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Wanderers are close to completing a deal for Kieran Lee and Ian Evatt believes the midfielder will add some much-needed leadership to his side.
The free agent former Sheffield Wednesday man has been training with the Whites for the last couple of weeks with a view to sealing a contract.
Evatt likes what he’s seen from the 32-year-old, who played 30 times for the Championship club last season, but has to balance a few things financially before completing the signing.
When the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed however, the Bolton boss believes he will have a player who can improve his side in more ways than one. “First and foremost he has experience and he’s a leader,” Evatt said. “I don’t think we have too many leaders in the team – and in the spine of the team especially, you need it.
“He brings some real quality on the ball. You have to have that if you play as many games as Kieran
has in the Championship at Sheffield Wednesday, he’s won numerous individual awards there.
“And ultimately, he has a great engine. In this league you have to be able to cover the ground and his stats throughout his career – he’s averaging 12-12.5km a game – is exceptional.
“He has come through training with flying colours. There has been no sign or doubts with injuries, physically he’s coping with everything we are doing. He’s fit as a fiddle and raring to go, we’re just waiting to see that we definitely have enough room in the salary cap before finalising anything with him.”
Evatt believes Lee will add to an experienced core but believes beyond that, some of Wanderers’ inexperience has shown in an inconsistent first part of the League Two season.
The Whites still remain in the hunt for honours come the end of the season though meaning there is a big month ahead in the transfer market.
He said: “People look at Eoin Doyle, Nathan Delfouneso, Antoni Sarcevic, and think that Bolton are spending millions and millions, have experience all over the pitch.
“But if you actually look at the team and the make-up of the squad, we do have a lot of players who have not played in league football, some are very young and in their first season of progressing.
“Just because we are who we are, have been where we have been, does not mean we are that club now.
“We keep saying it – we have to move on from the past and put a structure in place again.
“This January is vital for a number of reasons – there are 26 games left, we are three or four wins off top spot, that’s how condensed things really are. If we put any sort of consistency together we’ll end up getting promoted.
“We might be 15th in the league but we’re still massively in this promotion race, no doubt about it.
“We have to improve the team and because behind the scenes we’re still working to get that recruitment structure in place, so we get ahead of the chain as I have already talked about, January becomes more of a quick fix.
“How can we improve the team now to get us to where we want to be – i.e. in League One next season?
“Then in the summer we can look, assess, we have X, Y and Z, where do we need to improve? What do they look like? I want to be planning for that February and March time.”
Source
The free agent former Sheffield Wednesday man has been training with the Whites for the last couple of weeks with a view to sealing a contract.
Evatt likes what he’s seen from the 32-year-old, who played 30 times for the Championship club last season, but has to balance a few things financially before completing the signing.
When the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed however, the Bolton boss believes he will have a player who can improve his side in more ways than one. “First and foremost he has experience and he’s a leader,” Evatt said. “I don’t think we have too many leaders in the team – and in the spine of the team especially, you need it.
“He brings some real quality on the ball. You have to have that if you play as many games as Kieran
has in the Championship at Sheffield Wednesday, he’s won numerous individual awards there.
“And ultimately, he has a great engine. In this league you have to be able to cover the ground and his stats throughout his career – he’s averaging 12-12.5km a game – is exceptional.
“He has come through training with flying colours. There has been no sign or doubts with injuries, physically he’s coping with everything we are doing. He’s fit as a fiddle and raring to go, we’re just waiting to see that we definitely have enough room in the salary cap before finalising anything with him.”
Evatt believes Lee will add to an experienced core but believes beyond that, some of Wanderers’ inexperience has shown in an inconsistent first part of the League Two season.
The Whites still remain in the hunt for honours come the end of the season though meaning there is a big month ahead in the transfer market.
He said: “People look at Eoin Doyle, Nathan Delfouneso, Antoni Sarcevic, and think that Bolton are spending millions and millions, have experience all over the pitch.
“But if you actually look at the team and the make-up of the squad, we do have a lot of players who have not played in league football, some are very young and in their first season of progressing.
“Just because we are who we are, have been where we have been, does not mean we are that club now.
“We keep saying it – we have to move on from the past and put a structure in place again.
“This January is vital for a number of reasons – there are 26 games left, we are three or four wins off top spot, that’s how condensed things really are. If we put any sort of consistency together we’ll end up getting promoted.
“We might be 15th in the league but we’re still massively in this promotion race, no doubt about it.
“We have to improve the team and because behind the scenes we’re still working to get that recruitment structure in place, so we get ahead of the chain as I have already talked about, January becomes more of a quick fix.
“How can we improve the team now to get us to where we want to be – i.e. in League One next season?
“Then in the summer we can look, assess, we have X, Y and Z, where do we need to improve? What do they look like? I want to be planning for that February and March time.”
Source
