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It was a world-weary Phil Parkinson that sat before members of the media yesterday afternoon.
Though vastly experienced, the Wanderers boss has surely never had to contend with off-field problems like those he is currently up against.
A war of words between his chairman Ken Anderson, and his Forest Green Rovers counterpart Dale Vince over the Christian Doidge fiasco is but one of a multitude of woes everyone connected with this proud old club is battling.
And Chorley-born Parkinson is determined Bolton Wanderers supporters will – hopefully sooner rather than later – once again be proud of their club.
“Supporters say to me that’s what they don’t enjoy seeing (the negative off-field reports) and we want to work on the image of the club going forward,” he sighed. “That’s important because we want to attract players, not just senior players but young players as well, in the academy.
“But we’re probably, despite everything that’s been in the press recently, in a stronger position as a club now than it was a few years ago.
“I’ve dealt with quite a lot since I’ve been here but at my other clubs as well.
“We’ve got to keep our unity, when I first took the lads on a pre-season tour to Sweden in my first pre-season I felt the lads had created a bond between them because of the adversity that had gone on previous to that.
“We’ve got to keep that and I’ve got to constantly keep in the lads’ minds that we are playing for a club with great history, playing for supporters who invest a lot of money watching us up and down the country.
“Every time we go out on the pitch we have to wear that shirt with pride and give absolutely everything to get the results.”
Many supporters have been amazed as loan players Doidge and Remi Matthews, as well as out-of-contract Gary O’Neil were left in limbo, unable to face Walsall last weekend.
And although chairman Ken Anderson was working to resurrect deals for the trio, a return to the North West for Doidge looks particularly unlikely, given the frosty relations between the two chairmen.
Despite this, the manager refuses to give up hope he will be able to join the transfer activity at some stage this month.
“I haven’t heard anything new over the last couple of days,” admitted the manager. “I feel for Christian, I really do, he’s been caught in the middle of it and he’s a terrific lad who was growing into the division.
“It was a big step up from where he was and he was getting stronger by the week.
“Hopefully it can be resolved but we’ll have to wait and see. I called him earlier this week just for a general chat and as you’d imagine he’s a bit mixed up in his head as you’d expect but he’s a good lad and if he comes back with us he’ll be the ultimate pro.”
Off-field problems have meant the emphatic Walsall victory has become something of a distant memory for the Whites’ fans, players and staff.
And, though Parkinson’s ability to trade during January is far from guaranteed he is retaining a sense of positivity ahead of the first of two games against the Robins that bookend the league game at home to West Brom.
“It seems a long time ago, but I’ve got to be careful not to think about the other things,” he added. “We have to make sure we look at the video of the game and analyse where we can get better and make sure we don’t detract anything from preparing this team for the game on Saturday.
“So the Walsall game does seem like a while ago because there’s been quite a lot going on. But we’re used to it, a lot has gone on over the last couple of years and we’ve become a resilient bunch.
“I’d like to think we can do some business, I’m expecting if the Football League and the chairman can work towards a resolution we can look to bring a couple of players.
Source
Though vastly experienced, the Wanderers boss has surely never had to contend with off-field problems like those he is currently up against.
A war of words between his chairman Ken Anderson, and his Forest Green Rovers counterpart Dale Vince over the Christian Doidge fiasco is but one of a multitude of woes everyone connected with this proud old club is battling.
And Chorley-born Parkinson is determined Bolton Wanderers supporters will – hopefully sooner rather than later – once again be proud of their club.
“Supporters say to me that’s what they don’t enjoy seeing (the negative off-field reports) and we want to work on the image of the club going forward,” he sighed. “That’s important because we want to attract players, not just senior players but young players as well, in the academy.
“But we’re probably, despite everything that’s been in the press recently, in a stronger position as a club now than it was a few years ago.
“I’ve dealt with quite a lot since I’ve been here but at my other clubs as well.
“We’ve got to keep our unity, when I first took the lads on a pre-season tour to Sweden in my first pre-season I felt the lads had created a bond between them because of the adversity that had gone on previous to that.
“We’ve got to keep that and I’ve got to constantly keep in the lads’ minds that we are playing for a club with great history, playing for supporters who invest a lot of money watching us up and down the country.
“Every time we go out on the pitch we have to wear that shirt with pride and give absolutely everything to get the results.”
Many supporters have been amazed as loan players Doidge and Remi Matthews, as well as out-of-contract Gary O’Neil were left in limbo, unable to face Walsall last weekend.
And although chairman Ken Anderson was working to resurrect deals for the trio, a return to the North West for Doidge looks particularly unlikely, given the frosty relations between the two chairmen.
Despite this, the manager refuses to give up hope he will be able to join the transfer activity at some stage this month.
“I haven’t heard anything new over the last couple of days,” admitted the manager. “I feel for Christian, I really do, he’s been caught in the middle of it and he’s a terrific lad who was growing into the division.
“It was a big step up from where he was and he was getting stronger by the week.
“Hopefully it can be resolved but we’ll have to wait and see. I called him earlier this week just for a general chat and as you’d imagine he’s a bit mixed up in his head as you’d expect but he’s a good lad and if he comes back with us he’ll be the ultimate pro.”
Off-field problems have meant the emphatic Walsall victory has become something of a distant memory for the Whites’ fans, players and staff.
And, though Parkinson’s ability to trade during January is far from guaranteed he is retaining a sense of positivity ahead of the first of two games against the Robins that bookend the league game at home to West Brom.
“It seems a long time ago, but I’ve got to be careful not to think about the other things,” he added. “We have to make sure we look at the video of the game and analyse where we can get better and make sure we don’t detract anything from preparing this team for the game on Saturday.
“So the Walsall game does seem like a while ago because there’s been quite a lot going on. But we’re used to it, a lot has gone on over the last couple of years and we’ve become a resilient bunch.
“I’d like to think we can do some business, I’m expecting if the Football League and the chairman can work towards a resolution we can look to bring a couple of players.
Source
