Covid: The Perfect Storm!!!

[Perfect Storm]

Oh dear, how sad, never mind...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54234006

I wonder if Max Robertson & Arthur Negus could put a price on the Wunderers Hotel.

Edited September 21, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

Oh heck, here's the latest comments from Wunderers supporters in tonight's Bolton Evening News...

Toby Phoenix {ex Manager of the now defunct Macclesfield Town} is so way out of his depth he is drowning but is determined to take club with him in the same way he did Macc.

Sharon Brittan is swinging the axe with gusto with her trademark smile as she dismisses long serving employees and is using government hand-outs to keep staff in work until they are officially sacked, yet throughout this, Phoenix who has never played or coached football remains as 'head of football and all things football'. Strange goings on at our famous old club.

Could it get any worse, well, this was predictable...

The Bolton Evening News understands that two Bolton Wanderers players will go into self-isolation pending the results of a COVID-19 test. Callum King-Harmes and George Thomason, who have been on loan at Northern Premier League side Bamber Bridge, will now have to follow EFL protocols before returning to action.

Wanderers have already had Sonny Graham go into self-isolation in similar circumstances last month after he played a trial game at Atherton Colls shortly before several staff tested positive with the virus.

THE total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Bolton is nearing 4,000 after 116 new cases were confirmed today across the borough.

Officials currently believe that infections across the borough are currently doubling every four days – faster than the national situation where cases are doubling every seven days.

 

[StevieDay1983]

I feel really sorry for Bolton. Really liked them back in the days of Jay Jay Okocha and Stig Tofting! Just feel they've become another victim of the wild west of football ownership. The Football League just not learning any lessons. I appreciate millionaires that want to own football clubs don't exactly grow on trees but there's a limit. Their financial situation combined with the covid-19 outbreak is just horrific bad luck for the club. I hope they keep going because it would be a travesty if they followed Macclesfield to the wall. They've got Newport County at home this week or supposed to have them. Wonder if it'll be postponed or not? Newport also goes into local lockdown at 6pm BST tonight.

[Labrador]

If not postponed, worth getting on Newport early in my book. They have overcome Cambridge in the League Cup and have won one and drawn one in League 2. I've already taken 9/4 on them to win, plus 5/1 (-1 Asian) and 29/10 (-0.75 Asian). All still there on Oddschecker and could shorten as the weekend approaches.

Thanks for the "regress" reports, Bob.

[Perfect Storm]

On 9/22/2020 at 9:08 AM, StevieDay1983 said:

I feel really sorry for Bolton. Really liked them back in the days of Jay Jay Okocha and Stig Tofting! Just feel they've become another victim of the wild west of football ownership. The Football League just not learning any lessons. I appreciate millionaires that want to own football clubs don't exactly grow on trees but there's a limit. Their financial situation combined with the covid-19 outbreak is just horrific bad luck for the club. I hope they keep going because it would be a travesty if they followed Macclesfield to the wall. They've got Newport County at home this week or supposed to have them. Wonder if it'll be postponed or not? Newport also goes into local lockdown at 6pm BST tonight.

Hello Stevie,

I hear you regarding the Wunderers, and I remember JJ and other big names at the club, although I'm not a fan of any club I've attended a lot of games at the old Burnden Park and the new Reebok Stadium, like most "locals" we still call it that. As for following Macclesfield, well, they have the same man at the helm, Macclesfield was a nice little club too, last time I was there was when they played Lincoln City, and they won, won a few bob on that game. As for Bad Luck, it seems like once the flux of the Universe starts to run against you yer knackered, could it get any worse for the Wunderers.

As  for the Newport game, I don't think it will be cancelled, and as you say Newport have put some decent games in recently, but I'll ride the 50/1 wave that I'm on, I don't want to jinx that bet by backing Newport, that would be double jeopardy, sort of, I don't want to be donating anything to the Bookies on this bet, if I placed any bets that 50/1 would start amortising down to 16/1. I'll stick with the 50/1, that'll do for me.

The way things are going in Bolton and Newport you could open a book on who is likely to infect the other, Bolton would likely to do more damage to Newport on that front.

From what I hear on the local grapevine workers at the Hotel and the Club are fearing the worst regarding their jobs, looks like Sharon is desperate to cut her losses, but would you or anyone throw good money after bad, "business is business" even when it cuts staff, or throats. I can't see how they can carry on till Christmas let alone 'till the end of the season, where does the payroll money come from, add in the cost of servicing the debts, the mortgage and the overheads, how do you do that with little if ANY income.

