WHATEVER marriage of convenience Ken Anderson and Dean Holdsworth forged back in February when buying the club from Eddie Davies has long since been heading for divorce.

The only questions pondered for the last few months were, how amicable will the split end up, and who will get custody of the club?

Voices in the Anderson camp were claiming victory on the latter point last night, with the Switzerland-based businessman seemingly successful in his effort to purchase Holdsworth’s 40 per cent stake.

Billed as Wanderers’ saviour when he completed the takeover in February, there has been a tinge of sadness to almost everything which has happened since Holdsworth walked back through the doors of the club he represented as a player.

The takeover arrived too late to affect fortunes on the pitch and after a short stint as director of football ended in a contractual wrangle which has lingered for more than four months, his day-to-day involvement with the club has been negligible.

Undoubtedly passionate for the cause, we can only hope Holdsworth can stay on and bask in some of the reflected glory should Phil Parkinson’s side continue on this upward trajectory.

However, in a business sense, the 48-year-old’s dogged pursuit of the club has turned out to be somewhat of a nightmare.

Back in early February Sports Shield’s takeover attempt hit the rocks after Holdsworth’s India-based backers were unsuccessful in pressuring Davies into a sale. Another business partner, Bruce Gordon, also fell by the wayside until Anderson – at one stage just a ‘fixer’ in the deal – stepped in to guarantee the necessary funds to the Football League to get the takeover through the gate.

A £5million loan taken out through finance company Blumarble paid the majority of the way, although Anderson was also asked to guarantee £2.5m plus further funding this season.

Both Anderson and Holdsworth dispute that the other man carried through on their financial obligation. What is not in dispute, however, was that by the end of this week, the pot would be empty.

This marked the high point of a dispute which had rumbled on almost from the point the takeover was sanctioned by the Football League in early March.

The first big decision of the new regime – that to disperse with the services of Neil Lennon – was relatively straightforward. But picking his replacement was another matter altogether.

Jimmy Phillips and Peter Reid were entrusted with seeing the team through the remaining games of the season – with Reid favoured by Holdsworth to get a role in the permanent set-up. Ex-Wanderers skipper Kevin Nolan was also earmarked as a coach.

By the time a permanent appointment had to be made there was already a clear separation between the owners, as a disagreement emerged on Holdsworth’s salaried position as director of football which eventually led to the threat of legal action.

Anderson - who has claimed throughout that he has never taken a salary in his role as Wanderers chairman - was unhappy Holdsworth had refused to negotiate his own pay.

He struck out alone on the shortlist and – without question – pulled off a stunning appointment in Bradford City’s Phil Parkinson and his staff.

As Holdsworth withdrew completely from the day-to-day running of the club, Anderson became the public face and it became a case of when, and not if, his stake would be increased in the end.

Rumours of financial problems emerged sporadically but it was not until Monday morning that the situation was clarified on the record. The stand-meant administration was being considered.

Wanderers are not laden with the same eye-watering debts as they have been in the past, given Davies wiped off huge numbers as he sold the club earlier in the year. His £15m fee does still linger, and is not due until 2018, but Anderson claims the Isle of Man-based fan is willing to delay payment if the situation dictates.

Interest payments to Blumarble are worrying. The loan now stands at more than £6m and rising quickly.

But they are not the only wolves at the door. A £150,000 kit bill from Macron, salaries for next month and a handful of other creditors, including the ubiquitous HMRC, are all looking for their pound of flesh. It is estimated that the cost of running Wanderers is still around the £800,000-a-month mark.

There was a real sense of “here we go again” as The Bolton News pressed the chairman for confirmation that administration was a very real possibility.

Anderson claimed that without a deal between himself and Holdsworth, the only option available would be to bring in the insolvency specialists.

Once that news hit the press, the proverbial penny dropped. Less than an hour later, indication from the club was that a deal had been agreed in principle.

Anderson insists with sole control he can deliver a business plan to the Football League on Thursday which will be viewed favourably. Within its pages must be a plan for more investment – whether that be from his own pocket, or from an external source.

A meeting with auditors Deloitte is also said to be on the cards to get the long-awaited 2015 accounts signed off, which could even open the door to the embargo being shifted.

That may be a little on the optimistic side. But for Wanderers fans who entered into this year worrying about their club’s future, yesterday’s news was an unwelcome blast from the past.

If an uneasy truce has been called, long may it continue.