Four in the frame for Wanderers manager's job

WANDERERS will narrow down their options next week as both of the club’s co-owners interview leading candidates for the manager’s job.

The Bolton News understands Dean Holdsworth and Ken Anderson will speak to four men about stepping into the role and end a drawn-out search for the next Whites boss.

Peter Reid will be one of the men considered, having worked with the players for the last few months alongside Jimmy Phillips.

And there is a strong suggestion Nigel Adkins, who was sacked by Sheffield United just a week ago, is another man interesting the Whites’ ownership.

Ex-Wanderers Neil Redfearn and Steve Thompson have also been considered, although it is not known whether they have made the interview shortlist.

It has been a long 10-week wait for frustrated Whites fans, who are anxious to see the rebuilding work begin for next season in League One.

Holdsworth has undertaken an extensive review of the football department and plans have been put in place for a pre-season schedule, including a training base abroad. The chief executive officer has also drawn up a remit for the new manager, which will provide the basis of the final interviews.

Reid has been one of the few managers to poke his head above the parapet and express his interest in the job, and his knowledge of the players he will inherit is bound to work in his favour.

The former Sunderland and Manchester City boss has also worked at League One level before with Plymouth Argyle.

Adkins, meanwhile, is well-known to Anderson having served as manager at Southampton and Reading during takeovers in which the Whites' chairman was involved.

He has an impressive CV of promotions from the third tier, twice leading Scunthorpe United into the Championship, after which he also guided the Saints to back-to-back promotions into the Premier League.

His fortunes since leaving St Mary’s have been mixed – relegation from the top flight with Reading was followed by a difficult spell in the Championship with the Royals.

Adkins then spent less than a year at Bramall Lane, with the Blades finishing in their worst league position in 33 years.

Both Redfearn and Thompson have strong Bolton links, having come through the youth system at the same time in the early eighties at Burnden Park.

Redfearn left his last job at Rotherham United in February, while Thompson has been assistant manager at Preston North End under Simon Grayson.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/14505932.Four_in_the_frame_for_Wanderers_manager__39_s_job/

My money is on Reid keeping the seat warm for Brown. A bad start for Southend and he will be on his way and available.

Keeping my fingers crossed for Adkins though. 3 promotions from League 1 is very impressive.

Agree about Adkins, he would be a great appointment.

not sure about Adkins to be honest, yes he's done well in the past but struggled with Sheffield Utd last season who must have one of the bigger budgets in league 1

Sometimes a manager and club just don't match or fit. Adkins has done far more positive things during his career, I'd definitely give him a chance

i agree Boggers, he does seem like the better option of the 4 mentioned but he wouldn't be my first choice under norrmal circumstances

Norpig wrote:not sure about Adkins to be honest, yes he's done well in the past but struggled with Sheffield Utd last season who must have one of the bigger budgets in league 1

I don't get it though, because you said you'd be over the moon with Warnock who's also struggled at various clubs.

Let's do an experiment.

Let's imagine for a minute that Adkins' CV is upside down. He fucked up at Sheff United, then he went to Reading where he also failed. Since then he has been to Southampton where he took them from League One to Premiership midtable in the space of three years. Most recently he has twice won promotion to the Championship with little old Scunthorpe.

How much more appealing has he become?

lets not Doffy 

The simple fact is anyone could be a success or failure. Pep Guardiola could come to Bolton and fuck it up, or Iain Dowie could get the Man Utd job and have them winning the Champions League inside 2 years.

The best any Chairman or board can do is match skills to the current situation. Right now we are in League 1 with no money, so the next manager has to have worked, and had at least minor success, in a similar role.

I'm guessing it's not the longest list in the world.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

I'm guessing it's not the longest list in the world.

....especially as the article says "Ex-Wanderers Neil Redfearn and Steve Thompson have also been considered, although it is not known whether they have made the interview shortlist."


So with two of the alleged four obviously complete and utter guesswork by the BN it's not even a list - unless you reckon that two is a list.


Two is a long way from the "more than 50 applicants" bullshit they were spouting a month or two ago.

Come on, Whittam.....admit you were wrong about that queue.

We'll go easy on you if you do.

Promise.

I've applied for the job. Not heard anything back yet.

They probably put my application in the 'nutter' basket. Short sighted.

Breadman wrote:Come on, Whittam.....admit you were wrong about that queue.

We'll go easy on you if you do.

Promise.