But what's Plan B, where's the parachute, how do you get out of a situation like this, the way I see it there's no saleable assets, well, not saleable at a price that would cover their investment. If the Wunderers get relegated that would be the end of the Club, you can't cover the running costs of the stadium playing non league clubs, just a few years ago they were  playing Man United, next year they could be playing Hyde United.

I think the Club is done for, who would want to put Tens of Millions into a League 2 club, one that's carrying massive debts, even Nebukadnesar can read the writing on this wall.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

On 9/22/2020 at 9:30 AM, Labrador said:

If not postponed, worth getting on Newport early in my book. They have overcome Cambridge in the League Cup and have won one and drawn one in League 2. I've already taken 9/4 on them to win, plus 5/1 (-1 Asian) and 29/10 (-0.75 Asian). All still there on Oddschecker and could shorten as the weekend approaches.

Thanks for the "regress" reports, Bob.

What can I say, you might have some decent bets there, but, "it depends on the day" who knows if the Wunderers will play out of their skins or fold like a pack of cards. Gawd help all who sail on the Wunderers ship if they do fold, that really would cause panic in the ranks, morale would be going out the window faster than the owners money.

I guess someone smarter than me would be able to check out the viability of the club based on the last report filed when the club was going into liquidation, that might indicate what income the club needs to stay afloat, and where it USED to come from, click on the link below. The document dated  3rd December 2019 and 27th January 2020 sets out the financial situation, as it was in BETTER times, gawd knows what it is now...

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00043026/filing-history

Take special note in the above of section 2.5 Agent's Fees outlining what CLL were paid, nice work, if you can get it...

As for the Hotel, well, here's a cut and paste from the Joint Administrators comments dated 17th June...

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03674979/filing-history

During the Review Period, the sum of £329,400 has been received in respect of deferred consideration. A total of four monthly instalments of deferred consideration remain outstanding, totalling £219,600. During the Review Period the Joint Administrators were contacted by FV regarding difficulties which they were having with maintaining the monthly payments. The reason stated for these difficulties was the global COVID-19 pandemic which INTENSELY affected BOTH the  trade for the Hotel and the Football Club. It was agreed by the Joint Administrators that the remaining four tranches of deferred consideration would be deferred to September, October, November and December of 2020.

If VANITY Ventures were in trouble a couple of months ago, where do you think they are at now, since Bolton's been locked down, where will September's payment come from ? Add to that would you want to be staring into the abyss of the following 3 payments !!!

It don't look good, does it, would you bet they'd still be afloat by Christmas !!!

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

Just been casting my eye over the Wunderers recent overheads, they are mind blowing, well they are to me...

Going off the Joint Administrators report of 17th June the overheads for from May 2019 to January 2020, pre Wu Flu days, when folks were still going to watch the games and the hotel was {presumably} doing OK.

Counting only the overheads amounting to over £10,000 during those 6/7 months they came in at...

Staff &Player wages of      £2,138,750

PAYE/National Insurance  £1,164,732

Heating & Lights                     £189,353

Repairs/Maintenance              £70,450 

Rates                                       £58,312

Pensions                                  £48,785

Insurance                                 £44,000

Lease/HP Payments                £42,881

Consultancy Fees                    £35,794

General Expenses                   £13,582

Stationary                                 £10,463

The total expenditure for the club for those 6/7 months came in at over £3.9 Million !!! that's over £500,000 a month you'd need in income, just to break even...

Fair enough the new owners will have shaved as much as they can off the above, but no matter how much you tighten your belt if there's nowt in yer pocket at the end of the day, yer knackered.

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

Just had a pint with a buddy of mine, he was asking me if I'd had a bet recently, I mentioned the 50/1 bet, gave him the why's and wherefores to see him nip across the road to BaldFred's. He came back waving two slips out of the FOBT a tenner on each at, are you ready for it, 55/1 !!!

Too good to miss hey, so I nipped across and put a tenner on at 55/1, best bet so far other than the free tenner bet I got off BetVictor for opening an account with them. I just can't figure out how the odds have gone out rather that being taken off the boards since the Wunderers have played as bad as they have in their opening games, more so with the next game against Newport County, they beat Watford 3-1 last night. What price relegation if Newport beat them on Saturday...

