Celts in management

Watch the highlights as Lennon steers Bolton out of bottom three

|
Image for Watch the highlights as Lennon steers Bolton out of bottom three

Bolton Wanderers - Neil Lennon Press ConferenceNeil Lennon won’t let his players ease up after watching Bolton move out of the relegation zone.

A 3-1 win over local rivals Wigan Athletic made it four wins out of six for the former Celtic boss who can enjoy the international break and plan a move towards the play-off places.

Back-to-back home wins over Cardiff and Wigan has lifted the mood of Bolton fans who feared that they were heading towards League One until the Irishman took over from Dougie Freeman.

“For the first time in eight, nine weeks we are out of the bottom three and actually looking up the table,” Lennon said.

“I think they’ve put a marker down this week in terms of the level of performances tonight and Tuesday night to show they can certainly play and compete at this level very, very well.

“We’ve set a benchmark; the game’s live on TV across the nation so people are starting to talk about Bolton in a positive way, rather than a negative way. That’s the first part of the job done.”

While Lennon enjoys the two week break Uwe Rosler faces a testing time in charge of Wigan.

After taking over from Owen Coyle the German steered Wigan into the play-off’s and an FA Cup semi final but a repeat of those achievements look unlikely with Wigan rooted towards the bottom of the Championship.

Ignoring the niceties Rosler said: “Second half, I have to be honest – Bolton won the game by pure willpower, desire, energy, going to the limit and forcing the issue, forcing the mistakes and forcing the goals – all credit to them.

“We just folded altogether. And for that I have no understanding whatsoever.

“I take responsibility. I’m not blaming anybody but when we analyse the second half, we gave up. I apologise to the chairman, I apologise to the supporters.

“It’s very, very seldom in the last 10 years that I had a team who gave up in the way we gave up in the second half.

“I felt embarrassed by the performance that we have given in the second half.

“I’m not sure that meant as much for some of my players as it meant for our supporters and for our chairman.

“In any competitive game of football you never give up, you always fight to the end. To give up at Bolton in the second half in a derby game – it is unforgivable.”

Share this article

Online and independent- the only way to be. Enjoying instant news access and reaction, following the trends if not an influencer!