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The restructuring starts here for Neil Lennon, safe in the knowledge that Wanderers will be a Championship side next season.
It will be a busy summer of comings and goings at the Macron Stadium, but in order to turn the Whites into something other than mid-table fodder the Northern Irishman has issues to address on and off the pitch.
From financial matters and squad rebuilding to solving the crippling injury problems that have checked his team’s progress since the New Year, Lennon is planning a top to bottom review over the coming months.
Here we look at 10 issues he may look to tackle if Wanderers are to put themselves into promotion contention next term.
1. GET SOME GOALS
Craig Davies tops the club charts on seven this season, and goals have been shared out thinner than any other club in the Championship with 20 different scorers in league football alone.
There is nothing wrong with that – Cardiff City and Hull City have shown in recent years that you don’t always need a 20-goal-a-season man. But it is 14 years since Wanderers had such a prolific player... and that turned out to be Michael Ricketts.
2. THE LENNON WAY
When the Northern Irishman first came to the club last October he immediately adopted a more high-tempo attacking style. The midfield became less static and pedestrian, wide men more identifiable as wingers or wing-backs.
Lennon also likes to play three centre-halves, which enables him to use two strikers. Mounting injuries have left the manager with a lack of options in certain positions and meant his footballing philosophies have been more clouded in the last few months. It has been more a case of patch-up and make-do.
With a chance to bring in specialist players, you can be sure the Wanderers team stepping out next season will be more to his liking.
3. SQUAD IMBALANCE
Lennon took over a squad packed with central midfielders, albeit few capable of playing the football he wanted.
He despaired at the lack of options out wide but particularly at full-back, where Tim Ream and Josh Vela have been played out of position far too often.
The injury to Kevin McNaughton, just as he returned to full fitness, was a big blow, as is the continued absence of Marc Tierney – a steely defender who you’d expect to do well under Lennon.
You can expect at least two full-backs to arrive in the summer as Wanderers look to solve a problem which has lingered since the end of the Premier League days.
4. JEEPERS KEEPERS
Lennon looks to have pinned his hopes on Adam Bogdan re-signing this summer, although much will depend on the purse strings being loosened a little to tempt the Hungary international into a new contract.
Ben Amos must be an option, having done so well during his loan spell from Manchester United, but he too would command a good wage.
Lennon wants a settled number one, something the club hasn’t had for a while. But who will it be?
5. KEEP ON TRIMMING
This is the last year Wanderers will have a parachute payment from the Premier League, so the need to further reduce costs will not come as a surprise to supporters.
Last year’s wage budget of around £28million was comparable to the one Lennon worked with at Celtic and with the option of shedding a few higher earners this summer, he could manufacture some room for signings.
The trade off between keeping the club in line with Financial Fair Play and improving the squad has been a tight one for the last couple of years – no more so this summer as Lennon desperately looks to put a stamp on things.
6. DON’T GO OUT A-LOAN
This season’s reliance on the loan market has become quite farcical, with up to nine players at any one time. It has been a necessity, given the crippling injury problems, but has given the whole squad a rather temporary and disposable feel.
The club’s tight financial situation means a certain number of loans are inevitable. Permanent contracts cost more.
But Lennon wants to lay down some firm foundations in the squad, so any loan arrivals should be here for the season – ideally with a view to a permanent move at the end of the deal.
7. CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Nothing has summed up Wanderers’ rather transitional feel this season than the fact the captain’s armband has been passed around with such regularity.
Matt Mills finishes the season in the role – and has led by example in a difficult time – but his contract situation means there are no guarantees next season.
There are few obvious candidates for the skipper’s role within the squad, at least of a demonstrative type, meaning Lennon could look to bring in his lieutenant from elsewhere.
8. AWAY DAZE
For all the improvement Wanderers have made under Lennon, their comparatively poor form away from the Macron Stadium remains a mystery. Monday’s win at Cardiff was only the fourth of the season and the team has picked up fewer points from a losing position on the road than anyone else in the Football League.
Two of those wins came with Emile Heskey partnering Craig Davies up front – and that more robust approach could provide a clue as to how Lennon plans to set-up in the future.
9. SILENT TREATMENT
Lennon wants a more durable side next season, a core of players capable of handling the rigours of the Championship.
The club has had some dreadful bad fortune with injuries this season, and there is little they can do about dislocated shoulders (Zach Clough), knee ligaments (Mark Davies, Max Clayton) or broken legs (Kevin McNaughton).
But Lennon has recently talked about making changes at the training ground which could help remedy some soft tissue injuries – with the likes of David Wheater, Craig Davies and Emile Heskey having struggled with hamstring problems over the last few months.
10. THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
Major questions were asked of the club’s category one academy during the Dougie Freedman era, but since Lennon’s arrival some definitive answers have been given too.
The emergence of Josh Vela, Tom Walker and Zach Clough has been the biggest positive to take from this season but Lennon needs to keep the flow of talent moving towards the first team.
Right-hand man Ian Brunskill will play an increasingly important role both in identifying young players from elsewhere and providing the bridge between David Lee’s promising Under-18s and the senior set up.
