Championship 2018-19

[davulsukur]

4 hours ago, JHRover said:

I can't for the life of me understand why either John Williams or Dave Richards would agree to become involved at Bolton with Bassini. It seems more likely Bassini has 'used' their names to try and add respectability to his 'bid' to buy Bolton as they are highly respected football administrators. Given both must be well into their 70s and have many years of experience running Premier League clubs or governing bodies I just cannot fathom why either would eat into their retirements to return to club involvement at what will almost certainly be a League One club next season together with a man like Bassini who has at best a patchy background.

It seems nonsense, yet audacious from Bassini to claim they had agreed to join him.

If there is truth to it then you would expect whoever is buying Bolton to have some serious cash behind them, but then Bassini has been bankrupt twice recently, so the money must be coming from elsewhere and why would a rich buyer kick off by having Bassini as the front man? Surely better having someone with a better reputation fronting the takeover.

All very strange.

In the meantime I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Bolton clamber out of this. 5 points from safety at this point is not insurmountable. They are due to play Ipswich and free falling Middlesbrough in the next 2 games, and then come to Ewood, and lets be honest who would back us against a side fighting for their lives after what we saw at Reading and Rotherham. In some ways their difficulties off the pitch have taken the spotlight away from the players and manager which might lift some pressure and help them.

If anyone should be deducted points this season it should be Bolton. If I were a Rotherham or Millwall fan I'd be fuming that they're still able to survive after what has happened this season. Simply unacceptable that a club can sign players under false pretences, be sued by another club, not pay wages and even risk matches not being played yet are able to compete for safety along with clubs that pay their bills.

Good post that and i agree that it feels like Bolton should be getting points deductions for their actions.

Players still not paid.

Bassini attended court on wednesday and the clubs barrister told the court the clubs potential buyer is here and has proof of funds.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47813930

 

Edit: Reading his Wiki page, it feels like the fit and proper owners test was created to stop people just like him owning football clubs. 

I await the announcement that he's now Bolton's new owner, passing the test with flying colours.

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by davulsukur

[JHRover]

Just now, davulsukur said:

Good post that and i agree that it feels like Bolton should be getting points deductions for their actions.

Players still not paid.

Bassini attended court on wednesday and the clubs barrister told the court the clubs potential buyer is here and has proof of funds.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47813930

 

Edit: Reading his Wiki page, it feels like the fit and proper owners test was created to stop people just like him owning football clubs. 

I await the announcement that he's now Bolton's new owner, passing the test with flying colours.

 

For once I have a little bit of sympathy for the League on this. If Bassini is the only show in town, the only one with proof of funds or in a position to complete a deal quickly then the League can either allow him in despite clear issues or turn him down and run the risk of a club going to the wall. They'd then get slaughtered by the fans and press for turning down the offer of cash to save them.

This shows just how silly the rules are - a club in Bolton's predicament are in the most urgent need of cash and at the same time that position leaves them more vulnerable to all sorts of dodgy characters getting involved with perhaps ulterior motives. In this sense the option is to turn a blind eye to the concerns and dodgy background and let the bloke take over or reject him and run the risk of them folding.

Apparently being banned from football for 3 years once served is irrelevant as far as the Fit and Proper Persons test is concerned, which seems daft to me.

[philipl]

Bassini should never be anywhere any football club- ever.

Bolton would be better off in administration.

[Scotland1]

2 hours ago, philipl said:

Bassini should never be anywhere any football club- ever.

Bolton would be better off in administration.

Bassini was one of Jeromes bidders before Venkys. Certainly came to Ewood a few times.

 

 

[Vinjay]

Some of the quotes from Bassini's interview with the Telegraph... 

"If I had done what people said I'd done, there's no way the Football League would be approving me to go back into football.

"And there's no way that Sir Dave Richards or John Williams would be putting their names to me. Not a chance in hell, would they?

"I will not get caught out this time. I will do it my way."

