show, and a few others too.
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You've made my day, I hadn't even noticed that Mansfield had played last night, what a brilliant result, no way would I have fancied them beating Salford, even though Salford have put some poor results in against poor side including getting beat 2-0 by the Wunderers.
I bet "The Class of 92" are STEAMING, I would be if I'd put the money in that they've "invested" in the Club, I would have expected them to be automatically promoted this year, just shows how tough ownership is.
GLAD to see Mansfield find a bit of form, they are at home to the Wunderers on the 26th. January could be iceberg month for the Wunderers, fingers crossed then hey, if they draw the blank domino this month they could be rock bottom of L2 by February.
February is definitely the sink or swim month for the Wunderers as they replay all the teams they scalped one after another in November including Salford, Stevenage, Southend and Sc.unt.horpe, I expect that these teams will be looking to return the favour, one after another, and if the Wunderers have been knocked senseless in January they may well be panic struck. I wonder who may have jumped ship by then and who's Dad or Lad will be lacing up for the Wunderers.
As for who owns what at the Reebok {as most still prefer to call it round here}, it's a mystery to me, but you've shed a bit more light on it. I reckon it was a shell game from day one, Punch & Judy let everyone know THEY were the owners, but there wasn't any mention of what they own, who owns them, or how many hyaena's make a pack if "The Lion of Vienna" falls...
The deeper you look into it the more it looks typical of how Football Club Ownership has gone in the last 20 years or so, a sorry state of affairs. But when cows are lining up in their tens of thousands outside a ground someone will turn up to milk them.
Makes me wonder if anyone is in the game, for the game, these days, or if it's nothing other than the money that attracts / motivates them. I often wonder what women see in footballers, then again, like cars, you can always look to trade up...
Thank gawd Rugby hasn't gone down the same track, yet...
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Hello Alley Cat,
I hadn't noticed the Nic Luckock (who are ya) document, it must have been at the bottom of the box when I was looking, it certainly adds another dimension to whatever went on.
I did a quick Google search for "Nic Luckock BWFC" and the twitter page below came up, just click on it...
The comments and concerns on the twitter page above show how some folks were concerned about the structure of FV from day one.
Talk about murky waters, what connection or possible interest {other than 4%} could Nick Luckock have in Ms Brittan or BWFC.
Who is Nick Luckock anyway ? where did he get his hands on £20 Million ? or is he just a front man ?
I'm sure that "something is rotten in Denmark" as they used to say.
It's becoming a bit of a hobby digging deeper into who's been up to what, I'll drop GBower a line, the 1877 denotes him as a BWFC Fan. I'll see what he has to say.
By the way, you were right about the filing date being in June, I was looking at the Confirmation Statement, that's due in the next week.
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The Accounts aren't easy to read, that's for sure, it's easy to get lost in the Maze, but, this is what it looks like to me...
There's only one £20 Million loan, from my understanding most of it that was loaned by Ms Brittan {or a company she has at least influence over} to FV a company that she is the majority shareholder in. While this is going on it looks like Michael {though the property company he owns} throws £5 Million into the hat.
FV then purchases BWFC and the hotel for £17.4 Million, leaving £2.6 Million in the petty cash. At this point FV own BWFC, the Stadium and all that goes with it, including the hotel.
But, by now FV are indebted to Michael's property company and to Ms Brittan's company for the £20 Million that these separate companies have stumped up.
Still with me ? I don't know about you but I have a job following who owns what at this point, but the waters get muddier...
The £20 Million loaned by the companies owned by Punch & Judy seems to be secured against the assets now owned by FV, basically the Stadium and the Hotel plus other associated assets.
There's several "charges" due on the £20 Million loaned, Ms Brittan as the Majority shareholder of FV agreed to pay herself / OK a company she has influence over 4% on the money loaned, £800,000 a year. Chances are that FV agreed to a similar "charge" payable to Michael's property company.
It's at this point I switch my fog lights on.
If FV aren't able to pay the charges they are liable for, and that's not just charges to Michael & Ms Brittan, there's £5 Million owed to other folks including HMRC, most of those charges are due on or before August this year, so forget the everyday overheads etc etc etc or running the club there's the best part of £1 Million a month to salt away to service these "charges".
