If that was in the early days, it must be even worse now. The amount of money sloshing around in football is mind boggling.
That was in the days before the players caught on to the fact that there was a lot of money sloshing around and wanted a larger slice of the pie.
It's my opinion that the 'sale' is as the last paragraph a mirage. That's the simplistic option and therefore the most likely. Happy for oakwell to remain in council hands for a long while yet.