To be fair on Whittam he got it from the BN, so it's their bull.

Breadman wrote:Come on, Whittam.....admit you were wrong about that queue.

We'll go easy on you if you do.

Promise.

When I recently advertised a job for a foot massager I received over 70 replies. The shortlist was 5 people.

So if they've got 3 or 4 people to interview you can guarantee there were lots more actual applications.

Natasha Whittam wrote:The simple fact is anyone could be a success or failure. Pep Guardiola could come to Bolton and fuck it up, or Iain Dowie could get the Man Utd job and have them winning the Champions League inside 2 years.

The best any Chairman or board can do is match skills to the current situation. Right now we are in League 1 with no money, so the next manager has to have worked, and had at least minor success, in a similar role.

I'm guessing it's not the longest list in the world.

I have to agree with you on this one Nat. I hope we get Adkins myself but it's just a gut feeling based on what he did with Scunthorpe and Southampton. In fact for me Southampton are a perfect example of how a club should be run after coming out of administration. Admittedly we were never in that predicament but I think the parallels are there due to how little we seem to have right now in terms of finances and the embargo. It's almost as if we were in admin and are trying to rebuild from scratch with nothing or close to it. Adkins did a lot of the work at Southampton that the likes of Pochettino and Koeman built on and if he could lay similar foundations here I'd be ecstatic.

It doesn't make it certain he'd succeed of course but his track record with them and Scunthorpe makes me think he's the best fit for us out of the names mentioned in the article. I just hope he'd be willing to come if it's offered to him but given that he's supposed to have been interviewed that would suggest he's at least interested in the job and not frightened off by the circumstances.

The Southampton experiment is not reproducible though as they took over Crewe's mantle as top development club and were able to have a shot at attracting the best young players like Ox, Walcott etc. who would normally sign for the likes of Manure as soon as the placenta was off. 
That's why our young players are always likely to be second string. If we do produce a couple of gems who go on to top careers, maybe then we'll be in a position to say to parents that we are a better option for their young superstar in the long run.

wanderlust wrote:The Southampton experiment is not reproducible though as they took over Crewe's mantle as top development club and were able to have a shot at attracting the best young players like Ox, Walcott etc. who would normally sign for the likes of Manure as soon as the placenta was off. 
That's why our young players are always likely to be second string. If we do produce a couple of gems who go on to top careers, maybe then we'll be in a position to say to parents that we are a better option for their young superstar in the long run.

In what way is it not possible to replicate lusty? Sure we're struggling right now and our academy isn't in the elite band at the moment but if we can get the books sorted over the next 2-3 years then I see no reason for us not to start climbing again both at first team and development level.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting instant miracles if Adkins comes aboard. What I do think is he's the right man to arrest the slide and maybe even start us climbing the ladder again. As Nat said it's all purely a gamble and speculation right now because sometimes what looks great on paper turns out to be a disaster while what looks like an idiotic appointment turns out to be an inspired choice. Claudio Ranieri ring any bells?


More seriously though, I just feel Southampton is a good model for a club our size with our fanbase to follow. And Adkins was responsible for a lot of the groundwork that has led to them being where they are today. Given that and his success at Scunthorpe I think he'd be a good appointment for us as things stand. I could well be wrong, he might show up and make John McGovern look good and of course he hasn't even been offered the job yet but I have a gut feeling that he'd do well for us if he was appointed.

Comparing our situation to Southampton is chalk and cheese. They came out of admin with huge money behind them, we're nowhere near that.

Natasha Whittam wrote:The simple fact is anyone could be a success or failure. Pep Guardiola could come to Bolton and fuck it up, or Iain Dowie could get the Man Utd job and have them winning the Champions League inside 2 years.

The best any Chairman or board can do is match skills to the current situation. Right now we are in League 1 with no money, so the next manager has to have worked, and had at least minor success, in a similar role.

I'm guessing it's not the longest list in the world.

Absolutely astute!

bwfc1874 wrote:Comparing our situation to Southampton is chalk and cheese. They came out of admin with huge money behind them, we're nowhere near that.

True they had money behind them and we don't but that may still change albeit a year or two from now. Southampton still had to climb from L1 to the Prem and build slowly as they did it. I think Adkins did a good job there but an even better one at Scunthorpe who were skint and had nothing to play with in the transfer market. I guess my point is that he's succeeded at this level twice in very different sets of circumstances which makes me think he could do it again. Speculative I know but it's just how I see it.