If HMRC {or anyone else} pulls the plug FV is done for, they would owe £20 Million or so to companies owned by Michael & Ms Brittan, there would be little if any actual cash to pay any "charges" off, but. The £20 Million put up by Michael & Ms Brittan was secured against the assets, so, FV would essentially go to the wall, then the Stadium and the hotel are handed over to the companies owned by Michael & Ms Brittan.
For a moment there it looks like they have covered their ass, until we look at the value of the assets they have inherited. What price would you put on BWFC by now playing in the Vanarama League ? it's simply not possible to run a stadium like the Reebok playing the likes of Solihull United, Dover Athletic, Wealdstone and the like.
To my way of thinking you'd be lucky to get 50p on the £ for a redundant stadium, add to that what value would you put on the £7.4 Million hotel that far as I can see from the accounts for the last 5 years has been lucky to break even. Let's say they get £3 Million for the hotel, they'd finish up with fire sale assets worth £8 Million if they are lucky, to go compensate for the £20 Million that Michael & Ms Brittan put in to this Vanity Venture.
That's bad enough if the £20 Million came out of yer own pocket, it would be a LOT worse if you borrowed some or all of it from {say} Barclays.
If some or all of the £20 Million was financed, what security would {say} Barclays want ?
It could well be a domino effect if FV goes bust, the "assets" pass to Michael & Ms Brittan, if they are in turn indebted to a bank the bank could finish up with a practically worth-less stadium.
Wouldn't surprise me if Ken Anderson or the like picked it up at fire sale prices.
Who knows how this cookie might crumble, ownership of football clubs isn't as simple as knocking on a Boardroom door with a wad of money in your hand, there's wheels within wheels within wheels, with more levels of mystery than Agatha Christie could dream up.
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Hello Yossa,
Not sure about if the 4 wins were inexplicable, 3 of those wins were against teams that were going through miserable times including Southend, Stevenage & Sc.unt.horpe who between them were propping L2 up. If there were any {almost} inexplicable results they were when the Wunderers beat Salford and Cheltenham, but a close look at some of their inexplicable results shows why there's more punters with holes in their pockets rather than £ notes.
What I found inexplicable, or should I say exasperating was how the Wunderers clawed their way out of the grave when they managed 3-3 draws against Carlisle & Barrow, but...
Picking up points won't be as easy in the next 4-5 games starting with an away game at Exeter, then at home to Cheltenham who hopefully have the guts to be looking for Bolton's scalp. After that the Wunderers are away to Tranmere and then Mansfield, then closing out the month at home to Leyton Orient, after those 3 games the Wunderers might want to change their colours to Black & Blue.
So there's 15 points to play for in January, I wouldn't want to bet on them bagging more than 6 of those 15 points, but you never know "on the day."
It's not just what goes on in the game / on the pitch it's what's going on in the back room, inevitably that filters down to the team, maybe the ones who have had or seen enough have concerns about the viability of the club ?
Here's Evatt's master plan for January, there must be some Lad's & Dad's looking for someone to lace their boots on for ? surely there's players no one else wants ?
The only players I can imagine wanting to sign right now for the Wunderers either have no pride or no prospects, the "ham & eggers".
January is often the sink or swim month for clubs battling relegation, the first team to slip won't have time to recover they will lose heart knowing they are doomed, the other teams fighting to survive will redouble their efforts to put distance between them and the trap door that drops clubs into the obscurity of Vanarama League and Vanarama wages.
It won't help their cause playing games like this with visiting teams...
Playing mind games like that invokes comments like this...
If the Wunderers go bust or get relegated on points the result will be the same, that will be the end of BWFC. They can't carry the overheads the stadium brings with it from the limited income of L2, it's only a couple of years ago they were getting £12 Million from the TV rights, all that's gone now.
Relegation one way or the other sends the Wunderers the way of the Dinosaurs...
After looking at the documents on the Companies House web site I'm still trying to figure out who would "inherit" the stadium, and what debt would go with it, I'm damned SURE that right now it's only worth a fraction of the £10 Million that FV paid for it, add to that the Hotel they paid £7.4 Million for must be a millstone, it never made much / if any money when it was running at 80% occupancy, right now they'd be luck to have 8%.
