WHY BASSINI COST BOLTON 12 POINTS

WHAT a rotten disservice Laurence Bassini did Bolton. It was mid-April when the sale of the club to the former Watford owner was first agreed, so one presumes his interest was known long before that. At the time, had the club entered administration, the 12-point deduction meted out by the Football League would have come into force in the Championship. Bolton would have been relegated, but were going down anyway. With the sale dragging on, however, Bolton entered administration after the season ended — meaning they start with minus 12 in League One. Bassini still claims he is interested but if he couldn’t get the deal done a month ago, what has changed? Since then, Bolton’s financial crisis has worsened — a food bank has been set up to help impoverished staff — and the Football League punishment makes them considerably less attractive to potential buyers. Bassini left them incalculably worse off, and didn’t even set foot in the place.