reply from Les came through this morning, i would like to thank Les for taking the time to reply seeing as he is under no obligation to do so. reply as follows:-
Tony,
it was for the ACL business, as my article in which I revealed this figure made clear. Of course, that article has been badly misrepresented by bloggers such as John Fletcher and on social media since, by that tiny minority who seem to bizarrely think it's a constructive tactic to discredit the local journalist who does something more than simply uncritically regurgitate their version of events.
There has been balance, and grilling of all sides - it's just that the emotional and dogmatic on either side choose not to believe it.
As I've stated many times, both before and after the Seppala interview on several occasions I invited any ACL director or council leader to a similar interview, and have their say. They declined, without explanation. They continue to decline.
Ann Lucas was forced into a statement on Tues by a recent fans' campaign and publicity. We reported this. NOTE It shows that the outstanding judicial review is not in law any reason why councillors should not talk to their electorate and show leadership at a time of crisis.
We had huge splashes on Haskell and ACL plans to oust the club's owners through the court/admin process. ACL and Ainsworth have had their say in our newspaper many, many times.
I am very pleased with my body of work this year on this saga which could hardly be more balanced in totality - from breaking the Northampton groundshare story and Brandon sale talks; to exclusives on the confidential CVA terms and the judicial review; to forcing Tim Fisher to admit that some players were registered in Holdings and forcing the League after my Greg Clarke interview to admit "administrative errors" in registering players to the wrong company; to live blogs from the High Court and from Appleton's creditor meetings. It is acknowledged I was usually first with the news via Twitter or our website throughout the summer.
My job as a political correspondent is to scrutinise local authorities and MPs, to comment and criticise as well as to report what they say. That does not mean I have not reported and scrutinised the other side too - as anyone can see from my body of work.
Hope that helps,
Cheers,
Les