The thing is, it seems like there's a piece of the jigsaw missing, something not on the table, yet, something, who knows what, Wu Flu maybe, that would be the last nail in the Wunderers coffin.
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Not sure if any of you might be interested...
I just started a Bitcoin chat in the "Off Topic" forum...
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Hello Steve,
I just tried to post in that general chat forum, don't know what happened, the post disappeared and I got a message saying that I can't post there ? did the post go up in smoke ?
Bob.
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The Accounts for the Punch & Judy Show aka Football Ventures are on the link below, having said that, I'm no accountant, so although it's easy reading to someone in the trade it's heavy weather for me. Thankfully that buddy of mine being an accountant is able to give me the jist of it. It's all on the link below, for those familiar with Company Accounts...
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11761052/filing-history
Seems that it's common to buy a football club using schemes like this, reminiscent of how the Glazer Brothers got control of Manchester United, but they weren't alone.
There's been some ruthless b*ggars who wangled their way into ownership of Football Clubs, look at what happened at Wigan Athletic after Dave Whelan retired, one of the Old & Respected Brigade Whelan was, he was in it for the good of the Club, the same way that Nigel Doughty of Notts Forest was, decent men, but there's few of their calibre around these days, just look how Owen Oyston ran Blackpool, or Douglas Craig when he near ran York City into oblivion, others that spring to mind include...
Ken Bates during his 20+ years at Chelsea.
Mike Ashley at Newcastle.
Roland {the Axe Man} Duchatelet of Charlton Athletic.
Peter Winkelman when he dismantled Wimbledon and moved it to Milton Keynes.
George {safe cracker} Reynolds, he did 4 years inside before ruining Darlington FC.
Craig Whyte, the guy who dropped Rangers through the trap door into the Scottish 4th Division, that takes some doing...
Enough said about owners of Football Clubs...
The Relegation Battle is already on, it looks like a 10 runner race to me, from Bolton on down they are all staring into the abyss, but, some like Stevenage and Southend do seem to have found some form, especially Southend with Olayinka on loan from Arsenal I reckon he's possibly the best player in L2, having him in the squad should see Southend mid table by the end of the season, the Bookies got that 1/12 drop price wrong.
If Southend escape it's down to which 2 out of the 9 left fall through the trap door ?
Bradford could buying their way out in the January sales, maybe Harrogate too ?
As for the rest of them, I reckon they are all on banana skins, the first one to slip up this month won't get back up, if I had to say who that might be I'd go for Barrow. Whoever hits a bad patch now will be demoralised and the other teams will be encouraged to tread on their heads. The thing is, if the next 3 or 4 games go against the Wunderers and if it's their better players who want to go and do go, it will be a TKO for Bolton.
As for the odds presently being laid, what sheet are the parasites reading off to be offering, but not actually laying no better than 25/1 against a team mid table !!!
Ah, well, that's me for the day, no bets today, but a bit of excitement none the less thanks to Bitcoin, my lad talked me into Bitcoin a couple of years ago, I knew NOTHING about them at the time, but seeing them as a GAMBLE rather than an investment I stepped in, stepped in to what looked like the Doldrums for quite a while, I barely bothered looking at the price for most of 2020 until the price started to move, next thing this App that I have on my phone is sending me voice updates almost every hour saying "Bitcoin had gone up $500" it's happened that many times that "Jimmy" our Norwegian Blue parrot keeps repeating it now. Worse still I'd promised the wife a fiver every time Bitcoin goes up $500 it was only this morning I realised they were whacking the money between them !!!
If yer into Bitcoin or any Crypto this free App is really good...
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That's a first for me, the Wunderers helped me burn £360 but the smell of the smoke was sweet enough to compensate for the loss of the £ notes. That's the 3rd Home defeat on the trot for the Trotters, the way they are going the club might not need to go into Admin.
Other than that, a couple of decent results from our Allies fighting a rear guard action against relegation. Mansfield beating Port Vale 4-0 where did that result come from and Stevenage beating S.cun.thorpe 3-1 that puts Stevenage just 6 points behind Bolton with a game in hand of them.
