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An urgent situation in the Championship comes back into focus this weekend at Reading, with Neil Lennon admitting “stability” is the short-term aim.
Amidst all the talk of takeovers, mounting debts and financial advisors, the fact three points are at stake at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday has been rather overlooked, at least outside the confines of Euxton.
Wanderers pick up where they left off after the goalless draw with Bristol City, three points adrift of safety with one win from 16 games.
That statistic alone must feel like a millstone around the manager’s neck. But after a break to clear the mind, it has been Lennon’s task over the last few days to get his players re-focused and re-energised after they had shown signs of flagging before the international interruptions.
Ever since walking through the doors a little over a year ago Lennon has resisted the temptation to look too far ahead. And that is certainly the case at present with so much potential for change in the months ahead.
The manager has been told in no uncertain terms there is no money available for transfers and with insolvency specialist Trevor Birch on board to make some sense out of the club’s complex financial problems, it may yet get worse before it gets better.
Lennon’s plan is to keep things simple. He remains confident he is the man for the job and can achieve what is being asked of him.
“What we have to do is close the gap between third bottom and fourth bottom and then work our way from there,” he told The Bolton News.
“Psychologically you get that first win or second win and it can take you a lot of places. The remit is the same – there’s a long way to go and a lot of football to be played.
“Stability in the Championship is now our main priority at this time. That could change over the course of five or 10 games.
“So what we are trying to do is get ourselves out of the bottom three and then work our way up the table.
“I have every confidence in the players that we’ll do that.”
Wanderers come up against a Reading side that has not won in five games, taking the shine off what had been a very encouraging start to the campaign.
Manager Steve Clarke has also been strongly linked with a switch to Fulham, which could make this a good time to venture back to a ground that holds few good memories for the Whites in recent seasons.
Nevertheless left-back Andrew Taylor, on loan from Wigan Athletic, believes Clarke’s side are starting to look like promotion candidates.
“You’ve got to have team spirit, togetherness, character and I think we’re starting to build that,” he said.
“It is tough when you’ve got so many new players coming into a squad. At Cardiff the year we won the league we had the previous year with everyone building that camaraderie together.
“But it’s starting to come together here and hopefully over the next few months we can kick on.”
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Amidst all the talk of takeovers, mounting debts and financial advisors, the fact three points are at stake at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday has been rather overlooked, at least outside the confines of Euxton.
Wanderers pick up where they left off after the goalless draw with Bristol City, three points adrift of safety with one win from 16 games.
That statistic alone must feel like a millstone around the manager’s neck. But after a break to clear the mind, it has been Lennon’s task over the last few days to get his players re-focused and re-energised after they had shown signs of flagging before the international interruptions.
Ever since walking through the doors a little over a year ago Lennon has resisted the temptation to look too far ahead. And that is certainly the case at present with so much potential for change in the months ahead.
The manager has been told in no uncertain terms there is no money available for transfers and with insolvency specialist Trevor Birch on board to make some sense out of the club’s complex financial problems, it may yet get worse before it gets better.
Lennon’s plan is to keep things simple. He remains confident he is the man for the job and can achieve what is being asked of him.
“What we have to do is close the gap between third bottom and fourth bottom and then work our way from there,” he told The Bolton News.
“Psychologically you get that first win or second win and it can take you a lot of places. The remit is the same – there’s a long way to go and a lot of football to be played.
“Stability in the Championship is now our main priority at this time. That could change over the course of five or 10 games.
“So what we are trying to do is get ourselves out of the bottom three and then work our way up the table.
“I have every confidence in the players that we’ll do that.”
Wanderers come up against a Reading side that has not won in five games, taking the shine off what had been a very encouraging start to the campaign.
Manager Steve Clarke has also been strongly linked with a switch to Fulham, which could make this a good time to venture back to a ground that holds few good memories for the Whites in recent seasons.
Nevertheless left-back Andrew Taylor, on loan from Wigan Athletic, believes Clarke’s side are starting to look like promotion candidates.
“You’ve got to have team spirit, togetherness, character and I think we’re starting to build that,” he said.
“It is tough when you’ve got so many new players coming into a squad. At Cardiff the year we won the league we had the previous year with everyone building that camaraderie together.
“But it’s starting to come together here and hopefully over the next few months we can kick on.”
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