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[bookiebasher]

Still no offers from Bet365 Bob... But i also told my mate last night and he asked for a bit of the action so i put another £20 on for him and me at 50/1 at williamHill .. He called me earlier to put another £20 on for him which i did but i could only get 40/1 now. I guess the worst that could happen if things go tits up with Covid is that they will void the league again and return bets ??

[Perfect Storm]

Hello Bookiebasher,

Looks like BET365 might have twigged it, yer lucky to have got 50/1 at Hills, but even at 40/1 it's still good value. As for the 55/1 on offer and laid by the FOBT in BaldFred's I had to do a double take to believe my eyes, I was sure they'd limit the stake to a quid or so, gobsmacked when it took one tenner after another.

As for the League being void, I doubt it, I don't see the Premiership or the Championship being cancelled they still have decent revenue, TV etc etc etc. There's less money floating about in L1 & L2 even less for the non league clubs, but they don't need all that much to get through this season. Having said that, we are in uncharted waters though, so no guarantee's with anything, but at 50/1 I'll take my chance.

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

I just got an email from BetVictor offering me a free £5 sports bet if I deposited £10 into my account, thought I'd have a do at that, so I logged on to have £15 on the Wunderers at 50/1, well the free £5 bet would make it near enough 75/1 only to find that you can bet on anything you want for League Two, EXCEPT Relegation bets, they've been suspended ? so I didn't have a bet, but...

I had a look at what BetVictor will let you have on the Wunderers, I can't make my mind up if it's me or them, living in a parallel universe, how the hell can they come up with odds like this...

1/4 to finish in the top half.

5/6 Top 7.

2/1 to be promoted.

9/1 second favourites to top L2 {the Titanic will come back up before the Wunderers do}.

10/1 Eoin Doyle to score most in L2, a safer bet would be the BBC weather man Owain Evans he'll score more often.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

At 4pm today the FOBT machine in BaldFred's is still laying 55/1 to tenners !!!

[Perfect Storm]

Bolton Wunderers 0 Newport 2 could easily have been 4 though.

That's the worst start to a season for Bolton since the 87/88 season.

That's the 1887/88 season, and No, I'm not kidding.

Reminds me of when the Wunderers were going through a rough patch at Burnden Park, during the winter of 1964. There was a railway goods line that went right by the ground. The shunter driver (steam trains we're talking about) was a Bolton Fan, he would often stop for a few minutes to watch the game and folks would wave to him.

The Wunderers were playing local rivals Blackburn Rovers, getting beat 5-0, there were more supporters watching the train than the game, no wonder at 5-0. The driver would often wave and sound the whistle, as he did that day.

Blackburn Rovers not being used to it, heard the whistle, stopped playing and walked off the pitch,10 minutes later the Wunderers scored !!! Looks like they are back to those days, sadly without the entertainment of steam trains going by...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[bookiebasher]

Well..It had to happen...I loaded up one last time with Will Hill yesterday morning at 40/1,in a treble with Everton to finish top half and B.Munich to win the Bunders that pays 55/1. But sadly Will Hill have also now suspended the betting on Relegation.. I also backed Newport to win yesterday and had a live bet on them at h/t to score 2 or more in the 2nd half at 11/4..They were bossing the game and i remembered Bobs words that if Bolton concede first then their heads will drop... Happy days so far Bob... Cheers mate.. And i think Newport are a team to keep onside in the future..

[Perfect Storm]

Looks like most if not all Bookies don't want to lay Bolton to be relegated, BetVictor is listing them at 33/1 still a fair bet, but I'd be surprised if they'd take much at that price. The 55/1 they offered and I took is looking to be a decent bet even though it's still early days yet, well, at least on the pitch, but that 6/4 against Harrogate for the next game looks tempting, but, being superstitious, not fancying stiffening my long term bets I'll sit Bolton's games out.

You were lucky that it was 0-0 at HT I watched the game on ifollow, Newport were "all ore um" how they weren't 3-0 up by HT beggars belief. Newport hit the woodwork more times than a woodpecker. They were ripping the Wunderers defence apart, it was just a matter of time, and nicely timed for your bet, 11/4 was a great price.

As for the 50/1 bet going to plan, well, you should see what the Wunderers Fans have to say in the Bolton Evening News, they are furious about this "Lad's & Dad's" team, but as I expected they really are shyte, even so I think our other runner in this race, the potential for the club to go into Admin {again} is looking even stronger, see the comments from Wunderers Fans, cut and pasted from the Bolton Evening News.

