League One side Oldham Owner Simon Corney "reiterated his desire to sell the club in the wake of the Ched Evans saga," according to Mike Keegan of the London DAILY MAIL. The club's chairman has "previously said that should a buyer who
can take Lee Johnson's side further forward than he can come along, he
would happily listen to offers." And
"following the collapse of the controversial move for the 26-year-old
convicted rapist, Corney has repeated his willingness to sell the
cash-strapped club" (DAILY MAIL, 1/13). The OLDHAM EVENING CHRONICLE's Matthew Chambers wrote Corney's overall enthusiasm for the task at SportsDirect.com Park has waned -- "to the extent he wants to hand over the club as soon as possible." Corney hopes that "the long-term financial benefits of the new North Stand, due for completion in time for next season, will help to attract a buyer." Corney: “I’ve had enough and it’s no secret. Where does it all end, in 15 or 20 years’ time?" Corney bemoans the fact that "by the end of last week, the Evans controversy had attracted more comment from political figures than Boko Harem’s massacre of up to 2,000 people in Nigeria" (OLDHAM EVENING CHRONICLE, 1/13). The London GUARDIAN reported Corney, who is based in the U.S. but will be at Oldham’s games against Fleetwood and Rochdale in the next week, insists that "the Evans issue has come to a close but admitted the club underestimated the fury drawn to the potential signing of the convicted rapist." Corney: "It came and it went, that was it. I was over here when it was all going on and it grew to be a lot bigger than I thought. But once the answer became a no, that was that. I still think the right thing would have been to take him, I really do. But in the end it wasn’t to be" (GUARDIAN, 1/13).
