Talksport, the radio station that had Kevin Davies on the air yesterday to discuss his impending release and testimonial situation, had Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside on the line today. The interview did not go that well as it turned into a shouting match with both parties trying to get their words in. What was important about this though is that Phil Gartside managed to clear up the testimonial situation.
According to Gartside, testimonials are done entirely outside of the club's boundaries for tax purposes. The Chairman said that the club has to apply and then be approached by an outside committee. Because Gartside is in the position at Bolton that he is, he can not be part of said committee. Phil was asked by Adrian Durham if Kevin Davies asked for a testimonial, would he get one? Gartside's response was an enthusiastic "Absolutely, yes!" before going into the rules behind the matter, to which Durham responded telling Gartside to "stop hiding behind the rules."
Gartside was asked if Davies had found a new club yet, with Phil responding that he was unaware. What Gartside did say was that there were clubs approaching SKD behind Bolton Wanderers' backs. Gartside also revealed that he "wasn't even aware he had an agent until this week" and that communications were done through an outside party.
The chairman finally mentioned that he last "spoke to [Kevin] on Monday before you goaded him into an interview yesterday." According to Gartside, the decisions and conversations were between Kevin Davies and Dougie Freedman and were made at the time that they were to allow Davies to potentially find a club to move to in the current loan window.
The back-and-forth yelling finally stopped when the talksport hosts asked if Gartside happened to catch yesterday's England match. Adrian Durham concluded the conversation following Gartside leaving the call by saying he was "proud of that, actually" and blamed Gartside for "some hiding behind the rules."