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It will be a busy summer of comings and goings at the Macron Stadium, but in order to turn the Whites into something other than mid-table fodder the Northern Irishman has issues to address on and off the pitch.
From financial matters and squad rebuilding to solving the crippling injury problems that have checked his team’s progress since the New Year, Lennon is planning a top to bottom review over the coming months.
Here we look at 10 issues he may look to tackle if Wanderers are to put themselves into promotion contention next term.
1. GET SOME GOALS
Craig Davies tops the club charts on seven this season, and goals have been shared out thinner than any other club in the Championship with 20 different scorers in league football alone.
There is nothing wrong with that – Cardiff City and Hull City have shown in recent years that you don’t always need a 20-goal-a-season man. But it is 14 years since Wanderers had such a prolific player... and that turned out to be Michael Ricketts.
2. THE LENNON WAY
When the Northern Irishman first came to the club last October he immediately adopted a more high-tempo attacking style. The midfield became less static and pedestrian, wide men more identifiable as wingers or wing-backs.
Lennon also likes to play three centre-halves, which enables him to use two strikers. Mounting injuries have left the manager with a lack of options in certain positions and meant his footballing philosophies have been more clouded in the last few months. It has been more a case of patch-up and make-do.
With a chance to bring in specialist players, you can be sure the Wanderers team stepping out next season will be more to his liking.
3. SQUAD IMBALANCE
Lennon took over a squad packed with central midfielders, albeit few capable of playing the football he wanted.
He despaired at the lack of options out wide but particularly at full-back, where Tim Ream and Josh Vela have been played out of position far too often.
The injury to Kevin McNaughton, just as he returned to full fitness, was a big blow, as is the continued absence of Marc Tierney – a steely defender who you’d expect to do well under Lennon.
You can expect at least two full-backs to arrive in the summer as Wanderers look to solve a problem which has lingered since the end of the Premier League days.
4. JEEPERS KEEPERS
Lennon looks to have pinned his hopes on Adam Bogdan re-signing this summer, although much will depend on the purse strings being loosened a little to tempt the Hungary international into a new contract.
Ben Amos must be an option, having done so well during his loan spell from Manchester United, but he too would command a good wage.
Lennon wants a settled number one, something the club hasn’t had for a while. But who will it be?
5. KEEP ON TRIMMING
This is the last year Wanderers will have a parachute payment from the Premier League, so the need to further reduce costs will not come as a surprise to supporters.
Last year’s wage budget of around £28million was comparable to the one Lennon worked with at Celtic and with the option of shedding a few higher earners this summer, he could manufacture some room for signings.
The trade off between keeping the club in line with Financial Fair Play and improving the squad has been a tight one for the last couple of years – no more so this summer as Lennon desperately looks to put a stamp on things.
6. DON’T GO OUT A-LOAN
This season’s reliance on the loan market has become quite farcical, with up to nine players at any one time. It has been a necessity, given the crippling injury problems, but has given the whole squad a rather temporary and disposable feel.
The club’s tight financial situation means a certain number of loans are inevitable. Permanent contracts cost more.
But Lennon wants to lay down some firm foundations in the squad, so any loan arrivals should be here for the season – ideally with a view to a permanent move at the end of the deal.
7. CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Nothing has summed up Wanderers’ rather transitional feel this season than the fact the captain’s armband has been passed around with such regularity.
Matt Mills finishes the season in the role – and has led by example in a difficult time – but his contract situation means there are no guarantees next season.
There are few obvious candidates for the skipper’s role within the squad, at least of a demonstrative type, meaning Lennon could look to bring in his lieutenant from elsewhere.
8. AWAY DAZE
For all the improvement Wanderers have made under Lennon, their comparatively poor form away from the Macron Stadium remains a mystery. Monday’s win at Cardiff was only the fourth of the season and the team has picked up fewer points from a losing position on the road than anyone else in the Football League.
Two of those wins came with Emile Heskey partnering Craig Davies up front – and that more robust approach could provide a clue as to how Lennon plans to set-up in the future.
9. SILENT TREATMENT
Lennon wants a more durable side next season, a core of players capable of handling the rigours of the Championship.
The club has had some dreadful bad fortune with injuries this season, and there is little they can do about dislocated shoulders (Zach Clough), knee ligaments (Mark Davies, Max Clayton) or broken legs (Kevin McNaughton).
But Lennon has recently talked about making changes at the training ground which could help remedy some soft tissue injuries – with the likes of David Wheater, Craig Davies and Emile Heskey having struggled with hamstring problems over the last few months.
10. THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
Major questions were asked of the club’s category one academy during the Dougie Freedman era, but since Lennon’s arrival some definitive answers have been given too.
The emergence of Josh Vela, Tom Walker and Zach Clough has been the biggest positive to take from this season but Lennon needs to keep the flow of talent moving towards the first team.
Right-hand man Ian Brunskill will play an increasingly important role both in identifying young players from elsewhere and providing the bridge between David Lee’s promising Under-18s and the senior set up.
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