WHOEVER rides in on their white horse to save Wanderers from potential financial disaster, I just hope they heed some lessons of the past.

I don’t know what will happen in the coming days and weeks with regard to the ongoing battle to take control of the club; I wouldn’t even like to hazard a guess.

Quite clearly something needs to happen soon. Without investment the task of preventing relegation from the Championship looks a tall order, even for a manager that I personally back 100 per cent like Neil Lennon.

Two bids have come to light, both involving popular ex-players in the form of Dean Holdsworth and his Sports Shield group, and Stelios Giannakopoulos, who I understand is backed by financiers in Europe and North America.

As players, both men gave great service to the Whites and as men, both come across as intelligent and savvy people who have passion for the cause.

But only a very select group can really judge their acumen as businessmen, or whether they have an adequate plan in place to bring this football club back to life.

Fans understandably have questions about both bids. Such is the legal sensitivity of the takeover process we are unlikely to get answers now. It is a matter of utmost importance, however, we get them at some stage.

One of the biggest problems with Wanderers in recent years has been the utter reluctance to discuss matters in the boardroom. Part of that has stemmed from the owner Eddie Davies, who has avoided all forms of publicity.

Whereas the Isle of Man based businessman was once happy to leave Phil Gartside as his press envoy, even that approach has stalled in recent years as the chairman withdrew more and more from the public eye.

As a result his business affairs became shrouded in subterfuge and conspiracy. Fans and journalists picked up on the scraps of information available on the structure of his business affairs and took out their own theories. Who knows what percentage is actually correct?

For Holdsworth, Stelios, or anyone else considering becoming the new owners of Bolton Wanderers I suggest you take this into account. Openness goes a long way – you only have to look at your manager to know that is correct.

Supporters will want to know three things on the first day a takeover may occur: Where you believe the club should be? How you intend to put them there? And how you are going to pay for it?

They may well be the kind of questions being asked by Trevor Birch as he shuffles through all the available options in his first week as the club’s financial advisor.

Davies reached for football’s equivalent of Red Adair this week to bring some finality to the takeover.

Birch’s appearance at a club so often means the proverbial is about to hit the fan but in this case my gut feeling is that, for now, he is here to pave the way for a new owner.

I send my best wishes out to Phil Gartside and hope he makes a speedy recovery from illness. I am sure he would agree, however, things were just not moving quickly enough to prevent this club slipping back further. If this matter drags on past January I fear League One football is on the cards – and who knows what long-term damage that could do?

Though interest from Holdsworth and Stelios has made for great stories in the last week it is important to underline to fans nothing is final. Champagne should remain on ice.

Sports Shield have done all they can. Their paperwork is in and their cards are effectively on the table.

There are still question marks about the structure of Stelios’s bid, although I feel his interest has been a long-standing one. He clearly has work to do if he is to catch up with the Holdsworth-led investors, whose paperwork is now in.

Whichever bid gets the nod, Wanderers must look at the era in which they racked up the astronomical debt under Davies and understand the pitfalls of over-reaching financially.

Even just a couple of years ago the club was carrying a wage bill of more than £34million. Between 2005 and 2010 more than £200m was spent on player salaries.

Such excess isn’t healthy. The next era of management at this football club needs to think with their head as well as their heart.