The club have won five games in all competitions since Football Ventures acquired the club. That is in leagues 1 and 2, been relegated and now sit in the lowest position in their history having lost their first five matches and failed to score against teams who were not even in league when we scoring at the Allianz.

Add to that Football Ventures are now on their second management team, they sacked the head of recruitment, horribly undermined Hill, Brittan even sacked her long standing friend, the CEO and now they are sacking long term servants of the club.

You can add to that, abandoning 99 years of reserve football, losing the ladies team and appointing a Director of Football who was driving trains for a living until four years ago. Can anybody point to where Kenyon and Football Ventures have been successful in football terms?

Financially the club is imploding, the debt is increasing and we've even had to pay the administrator with land.

We are the only club to ever leave admin owing more than they went in with. The £4m due to CVA creditors in 10 months is looking like another broken promise. The hotel has collapsed, Football Ventures have defaulted and paid neither the administrator nor their CVA creditors. The biggest concern is the club now owes more than its assets and will not survive a further insolvency event.

HOW can FV pay the bills with no gate money, and now more players than Arsenal have on their books. The Club must be haemorrhaging money right now paying off historical debts.

All products of the Tobias Phoenix academy of players who should be playing in non league and that's where they were until Phoenix remarkably saved their careers and gave them contracts at Bolton Wanderers.
What is Evatt supposed to do with players who were playing in tier 7 last season and released by National League clubs. Comley and Taft we're heading into the National League until Phoenix rescued them. And then gives a three year deal to a 32 year old striker whose only desire is his contract, and only consistency is his inconsistency. Alongside a midfielder who in three months wasn't fit and is clearly disinterested in playing for club.
Tobias Phoenix was driving a train four years ago, he should be sent back to continue his career with London Transport.    His gravy train has hit the buffers and somebody needs to look at these deals.

 

Sounds like there's "Trouble int Mill" to me...

 

C'mon you Sulphurites !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

On 9/17/2020 at 12:47 PM, harry_rag said:

Still some 50/1 for us "Johnny punt latelys" and 40s 888. Hills also offering 15/2 for a bottom half finish which doesn't seem bad in lieu of the above.

Hello Harry,  I hope you took a bit of that 15/2 that the Wunderers would finish up in the bottom half of League 2, it's looking like 2/15 right now, 15 hundred to 2 hundred would have been a nice bet, but £150 to £20 ain't bad either. If the Wunderers get beat by Harrogate this week end the Bookies might as well start paying up. As mentioned before it's not just the dire performances on the pitch it's what's going on "in the Board Room" it looks like clouds are gathering for Football Ventures, on that front, won't be long before it's a "read all about it" as this ship ploughs into another iceberg, you heard it first here.

[Perfect Storm]

Post deleted to respect photo copyright.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[harry_rag]

2 hours ago, Perfect Storm said:

Hello Harry,  I hope you took a bit of that 15/2 that the Wunderers would finish up in the bottom half of League 2

I did indeed. Being an occasional pessimist is there any risk of things going so badly that Bolton fold during the season, can't complete their fixtures and the bets end up void rather than winners? Maybe we should do a bit of crown funding to steady the ship just enough! 

[Perfect Storm]

Hello Harry,

Best bet you ever made grabbing that 15/2, for the Wunderers to finish in the bottom half of L2, that looks long odds on now.

As for "is there any risk of the Wunderers folding before the end of the season" I bleedin' hope so, that would make my day. If they run out of money and go back into Admin the Club would have 12 points deducted from any points they might have at that time, but, it's WORSE than that, there's ANOTHER 5 points carried over from last season, those 5 points would be added to the 12 to make a 17 point deduction from whatever points they have on the board at that time, so...

If the Wunderers fail to turn up for a game {due to finances}, that's -5 points deducted, if they go back into Admin that's another 12 points deducted. That would almost certainly be automatic relegation. The way I see it that's staring them in the face, I would be surprised if they are still afloat by the end of the year let alone the end of the season.

The results on the pitch are bad enough, only two people know how the finances are, Michael James & Sharon Brittain.    I'd bet heavily they thought they were buying into a money making concern when "Football Ventures" put £17.4 Million of their own money {or was the Banks money} ?  into the club, add to that they took on around £4 Million of historic debt.

There were other CVA payments due, payments that couldn't be made so FV had to ask for a deferment of payments, that was granted for a few months, but the first of those 4 payments was due this month, with the rest to follow in October, November & December.

