Tom Jenkins discusses the problems at Bolton that have emerged recently…
When this article is released everything I am about to say could well be out of date and my faith could be restored but as I write this I am downright fed-up and angry with not only Bolton`s new owners but also anyone who has anything to do with the club. This could be the media, those in charge of finance, player recruitment and top of the list is Ken “East End Spiv” Anderson.
Anderson frustrated me from the start because of how he acted in his first interview. Anyone could see from his body language and facial expressions that everything he said was probably a load of rubbish and so it has proved. He said we had over 50 applicants, high quality individuals, who said they wanted the job at Bolton on April 12 and now we are into June and still nobody is at the helm. In my opinion this is hugely worrying but not surprising given every time he was asked a question in that first interview there was this shifty look about him that reminded me of either Del Boy or Private Walker. I wouldn`t trust that man as far as I could throw him and neither did those applicants it appears.
That was a bad start made worse not only by the 12 week wait for an appointment but also the fact we are still under a transfer embargo due to Anderson`s reluctance to prove he has money enough to fund the club and any potential transfers. Naturally he has tried to calm the growing concerns by stating that the money will become available when a new manager is in place or “as and when it is necessary” but surely with decent League 1 players being snapped up on a daily basis while we sit there and do nothing, we need that money now. We won`t be signing anybody for fees thus we need to look at frees. By the time the embargo is lifted the majority of good ones will be gone!
The media has also irritated me by waiting until “the new assistant manager is back from holiday” before announcements are made. I understand that they don`t want to jinx anything but if “agreements have been reached” and “contracts signed” then surely the fans that were given false hope on Monday deserve to know who they will see at the helm of their club next season. If it`s as open and shut as they are telling us, why not announce the name? Surely they wouldn`t back out simply because people know they signed a contract. Correct me if I`m wrong but surely it`s too late to do that if they have put pen to paper. It`s this farcical reporting and situation that would lead me to believe nothing is as they are telling us.
The new owners came in telling the fans that they would try and end the years and years of silence from the Board that we had come to expect at Bolton Wanderers. They have certainly been a lot more vocal and I would congratulate them on trying to be more transparent if I felt they weren`t lying to us. It is starting to seem as though they are media -friendly just for the sake of it and say things that people want to hear with nothing to back it up. They would argue that they are taking their time to get the right appointment but given that it appears nothing else can happen (transfers or an injection of money) until the new manager is appointed, it may well be too late when it happens.