bertthebold

@BERTTHEBOLD (aka Andrew Black, former Swindon Town owner), has been busy on Twitter.

2nd February 2013
Wow this is all pretty horrible. I can't really say anything at the moment as the sale is still going through - I'll say plenty later.

3rd Feb 2013
I did sanction the sale of Ritchie. I blocked it the first time it came up but agreed to it later believing it had to happen.

There's obviously more to this but it's complicated and best left until a later date. That's all I'm saying.

9th Feb 2013
I've just reached 630 meters in Banana Kong. Download it from the App Store and try to beat me!

Embarrassing auto-tweet from one of my kids - 630 metres a very poor score...

22nd Feb 2013 (time approx 9pm to 1am)
OK - well thank you all for your kind words - well some of you anyway.

When I decided to stand alone and support the club it was a disaster scenario - relegated to League 2, facing sure administration...

and with a heavy FL points deduction there would have been a major chance of falling out of the leagues at the end of the season.

The club also had no manager...

I was never there for the long term - I just wanted to restore some respectability.

Today we sit at the top of league 1, again with no manager. As far as I'm concerned it's job done.

I never signed up to the '3 year plan' - it was only presented to me once, and then only briefly...

 As it happens in 2011 I agreed to sell the club at the end of that season. Paolo knew about this. Unfortunately the deal fell through.

The deal fell through because the FL concluded that they couldn't afford to run the club. One of their main backers died suddenly ...

 ...in the final weeks. It was all a bit tragic

I put Jeremy in as chairman at the start if the 2011 season - for various reasons I wasn't comfortable but I didn't have anyone else.

Jeremy and Nick interviewed Paolo and thought he was the right guy - I stayed in the background as I prefer. We gave him a 2 year contract.

I've known Jeremy for half my life - he was a huge West Ham fan, and in particular almost obsessive about Di Canio. This concerned me.

There was a lot of debt in the holding company, much owed to Sir Martyn Arbib, but he was always happy to write it off, as I was with mine

The remainder was owed to Amdrew Fitton

...who was Jeremy's business partner. He wasn't prepared to write it off. It was very messy. Andrew and Jeremy did not want me to sell...

...and we ended up falling out. I won't go into the detail here.

I decided I 2011 that I would have to replace Jeremy, but it took a long time to find someone. Chairing a football club is not easy.

Sir William did an amazing job for which he will never get full credit. I am hugely in his debt.

I never got to know Paolo very well - I only met him a handful of times.

Sitting in a board meeting with him is pretty surreal. I said many times to Nick that we should get the cameras in for a fly on the wall...

...documentary.

 Anyway as the (first) sale of the club was going through FL approval Di Canio and Spencer presented us with a new contract with only a ...

 ...few days to accept. I said it wasn't my concern as I thought I had sold the club. The contract went through and then I ended up owning

...the club again. It seemed to be a very one sided contract. I had no choice but to accept it. A couple of months later I replaced Jeremy

...and relations started breaking down very quickly. I hadn't been happy with what had happened over Caddis and I had had a sense of humour

failure when the club breached the wage cap and went into embargo. I had repeatedly asked at the board for all player transactions to be

communicated and I had had virtual radio silence. Di Canio and Spencer were not happy with the chairman being changed and began issuing

 Press releases criticising the board. I didn't like the way it was going. The budget plan changed with the forecasts for this year and

...next going a lot higher. At the start of the season I had decided to put in another year, but I changed my mind. I felt very confident

that we could find a buyer in January. There was plenty of interest - the problem was that a lot of the interest was to buy the club out of

administration. None of the board wanted that of course. To be honest I didn't really know much about the administration process at first

Anyway as it happened there was interest to buy the club without the need for admin. Given that I sold the club free of all callable debt

For £1 you'd hope that that would get some interest going.

So I had told the club I would not put any more money in and they had to find new backers. As it happened when this was announced some

Of the clubs we owed money to (loan players etc) got nervy and demanded immediate payment, so I had to put more in to get to the end of Jan

There was a plan in place for the board to revert to if the sale fell apart - we were speaking with a firm of accountants. The only real

Option for raising cash quickly was to sell Matt Ritchie. Di Canio and Spencer knew this and there had, I'm told, been a lot of discussions

They didn't want to sell him of course - I don't think any of us did, but there were cash issues and I had decided for better or worse

to hold firm and not put more money in. There were lots of frantic calls late into the evening and Ritchie ended up sold. Di Canio and

Spencer had argued against it but AFAIK they had been consulted and had accepted that it might happen. I didn't have a lot to do with it -

I had a few calls when I was at a restaurant that evening. I signed it off though.