Every team down from Bolton in 15th slot looks vulnerable to say the least for relegation.
As for the fans feeling the cold, it's quite the opposite, they are FLAMING one another. Some of them known locally as "The Teachers Pets" will swallow anything Evatt says, others are white hot raging against the FV Punch and Judy no show. No wonder when someone is stoking the flames revealing how Ms Brittan loaned the Club £20 Million at 4% try getting 4% from Barclays.
The more you look at it the more it starts to look like a shell game.
I think the way to buy a Club is, you form a company, with yourself as the majority shareholder, say 60% then you personally loan the company £20 Million at 4% that's from £20 Million you borrow, if you can't find it at the bottom of yer handbag.
If you don't find the money in yer handbag you borrow £20 Million from Barclays, or the like, at say 2% to 3% and re-loan it at 4% pocketing the difference, say around £8,000 a week for your troubles, 8 grand a week might not sound a lot, but it adds up over the years.
The company that you set up, the one you own 60% of, buys a stadium and all that comes with it, then starts paying you off from the gate money, so far so good, as long as there is gate money...
Normally there wouldn't be much risk, because the money you loaned is secured against the value of the property that your company purchases.
But it ain't Normal times is it, if the turnstiles aren't clicking how does the Club you own pay you the interest on the money you borrowed to lend to the Club you own 60% or so of !!!
What should have been a very lucrative roll of the dice starts to come up with all the wrong numbers when you finish up with a goalkeeper who would struggle to catch a cold, a team made up of Lads & Dad's recruited by an ex-train driver who fancies himself as Head of Football Operations. Throw in a Manager who thinks he's in charge of Barcelona and it has all the hallmarks of a disaster of Titanic proportions, and that's before you throw Wu Flu into the mix.
A strategy cleverly thought out for normal times, but right now it starts to look like a house of cards. The Club has little / if any income so how does it pay the £20 Million loan off, if the loan can't be serviced someone somewhere along the debt chain will pull the plug.
The problem being, the assets that secured the loan may have dropped like a stone. The Club could go bust, if it does the assets pass to the loaner, they finish up with the assets, but the assets now don't cover the debt.
Seems to me that someone in the middle will feel the pinch, to say the least, but it looked like a clever move before the dice were rolled, must have looked like a way to print money at the time...
It's 10 out of 10 if you can follow the above, it took an Accountant half an hour to explain it to me how shell games like this are played...
Covid: The Perfect Storm!!!
in League 1, 2 & Scottish Predictions
Posted · Edited by Perfect Storm
Southend 1 Cambridge 2
I'd hoped for a better result last night, but few teams take points off Cambridge, they are top of L2 now, but there's more to it than the scoreline suggests.
Southend, sadly still bottom of L2 put up a great fight, they went toe to toe with Cambridge having 50% of possession, putting in 17 shots vs the 8 that Cambridge had, 4 shots each on goal. Add to that Southend went 1 up in the 27th minute, so it looked like they'd get at least a point, but it wasn't to be.
Arsenal's Akinola put Southend in front, then after going 2-1 down in the second half Akinola damn near levelled it in the 71'st minute with a shot that shaved the right post, that would have been a brilliant and well deserved goal, having said that Cambridge's come back goal was a cracking goal {of the match}.
Although Southend are still bottom of L2 I can't see them being relegated, not with players like Akinola {we'll be hearing his name more often} and of French defensive anchorman Dieng, onboard.
It's just bad luck that the bottom club had to play the top club right now, all in all a decent {and fiery} game, if I'd been the Ref at least 3 Cambridge players would have been sent off ?
Other than that, Harrogate scrambling for points in the relegation battle scrambled home with 10 men for the last 20 minutes to hold Exeter to a 0-0 draw, that's the first time in 15 games in L2 that Exeter have failed to score. It wasn't like they weren't trying they put 13 shots in and had 63% of possession, so that was a good result for Harrogate, more so that they are just 2 points behind the Wunderers with a game in hand.
Tranmere's 3-2 win against Forest Green also helps our cause, it doesn't just move Tranmere out of the relegation game, that's one less horse in the race. It's also good goal scoring form to go into the next game with, at home to the Wunderers, keep up the good work lads ?