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Keith Hill has no qualms holding up Liam Bridcutt as the example he wants his Wanderers to follow in the coming months.
The midfielder has impressed since signing for Bolton and was given the skipper’s armband almost immediately after signing on loan from Nottingham Forest.
Jason Lowe and Harry Brockbank had both led the team at the start of the season but Hill says the decision to install Bridcutt as captain was not a slight – more an inspirational tool.
“It isn’t a token gesture and it’s no disrespect to anyone who has previously been captain,” he told The Bolton News.
“I need all my players to relay messages on the pitch about how we do things in and out of possession.
“Liam is loud, he’s vocal, he has an opinion and he has respect for the way we do things.
“I think the future is bright for him because there is a lot more to come.”
The signing of Bridcutt, who had not featured for Forest competitively in nearly a year, ended a long wait for Hill, who had admired him from afar for several years.
Some eyebrows were raised when the 30-year-old Scotland international swapped Championship football for a certain relegation scrap in League One, yet the Bolton boss said league position did not come up in conversation.
“The good thing about Liam is that he’s all in,” he said. “I don’t think he looked at the league table.
“He is a player I have admired for years. Back in the day when he was playing at Brighton and Gus Poyet was the manager and we had been promoted into League One with Rochdale, I remember him and Will Buckley, Glenn Murray in a side that was playing some amazing football and taking the division by storm.
“It was the time when Chelsea were at the forefront of the defensive midfielder movement, creating the Claude Makélélé role, and I looked at Liam Bridcutt and thought, wow.
“He’s a player I have always wanted to recruit and always had a keen eye on his development. When I was having a meeting with Will Buckley and talking about what he needed to do to get back to those really enjoyable days I reminded myself of Liam. After we’d finished talking, I was straight on the phone.”
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The midfielder has impressed since signing for Bolton and was given the skipper’s armband almost immediately after signing on loan from Nottingham Forest.
Jason Lowe and Harry Brockbank had both led the team at the start of the season but Hill says the decision to install Bridcutt as captain was not a slight – more an inspirational tool.
“It isn’t a token gesture and it’s no disrespect to anyone who has previously been captain,” he told The Bolton News.
“I need all my players to relay messages on the pitch about how we do things in and out of possession.
“Liam is loud, he’s vocal, he has an opinion and he has respect for the way we do things.
“I think the future is bright for him because there is a lot more to come.”
The signing of Bridcutt, who had not featured for Forest competitively in nearly a year, ended a long wait for Hill, who had admired him from afar for several years.
Some eyebrows were raised when the 30-year-old Scotland international swapped Championship football for a certain relegation scrap in League One, yet the Bolton boss said league position did not come up in conversation.
“The good thing about Liam is that he’s all in,” he said. “I don’t think he looked at the league table.
“He is a player I have admired for years. Back in the day when he was playing at Brighton and Gus Poyet was the manager and we had been promoted into League One with Rochdale, I remember him and Will Buckley, Glenn Murray in a side that was playing some amazing football and taking the division by storm.
“It was the time when Chelsea were at the forefront of the defensive midfielder movement, creating the Claude Makélélé role, and I looked at Liam Bridcutt and thought, wow.
“He’s a player I have always wanted to recruit and always had a keen eye on his development. When I was having a meeting with Will Buckley and talking about what he needed to do to get back to those really enjoyable days I reminded myself of Liam. After we’d finished talking, I was straight on the phone.”
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