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The right man was in the right place – but unfortunately for Bolton fans it was exactly the wrong time.
Adam Le Fondre’s brief Macron Stadium career ended with him fulfilling a promise to finish the 2014/15 campaign as the club’s top scorer and was followed by months of speculation about a return.
Fans were so keen to see him back in a white shirt they attempted to raise funds to help pay his way.
Neil Lennon would gladly have accepted their generosity but instead watched as Le Fondre signed for Wolves, leaving him without the out-and-out goalscorer he had sought for so long.
“It boiled down to affordability,” lamented the Wanderers boss. “We wanted him to come and he wanted to play here but we just couldn’t afford it. Or I was told that we couldn’t afford it.”
Le Fondre finished with eight goals from 17 games last season as the team’s inconsistency was mirrored in Lennon’s ever-changing line-ups.
The manager ended the season confident a deal would be struck but as financial issues quickly became apparent over the summer, the chances of the former Reading and Stockport County man setting up camp again in the North West faded by the week.
Asked what difference a player like Le Fondre could have made this season, Lennon was in little doubt what his team has missed.
“If we’d had a goalscorer then I think we’d be bottom half but not in the position we’re in at the moment,” he said.
“We’ve had plenty of good chances to get over the line in games.
“We’ve got 11 or 12 draws and if you convert four or five of those into wins then what kind of difference does that make?”
Le Fondre isn’t the only familiar face in the Wolves attack nowadays with multiple loanee Joe Mason recently signing at Molineux from Cardiff for £3.5million.
Rated highly by Dougie Freedman, Mason never quite fit into Lennnon’s system and left with a serious injury.
“Joe played in a couple of games but he didn’t look like he was going to score a lot of goals for us, if I’m honest,” the manager explained.
“We left him out and went on a really good run. But then Joe did his hamstring at this time last year and went back to Cardiff.”
Lennon needs any positive result tonight to set his team up for a must-win game at home to Rotherham United on Saturday.
Victory, however unlikely in the Midlands, could give them an opportunity to escape the bottom three altogether at the weekend.
Wolves haven’t been great in front of their own fans this season, winning just four of 14 games, and Wanderers have the incentive of escaping the relegation zone for the first time since October at the weekend driving them on.
“It’s a difficult game but we need to believe we can get something out of it because it’s the one in hand,” Lennon said. “If we take something then there’s an incentive going into Rotherham. Win that and it totally changed again.
“We need to find the bravery to play and compete and I think we will. It’s there but they need to show it more consistently.”
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Adam Le Fondre’s brief Macron Stadium career ended with him fulfilling a promise to finish the 2014/15 campaign as the club’s top scorer and was followed by months of speculation about a return.
Fans were so keen to see him back in a white shirt they attempted to raise funds to help pay his way.
Neil Lennon would gladly have accepted their generosity but instead watched as Le Fondre signed for Wolves, leaving him without the out-and-out goalscorer he had sought for so long.
“It boiled down to affordability,” lamented the Wanderers boss. “We wanted him to come and he wanted to play here but we just couldn’t afford it. Or I was told that we couldn’t afford it.”
Le Fondre finished with eight goals from 17 games last season as the team’s inconsistency was mirrored in Lennon’s ever-changing line-ups.
The manager ended the season confident a deal would be struck but as financial issues quickly became apparent over the summer, the chances of the former Reading and Stockport County man setting up camp again in the North West faded by the week.
Asked what difference a player like Le Fondre could have made this season, Lennon was in little doubt what his team has missed.
“If we’d had a goalscorer then I think we’d be bottom half but not in the position we’re in at the moment,” he said.
“We’ve had plenty of good chances to get over the line in games.
“We’ve got 11 or 12 draws and if you convert four or five of those into wins then what kind of difference does that make?”
Le Fondre isn’t the only familiar face in the Wolves attack nowadays with multiple loanee Joe Mason recently signing at Molineux from Cardiff for £3.5million.
Rated highly by Dougie Freedman, Mason never quite fit into Lennnon’s system and left with a serious injury.
“Joe played in a couple of games but he didn’t look like he was going to score a lot of goals for us, if I’m honest,” the manager explained.
“We left him out and went on a really good run. But then Joe did his hamstring at this time last year and went back to Cardiff.”
Lennon needs any positive result tonight to set his team up for a must-win game at home to Rotherham United on Saturday.
Victory, however unlikely in the Midlands, could give them an opportunity to escape the bottom three altogether at the weekend.
Wolves haven’t been great in front of their own fans this season, winning just four of 14 games, and Wanderers have the incentive of escaping the relegation zone for the first time since October at the weekend driving them on.
“It’s a difficult game but we need to believe we can get something out of it because it’s the one in hand,” Lennon said. “If we take something then there’s an incentive going into Rotherham. Win that and it totally changed again.
“We need to find the bravery to play and compete and I think we will. It’s there but they need to show it more consistently.”
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