WILDER: CRISIS CAN END SOON
EMOTIONAL Chris Wilder broke his silence on Northampton’s financial crisis by insisting a deal is still on the table to safeguard the club’s future.
Kelvin Thomas is currently trying to take over the League Two strugglers but his bid was plunged into doubt this week because of a delay in the purchase of shares from chairman David Cardoza.
Thomas is still interested in securing the club which has more than £10m worth of debts and are the subject of a winding-up order from HMRC.
Staff and players aren’t being paid while the crisis rumbles on, but remarkably the club has been exceptional in the face of crisis on the pitch and victory over Notts County here made it six games unbeaten.
Wilder, whose side are in the automatic promotion places, has clearly become exasperated with the situation and hopes a break “We through can be made.
“The players and the staff keep pulling rabbits out of hats and it’s remarkable how we keep going,” he said. “I’m exhausted because there is a deal to be done.
“I know there is a deal to be done. A deal that will take this club forward. It gives it a bright future.
“We’re playing with people’s livelihoods and there’s a deal to be done. It’s ridiculous.
“It’s not just a rescue act that takes us to the end of the season.
“The best deal for the club is the one that’s on the table and has been worked on for the last four weeks.
“That’s what kept me at the football club, that’s what’s kept Marc Richards at the football club. I brought all these players down – and even I left a decent club because of the ambition of where we are going to go.
“What has happened is an absolute shambles. And there is someone here who wants to take it forward.”
Despite the chaos off the field, Town are in exceptional form on it as Wilder watched Brendan Moloney’s late goal seal a 2-1 victory over the Magpies.
They had taken the lead through Rod McDonald’s header before Jon Stead snatched an equaliser after halftime.
But Moloney scored with an excellent finish with 14 minutes left to seal a memorable win.
It dented an impressive run of form at Meadow Lane for Notts and County boss Ricardo Moniz was not happy.
“Based on the second half, we didn’t deserve to lose, but we were naïve in the details,” he said.
“We knew what their strength was. They have very good and creative players. Potter, Richards and Adams. put Gill Swerts in there to protect the defence because we were a bit open against Portsmouth a few weeks back and didn’t want that to happen again.
“We didn’t create enough like we do when Stanley Aborah plays, but he was injured. “We were a lot better and when we got back to 1-1, all I was waiting for was the second goal to be honest with you.”