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Neil Lennon believes proof of Wanderers’ improvement in recent weeks lies in the number of chances they are creating.
Even though his side sit rock bottom of the Championship and 10 points from safety, the Whites boss insists he is picking the right team.
Lennon has come in for some stick from Macron regulars for excluding players like Wellington Silva, Kaiyne Woolery and most recently, Josh Vela, while sticking with players who have drifted out of form.
But after a 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town in which his side registered 23 shots at goal – only eight on target – the manager launched a staunch defence of his tactics and selection policy.
“You can analyse it until the cows come home – the way the team was set up we should have been three or four up,” he told The Bolton News.
“We missed simple chances. We played really good football and had 15 attempts in the first half and two of them were right in front of goal.
“When your team is playing well you must be doing something right. I have to look at things in the cold light of day and without being overly emotional.”
Many feel Wanderers have lacked an out-and-out goalscorer since they lost out to Wolves in re-signing Adam Le Fondre from Cardiff City in the summer.
Gary Hooper was another player who had been heavily linked in Lennon’s early tenure at the Macron, when supporters bought more readily into his ethos.
“People kept telling me before I came to Bolton that it was stale and hard to watch and that the team wasn’t making chances,” he protested.
“Now we’ve got plenty of attempts on goal in every game we play and that’s what I judge as a decent performance. Most of the time, and particularly at home, we create more chances than the opposition it’s just that we have lacked that killer instinct.
“People know my views about trying to get a goalscorer in over the summer. That didn’t happen.
“We have lost games and drawn games because we didn’t have that kind of player.”
Statistics supplied by website Squawka do back-up Lennon’s argument.
This season Wanderers have registered 443 shots on goal, with 39 per cent of them on target. Only Leeds United (38 per cent) have been less efficient.
Le Fondre’s impact is perhaps highlighted in that the Whites got 44 per cent of their 572 shots last season on target, putting them safely in mid-table in that particular category.
Gary Madine has had more shots than anyone else in a Wanderers shirt, hitting the target with 35 per cent of his 62 shots.
Of all the players to have made 10 appearances or more, only two have managed more than half of their shots on target.
David Wheater (60 per cent) and Mark Davies (50 per cent) are the most accurate, although it is also worth noting that Kaiyne Woolery has hit the target and scored with both of his shots in a Bolton shirt so far.
Another individual statistic that makes interesting reading is the difference between Wellington Silva’s effectiveness at home, compared to away.
The winger has achieved an 80 per cent accuracy at the Macron Stadium but that drops to just 29 per cent on the road.
Looking at Wanderers’ goal attempts even more closely, we find Lennon’s side have taken more shots from inside the penalty area (288) than any other side else in the Championship.
Only Blackburn Rovers (264) have taken fewer shots from outside the area than Wanderers (288). They were bottom of the pile last season too, registering only 208 efforts in 46 games.
The season before that Wanderers were 10th with 291 attempts.
That is more likely an indication of the style of football operated by Lennon as opposed to his predecessor Dougie Freedman, and the more frequent use of wide players to get the ball into the penalty box faster.
Set pieces have also been a mixed bag for Wanderers this season with just two goals coming from corners – the second-lowest total in the division behind Reading. Free kicks have been slightly more productive, however, with three goals coming from them.
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Even though his side sit rock bottom of the Championship and 10 points from safety, the Whites boss insists he is picking the right team.
Lennon has come in for some stick from Macron regulars for excluding players like Wellington Silva, Kaiyne Woolery and most recently, Josh Vela, while sticking with players who have drifted out of form.
But after a 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town in which his side registered 23 shots at goal – only eight on target – the manager launched a staunch defence of his tactics and selection policy.
“You can analyse it until the cows come home – the way the team was set up we should have been three or four up,” he told The Bolton News.
“We missed simple chances. We played really good football and had 15 attempts in the first half and two of them were right in front of goal.
“When your team is playing well you must be doing something right. I have to look at things in the cold light of day and without being overly emotional.”
Many feel Wanderers have lacked an out-and-out goalscorer since they lost out to Wolves in re-signing Adam Le Fondre from Cardiff City in the summer.
Gary Hooper was another player who had been heavily linked in Lennon’s early tenure at the Macron, when supporters bought more readily into his ethos.
“People kept telling me before I came to Bolton that it was stale and hard to watch and that the team wasn’t making chances,” he protested.
“Now we’ve got plenty of attempts on goal in every game we play and that’s what I judge as a decent performance. Most of the time, and particularly at home, we create more chances than the opposition it’s just that we have lacked that killer instinct.
“People know my views about trying to get a goalscorer in over the summer. That didn’t happen.
“We have lost games and drawn games because we didn’t have that kind of player.”
Statistics supplied by website Squawka do back-up Lennon’s argument.
This season Wanderers have registered 443 shots on goal, with 39 per cent of them on target. Only Leeds United (38 per cent) have been less efficient.
Le Fondre’s impact is perhaps highlighted in that the Whites got 44 per cent of their 572 shots last season on target, putting them safely in mid-table in that particular category.
Gary Madine has had more shots than anyone else in a Wanderers shirt, hitting the target with 35 per cent of his 62 shots.
Of all the players to have made 10 appearances or more, only two have managed more than half of their shots on target.
David Wheater (60 per cent) and Mark Davies (50 per cent) are the most accurate, although it is also worth noting that Kaiyne Woolery has hit the target and scored with both of his shots in a Bolton shirt so far.
Another individual statistic that makes interesting reading is the difference between Wellington Silva’s effectiveness at home, compared to away.
The winger has achieved an 80 per cent accuracy at the Macron Stadium but that drops to just 29 per cent on the road.
Looking at Wanderers’ goal attempts even more closely, we find Lennon’s side have taken more shots from inside the penalty area (288) than any other side else in the Championship.
Only Blackburn Rovers (264) have taken fewer shots from outside the area than Wanderers (288). They were bottom of the pile last season too, registering only 208 efforts in 46 games.
The season before that Wanderers were 10th with 291 attempts.
That is more likely an indication of the style of football operated by Lennon as opposed to his predecessor Dougie Freedman, and the more frequent use of wide players to get the ball into the penalty box faster.
Set pieces have also been a mixed bag for Wanderers this season with just two goals coming from corners – the second-lowest total in the division behind Reading. Free kicks have been slightly more productive, however, with three goals coming from them.
Source
