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Transfer deadline passed by without incident for Wanderers yesterday but Neil Lennon admits his work in the last window is yet to pay off.
While the Whites boss knew he would be unable to add to his squad for the whole of January, the players he brought to the Macron on free transfers last summer have been far from convincing.
Ben Amos, Wellington Silva and Gary Madine have commanded a regular start – but the likes of Prince-Desire Gouano, Derik Osede, Francesco Pisano, Jose Manuel Casado, Lawrie Wilson and Stephen Dobbie have been conspicuous by their absence in recent weeks.
Prince has now completed a move to Turkish club Gaziantepspor, Casado has had his contract cancelled, Pisano went back to Italy with Serie B Avelino while Wilson had been loaned out to Peterborough United.
Others will be kicking their heels on the bench at Wolves tonight or, worse still, sat in the stands.
Lennon was getting a clearer picture of the financial situation at Bolton when he bolstered his squad at the start of the season but admits many of the new signings have not made the impact he would have liked.
“It hasn’t been easy for them to settle because of what has been going on at the club,” he said, explaining half a dozen transfer deals secured over the summer. “And a lot of it was last-minute stuff.
“I was trying to get some deals done before the window shut.
“They haven’t really settled. Madine has done okay, Amos has done okay, but we needed some who were going to be squad fillers as well for the money we were paying. You hoped one or two would blossom – and Prince was half and half for a while.
“I think Derik will have a better second half of the season now that he’s settled in. But I am disappointed with the return some of them have given us, yes.
“It’s not an exact science. We looked at a lot of players and the money just wasn’t available.”
Lennon is unlikely to make big changes for tonight’s game at Molineux despite his unhappiness with the performance against Leeds United in the FA Cup.
His fringe players will stay just that until he feels they warrant a place in the team.
“They have got to show more if they want to play,” he said. “It isn’t easy and it’s a demanding environment the Championship but some of them have been here for a few months now and we haven’t seen enough improvement in them and that’s been disappointing.
“It’s difficult to ask the players to keep going and going.
“We have to create some type of siege mentality because that side of things is a worry for me.
“Looking at the first half on Saturday there wasn’t a particularly strong mentality about us after the first goal.
“The opportunity was there to prevail in the cup, move on and keep going. We rallied a bit in the second half and created a couple of opportunities but overall it was very disappointing.
“And on the back of the performance against MK Dons it was all the harder to fathom.
“Talking is one thing, stepping across the white line and doing it is another.
“They have only shown in fits and starts. They need to do it more often.
“They had a good week, training went well and they were well prepared but too many of them let the game get away from them.”
One man who escaped Lennon’s criticism over the weekend is captain Darren Pratley.
The midfielder continues to divide opinion on the terraces but his manager is delighted with his recent form.
“Pratley has given me everything and scored four in the last six games but we need more like that to help us get out of this,” he said.
“He might not be the easiest on the eye at times but he’s effective, he’s getting goals and he’s driving the team. If we had more of his urgency and desire then we wouldn’t be in the position we find ourselves in.”
Lennon has serious concerns over the mentality of his side after going a goal down.
“I don’t think the reaction is good enough,” he added.
“We’ll concede goals whether it be a deflection, a set-piece, a wonder-goal, it’s life. You have to keep believing in yourselves and keep going. You have to try and stay in the game for the next 10-15 minutes and steady yourselves.
“Heads seem to drop easily and we just don’t seem to manage the game well enough.”
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While the Whites boss knew he would be unable to add to his squad for the whole of January, the players he brought to the Macron on free transfers last summer have been far from convincing.
Ben Amos, Wellington Silva and Gary Madine have commanded a regular start – but the likes of Prince-Desire Gouano, Derik Osede, Francesco Pisano, Jose Manuel Casado, Lawrie Wilson and Stephen Dobbie have been conspicuous by their absence in recent weeks.
Prince has now completed a move to Turkish club Gaziantepspor, Casado has had his contract cancelled, Pisano went back to Italy with Serie B Avelino while Wilson had been loaned out to Peterborough United.
Others will be kicking their heels on the bench at Wolves tonight or, worse still, sat in the stands.
Lennon was getting a clearer picture of the financial situation at Bolton when he bolstered his squad at the start of the season but admits many of the new signings have not made the impact he would have liked.
“It hasn’t been easy for them to settle because of what has been going on at the club,” he said, explaining half a dozen transfer deals secured over the summer. “And a lot of it was last-minute stuff.
“I was trying to get some deals done before the window shut.
“They haven’t really settled. Madine has done okay, Amos has done okay, but we needed some who were going to be squad fillers as well for the money we were paying. You hoped one or two would blossom – and Prince was half and half for a while.
“I think Derik will have a better second half of the season now that he’s settled in. But I am disappointed with the return some of them have given us, yes.
“It’s not an exact science. We looked at a lot of players and the money just wasn’t available.”
Lennon is unlikely to make big changes for tonight’s game at Molineux despite his unhappiness with the performance against Leeds United in the FA Cup.
His fringe players will stay just that until he feels they warrant a place in the team.
“They have got to show more if they want to play,” he said. “It isn’t easy and it’s a demanding environment the Championship but some of them have been here for a few months now and we haven’t seen enough improvement in them and that’s been disappointing.
“It’s difficult to ask the players to keep going and going.
“We have to create some type of siege mentality because that side of things is a worry for me.
“Looking at the first half on Saturday there wasn’t a particularly strong mentality about us after the first goal.
“The opportunity was there to prevail in the cup, move on and keep going. We rallied a bit in the second half and created a couple of opportunities but overall it was very disappointing.
“And on the back of the performance against MK Dons it was all the harder to fathom.
“Talking is one thing, stepping across the white line and doing it is another.
“They have only shown in fits and starts. They need to do it more often.
“They had a good week, training went well and they were well prepared but too many of them let the game get away from them.”
One man who escaped Lennon’s criticism over the weekend is captain Darren Pratley.
The midfielder continues to divide opinion on the terraces but his manager is delighted with his recent form.
“Pratley has given me everything and scored four in the last six games but we need more like that to help us get out of this,” he said.
“He might not be the easiest on the eye at times but he’s effective, he’s getting goals and he’s driving the team. If we had more of his urgency and desire then we wouldn’t be in the position we find ourselves in.”
Lennon has serious concerns over the mentality of his side after going a goal down.
“I don’t think the reaction is good enough,” he added.
“We’ll concede goals whether it be a deflection, a set-piece, a wonder-goal, it’s life. You have to keep believing in yourselves and keep going. You have to try and stay in the game for the next 10-15 minutes and steady yourselves.
“Heads seem to drop easily and we just don’t seem to manage the game well enough.”
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