JEFF Mostyn's plans to take Cherries out of administration appear to have met with a major hitch, the Daily Echo understands.

A consortium involving Mostyn, Steve Sly, Marc Jackson and other unnamed investors were hoping to finalise a deal for the club after having a bid accepted, in principle, by administrator Gerald Krasner earlier this month.

However, sources close to the Daily Echo suggest the deal could now be in the balance after Mostyn and Sly's relationship with Jackson, a Bournemouth-based international businessman, recently strained.

Doubts were initially raised when a press conference to unveil Jackson's ambitious blueprint for the future was shelved on two separate occasions. It is understood Mostyn still has no immediate plans to go public with the consortium's proposals.

And rumours that the ship was far from happy have been fuelled this week by suggestions that Mostyn and Sly may be at loggerheads with Jackson over the finer detail of certain funding issues.

Jackson, who claims to specialise in business strategy, was understood to be utilising his vast network of contacts, both in the City and around the world, to bring investment to the table. It is believed the finance has not yet materialised, possibly leaving Mostyn responsible for the shortfall.

One of Mostyn and Sly's other bugbears would appear to be that Jackson may have been in communication with a third party who is believed to have an association with a potential rival bidder from the Midlands.

The Daily Echo understands the third party to be the "frequent visitor from the north who visits the club on matchdays to try to discredit my consortium and me" referred to by Mostyn in his programme notes on Saturday.

In his column The Cherry On Top', Mostyn wrote: "The time has come for everyone to get together to give the club the chance of a future. There has been talk of various groups waiting in the wings to take over the club. Ask yourself, if these people had the best interests of the club at heart why didn't they bid when they had a chance?

"The talk of the mystery millionaire who could save the club but was put off by my demands is absolute rubbish.

"Whatever the demands, he had a chance to bid for the club without my involvement by making an offer directly to the administrator. I had no influence whatsoever on the bids placed. This story is being fuelled by a frequent visitor from the north who visits the club on matchdays to try to discredit my consortium and me.

"The fact that no formal offer was made suggests to me that there are still people trying to get control of the club for nothing. Whatever your personal views towards me, I still remain the person funding the club through administration.

"No-one can question my financial commitment to the club over the past 15 months and, despite all the high profile I'm going to buy the club' talk, my consortium's bid was the only formal one lodged. You now have a choice - please ignore the small group of dissenters, hell bent on seeing our club fail. I would ask you all to vote yes' to the proposals on April 7 at the creditors' meeting."

When contacted by the Daily Echo on Thursday, Jackson said the consortium was "still together". Neither Mostyn nor Sly was available when contacted by the Echo last night.