AFTER representing Bolton Wanderers with pride in more than 200 games, Alan Stubbs admits it is heartbreaking to see the club in its current state.

And the ex-Whites star says he is desperate for the long-running takeover saga to be resolved with positive action, rather than a series of public statements being released by the parties at the heart of the current crisis.

More than two decades after he left, the centre-back continues to follow the club’s fortunes and says his sympathies lie with the players, who he feels have been given no option but to take strike action.

“First and foremost I completely understand why the players have chosen to take this step,” he told The Bolton News. “It’s the last resort for them, they have tried to carry on working through it but it is difficult for them – it doesn’t matter whether you’re on £400 a week or £4,000 a week, everybody has outgoings that they need to have the money for. I just hope the cancellation of the Brentford game will make people see sense and come to a resolution, including the EFL, who you wonder how they have allowed all this to happen.

“It’s just got to the stage where enough is enough, and unfortunately the ones that get hurt the most are the fans. They have had to witness one debacle after another and see their club dragged through the mud.

“And all the people at the club, the players, coaches and staff throughout have had so much uncertainty created in their lives and pressure on them because they’re always wondering if they’re going to get paid.”

Like the majority of Wanderers’ employees and supporters, Stubbs has been less than impressed by Ken Anderson’s reign as chairman, a controversy-filled three-year stint that made such unwanted history with the postponement of the fixture at home to Brentford.

And with Laurence Bassini still in the frame to buy out the current owner, their former player remains hopeful he can turn their ailing fortunes around.

“To be brutally honest when Ken Anderson came in it looked like he had intentions of turning the club around but it looks like it was just a quick fix for him now,” he said. “It’s become a job with absolutely no job satisfaction for them.

“I think it’s fair to say the players don’t have the best relationship with him, hopefully we can soon call him the previous owner and the club can move on.

“It was an investment for him and it’s so sad to see – you walk to a game and it looks like there’s no game on sometimes, the club has been stripped back to the bare minimum and the fans turning up don’t have any excitement now, they’ve basically had their enthusiasm ripped out of them. It’s been dreadful and I feel for everybody at the club, they all want to do their bit and try to help the club get back to where it belongs but it’s shocking to hear the stories that come out – and I’m sure there are bucketloads more tales that we don’t hear about, no one knows what the next episode is going to be.

“It’s really sad to see this club, that has been in the higher echelons of English football, slip back into League One.

“It seems a long time before this club can get anywhere near the top again, where it deserves to be as Mr Bassini is aiming to do.

“I believe he has had his problems but he’s not necessarily a bad person, hopefully he’ll have the club’s best interests at heart but right now people need actions not words.”