I don't know how deep Sharon's pockets are, she reports that she's a Multi Millionaire, maybe she is, maybe she put her own money up to buy the club, but it's rare for anyone to buy a club {or even a player} for £ notes out of yer own pocket, often as not Bank loans are involved, secured by your assets, one thing levering another. That's great when everything is on the up, but if the tide turns you can be left on the rocks pretty quickly. No one saw Wu Flu coming, could there have been a worse time to take on a struggling football club. The ODD thing is, the Wunderers were bought out of Administration carrying more debts than the amount of debt that put them into Admin, does that sound like a plan to you !!!

Above and beyond those monthly payments there's around £4 Million in historic debt that FV have to service in less than 12 months, you're looking at having to put aside at least £80,000 a week just to service that debt, FROM WHERE !!!

That's not counting the cost of running the stadium, players wager and all the other fixed costs, under the last regime these costs were coming in at around £500,000 a month, much of which {but not all of which} was covered by match day  revenue, there's been none of that since the season started, and it's unlikely that the turnstiles will click this year !!!

So WHERE does the money come from to pay the day to day, week to week expenses that the club runs up every hour.

If YOU were Michael, or Sharon, or the Bank would you throw more money into the fire ? There's a time to hold 'em and there's a time to fold em, to know when to walk away, and when to run...

Owning a football club is more of a Vanity Venture than a Football Venture, some folks finished up with a small fortune from owning a football club, sadly most of them started with a large fortune.

There's more to this sad saga than I can say right now, other than to say, "bad things come in three's", you'll read about it soon enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

Here's what Ian Evatt {Manager of Bolton Wunderers} has to say about tomorrows game, chances are some of the players are feeling more relaxed about the game seeing as "Shaun was back on the grass this week" ?

Ian Evatt has revealed both new signings will not be a part of the squad travelling to Harrogate this weekend.

Miller has not featured since scoring against his former club Crewe in the EFL Trophy last month, while Isgrove made his debut off the bench against Newport last weekend.

The Bolton boss explained: “Shaun was back on the grass this week. It all looked very promising but he had a slight setback yesterday. I would think he’s still another couple of weeks away.

"Lloyd I would think a couple of weeks as well, but that will involve some physical efforts, like a mini boot camp and pre-season. "Because what you find is because they’ve missed so much time and you’re throwing them into where we train really intensely. 

"We demand nothing less, so when you’re coming out of nothing to that, you’re going to break so we have to be a little bit more patient with especially the ones we’re signing that haven’t been attached to clubs.

"Loan players that are in with clubs or players we’re singing from other clubs are fine, they’ve had a pre-season, they can deal with it day-to-day.

"The other lads we’re finding that they’re going to break so we have to be more careful, more cautious and get them up to speed first."

Check out what their Fans think of the Wunderers chance against Harrogate.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/18767012.bolton-wanderers-miss-attacking-pair-least-fortnight-says-ian-evatt/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[bookiebasher]

I did read in the Daily Fail earlier that Bolton have had the most amount of fans in Div 2 watching them on the streaming format.. I guess they receive some money from that..But obviously not a lot..And like the article says, after 3 games Bolton fans haven,t seen any goals or any points.

[Perfect Storm]

Just been given a £2 Free Bet by BetVictor, isn't much, but it's better than nothing, £2 on a 25/1 chance is worth picking up. Odd how the Bookies keep offering "free bets" most of the ones I've been offered are for Casino bets, the crack cocaine of gambling, but, you can win a lot of money on Casino games, you just have to be stood on the other side of the table.

C'mon you Sulpherites, give us an early goal ?

Bob.

[Perfect Storm]

3 hours ago, bookiebasher said:

I did read in the Daily Fail earlier that Bolton have had the most amount of fans in Div 2 watching them on the streaming format.. I guess they receive some money from that..But obviously not a lot..And like the article says, after 3 games Bolton fans haven,t seen any goals or any points.

Hello Bookiebasher, I've no doubt the Wunderers have more Fans than almost any team that isn't in the Premiership or the Championship, and now on ifollow, there's a couple of reasons for that.

1: It's only 10 years of so since the Wunderers were playing in the Premiership, 10 to 20 years ago the average attendance would be around 20,000 to 25,000, in the last 10 years the average attendance has been dropping every year from around 16,000 to 12,000. They started off with a lot of fans but the ship has been sinking steadily from the Premiership to L2 in just 10 years, looks like the Old Brigade / the Die Hard fanatics will go down with the ship.

