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POINTS, not plaudits are the only thing that is going to cure Neil Lennon’s simmering mood right now at Wanderers.
Even though he witnessed a performance on Tuesday night arguably better than the one that brought victory at Birmingham a few days earlier, it was little consolation for a man not used to being on the losing side.
To put it into context – this was just the third time Lennon was left explaining a defeat in 2014 such was Celtic’s dominance north of the border.
In just a fortnight the Northern Irishman has managed to put a spark back into the team and the town, which is no mean feat considering he has presided over just 180 minutes of football.
On Saturday, many fans who had stopped attending the Macron because of their sense of disenchantment will be back in the fold, the negative atmosphere that turned the stadium toxic just a few weeks ago now one of positivity towards the new boss.
But while the future looks brighter, the man himself is not getting wrapped up in the bonhomie.
Previous regimes at Wanderers may have clung on to positives after what was, in truth, a fairly decent display at The Valley.
Lennon, whilst acknowledging the plus points, was not about to look past the fact his side had lost the game.
“It’s not good enough,” he said. “Bob Peeters (Charlton’s manager) played us a huge compliment and said we looked a totally different team from the one he watched against Fulham – but the result is the same.
“It was nice of him to say that but I can’t have teams coming away from a game against us thanking their lucky stars that they have won the game. It is no use to me at all.
“We need to be better. We are better.”
Lennon wasn’t above looking at what he could have done to change the outcome at Charlton.
“Maybe we could have made the substitutions a bit earlier,” he reasoned. “After getting a goal back I wanted to give it 10 minutes to see how it went.”
One of the final questions asked of Dougie Freedman on the touchline at Fulham was: “Are your players good enough to get you out of trouble.”
His answer ‘It doesn’t look that way’ ultimately proved the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Just 36 hours later he had left the club for good.
Lennon has inherited that same set of problems. And though his very arrival looks to have raised levels across the squad, it will not mask over some of the fundamental weaknesses.
“We need quality,” he said, summing up Wanderers’ woes in a single sentence.
“There was no problem with effort or fitness but there are more elements in the game than those alone. The quality of passing and movement were excellent and I get encouragement from that. It just needs to be a lot better in the final third.
“At 2-0 I got a great reaction. I think the players can sense where they need to improve, it is just a case of getting that little bit better.
“Max Clayton came on and snatched at a couple of chances, Chungy’s missed a few chances to put Max in, Dannsy has worked his magic and then picked the wrong ball, all these things add up to getting beat.
“We need to find the right recipe to win games. We should have won that game by two, three or four.”
Lennon’s dressing down did not just apply to the front players – he was also disappointed to have twice been hit by a sucker punch as Charlton hit on the counter.
“They had one break in the whole first half and scored, then you have to ask why we were so open when they scored in the second half? Why the full-backs weren’t tucking in, I don’t know. They should have. They switched off.”
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/11552107.Manager_Neil_Lennon_wants_points_not_plaudits_for_Bolton_Wanderers/
Even though he witnessed a performance on Tuesday night arguably better than the one that brought victory at Birmingham a few days earlier, it was little consolation for a man not used to being on the losing side.
To put it into context – this was just the third time Lennon was left explaining a defeat in 2014 such was Celtic’s dominance north of the border.
In just a fortnight the Northern Irishman has managed to put a spark back into the team and the town, which is no mean feat considering he has presided over just 180 minutes of football.
On Saturday, many fans who had stopped attending the Macron because of their sense of disenchantment will be back in the fold, the negative atmosphere that turned the stadium toxic just a few weeks ago now one of positivity towards the new boss.
But while the future looks brighter, the man himself is not getting wrapped up in the bonhomie.
Previous regimes at Wanderers may have clung on to positives after what was, in truth, a fairly decent display at The Valley.
Lennon, whilst acknowledging the plus points, was not about to look past the fact his side had lost the game.
“It’s not good enough,” he said. “Bob Peeters (Charlton’s manager) played us a huge compliment and said we looked a totally different team from the one he watched against Fulham – but the result is the same.
“It was nice of him to say that but I can’t have teams coming away from a game against us thanking their lucky stars that they have won the game. It is no use to me at all.
“We need to be better. We are better.”
Lennon wasn’t above looking at what he could have done to change the outcome at Charlton.
“Maybe we could have made the substitutions a bit earlier,” he reasoned. “After getting a goal back I wanted to give it 10 minutes to see how it went.”
One of the final questions asked of Dougie Freedman on the touchline at Fulham was: “Are your players good enough to get you out of trouble.”
His answer ‘It doesn’t look that way’ ultimately proved the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Just 36 hours later he had left the club for good.
Lennon has inherited that same set of problems. And though his very arrival looks to have raised levels across the squad, it will not mask over some of the fundamental weaknesses.
“We need quality,” he said, summing up Wanderers’ woes in a single sentence.
“There was no problem with effort or fitness but there are more elements in the game than those alone. The quality of passing and movement were excellent and I get encouragement from that. It just needs to be a lot better in the final third.
“At 2-0 I got a great reaction. I think the players can sense where they need to improve, it is just a case of getting that little bit better.
“Max Clayton came on and snatched at a couple of chances, Chungy’s missed a few chances to put Max in, Dannsy has worked his magic and then picked the wrong ball, all these things add up to getting beat.
“We need to find the right recipe to win games. We should have won that game by two, three or four.”
Lennon’s dressing down did not just apply to the front players – he was also disappointed to have twice been hit by a sucker punch as Charlton hit on the counter.
“They had one break in the whole first half and scored, then you have to ask why we were so open when they scored in the second half? Why the full-backs weren’t tucking in, I don’t know. They should have. They switched off.”
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/11552107.Manager_Neil_Lennon_wants_points_not_plaudits_for_Bolton_Wanderers/