Neil Lennon has opened up on how managing Bolton has failed to live upto expectations.
Dean Holdsworth’s Sports Shield consortium are expected to take over the club this week with speculation rife that Southend’s Phil Brown could be brought in as manager.
Lennon has had to battle against relegation with the shadow of administration hanging over his head which is a far cry from the job description he was sold 17 months ago.
A series of late goals have cost Bolton dearly but it’s the off field landscape that has shocked the former Celtic boss in his first managerial job south of the border.
“When I took the job on, it was a case of: ‘Keep us up and we will have a go at it next season,’” the Irishman recalled. “We kept them up comfortably but the rest didn’t materialise; I have had to cut, cut, cut the wage bill, sell players and not spend a penny. It does curb your enthusiasm because it wasn’t how I expected the job to go.
“I knew about the debt. I wish I had been told that the money coming in would stop. If I had known about the situation with the owner I would have had serious reservations about taking it on.
“I knew there was a big debt but I knew it was the owner’s debt and he was prepared to write it off. What I didn’t know was that I wasn’t going to be given the chance to invest in players and the squad, as I wanted to. And build, rather than have to demolish; that’s all I have done – 19 players went out the door last summer. We cleared about £10m from the wage bill as well as bringing in £2.5m in fees.
“There have been experiences that I don’t really like. I wouldn’t want other managers to experience a lot of those things.
“I’m enjoying the challenge – that in itself is a motivation. And if we keep the team in this league, what a great achievement. If we stay up, people will appreciate all that a lot more than if we go down. That’s the black and white of football.
“I want the chance to rebuild because I haven’t had a chance to build anything.”
Bolton are seven points adrift of fourth bottom MK Dons with 12 matches left to play, on Saturday they travel to Leeds United before hosting Ipswich and Preston.