The deal got done subject to FL approval, which was great - Russell Backhouse put a lot of work in to make it happen. I met with the other

side and got on well with them - a mixture of guys who hopefully have most bases covered. We still had to wait for FL approval and it was

quite slow in coming, which displeased team Di Canio as we couldn't sign any loan players until the deal was approved. Paolo presented the

Incoming owners with a deal (that they accepted) on a very short time frame that was out of our control. When the FL approval did not come

through in time Paolo resigned as he said he would and walked away. I was surprised.

but if I'm honest I was pleased. Paolo is a highly intense individual and a fierce and demanding boss, but he is uncompromising and does

not manage upwards. I haven't decided how good I think he is at his job - he'd be on your case the whole time but he had a very decent

budget to work with. The worst thing from the perspective of new owners is that he isn't the type to be told - I think he saw himself as

bigger than the club and I think it would have been an accident waiting to happen. At least this way the new owners get to pick a manager

that they can work with. I know a lot of fans will be unhappy but the important thing from my perspective is that things are in good order.

Anyway that's all from me. I hope it works out with the new team and I hope the club makes it to the Championship. Thanks all.

Stupid donkeys

PigHill can only draw 1-1 with bottom side Hartlepool.  Whatever would Paolo have to say?

"The lads are the protagonists.  
If they think they are donkeys then hopefully we will improve.  
The problem is when they feel arrogant.  
They have to feel hurt.
They have been amazing but for this specific game they have themselves to blame.
They have to say "we were stupid and like donkeys" today.
I stand by what I said before our amtch with Crawley that I am thinking about what happens next [The usual threat to quit if not backed up in the transfer market]"

I'll throw my toys out of the pram again

Having spent their way to the title last year, PDC continues to overspend on wages, with the club losing a rumoured £250,000 per month.  As ever, it is always somebody elses fault, and like a rat, he will be deserting the sinking ship, as he realises that the only way he can manage successfully is by having the biggest budget, regardless of whether it is affordable.  

PDC issued the following statement
 
“It is with great regret that I issue this statement but unfortunately, the events of the last few days have left me with no alternative other than to consider my position and explain the reasons why.  

As ever, the great fans of Swindon Town Football Club deserve to know the truth.  Without going into too much detail, our preparations for the game at Leyton Orient on Tuesday were severely undermined by an administrator for the Club actively offering to sell our entire playing staff without any reference to me and contrary to the terms of my contract.  

Having been advised that a takeover was imminent, Phil Spencer and I actively began to pursue players we could bring in to strengthen the squad, confident that with a few additions we have a genuine prospect of gaining automatic promotion and therefore, we lined up the players we wanted to bring in.

On Wednesday this week we were told that the sale to the new owners had gone through. With less than 48 hours remaining before the transfer window closed, we were obviously keen to know our position in regard to bringing in players before the deadline, it was therefore arranged for Phil Spencer to go to meet the new owners that afternoon to discuss this with them.

When Phil met with them he was assured that Matt Ritchie would not be sold despite there being an offer from Bournemouth to acquire him. He was told “there is no way that we would sell one of our best players to one of our main competitors”.

Consequently, we were assured that Matt Ritchie was going nowhere and money would be made available for the squad to be strengthened. Within an hour I received a phone call from Matt Ritchie telling me that the club had agreed to sell him and he was in the process of agreeing personal terms. I regard this as a clear breach of my contract with the Club and moreover, a clear attempt to undermine my position notwithstanding the success we have achieved in the last 18 months. Matt Ritchie was sold behind my back.

For the good of Swindon Town Football Club, I chose not to disclose these matters at yesterday’s press conference, having been assured by both the new and old owners that sufficient funds would be made available for us to secure our transfer targets if I remained silent about that which took place behind the scenes.

At the time of the press conference, Phil and I had managed to secure agreements with Charlton to bring in Danny Green and Bradley Wright-Philips on loan until the end of the season and for a swap deal with Cheltenham for Marlon Pack and Luke Rooney.

I kept my promise but the Club did not keep theirs.

A statement issued by the Club yesterday stated that they were committed to achieving Championship football next season. I have to question how this can possibly be achieved in the light of the events I have brought to your attention.

I have worked so hard for the Club and made many sacrifices because I wanted to achieve something special. The players and my staff have been fantastic to me and the statistics prove that my way of managing, playing football and working is successful.

With the club selling one of our best players behind my back and continually making promises that are broken, I feel at this moment that my job is not just impossible but is untenable. Of course I shall remain professional and continue to achieve the best I can, but under these circumstances it is not easy.

If it wasn’t for the players and fans of Swindon Town, I would have walked away from this club a long time ago. I didn’t because I was given repeated assurances that the project to achieve success was always in place and I wanted to deliver this for the players, staff and most of all, the fans of this great Club.

