BEWITCHED, bothered and bewildered by the drama surrounding the Macron this week, we left the snow dusted Belmont behind for the trek to the freezing Madejski stadium.

Finding a decent pub in Reading proved almost as difficult as finding a cheap parking place near the stadium.

An epic steak and Guinness pie saved the day at O’Neills.

On the day, it was and it wasn’t nice to renew acquaintances with the popular Ali Al-Hasbi.

He denied us three times in the first half with great saves before two mistakes cost us dearly, against a nervous Reading. Referee James Linington gave us hope when he was the only one to spot the trip on Darren Pratley.

No Bolton player appealed. Their fans’ taunts of ‘That’s why you’re going down’ rang true.

It was difficult to focus on the football after news of our chairman stepping down, rival bids from at least two ex-players and the appointment of an insolvency expert to sort things out. Worrying times to say the least.

We all have our own theories of how we got in this mess but the focus must be on getting us out of it.

Eddie Davies needs to get it right and sell to people like himself with a genuine interest in Bolton Wanderers.

The deal is his own affair but it has to sort out the debt and leave some money to invest.

Trevor Birch will no doubt look for cost cuts to alleviate the immediate financial crisis and make the sale more attractive. While some cuts may be in admin, the real costs are in the players.

Things are not going to improve on the pitch while things are not right off the pitch.

Any takeover should give us the impetus to start turning things around but there is no guarantee of instant success.

Leeds United and Portsmouth may have been saved but neither are a roaring success.

Important decisions have to be made in the next few weeks and they have to be made right for the future of our club.

Best wishes to Phil Gartside for a speedy recovery.