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A month after inheriting the Championship’s most impossible job, it hasn’t got any easier for Jimmy Phillips.
A point against the leaders Middlesbrough was wrenched away at the last possible moment by Jordan Rhodes on Saturday in what was the latest in a succession of low blows felt at Wanderers this season.
Phillips has only been in the post for 34 days but already he feels sympathy for his predecessor Neil Lennon, who had suffered several such heartaches in the course of this most wretched campaign.
“In the two home games we’ve had I looked up at the clock and it read 89 minutes 46 seconds against Reading and a goal went in,” he said after the 2-1 defeat. “Now, against Middlesbrough, it’s 91 minutes. So yes, I do have some sympathy.
“Two draws wouldn’t have helped our league position but it would have given the players a bit of confidence.”
Belief seemed to grow as the first half went on against Boro, blossoming after the break when Josh Vela gave Wanderers the lead.
The fans began to respond in kind. But thanks to old foe Rhodes – who now has six goals in nine games against Bolton – they filed back out of the Macron in a well-worn path of frustration.
“The supporters have been through a lot this season and we wanted to make sure we kept ourselves in the game,” Phillips explained of their early efforts. “After that we wanted to play more open football, get Zach Clough and Mark Davies into it as much as we could.
“I think we managed that but once big Emile Heskey had to come off, as he had given us all he had, things changed. Middlesbrough had game changers to bring on and it became a lot more difficult for us.”
Like Lennon, Phillips has found his tactical options compromised through a lack of options in certain positions. Some are long-standing problems the previous manager did not address, yet others were of Lennon’s own making.
“When I got all the players on the board in midweek and put them into the positions, we had five centre-halves, three right-backs, one left-back, six midfielders, two shadow strikers, no right-sided midfielders, two left-sided midfielders, one who is injured, and there was a real big imbalance in the squad,” Phillips explained.
Phillips feels he is doing what he can to help prepare for next season, continuing to give first-team exposure to those under contract.
“Out of an 18-man squad today we have 14 who are signed on for next season,” he said. “That will be up to other people to sort out whether they stay or go. And up to the individual players.
“Whichever players are here they need to have that fighting spirit they showed right there. But there is more quality on the ball in that dressing room and we are trying to get it out of them between now and the end of the season.”
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A point against the leaders Middlesbrough was wrenched away at the last possible moment by Jordan Rhodes on Saturday in what was the latest in a succession of low blows felt at Wanderers this season.
Phillips has only been in the post for 34 days but already he feels sympathy for his predecessor Neil Lennon, who had suffered several such heartaches in the course of this most wretched campaign.
“In the two home games we’ve had I looked up at the clock and it read 89 minutes 46 seconds against Reading and a goal went in,” he said after the 2-1 defeat. “Now, against Middlesbrough, it’s 91 minutes. So yes, I do have some sympathy.
“Two draws wouldn’t have helped our league position but it would have given the players a bit of confidence.”
Belief seemed to grow as the first half went on against Boro, blossoming after the break when Josh Vela gave Wanderers the lead.
The fans began to respond in kind. But thanks to old foe Rhodes – who now has six goals in nine games against Bolton – they filed back out of the Macron in a well-worn path of frustration.
“The supporters have been through a lot this season and we wanted to make sure we kept ourselves in the game,” Phillips explained of their early efforts. “After that we wanted to play more open football, get Zach Clough and Mark Davies into it as much as we could.
“I think we managed that but once big Emile Heskey had to come off, as he had given us all he had, things changed. Middlesbrough had game changers to bring on and it became a lot more difficult for us.”
Like Lennon, Phillips has found his tactical options compromised through a lack of options in certain positions. Some are long-standing problems the previous manager did not address, yet others were of Lennon’s own making.
“When I got all the players on the board in midweek and put them into the positions, we had five centre-halves, three right-backs, one left-back, six midfielders, two shadow strikers, no right-sided midfielders, two left-sided midfielders, one who is injured, and there was a real big imbalance in the squad,” Phillips explained.
Phillips feels he is doing what he can to help prepare for next season, continuing to give first-team exposure to those under contract.
“Out of an 18-man squad today we have 14 who are signed on for next season,” he said. “That will be up to other people to sort out whether they stay or go. And up to the individual players.
“Whichever players are here they need to have that fighting spirit they showed right there. But there is more quality on the ball in that dressing room and we are trying to get it out of them between now and the end of the season.”
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