Despite being linked with a number of more high profile managerial jobs, they have never interested me. Now however I am forced to consider my future as I don’t know how I can continue to work in this environment.

Too many questions remain unanswered.

The future is clouded with uncertainty.

At this moment of time my future remains unclear.”

Sorry no transfers allowed

In a typical Pighill cock-up, PDC lined up several deadline day moves, only for the football league to block them.  

Danny Green and Bradley Wright-Phillips remain with the Charlton squad after coming close to making loan moves to Swindon Town on transfer-deadline day. The two players travelled to Wiltshire on Thursday and passed medicals at the League One club.

 

In addition, Marlon Pack of Cheltenham was due to move to the skip, following Luke Rooney's move from Slumdon to the Robins.  The Robins said, "A deal was agreed between both clubs last night which would see Marlon Pack join Swindon Town on loan with a permanent move in the summer involving a fee. The deal would also see Swindon's Luke Rooney join Cheltenham Town on an end of season loan.

An exciting three months ...

• 6 October 2012 - Placed under Football League transfer embargo for breaking limits on wages and fees
• 15 October - Jeremy Wray, who appointed Paolo Di Canio, is replaced as chairman by Sir William Patey
• 6 November - Transfer embargo lifted
• 3 January 2013 - Patey tells BBC Wiltshire no money will be made available for signings
• 7 January - Di Canio says he will offer up to £30,000 of his own money to keep players on loan
• 17 January - It is revealed owner Andrew Black has put the club up for sale and was considering entering administration, with debts to investors thought to be £9m. Financial advisors appointed.
• 25 January - BBC Wiltshire reveal Patey will quit when the club is sold
• 30 January - Swindon are sold to a local consortium, understood to be led by Banbury United owner Jed McCrory, subject to Football League approval.

Matt Ritchie

25th November 2011
AFC Bournemouth wanted to sign Matt Ritchie on loan, with a view to a January transfer for £250,000, but this was turned down by the Robins.  PDC said "he wanted £2,000,000 minimum, or £3,000,000, but reckoned he was worth at least £4,500,000 if he proved himself.  The club didn't need the money, there were no financial problems, and that PigHill was a strong club financially." 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/15897078

24th January 2012
"not for sale"
The Official PigHill twitter says PDC has stated "midfielder Matt Ritchie is ‘not for sale’ and that there have been no bids for the winger."

30th January 2012
Ritchie signs for Bournemouth for £400,000. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21265257

31st January 2012 
PigHill announced late last night that a consortium had agreed to takeover from the current owners, part of which involved them writing off large amounts of their "investment".  However, the football league need to undertake a "fit and proper" assessment of the new owners and directors which takes a short time.
 
STFC confirm they needed to sell Ritchie, as there was no money left to pay the bills. 

I need support from the fans

PigHill 4 Carlisle 0
The result is a consequence of the way we did things.
There is no player who upset me unlike the last couple of games even though the performances were fantastic. 
...
But now we have to keep going and we are looking for the same support from our fans in the future - otherwise we lose a sense of reality. 

He shouldn't have taken the penalty

PigHill 5 Tranmere 0
Despite the team scoring five goals, Paolo couldn't wait to blame Andy Williams for missing a penalty for his hat-trick.
"Chris Martin said to him to take the penalty, but Martin should have taken it because he hasn't scored yet.
I understand a hat-trick is a big tradition in England, but it is a team performance."

I'll buy you all dinner in the press box

PigHill 1 - 1 Doncaster
(Ritche, 8mins: Hollands o.g. 10 mins)
We played very well in general but we need that extra quality
We put 60 balls into the opponent's box.
Obviously, 60 times is not enough for us to score two goals - maybe we need 80 chances.  
The day that the oppenents dominate us and we win, I'll buy everyone in the press box dinner - but unfortunately that's not never going to happen.
That's because of our system, and our discipline, we don't give the opposition the opportunities.  
Nobody can be angry, me or the fans.
If you go out there and dominate, you usually win the game 95 per cent of the time, when we score the first goal, we win - that was the story of last season.  
Conceding the own goal didn't change a lot.  In terms of our football, we were fine - we were in the opposition box for 45 minutes

Individual actions cost us the game

Notts County 1  PigHill 0
"We created 20 potential chances.
But not for good delivery or choices by the players we haven't managed to score a goal.
we can see that our team never did that sensational thing that we needed. 
Individual actions cost us that game, and it is unfortunate that I couldn't use my hand or my foot to help the team.
The only plus is that we have dominated the game away from home, but we have lost.
We dominated the opponents, but they haev one shot and win the game 1-0. 
The keeper has played superbly.
The one where he saved from David Ward where he threw himself at the ball was an amazing save, a save that Peter Schmeichel used to make at Manchester United. 
The other two saves he made were crucial.
He was the best player on the pitch"