ANY hardy Bolton Wanderers supporter will tell you that a thick coat of scepticism is only developed over time.

It seems churlish, sat in a 28,000 seater stadium, playing in the second tier of English football against the likes of Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United, and with a renowned manager like Neil Lennon at the helm to describe the club’s current plight as desperate.

Perhaps only someone who contemplated an away trip to Aldershot Town in Division Four, or watched John McGovern jog the Bolton Marathon to put pennies into the electricity meter in the eighties can really tell you about hard times with the Whites?

That is not to say the new generation of supporters – those who grew up on Premier League football, Sam Allardyce and Jay Jay Okocha – should not know what they are talking about. There are some sharp and savvy minds out there among the 19-35 year old demographic, believe you me.

But those a little longer in the tooth will recall a time when Wanderers really were on their knees and the future looked very grim indeed. A time when the club quite literally had to go cap in hand. They are the ones who have tended to be a little more even-handed with their panic in the last few months.

I’ve been encouraged to hear and read the cautious reaction of fans old and new to the proposed takeover, as described in this very newspaper over the last couple of days.

There hasn’t been a huge upsurge of excitement, of fans forecasting a bright new dawn and multi-million pound arrivals. And how could there be? We simply don’t know enough about the incoming investors aside from the involvement of a certain club record signing.

Now my predecessor Gordon Sharrock spoke very highly of Dean Holdsworth as a person. He was clearly a switched on young man and was a very influential figure in the dressing room in the early days under Allardyce, which has been clearly referenced in his work with the PFA.

He obviously has a head for business, has sampled life in management and has acted in an advisory capacity for people at all levels of the game.

The aspect me, and most people who have followed this story cannot get past, however, is financial. Who is backing Holdsworth’s Sports Shield Consultancy? What security do they offer? What affect will this have on the club? And perhaps most importantly – when will we see firm evidence?

I hope the answers to these questions will start to emerge in the next few days and that if this is the prelude to new ownership that the next regime will be more willing to engage with the club’s fans.

You don’t have to have a particularly long memory to recall a time when Eddie Davies was being heralded for saving the club.

His initial investment alongside that of David Speakman in October 1997 helped Wanderers out of a very tight financial space and paved the way for him to launch a complete takeover a few years later.

On the pitch what followed was barely comprehendible back then – two European campaigns, trading blows with the Manchester Uniteds, Arsenals and Liverpools.

A price has since been paid. Wanderers tried to prolong that dream, over-stretched themselves financially and made some frankly terrible decisions, particularly on the recruitment side.

This isn’t a column intended to list them, nor to attribute blame to individuals. But suffice to say that any future boardroom, however it is comprised, would do well to heed some lessons of the last 10 years.

Fans have waited patiently for Wanderers to speak about their situation and as a newspaper we will continue to offer the club a platform to give our readers, information.

Phil Gartside’s illness in the last few weeks has complicated matters and made dialogue difficult. Perhaps the ongoing discussion with investors has also been a factor?

Business deals of this type almost always involve a degree of secrecy, as contracts are legally bound. But until some more detail emerges, you cannot blame supporters for feeling an equal mix of suspicion and excitement.

It is with a healthy dose of cynicism that we look towards the future at the Macron Stadium. As Boltonians, you’d expect nothing less.