2: Being a Wigin Lad I can't always find a kind word for the Bolton Brigade, much of that is down to the local rivalry, some of it down to my preference for RL or RU, but I've spent many a 90+ minutes on grounds, from Caley Thistle, to Hyde United, with some memorable moments at some of the clubs who brought the money home including Peterheed, Stranraer, Hamilton, St Johnston, Hearts, Gretna and the like where often there's a 1,000 of less on the ground, but the atmosphere is great, the Wunderers fans shout "Come on Bolton" as though it's an apology, it's got to be the most uninspiring chant in British Football, it does nothing for the players.

I don't care what level the game is being played at, you won't see Messi playing in the lower leagues, but you often see lads playing their hearts out for their local town. Add to that, Littletown FC notice you are there and make you feel appreciated, few places more than when 7 of us turned up to watch Accrington Stanley play in midweek rainy night match, the welcome and the hospitality was second to none, another club that I wish well for.

Same thing happened when 2 car loads of us turned up at Gretna, 15 years or so ago, when that bloke from Carlisle owned the club. I think there was 1,006 on the ground that day, 800 from Grenta, 200 Away supporters, can't even remember who Gretna played now, and 6 of us from Wigin.

We were shouting louder than the 800 Gretna supporters, in Wigin accents. It didn't take the Gretna Fans long to ask "who the feck we were / why were we shouting {so loud} for Gretna." I told the bloke "we're shouting for our money, we've all a grand to 800 on Gretna" that got a laugh of disbelief, until I showed him my Hill's coupon, he passed it round to his mates, wider eyes were never seen afore or since in Gretna.

The game went well, Gretna won, a celebratory pint was had in the supporters club, we finished up sat next to the Ref and his dad, from Kilmarnock, we showed them our coupons / betting slips. The Ref said, you should have shown me the bets before the game started, not after, I'd have given Gretna an early Penalty !!!

Things like that stick in yer mind, more so when the owner came to sit with us, he'd heard in the club about our bets. Can't remember his name, I remember the pony tail he had, not many owd blokes sporting pony tails, the last I heard of him was he'd sold the club, not long after that the club went to the wall, shortly after that the bloke died, suddenly, owing money damn near everywhere. The story is he'd stashed around £30 Million in a {metaphorical} biscuit tin in the back garden, a garden in Turks & Caicos no doubt. Whatever happened it was a sad tale for the man and the club. Reflecting on that, club ownership has put more than one man in an early grave.

One of the best men I've ever met {20 years ago} was Nigel Doughty, RIP, born in a council house near Nottingham, a self made Multi Millionaire, he put at least £50 Million into Notts Forest, only to have the fans turn on him, he pulled out and left them to it. Nigel died a few years later, dropped dead working out in his gym at home, "at home alone, sadly", maybe it is like they say "only the good die young".

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9062827/Obituary-Nigel-Doughty.html

Odd who you bump into in life hey, Nigel was one of the best men I ever met, you'd never know how wealthy the man was, no airs and graces about Nigel, he was still "one of the lads".

Bob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[bookiebasher]

BOOOOOOOO... BOLTON WON 2 - 1 ?

[bookiebasher]

Just now, bookiebasher said:

BOOOOOOOO... BOLTON WON 2 - 1 ?

LOL

[Perfect Storm]

What can I say, other than "even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and again."

Trust the Yorkshire men to let us down, GUTTED, I'll have to stick more pins in now ?

 

[Perfect Storm]

I hope Tuesday nights game was a sign that things are returning to normal for the Wunderers, they were beat 2-1 by Shrewsbury, managing to claw one back with almost the last kick of the match, and eventful match as it turned out.     

The Wunderers got a penalty, taken by Tom White, only to see his shot hit the woodwork, something that the Wunderers  have a knack of doing, they haven't scored a penalty since April 2018, that's gotta be somewhere in the Guinness Book of Records !!!  It wasn't White's night at all, later in the game he was felled by Josh Vela, an ex Wunderers player, that ended White's game he was carried off on a stretcher, that's now 3 of their better players lost to injury in the last 10 days or so...

The next game for the Wunderers will be death or glory, they are at home to Grimsby, the last time Grimsby had anything in the net it was a herring, but their 0-4 home loss to Salford isn't as bad is it seems, 3 of the goals came from penalties, so it's likely to be a dour affair, fought out between two desperate teams.

