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No news has been good news for Phil Parkinson over the last week.
When the final whistle blew on a 1-0 defeat to Swansea City before the international break, thoughts naturally – if cynically - drifted towards whether the Wanderers boss would still be in the hot-seat when the team reconvened.
But while managerial contemporaries at Fulham, Notts County, AFC Wimbledon, Shrewsbury Town and Swindon Town paid a heavy price for failing fortunes, Ken Anderson’s backing for his own man at Bolton has remained intact.
The chairman sought to stamp out speculation over Parkinson’s future in a column written shortly after the Aston Villa defeat on November 2. Since then, nothing has been said or written to suggest he has changed his view, meaning it has been business as usual at Lostock.
With the exception of internationals Pawel Olkowski and Josh Magennis, the quiet spell has allowed Parkinson a free week to work with his players without distraction. He even took the step of offering them a few days off as an incentive to clear minds and rest bodies for the challenges ahead.
Such a show of faith will mean some accompanying pressure on Saturday’s game at Millwall but one of the squad’s senior voices, Ben Alnwick, feels the time was right to take stock.
“Sometimes when you’ve been on a bad run you want the midweek games there because you’ve still got the bit between your teeth and want to put it right,” he told The Bolton News. “But I think this break has given everyone a chance to go away and take a good look at themselves.
“The gaffer told us to go and have a few days, spend a bit of time with the family, but to make sure when we came back we were ready to work hard.
“Since we’ve been back in the training has been spot on. I know it’s a cliché but the standards in training haven’t dropped at all. I just think if we can keep the hard work on the training ground then it has to translate into results, eventually.”
Alnwick has been among the senior players who have voiced their support for Parkinson during this sticky spell – and that will almost certainly have helped shape Anderson’s view on whether to stick or twist.
Backing on the terraces is by no means as unilateral, and winning back the hearts and minds of some supporters will not be an easy one.
With home form so unpredictable, Parkinson may find solace that his next two games are on the road, at Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday. Performances away from the University of Bolton Stadium have gernerally been solid, perhaps as the team’s tactical make-up better suits games where the onus is not on them to make the running.
Should Wanderers fail to find points at The Den or Hillsborough, however, pressure on the following home date with local rivals Wigan Athletic would be significant.
Five of Wanderers’ last seven managers have lost their job between mid-October and mid-December – a spell dubbed ‘sacking season’ – and one of them, Sam Allardyce, stepped down of his own volition.
In Alnwick’s opinion, Parkinson has earned the right not to join the list.
“It isn’t for me to say what the chairman should, or shouldn’t do but I think people know what difficulties the gaffer has had to deal with in his time at Bolton,” he said.
“He has created a good group of lads with plenty of experience. This isn’t the first bad run we have been on in our careers and it might not be the last – but we won’t panic. We will just keep working hard to turn it around.
“We do need to have a little faith. It hasn’t been easy, losing games never is, but it is entirely down to the lads to put it right.
“You can talk all day about formations and tactics but the only thing that matters is going out there on the pitch and making a difference. Only the players can get ourselves out of this run we are in.”
Source
When the final whistle blew on a 1-0 defeat to Swansea City before the international break, thoughts naturally – if cynically - drifted towards whether the Wanderers boss would still be in the hot-seat when the team reconvened.
But while managerial contemporaries at Fulham, Notts County, AFC Wimbledon, Shrewsbury Town and Swindon Town paid a heavy price for failing fortunes, Ken Anderson’s backing for his own man at Bolton has remained intact.
The chairman sought to stamp out speculation over Parkinson’s future in a column written shortly after the Aston Villa defeat on November 2. Since then, nothing has been said or written to suggest he has changed his view, meaning it has been business as usual at Lostock.
With the exception of internationals Pawel Olkowski and Josh Magennis, the quiet spell has allowed Parkinson a free week to work with his players without distraction. He even took the step of offering them a few days off as an incentive to clear minds and rest bodies for the challenges ahead.
Such a show of faith will mean some accompanying pressure on Saturday’s game at Millwall but one of the squad’s senior voices, Ben Alnwick, feels the time was right to take stock.
“Sometimes when you’ve been on a bad run you want the midweek games there because you’ve still got the bit between your teeth and want to put it right,” he told The Bolton News. “But I think this break has given everyone a chance to go away and take a good look at themselves.
“The gaffer told us to go and have a few days, spend a bit of time with the family, but to make sure when we came back we were ready to work hard.
“Since we’ve been back in the training has been spot on. I know it’s a cliché but the standards in training haven’t dropped at all. I just think if we can keep the hard work on the training ground then it has to translate into results, eventually.”
Alnwick has been among the senior players who have voiced their support for Parkinson during this sticky spell – and that will almost certainly have helped shape Anderson’s view on whether to stick or twist.
Backing on the terraces is by no means as unilateral, and winning back the hearts and minds of some supporters will not be an easy one.
With home form so unpredictable, Parkinson may find solace that his next two games are on the road, at Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday. Performances away from the University of Bolton Stadium have gernerally been solid, perhaps as the team’s tactical make-up better suits games where the onus is not on them to make the running.
Should Wanderers fail to find points at The Den or Hillsborough, however, pressure on the following home date with local rivals Wigan Athletic would be significant.
Five of Wanderers’ last seven managers have lost their job between mid-October and mid-December – a spell dubbed ‘sacking season’ – and one of them, Sam Allardyce, stepped down of his own volition.
In Alnwick’s opinion, Parkinson has earned the right not to join the list.
“It isn’t for me to say what the chairman should, or shouldn’t do but I think people know what difficulties the gaffer has had to deal with in his time at Bolton,” he said.
“He has created a good group of lads with plenty of experience. This isn’t the first bad run we have been on in our careers and it might not be the last – but we won’t panic. We will just keep working hard to turn it around.
“We do need to have a little faith. It hasn’t been easy, losing games never is, but it is entirely down to the lads to put it right.
“You can talk all day about formations and tactics but the only thing that matters is going out there on the pitch and making a difference. Only the players can get ourselves out of this run we are in.”
Source