[Tom]

Bolton’s game v Ipswich back in doubt due to an ‘IT error’

[JHRover]

Just now, Tom said:

Bolton’s game v Ipswich back in doubt due to an ‘IT error’

I very much doubt that is true. Too much of a coincidence with what else has been going on there.

[Stuart]

9 minutes ago, Tom said:

Bolton’s game v Ipswich back in doubt due to an ‘IT error’

Maybe their broadband provider has cut them off.

Shameless what’s happening there.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Caterers also not paid.. no hospitality.

How that club is managing to operate on a basic daily level is beyond me.

Edited April 5, 2019 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[tomphil]

 IT glitch ?

Perish the thought they'd have to just place stewards on the turnstiles to check tickets and take cash to let people in.  I thought they needed the money from the home games ?

I know Boltons players are a bit robotic but surely they aren't controlled by IT as well !

[Rogerb]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

Bolton’s game v Ipswich back in doubt due to an ‘IT error’

Bolton news suggests engineers working through the night to remedy the problem. Decision to be made early tomorrow for travelling fans. To be hoped those engineers have been paid upfront!

[blueboy3333]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/apr/01/qpr-sack-manager-steve-mcclaren-miserable-run-championship

Holloway enjoying a slice of schadenfreude at McClaren's expense. 

[Guest]

Norwich strolling to promotion unlike anything I’ve seen for a while. Special team with a very good manager.

[Mattyblue]

Wolves last season?

[arbitro]

1 minute ago, Mellor Rover said:

Norwich strolling to promotion unlike anything I’ve seen for a while. Special team with a very good manager.

The triangles and round the corner passes are great to watch. And at a guess they have half a team of foreigners who didn't cost a lot. Aligned with some very good coaching and a system that suits the players. I believe these are the main ingredients for promotion from this league.

[Guest]

Just now, arbitro said:

The triangles and round the corner passes are great to watch. And at a guess they have half a team of foreigners who didn't cost a lot. Aligned with some very good coaching and a system that suits the players. I believe these are the main ingredients for promotion from this league.

Certainly agree. Stiepermann, Hernandez, Zimmermann, all stand outs but that Buendia is an absolute magician. Genius.

Their 2 full backs are both from the academy I think too and are outstanding. Both in team of the year too.

[Guest]

As he gets given a straight red card...

[DE.]

Yeah, Bolton probably not staying up... Losing 2-0 at home to Ipswich gwan Lambo! 

[Blue blood]

Another week, another loss, and still we haven't dropped down the table. 

QPR are in competition with us to see if they can go on a worse run, Bolton are ensuring that there is only one relegation place left, whilst Millwall, Reading and Rotherham are all still 7 points below us with inferior goal differences. This means that all 3 teams need to win 3 of 6 (or 7) to overtake us, without us doing anything and QPR need to get out of their slump before us.

I know we're poor but all 4 of those teams doing well enough to overtake us - no chance. TM is a very lucky man there's so many poor teams. 

 

Edit - also looking at the top end of the table the top 2 teams Norwich and Sheff Utd have not had huge budgets and any real advantage over us (other than no fruit loop owners) so the idea we're automatically bound to be lower table fodder is horse manure. The fact Preston and Bristol City have also had decent seasons and made a push for playoffs is further evidence that there's no inevitability about us being a lower table team. Sure it may have been a bit much this season, but it is not ludicrous to look up as well as down. Top 6 Premiership mini-league the championship is not. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by Blue blood

[Waggy76]

26 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

Another week, another loss, and still we haven't dropped down the table. 

QPR are in competition with us to see if they can go on a worse run, Bolton are ensuring that there is only one relegation place left, whilst Millwall, Reading and Rotherham are all still 7 points below us with inferior goal differences. This means that all 3 teams need to win 3 of 6 (or 7) to overtake us, without us doing anything and QPR need to get out of their slump before us.

I know we're poor but all 4 of those teams doing well enough to overtake us - no chance. TM is a very lucky man there's so many poor teams. 

