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Powerless at the centre of a financial storm, Neil Lennon is looking for his players to provide something to distract people from the dark clouds congregating at Wanderers.
After Monday’s bombshell that the players’ November pay had been delayed, Lennon has again found himself fending questions more suited to a chief executive than a football manager.
Unable to say with any certainty when a takeover could be completed, or whether administration could be contemplated there was a subtle change in his vocabulary, where the word “hope” replaced anything more definitive when he spoke to The Bolton News on Monday night.
Lennon met with his players, financial advisor Trevor Birch and representatives from the PFA yesterday morning to discuss the latest crisis before turning his attention towards this weekend’s game against Cardiff City, vital on paper to the team’s survival in the Championship, but less so in the wider scheme.
“I’ve said time and time again that all these things are out of my control,” he said of the financial issues that continue to distract from a relegation scrap. “I can only try to keep the players hungry and challenging them all the time to try and improve the position they are in.
“That’s all I can do.”
Monday’s revelation proved a disruption to the home game against Brentford but not an insurmountable one, as Lennon’s side fought back from going a goal down early on to claim a point thanks to Neil Danns’ 65th-minute strike.
Questions about the game itself were thin on the ground post-match – with even an unsavoury reaction towards the manager from striker Gary Madine, picked up by the Sky Sports cameras, taking precedent.
But Lennon is keen to give himself and the whole club some temporary respite from the ongoing takeover talk by doubling the club’s win count in the Championship this Saturday.
“This isn’t ideal for me, or the players either but it’s the reality,” he said, “it’s part of the whole process.
“This is an adverse time for the club but the players and the supporters are the strength of this club and they have got to show it. We win a couple of games and the whole psychology changes.
“If you’re asking when things will happen you’re asking the wrong man. I hear that there have been investors for some time now but at the minute they are not forthcoming with the money.”
Administration, a scenario brought back to the table by the “short-term funding issues” detailed by Birch on Monday, is something that does give Lennon some concern.
“I hope not – that’s the one thing we have to avoid, obviously,” he added.
Source
After Monday’s bombshell that the players’ November pay had been delayed, Lennon has again found himself fending questions more suited to a chief executive than a football manager.
Unable to say with any certainty when a takeover could be completed, or whether administration could be contemplated there was a subtle change in his vocabulary, where the word “hope” replaced anything more definitive when he spoke to The Bolton News on Monday night.
Lennon met with his players, financial advisor Trevor Birch and representatives from the PFA yesterday morning to discuss the latest crisis before turning his attention towards this weekend’s game against Cardiff City, vital on paper to the team’s survival in the Championship, but less so in the wider scheme.
“I’ve said time and time again that all these things are out of my control,” he said of the financial issues that continue to distract from a relegation scrap. “I can only try to keep the players hungry and challenging them all the time to try and improve the position they are in.
“That’s all I can do.”
Monday’s revelation proved a disruption to the home game against Brentford but not an insurmountable one, as Lennon’s side fought back from going a goal down early on to claim a point thanks to Neil Danns’ 65th-minute strike.
Questions about the game itself were thin on the ground post-match – with even an unsavoury reaction towards the manager from striker Gary Madine, picked up by the Sky Sports cameras, taking precedent.
But Lennon is keen to give himself and the whole club some temporary respite from the ongoing takeover talk by doubling the club’s win count in the Championship this Saturday.
“This isn’t ideal for me, or the players either but it’s the reality,” he said, “it’s part of the whole process.
“This is an adverse time for the club but the players and the supporters are the strength of this club and they have got to show it. We win a couple of games and the whole psychology changes.
“If you’re asking when things will happen you’re asking the wrong man. I hear that there have been investors for some time now but at the minute they are not forthcoming with the money.”
Administration, a scenario brought back to the table by the “short-term funding issues” detailed by Birch on Monday, is something that does give Lennon some concern.
“I hope not – that’s the one thing we have to avoid, obviously,” he added.
Source