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GARY Madine comes up against his former club Sheffield Wednesday tonight determined to show how far he has come since his troubled days at Hillsborough.
Life is good for the big striker, who despite Wanderers’ patchy start to the campaign, has two goals under his belt and the swagger of a player in good form.
Madine has done his fair share of penance in recent years but with a new two-year contract signed this summer and a new-found popularity on the Macron terraces he is now free to concentrate on building a future, rather than reflecting on the past.
Much of the 26-year-old’s rise has been overseen by Phil Parkinson, the manager who promised a clean slate on his arrival from Bradford City last summer and has stayed true to his word.
“He knows how to manage me – man management of your players is crucial to being a good manager and he does it so well,” Madine admitted.
“I’ve always had a bit of a reputation of being a ‘bad boy’ and that’s down to me, but the gaffer is brilliant in the sense he knows when to put an arm around my shoulders.
“He knows when to push me and when to leave me be and that makes the world of difference. We have got a brilliant relationship, though, and I love working for him.”
Ten goals last season told only half the tale for Madine, who became so integral to Parkinson’s tactical plan it appeared promotion chances were irreparably damaged when he injured his shoulder at Southend United in April, leaving no able replacement.
Wanderers have since brought in Aaron Wilbraham to take some of the load off his shoulders, and it remains to be seen whether the former Bristol City man gets a starting place tonight in the Carabao Cup, or whether Parkinson looks to keep in-form Madine firing from the start.
The two big men combined for a stoppage-time goal against Derby County on Saturday and with Madine now comfortably set-up for the season – he can look back and smile at the nine-game wait he endured at the start of his Bolton career.
“It’s massively important as a striker to get off the mark as quickly as possible,” he told iFollow. “In my first season it took me so long to do that I got to the point where I wondered if I was ever going to score.
“It has given me a massive confidence boost and when I hear the fans singing my name, it just makes we want to go and do it all over again.”
Something of a mutual admiration society is developing on the terraces for Madine, with a catalogue of songs starting to develop.
The 26-year-old takes issue with one lyric, however: “It’s nice to hear them singing your name. I haven’t got a fake tan, though, I don’t know where they got that from!”
Madine is well known to Wednesday fans having played for the South Yorkshire club 123 times, scoring 28 goals between 2011 and 2015.
His career at Hillsborough was, as is well-documented, interrupted by a conviction for assault and after briefly returning to the Owls’ fold he was sent out on loan spells at Carlisle United and Blackpool before being taken in at Wanderers on a free transfer.
Madine has unquestionably come a long way since then. Perhaps his best performance of a difficult first season actually came at Wednesday in a 3-2 defeat, remembered more for the fact Mark Davies was withdrawn from the squad pre-match in an effort to sell him to the South Yorkshiremen.
That swashbuckling display – in which Madine got himself on the scoresheet – was a prelude for what was to come.
“In my first year it was difficult to build that kind of relationship with them (the Bolton fans) as the team wasn’t playing well, I wasn’t playing well, and they just weren’t enjoying watching us in general.
“Andrew Dean (Wanderers Promotions Manager) actually said to me if I work hard then I could change their mind and that’s what I did. I take my hat off to them for giving me that second chance.”
Wanderers clinched promotion last season against the odds and will have to beat the bookies once again if they are to survive in the Championship.
Madine followed the same route in his time with Wednesday but reckons the feeling of accomplishment back in April outweighed his achievements at Hillsborough.
“It would have been so easy to go under with all the odds stacked against us, I don’t think anyone would have expected what happened to happen,” he said.
“Every single one of us, though, was determined to change this club’s fortunes around and we grafted our socks off to get us to where we are today.
“Although I’ve experienced promotion before, last season was special for a lot of different reasons.
“With Sheffield Wednesday it was almost expected, with Bolton it was literally the last thing anyone expected, with everything stacked against us.”