 

Edit - also looking at the top end of the table the top 2 teams Norwich and Sheff Utd have not had huge budgets and any real advantage over us (other than no fruit loop owners) so the idea we're automatically bound to be lower table fodder is horse manure. The fact Preston and Bristol City have also had decent seasons and made a push for playoffs is further evidence that there's no inevitability about us being a lower table team. Sure it may have been a bit much this season, but it is not ludicrous to look up as well as down. Top 6 Premiership mini-league the championship is not. 

I dont think Preston made a serious push for the Play Offs , they had a good run got to 8th and collapsed ...

[Blue blood]

Just now, Waggy76 said:

I dont think Preston made a serious push for the Play Offs , they had a good run got to 8th and collapsed ...

Fair enough. Thought they were just outside the play offs for a time, but could be wrong. Either way it shows we're not guaranteed to be lower table fodder. 

[blueboy3333]

3 hours ago, Waggy76 said:

I dont think Preston made a serious push for the Play Offs , they had a good run got to 8th and collapsed ...

Not sure that accurate. They were unbeaten in 11 games from New year until the last two games which they've lost. 

[SBlue]

4 hours ago, Blue blood said:

TM is a very lucky man there's so many poor teams. 

I didn’t think he was lucky at two nil up vs Brentford two months ago - I was genuinely googling “Travelodge Wembley”.

 

We have a buffer because we have been good. Solid results bar the odd battering in 2018 and in January we looked unbeatable, a completely different side than today.

 

The fact we are discussing it is because since that moment we’ve been absolutely dire.

An unprecedentedly bad run.

 

DID I JINX IT?

 

Credit where it’s due though.

If he takes responsibility for the losses, he takes credit for the wins.

 

[Blue blood]

1 minute ago, S8 & Blue said:

I didn’t think he was lucky at two nil up vs Brentford two months ago - I was genuinely googling “Travelodge Wembley”.

 

We have a buffer because we have been good. Solid results bar the odd battering in 2018 and in January we looked unbeatable, a completely different side than today.

 

The fact we are discussing it is because since that moment we’ve been absolutely dire.

An unprecedentedly bad run.

 

DID I JINX IT?

 

Credit where it’s due though.

If he takes responsibility for the losses, he takes credit for the wins.

 

Absolutely he takes credit for the wins, no argument there. 

However, I think it's naive to say there's no luck involved and we have a buffer solely because we have good solid wins. It currently looks like we'll stay up with fewer points than when we went down, which suggests we]re overall not improving, and a little fortunate regarding our position compared to performances. There's also the fact that there have been two abysmal teams this year leaving only 1 relegation place, which is nothing whatsoever to do with our ability. So yeah, i think there's been a good slice of luck for TM this season in our position. 

[SBlue]

19 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

Absolutely he takes credit for the wins, no argument there. 

However, I think it's naive to say there's no luck involved and we have a buffer solely because we have good solid wins. It currently looks like we'll stay up with fewer points than when we went down, which suggests we]re overall not improving, and a little fortunate regarding our position compared to performances. There's also the fact that there have been two abysmal teams this year leaving only 1 relegation place, which is nothing whatsoever to do with our ability. So yeah, i think there's been a good slice of luck for TM this season in our position. 

Tough to say. It’s all relative.

Going down on a pretty much unprecedented 51 points by goal difference suggests that a lot more teams around us won a lot more games.

I take that as the league is tougher for the lower half now than it was that season a couple of years ago, or you could say that there are worse teams this season, it’s up for debate.

Ex Premier League Stoke, Swansea and the impressive Brentford are still within touching distance (technically, yes I know we are wank) and will do well to break the 60 point barrier.

 

Its mad this league. Just a couple of crap moments that the manager nor the overall performance can prevent have us the difference between top 10 and 16th.

 

So luck evens out, We have been very good in spells this year. The table proves it.

 

We’ve been beyond abject for a couple of months though, and the lack of belief today frightened me as much as it warmed me in January.

 

God, we were really bloody good until a couple of months ago.

Thats when I bet a Wendy 100 notes we’d finish above them ?

Edited April 6, 2019 by S8 & Blue