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Straight-laced Zach Clough will not be a flash in the pan for Wanderers if Neil Lennon has anything to do with it.
Last weekend’s FA Cup hero won’t get the special treatment despite his goal-den debut against Wigan Athletic – in fact he is not even guaranteed a starting place against Leeds United tomorrow.
But Lennon believes his 19-year-old prodigy is cut from the right kind of cloth to ensure all the media attention that followed his stunning winner against the Latics will not go to his head.
“He’s had a hectic week – he’s had a lot of plaudits and attention that he’s probably not had before,” Lennon told The Bolton News.
“But he’s such a level-headed boy, you don’t know whether he’s happy or not, he just gets on with training.
“He doesn’t wear the yellow boots, the orange boots, he’s got a pair of black and white boots and I like that, he’s kind of old school but he can play football.
“We have got to look to protect him a little bit. I might not even play him against Leeds. That decision will be down to me and the backroom staff.
“We’ll have to wait and see how he reacts – but I’ve said before he reminds me a bit of James Forrest, who I had at Celtic. He might just be one of those kids who just says ‘hey, let’s get on with it’ and carries on about his business.”
Clough celebrated his debut with a new contract which ties him to the club until 2017.
But Lennon scotched rumours that the timing of the announcement on Monday was to ward off any interest from the Premier League, who might have been alerted to his talents after his FA Cup performance.
“The contract was in the pipeline and I don’t think there was ever any worry that he wasn’t going to sign,” he said.
“It probably coincided with the fact he’d made his debut but maybe the club wanted to make it a little bit quicker after Saturday, to protect their asset.
“I’m delighted he signed it, and I think Zach is as well.
“We’ll look after him as he goes forward but we know he’s got a talent and that manifested itself on Saturday against Wigan.”
Despite watching Clough make one of the most impressive debuts in recent memory, Lennon is mindful of heaping too much pressure on the Denton-born youngster to fill the gap vacated by Chung-Yong Lee.
Eidur Gudjohnsen could come back into the starting line-up against Leeds tomorrow, while the finishing touches are also being put on a couple of loan deals which will give the Whites boss a few more attacking options.
Lennon has also asked fans to be patient with Clough as he finds his feet as a senior professional.
“There’s always that scenario where a kid comes in and he’s full of adrenaline, then he experiences a bit of a dip,” he said.
“We have to be mindful if there is a dip that we manage it as we go along.”
When Wanderers last came up against Leeds in August, Neil Redfearn’s stock was sky-high as he sent Dougie Freedman’s side packing from Elland Road with a slender 1-0 defeat.
That result prompted Leeds owner Massimo Cellini to install the former Burnden Park trainee as permanent manager – but a recent slide down the table has sparked suggestion he is already under pressure after just 10 official games in charge.
Lennon has urged Cellini to think twice before making any decision on Redfearn’s future, insisting his opposite number has “earned the right” to manage the club.
“In my opinion Neil deserves to be given some time to get things right,” he said. “They have got a manager who knows the club inside out, and that’s important for Leeds in the situation they find themselves in.
“We have to be very wary of them. We have two big games before we play Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday, and we have to remember that we are only six points off the bottom three ourselves.
“That is the situation we’re in, regardless of how well it has gone recently, so we have to be fully focussed on the next two league games.”
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Last weekend’s FA Cup hero won’t get the special treatment despite his goal-den debut against Wigan Athletic – in fact he is not even guaranteed a starting place against Leeds United tomorrow.
But Lennon believes his 19-year-old prodigy is cut from the right kind of cloth to ensure all the media attention that followed his stunning winner against the Latics will not go to his head.
“He’s had a hectic week – he’s had a lot of plaudits and attention that he’s probably not had before,” Lennon told The Bolton News.
“But he’s such a level-headed boy, you don’t know whether he’s happy or not, he just gets on with training.
“He doesn’t wear the yellow boots, the orange boots, he’s got a pair of black and white boots and I like that, he’s kind of old school but he can play football.
“We have got to look to protect him a little bit. I might not even play him against Leeds. That decision will be down to me and the backroom staff.
“We’ll have to wait and see how he reacts – but I’ve said before he reminds me a bit of James Forrest, who I had at Celtic. He might just be one of those kids who just says ‘hey, let’s get on with it’ and carries on about his business.”
Clough celebrated his debut with a new contract which ties him to the club until 2017.
But Lennon scotched rumours that the timing of the announcement on Monday was to ward off any interest from the Premier League, who might have been alerted to his talents after his FA Cup performance.
“The contract was in the pipeline and I don’t think there was ever any worry that he wasn’t going to sign,” he said.
“It probably coincided with the fact he’d made his debut but maybe the club wanted to make it a little bit quicker after Saturday, to protect their asset.
“I’m delighted he signed it, and I think Zach is as well.
“We’ll look after him as he goes forward but we know he’s got a talent and that manifested itself on Saturday against Wigan.”
Despite watching Clough make one of the most impressive debuts in recent memory, Lennon is mindful of heaping too much pressure on the Denton-born youngster to fill the gap vacated by Chung-Yong Lee.
Eidur Gudjohnsen could come back into the starting line-up against Leeds tomorrow, while the finishing touches are also being put on a couple of loan deals which will give the Whites boss a few more attacking options.
Lennon has also asked fans to be patient with Clough as he finds his feet as a senior professional.
“There’s always that scenario where a kid comes in and he’s full of adrenaline, then he experiences a bit of a dip,” he said.
“We have to be mindful if there is a dip that we manage it as we go along.”
When Wanderers last came up against Leeds in August, Neil Redfearn’s stock was sky-high as he sent Dougie Freedman’s side packing from Elland Road with a slender 1-0 defeat.
That result prompted Leeds owner Massimo Cellini to install the former Burnden Park trainee as permanent manager – but a recent slide down the table has sparked suggestion he is already under pressure after just 10 official games in charge.
Lennon has urged Cellini to think twice before making any decision on Redfearn’s future, insisting his opposite number has “earned the right” to manage the club.
“In my opinion Neil deserves to be given some time to get things right,” he said. “They have got a manager who knows the club inside out, and that’s important for Leeds in the situation they find themselves in.
“We have to be very wary of them. We have two big games before we play Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday, and we have to remember that we are only six points off the bottom three ourselves.
“That is the situation we’re in, regardless of how well it has gone recently, so we have to be fully focussed on the next two league games.”
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