Home
Neil Lennon vows he won’t quit as manager of Bolton Wanderers Football Club.
The Whites boss stood defiant tonight after a 2-0 defeat at Ipswich Town left his side four points adrift of safety in the Championship, with one win from 15 games.
Lennon is facing mounting pressure from supporters after goals from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Bret Pittman condemned Wanderers to yet another away defeat, ending a slump of seven games without a win for Mick McCarthy’s side.
Asked whether he has considered walking away from the Macron Stadium, Lennon insists he will not walk away from the job he took on a little over 12 months ago.
“I will never quit,” he said. “People say about manager’s losing the dressing room but they have got to worry about them losing me because I am here to fight it out.
“If the people at the club or the fans want to make a change, that’s something I can’t control so we will have to wait and see.
“I don’t feel under any pressure but with performances like that, people are going to look at you and say, are you doing well enough That’s the question I ask myself after every game.”
Lennon lashed out at referee Darren Deadman for failing to send off Ipswich defender Jonas Knudsen in the first half, when he tripped Max Clayton on the edge of the penalty area.
“It’s a red card!” fumed the manager. “I spoke to David Allison yesterday about the one Max didn’t get on Saturday and he agreed with me that it was a clear red card. Now the referee is saying his touch took him away from goal but if he hadn’t had the contact, he’d have been in.
“Knudsen knew exactly what he was doing, he just took him out, there was no inclination to play the ball. And it’s another massive decision at an important stage of the game that hasn’t gone our way.
“I am bewildered by the decision, I may speak to David again but I’ll get the same answer: It’s not good enough.”
Lennon could not hide his disappointment at the second-half performance at Ipswich.
“We created good chances but if we are not going to score and we are not going to keep clean sheets, it’s going to be a tough season,” he said.
“Second half was totally unacceptable. We got out muscled and out thought by Ipswich who weren’t on the best of form themselves. And we let the game get away from us.
“We weren’t anywhere near competitive enough for my liking.
“How I get the players motivated-we will work on it but they have got to be better. They have got to show more mental strength. We had a big team out in terms of physicality and size.
“We started well and were in the game at half-time. But second half never had a go and that’s what I have said to them. It wasn’t good enough.”
Source
The Whites boss stood defiant tonight after a 2-0 defeat at Ipswich Town left his side four points adrift of safety in the Championship, with one win from 15 games.
Lennon is facing mounting pressure from supporters after goals from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Bret Pittman condemned Wanderers to yet another away defeat, ending a slump of seven games without a win for Mick McCarthy’s side.
Asked whether he has considered walking away from the Macron Stadium, Lennon insists he will not walk away from the job he took on a little over 12 months ago.
“I will never quit,” he said. “People say about manager’s losing the dressing room but they have got to worry about them losing me because I am here to fight it out.
“If the people at the club or the fans want to make a change, that’s something I can’t control so we will have to wait and see.
“I don’t feel under any pressure but with performances like that, people are going to look at you and say, are you doing well enough That’s the question I ask myself after every game.”
Lennon lashed out at referee Darren Deadman for failing to send off Ipswich defender Jonas Knudsen in the first half, when he tripped Max Clayton on the edge of the penalty area.
“It’s a red card!” fumed the manager. “I spoke to David Allison yesterday about the one Max didn’t get on Saturday and he agreed with me that it was a clear red card. Now the referee is saying his touch took him away from goal but if he hadn’t had the contact, he’d have been in.
“Knudsen knew exactly what he was doing, he just took him out, there was no inclination to play the ball. And it’s another massive decision at an important stage of the game that hasn’t gone our way.
“I am bewildered by the decision, I may speak to David again but I’ll get the same answer: It’s not good enough.”
Lennon could not hide his disappointment at the second-half performance at Ipswich.
“We created good chances but if we are not going to score and we are not going to keep clean sheets, it’s going to be a tough season,” he said.
“Second half was totally unacceptable. We got out muscled and out thought by Ipswich who weren’t on the best of form themselves. And we let the game get away from us.
“We weren’t anywhere near competitive enough for my liking.
“How I get the players motivated-we will work on it but they have got to be better. They have got to show more mental strength. We had a big team out in terms of physicality and size.
“We started well and were in the game at half-time. But second half never had a go and that’s what I have said to them. It wasn’t good enough.”
Source