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NEIL Lennon does not want to be left relying on the loan system to bail Wanderers out again next season.
Such were the injury problems at the Macron Stadium early in the year, the Whites had nine different loan players on the books, and were only able to select five in a single match-day squad.
Lennon does not regret the “quick fix option” and the arrival of players like Barry Bannan, Ben Amos and Giles Coke coincided with the club stabilising its form and avoiding a second brush with the relegation zone.
But nor does he advocate the loan option as a foolproof measure, and the Northern Irishman is hoping to ensure the vast majority of his summer signings are contracted to the club.
“Look, I recognise that it’s a quick fix,” he told The Bolton News. “Ideally I want players under contract here.
“Project is probably the wrong word but in terms of developing the football club you want to bring in players in their mid-twenties who are hungry, their wages won’t be astronomical but more importantly they want to improve.
“Some of the loan players we brought in did very well for us, made us better, but there is always a sense that this is not their club. Maybe they have an eye on what is going to happen in the future.”
Juggling nine different loan options, which also included Kevin McNaughton, Adam Le Fondre, Saidy Janko, Rochinha, Simeon Slavchev and Paddy McCarthy at one point, was also detrimental to the team’s form in the final few months of the campaign.
Nevertheless, Lennon feels the influx of loan players were a means to an end, which when coupled with the massive clear-out announced on Friday’s retained list give him a relatively blank canvas to start with next season.
“I look at it this way,” he said. “The loan market is there and we’ve had to use it because of the casualty list we’ve had.
“But I think we were justified in doing it because we stayed up.
“We’ve had a horrendous injury list and that hasn’t helped at all in terms of consistency of team selection. That has had an impact on performances.
“Ideally you don’t like chopping and changing your team but it’s been forced on us so many times this year.
“I don’t like using that as an excuse and some performances have been below what we expect but the injuries have damaged us.”
Lennon hopes to give Wanderers fans something to get excited about this summer despite the lack of funds currently at his disposal.
With the retained list now out of the way the Whites boss is hoping for a couple of busier weeks where he can secure some of the early signings he craves.
“I want the players to have a good summer. Some of them deserve it, some of them don’t,” he added. “But I want those who come back to be ready to go, focused on the job at hand, which is to really improve, and get people coming back to the ground.”
One task Lennon has already chalked off this summer is to sort an extended contract for Tom Walker, who forced his way into the first team in the last few months of the season.
The Academy graduate was proud to secure his first professional deal, alongside long-time team-mate Rob Holding last week.
“I’m really happy to finally get that first deal under my belt,” he said. “I’d like to thank Neil Lennon for giving me this opportunity – he’s put a lot of faith in me over the last couple of months and I hope that I can repay him out on the pitch.
“I’ve been here since I was nine and I’ve come up through the academy with Rob Holding who has also been given a contract, so that’s a great achievement for both of us and the club too.”
Walker followed the path already set by Josh Vela and Zach Clough, making 11 appearances and scoring his first senior goal against Wigan Athletic.
“Having seen that the manager was giving youth a chance earlier in the season, I was always hopeful that I’d get my opportunity,” he told the club.
“Watching players like Josh Vela and Zach Clough breaking into the side, I just wanted to be out there with them so I worked hard to get there.
“I just wanted to be in their shoes, so that pushed me on in the hope that I’d get my chance and luckily it happened for me.”
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Such were the injury problems at the Macron Stadium early in the year, the Whites had nine different loan players on the books, and were only able to select five in a single match-day squad.
Lennon does not regret the “quick fix option” and the arrival of players like Barry Bannan, Ben Amos and Giles Coke coincided with the club stabilising its form and avoiding a second brush with the relegation zone.
But nor does he advocate the loan option as a foolproof measure, and the Northern Irishman is hoping to ensure the vast majority of his summer signings are contracted to the club.
“Look, I recognise that it’s a quick fix,” he told The Bolton News. “Ideally I want players under contract here.
“Project is probably the wrong word but in terms of developing the football club you want to bring in players in their mid-twenties who are hungry, their wages won’t be astronomical but more importantly they want to improve.
“Some of the loan players we brought in did very well for us, made us better, but there is always a sense that this is not their club. Maybe they have an eye on what is going to happen in the future.”
Juggling nine different loan options, which also included Kevin McNaughton, Adam Le Fondre, Saidy Janko, Rochinha, Simeon Slavchev and Paddy McCarthy at one point, was also detrimental to the team’s form in the final few months of the campaign.
Nevertheless, Lennon feels the influx of loan players were a means to an end, which when coupled with the massive clear-out announced on Friday’s retained list give him a relatively blank canvas to start with next season.
“I look at it this way,” he said. “The loan market is there and we’ve had to use it because of the casualty list we’ve had.
“But I think we were justified in doing it because we stayed up.
“We’ve had a horrendous injury list and that hasn’t helped at all in terms of consistency of team selection. That has had an impact on performances.
“Ideally you don’t like chopping and changing your team but it’s been forced on us so many times this year.
“I don’t like using that as an excuse and some performances have been below what we expect but the injuries have damaged us.”
Lennon hopes to give Wanderers fans something to get excited about this summer despite the lack of funds currently at his disposal.
With the retained list now out of the way the Whites boss is hoping for a couple of busier weeks where he can secure some of the early signings he craves.
“I want the players to have a good summer. Some of them deserve it, some of them don’t,” he added. “But I want those who come back to be ready to go, focused on the job at hand, which is to really improve, and get people coming back to the ground.”
One task Lennon has already chalked off this summer is to sort an extended contract for Tom Walker, who forced his way into the first team in the last few months of the season.
The Academy graduate was proud to secure his first professional deal, alongside long-time team-mate Rob Holding last week.
“I’m really happy to finally get that first deal under my belt,” he said. “I’d like to thank Neil Lennon for giving me this opportunity – he’s put a lot of faith in me over the last couple of months and I hope that I can repay him out on the pitch.
“I’ve been here since I was nine and I’ve come up through the academy with Rob Holding who has also been given a contract, so that’s a great achievement for both of us and the club too.”
Walker followed the path already set by Josh Vela and Zach Clough, making 11 appearances and scoring his first senior goal against Wigan Athletic.
“Having seen that the manager was giving youth a chance earlier in the season, I was always hopeful that I’d get my opportunity,” he told the club.
“Watching players like Josh Vela and Zach Clough breaking into the side, I just wanted to be out there with them so I worked hard to get there.
“I just wanted to be in their shoes, so that pushed me on in the hope that I’d get my chance and luckily it happened for me.”
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