When Bates bought in, debt was estimated at "below ?25m"

That was in January 2005, after the sale and leasebacks of the ground and training ground.

Despite the misleading headline, the weekend's announcement actually said debt would be "right down to maybe ?4-5m"...hardly a firm promise and hardly debt-free either. At best it represents around ?20m of debt reduction - not bad but hardly cause for singing from the rooftops, especially as parachute payments are included for those years!

The BBC report also quotes the downright lie from Blackwell that "It is only 18 months since the club was relegated and in ?121m worth of debt."

That's simply not true - the club was relegated in May 2004 and by 18 months ago it had already passed through administration, with all the debt-forgiveness that we know and love from our neighbours up the road, not to mention the fire sale of players and the sale and leaseback of their only assets....

Posted By: Greeny, Sep 11, 10:59:16