Bolton have the home advantage, but if there's no one home it doesn't help much, add to that, losing key players to injury is a set back to say the least. No doubt that Grimsby will travel to Bolton looking for a point, wouldn't surprise me to see them take three though, hopefully that's not just wishful thinking ? time will tell...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[Perfect Storm]

Looks like things are back to normal with the Wunderers, today's game against Grimsby finished 0-0 if that's not bad enough there wasn't a shot on goal from either team.

To make it worse, the Wunderers were playing a team that hadn't kicked a ball in anger for 3 weeks due to Wu Flu infecting their ranks. It's a bad do when you can't beat a team that aren't match fit and rock bottom of the league, that don't bode well for future games, but that point today rockets the Wunderers up to 18th of 24 in L2, just 3 points ahead of Oldham who have only played 3 games, to Bolton's 5  ?

On the downside for the Wunderers, they still haven't scored a goal at home this season and the way they played today they could have played until midnight and still not scored.  

I'm gutted that Harrogate lost to the Wunderers last week, we would have been P5 W0 D1 L4.

There's another critical game coming up, the Wunderers at home to the side who just inherited the bottom spot, Oldham. That's likely to be a nail biter for both Managers, players and Owners. Oldham aren't as bad as their league position might suggest P5 WO D1 L4 but since September they have shown a bit of form, and they haven't been goal shy.

Sept 5th   EFL Cup: Oldham 3     Carlisle 0.

Sept 12th L2:           L Orient 1     Oldham 0

Sept 19th L2            Stevenage 3 Oldham 0

Sept  22nd EFLT      Oldham 4     Wolves U21 0

Sept 26th  L2           Oldham 2      Crawley 3

Oct 3rd L2               Colchester 3  Oldham 3

October 6th L2        Oldham 2      Doncaster 0

October 10th           Oldham 2      Morecambe 3

That's P8 W4 D1 L3.

Goals for 16 Goals against 13.

Not bad for a team that's presently bottom of L2, today's 2-3 loss to Morecambe was no disgrace, Morecambe are on fire right now, top of L2. Add to that the game between Bolton and Oldham being a local derby is likely to be a needle match.

There's more pressure on the Wunderers than there is on Oldham, so it depends on how the Wunderers respond to that, and everything else swirling around {in the background} of the Club and the Hotel, but that's another story...

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm

[bookiebasher]

A nice win for Grimsby puts Bolton down to 19th..Big game like you say Bob on saturday against Oldham..If Athletic win then Bolton drop deeper into the mire.. ?

[Perfect Storm]

Well, it would have been a nice win, sadly it finished 0-0 but that's as close to a win as Grimsby have been this season.      As for the game against Oldham, the fact that it's a local derby will affect the game. Both teams are DESPERATE for a win, but I think that the Wunderers are less confident, more anxious about the game than Oldham are.

Bolton have even found the net once at home this season, Oldham have found the net 7 times so far this season, but they have a leaky defence, to counter that though in their game at home to Grimsby the Wunderers {I was there, I watched the match, that's Grimsby's Team coach, more on that at a later date though} Bolton didn't even have a shot on goal, let's hope for a repeat of that miserable performance.

As for being in 19th spot right now, if Oldham beat them this Saturday the Wunderers could be knocked down to 24th spot. I still can't believe that on the Relegation bet, Hills are still offering 33/1 and BetVictor have the Wunderers at 40/1, I'm tempted to see what BetVictor will take at 40/1.

https://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-2/relegation

How the hell did the so called "Traders" {striped shirts, braces, cheap cigars, starry eyed girlfriends} make Bolton 9/2 Favourites to win League Two !!! That 15/2 bet that Harry Rag took that the Wunderers finish in the bottom half is looking nailed on to me, I wonder what price the "Traders" are offering right now, 1/3 ?

But, BELIEVE ME, what's happening on the field is only half the story, the other belongs to an anchor that has every chance of dragging BWFC / FV aka Vanity Ventures into OBLIVION. I know more than I can say in a public forum, but when it comes out in the wash it will be a "read all about it". 

Right now all we can do is hope for some good results {for us} on the pitch, looks like the Bookies are catching up though, Oldham aren't exactly friendless for the game...

https://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-2/bolton-v-oldham/winner

C'mon Oldham...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Perfect Storm