FORMER Wanderers boss Owen Coyle says warning signs of the club’s impending financial breakdown were present 12 months ago.

Pay problems first hit the headlines last summer when Bolton’s players boycotted a friendly against St Mirren less than 24 hours before kick-off, following a disagreement with owner Ken Anderson over bonus payments.

They continued through last season, culminating in the player strike which forced a league fixture to be scrubbed against Brentford – a first in EFL history.

Staff at the stadium and training ground are being aided by the Community Trust, with access to essentials via a special food bank, until they are paid by the club’s administrators.

Coyle is upset the situation was allowed to escalate so dramatically under Anderson in the weeks leading up to the end of the season.

“It shouldn’t have got to that stage – there had been five or six different warnings,” he said. “Even a year ago people were not getting paid but it was allowed to rumble on.

“There was going to be a takeover here, a takeover there, but it never, ever happened.

“The people that suffered most were the people on the first line that rely on those salaries to pay monthly bills.

“We’ve always said the players would have got by.

“In comparison with the normal person in the street they would have had enough money to tuck a little bit by to pay bills but there are people there who can’t, they need that monthly cheque to make ends meet.

“Knowing the club, the people, the history and tradition, that’s what I feel for.

“It should have been addressed, I think, by the league a long time ago. This shouldn’t have been allowed to get to the stage it is now.”

By law, administrators David Rubin and Partners must take responsibility for pay from the moment they were appointed – May 13. No guarantees have been given, however, on when salaries will be paid.

Employees were also informed that contact has been made by parties interested in buying the club and that administrators would be working in tandem with Quantuma – appointed to the hotel on Wednesday by Anderson – for a satisfactory resolution.