It’s a sign of how far you are boohoo share price (LSE: BOO) fell as many would welcome the prospect of controversial deal-maker Mike Ashley taking control of the troubled retailer.

When I looked at the stock on September 16, I was horrified. It wasn’t much better when Boohoo heir Umar Kamani threw a four-day, £20m celebrity-packed wedding on the Côte d’Azur in May and then laid off 1,000 staff days later. Things didn’t get better.

The board was planning to give CEO John Lyttle and co-founders Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane a £1 million bonus as a performance reward. A collapsing share price, falling sales, shrinking cash flow and skyrocketing debts? Fortunately, shareholders blocked the payouts.

Investors must be crying

I was appalled by the chaos created by the first US distribution center in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. hailed “A complete game changer” It closed with a loss of £80 million in September when it opened last year.

While the reopening of high streets and competition from budget rivals such as China’s Shein have negatively affected the fast fashion industry, boohoo has also been affected by wider events.

Ashley takes the stage as the white knight! Who writes these? Still it worked wonders Frasers Group The share price increased by 155.15% in five years. In the same period, boohoo a dizzying drop of 88.9%.

To be fair, there’s little to differentiate the stocks over the last 12 months; Frasers was up just 0.32%, while Boohoo was down 0.4%.

Events are accelerating. On 18 October boohoo announced a 15% drop in half-year sales to £620m and Lyttle’s departure. But the board still claims boohoo “Fundamentally impaired”and is considering quitting his job.

I actually support the Frasers Group

Frasers owns a 27% stake but still has no position on the board. Slam boohoo for everything “awful trading performance” him “not entirely satisfactory” £222 million debt refinancing.

I won’t go into further detail about this corporate slug. Instead, I’ll ask why any investor would want to participate.

To be fair, boohoo still boasts a number of top brands: PrettyLittleThing, Debenhams, Karen Milen, Beach, Dorothy Perkins And Warehouse. It has a low price-to-revenue ratio of 0.3, meaning investors pay just 30p for every £1 of sales. As interest rates drop, shoppers can relax a little more and spruce up their wardrobes.

However, boohoo did something loss before tax It will be worth £75.6 million in 2023 and £159.9 million in 2024 and is not expected to make a profit until 2027 at the earliest.

I won’t invest while today’s boohoo board is still in place. My only hope is that Ashley gets in and uses some of her questionable magic. If it can unlock some value, shares could skyrocket.

This is a double bet and I won’t be buying boohoo. Instead, I’ll be cheering on Ashley from the sidelines. This is something I never thought I’d say.