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/15486284.Parkinson_has_helped_former_Owls_man_Madine_go_from__bad_boy__to__best_boy_/
Life is good for the big striker, who despite Wanderers’ patchy start to the campaign, has two goals under his belt and the swagger of a player in good form.
Madine has done his fair share of penance in recent years but with a new two-year contract signed this summer and a new-found popularity on the Macron terraces he is now free to concentrate on building a future, rather than reflecting on the past.
Much of the 26-year-old’s rise has been overseen by Phil Parkinson, the manager who promised a clean slate on his arrival from Bradford City last summer and has stayed true to his word.
“He knows how to manage me – man management of your players is crucial to being a good manager and he does it so well,” Madine admitted.
“I’ve always had a bit of a reputation of being a ‘bad boy’ and that’s down to me, but the gaffer is brilliant in the sense he knows when to put an arm around my shoulders.
“He knows when to push me and when to leave me be and that makes the world of difference. We have got a brilliant relationship, though, and I love working for him.”
Ten goals last season told only half the tale for Madine, who became so integral to Parkinson’s tactical plan it appeared promotion chances were irreparably damaged when he injured his shoulder at Southend United in April, leaving no able replacement.
Wanderers have since brought in Aaron Wilbraham to take some of the load off his shoulders, and it remains to be seen whether the former Bristol City man gets a starting place tonight in the Carabao Cup, or whether Parkinson looks to keep in-form Madine firing from the start.
The two big men combined for a stoppage-time goal against Derby County on Saturday and with Madine now comfortably set-up for the season – he can look back and smile at the nine-game wait he endured at the start of his Bolton career.
“It’s massively important as a striker to get off the mark as quickly as possible,” he told iFollow. “In my first season it took me so long to do that I got to the point where I wondered if I was ever going to score.
“It has given me a massive confidence boost and when I hear the fans singing my name, it just makes we want to go and do it all over again.”
Something of a mutual admiration society is developing on the terraces for Madine, with a catalogue of songs starting to develop.
The 26-year-old takes issue with one lyric, however: “It’s nice to hear them singing your name. I haven’t got a fake tan, though, I don’t know where they got that from!”
Madine is well known to Wednesday fans having played for the South Yorkshire club 123 times, scoring 28 goals between 2011 and 2015.
His career at Hillsborough was, as is well-documented, interrupted by a conviction for assault and after briefly returning to the Owls’ fold he was sent out on loan spells at Carlisle United and Blackpool before being taken in at Wanderers on a free transfer.
Madine has unquestionably come a long way since then. Perhaps his best performance of a difficult first season actually came at Wednesday in a 3-2 defeat, remembered more for the fact Mark Davies was withdrawn from the squad pre-match in an effort to sell him to the South Yorkshiremen.
That swashbuckling display – in which Madine got himself on the scoresheet – was a prelude for what was to come.
“In my first year it was difficult to build that kind of relationship with them (the Bolton fans) as the team wasn’t playing well, I wasn’t playing well, and they just weren’t enjoying watching us in general.
“Andrew Dean (Wanderers Promotions Manager) actually said to me if I work hard then I could change their mind and that’s what I did. I take my hat off to them for giving me that second chance.”
Wanderers clinched promotion last season against the odds and will have to beat the bookies once again if they are to survive in the Championship.
Madine followed the same route in his time with Wednesday but reckons the feeling of accomplishment back in April outweighed his achievements at Hillsborough.
“It would have been so easy to go under with all the odds stacked against us, I don’t think anyone would have expected what happened to happen,” he said.
“Every single one of us, though, was determined to change this club’s fortunes around and we grafted our socks off to get us to where we are today.
“Although I’ve experienced promotion before, last season was special for a lot of different reasons.
“With Sheffield Wednesday it was almost expected, with Bolton it was literally the last thing anyone expected, with everything stacked against us.”
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/15486284.Parkinson_has_helped_former_Owls_man_Madine_go_from__bad_boy__to__best_boy_/
