SHEER weight of evidence would suggest an end is in sight to the Wanderers takeover saga, and that Dean Holdsworth’s Sports Shield consortium are in pole position to become the new owners – but sadly, it isn’t quite that simple.

All signs point to a deal being close, and what a Christmas gift it would be to the club’s long-suffering supporters if we could sit down to a turkey dinner next Friday knowing the worst case scenario has been averted.

I for one cannot wait to bring some closure to what has become a chaotic and unfortunate chapter in the Whites’ history books.

But if the last six weeks has taught me anything, it is the danger of getting too far ahead of myself.

This is not as simple as selling a car and sorting out a logbook.

If the deluge of rumours on social media were to be believed this week, former striker Holdsworth was picking out his office carpet on Middlebrook, flanked by a legion of Bolton’s most affluent businessmen giving advice on colour and pile, with returning hero Kevin Nolan warming up on the car park in case he is flung into action right away.

Alternatively, if you speak to those on the other side of the equation, the response is much more austere.

Administration and a mass player walk-out remain a possibility, club staff were (thankfully) paid at the 11th hour with hastily organised funds, talks continue with a number of parties, and the sale of Euxton to Preston North End has been discussed.

I know which one I prefer to hear and it is no wonder people were so eager to believe an announcement was imminent.

Alas, the truth is somewhere in between the two poles of optimism and pessimism. Brinkmanship is commonplace in the business world, so why should selling a football club be any different?

From the buyers’ perspective, of course you would want to ensure an air of positivity among the supporters.

Whether it be Sports Shield or one of the number of other interested parties I’ve spoken to in the last eight to 10 months, each has a vision of the future that was entirely more preferable to the grim present.

Particularly in Holdsworth’s case, the passion for the football club comes through; if his is the bid that succeeds – and that is still IF – then the boardroom will be a very different place than it was before.

Yet from Eddie Davies’s side this is still a business deal. If owning the club was once a labour of love, then selling it has been a particularly difficult divorce.

I’d like to think we may get his views on what has happened in this last 12 months and why certain decisions have been made, but I won’t hold my breath.

Perhaps Davies has been able to run all this drama to the 11th hour because he knows they have a willing buyer?

Someone accused me on Wednesday, as news filtered through that the staff would be getting their December wages, of knowing the situation would be solved all along; they absolutely could not be more wrong.

If the game-playing has been taken to that level, then I think it is disgraceful that people’s emotions should be toyed with – at this time of year especially.

In the past few weeks, I’ve seen tears shed and listened to staff tell me how they couldn’t afford to buy Christmas presents for their families.

It came as a huge relief to see that situation sorted, as it will when we can finally put an end to all this takeover talk and get back to discussing football.

For a few brief moments on Tuesday night, stood on the touchline at The Valley, I was able to have a proper conversation with Neil Lennon about Zach Clough’s return to the team, Josh Vela’s injury and the balance of players in midfield.

I know he can’t wait for this all to be done and dusted so he can stop filling in as a temporary chief executive.

It would be nice if I could write an article without the first paragraph needing the gravitas of a Kevin McCloud speech from the start of Grand Designs.

But this will be over when it is signed, sealed and delivered and not a second sooner.

There is too much at stake for it to be any other way.