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Keith Hill hopes he will be given time to turn results around at Bolton Wanderers.
With just one victory in 13, pressure is building on the manager to provide some respite for supporters in a season which looks almost certain to end in relegation to League Two.
Defeat at Blackpool on Tuesday night was a cruel blow, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s decisive goal arriving in injury time and just two minutes after Kean Bryan had scored a deserved equaliser.
Hill says he went into the job last August knowing there could be hard times ahead but the scale of Wanderers’ decline on the pitch since overturning the 12-point deduction for going into administration has been considerable.
Asked whether he expected to be given the backing of the club’s board to continue, the Boltonian was typically frank.
“Time? It’s the only industry you don’t get time, I think.
“I have no idea (if I will get time) but I am stood here a proud man and that decision won’t be down to me. Do I want time? Of course I do.
“I want the opportunity to manage the club now and next season. What is the point of me doing all this hard work and going through this pain? I am not a masochist, I don’t like pain, that’s for sure.
“But I am going through it for a reason so I can be part of this future.
“I am here to help and I took on this job when there had been a massive earthquake. The building has stopped shaking but the foundations need underpinning, there’s no question about that.
“I can’t make those decisions. I am a proud man stood here doing what I want to do, doing what I have to do for a group of supporters, for a football club, for a group of players who are going through a lot of pain. And I will stand here and front that.”
Hill says he will take criticism for the recent run of poor results on the chin and while there was some improvement in the performance during the second half at Bloomfield Road, he accepts results have not met expectations.
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do as a group,” he said. “It’s difficult to not accept the negativity of the run we are in, the embarrassment. But we have to put our head above the parapet and really go for it.
“It is difficult but I knew exactly what it was I was going to experience.
“I am not a prophet. There is a lot changed but it’s not evident at this moment in time. It is going to take time to see the big changes that are necessary.
“I knew the biggest risk of all was my risk, all my risk. But it’s a challenge I want to continue doing, one I really encouraged to take, I wanted to take and I am not going to shirk responsibility.”
Wanderers had trailed for the vast majority of the game after Connor Ronan’s 13th minute thunderbolt but dragged themselves level two minutes from time through on-loan Sheffield United defender Kean Bryan.
Fans were still celebrating when Blackpool were given a late corner, which was eventually turned in at the far post by Dewsbury-Hall.
“I am gutted,” Hill said “There is no reward for the hard work we’re doing on a regular basis. It’s unseen, and I’m not complaining, we expect to work hard and at least come up with a fighting opportunity to get something from the game.
“It’s not about me, it’s the players. I feel for the players because we can do all the preparation work, everything about insights into opponents and what we need to do but to lose that game in the manner we did is deflating for the players. But ultimately they are responsible for the key decisions they are making or not making in games.”
Played out on a windswept and soggy pitch, Hill had started with a back three and given Joe Bunney his first start for the club.
“The conditions didn’t help at all,” said the Bolton boss. “We’d tried to freshen it up and came up with something new for the players to think about, to take away from all the negativity. They scored a worldie – yes, they should have been put under more pressure but it was a worldie.
“Second half we changed it and the players played with that freedom.
“We got the equaliser, deservedly so, and probably could have scored beforehand. Going into the 90th minute again there’s an injustice with respect to it’s a foul on (Jason) Lowe but we shouldn’t get involved in that chaos and have a scattered brain.
“We have defended set pieces well tonight but then the one key moment we don’t concentrate again. It comes down to player decisions.”
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With just one victory in 13, pressure is building on the manager to provide some respite for supporters in a season which looks almost certain to end in relegation to League Two.
Defeat at Blackpool on Tuesday night was a cruel blow, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s decisive goal arriving in injury time and just two minutes after Kean Bryan had scored a deserved equaliser.
Hill says he went into the job last August knowing there could be hard times ahead but the scale of Wanderers’ decline on the pitch since overturning the 12-point deduction for going into administration has been considerable.
Asked whether he expected to be given the backing of the club’s board to continue, the Boltonian was typically frank.
“Time? It’s the only industry you don’t get time, I think.
“I have no idea (if I will get time) but I am stood here a proud man and that decision won’t be down to me. Do I want time? Of course I do.
“I want the opportunity to manage the club now and next season. What is the point of me doing all this hard work and going through this pain? I am not a masochist, I don’t like pain, that’s for sure.
“But I am going through it for a reason so I can be part of this future.
“I am here to help and I took on this job when there had been a massive earthquake. The building has stopped shaking but the foundations need underpinning, there’s no question about that.
“I can’t make those decisions. I am a proud man stood here doing what I want to do, doing what I have to do for a group of supporters, for a football club, for a group of players who are going through a lot of pain. And I will stand here and front that.”
Hill says he will take criticism for the recent run of poor results on the chin and while there was some improvement in the performance during the second half at Bloomfield Road, he accepts results have not met expectations.
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do as a group,” he said. “It’s difficult to not accept the negativity of the run we are in, the embarrassment. But we have to put our head above the parapet and really go for it.
“It is difficult but I knew exactly what it was I was going to experience.
“I am not a prophet. There is a lot changed but it’s not evident at this moment in time. It is going to take time to see the big changes that are necessary.
“I knew the biggest risk of all was my risk, all my risk. But it’s a challenge I want to continue doing, one I really encouraged to take, I wanted to take and I am not going to shirk responsibility.”
Wanderers had trailed for the vast majority of the game after Connor Ronan’s 13th minute thunderbolt but dragged themselves level two minutes from time through on-loan Sheffield United defender Kean Bryan.
Fans were still celebrating when Blackpool were given a late corner, which was eventually turned in at the far post by Dewsbury-Hall.
“I am gutted,” Hill said “There is no reward for the hard work we’re doing on a regular basis. It’s unseen, and I’m not complaining, we expect to work hard and at least come up with a fighting opportunity to get something from the game.
“It’s not about me, it’s the players. I feel for the players because we can do all the preparation work, everything about insights into opponents and what we need to do but to lose that game in the manner we did is deflating for the players. But ultimately they are responsible for the key decisions they are making or not making in games.”
Played out on a windswept and soggy pitch, Hill had started with a back three and given Joe Bunney his first start for the club.
“The conditions didn’t help at all,” said the Bolton boss. “We’d tried to freshen it up and came up with something new for the players to think about, to take away from all the negativity. They scored a worldie – yes, they should have been put under more pressure but it was a worldie.
“Second half we changed it and the players played with that freedom.
“We got the equaliser, deservedly so, and probably could have scored beforehand. Going into the 90th minute again there’s an injustice with respect to it’s a foul on (Jason) Lowe but we shouldn’t get involved in that chaos and have a scattered brain.
“We have defended set pieces well tonight but then the one key moment we don’t concentrate again. It comes down to player decisions.”
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