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LENNON IN!

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Why sacking Neil Lennon would do no good and why its vital we keep him until he can really work his magic with Wanderers

In recent weeks – 3 years really – Wanderers` results have been substandard, having failed to pick up 3 points since early September against Wolves. That 2-1 home win was supposed to kickstart our season after a poor start, yet here we are again, 7 weeks later in the same situation needing another win that will kickstart our season.

Preston away on Saturday is the perfect opportunity to grab a win, that could ignite our season. Whether a derby-day victory would inspire further improvement, or simply be a fluke victory amidst a concerning string of losses remains to be seen.

One thing that is for certain to me, is that those murmurs amongst a minority of fans of “Lennon Out” are not in the best interests of the club. People argue, “He isn’t suited to English football” or “his job at Celtic was easy, he`s not up to the task with us”. That`s nonsense, the pressure he faced in charge at Celtic is far greater than the pressure he`ll ever feel at Bolton.

Even if we were to get rid of Lennon, who would you replace him with? Neil Warnock? Really? He`s one of a number of English managers who goes on a cycle of mediocre English clubs but never does anything impressive. He`s hardly an exciting prospect.

Some might say Nigel Pearson, a very good manager, too good for us. I highly doubt he`d want to come to the 24th position in the Championship after turning Leicester into an exciting team that are likely to stay in the Premier League for years to come. Even if he wanted to come, we could not afford Nigel Pearson. That leads nicely into my next point.

I have a strong suspicion that, if according to Alan Nixon of The Sun we couldn’t afford to close a deal for a $4K per week striker a month or two ago, there`s no way in hell we can afford to sack Neil Lennon, let alone entice a decent manager to then take his place.

Besides, I like Lennon, I disagree with some of his team selections, like why Josh Vela or Max Clayton aren’t playing more often, but I trust him. I actually think he`s made some decent signings. Considering the level we are at – I think some fans think we`re better than we are – most of them have been decent. Wellington Silva was a brilliant signing in my opinion despite some fans frustrations with him. He`s young, naive but good in his position on the wing, which is a position we desperately needed to fill. He`s exciting to watch unlike 90% of our players since relegation. Unfortunately he`s now sidelined for more than just a few weeks. José Manuel Casado is a brilliant signing for free, and is now showing it. I expected him to feature sooner but for Dean Moxey`s (he`s better than Roberto Carlos you know) imperious form.

Luke Brattan has just signed on loan from Man City – I haven’t a clue why City signed him, if anyone can work it out please comment below – is a central midfielder, who is highly rated based on reports from Australia. I think he will prove to be another good signing. He can improve our first team, and score the odd screamer based on YouTube clips from his time at Brisbane Roar. I don’t quite know why we`ve signed another central midfielder, but according to ESPNFC.com “his ability to read play and dictate the midfield makes him a real asset” so maybe he was too good to pass up on.

Admittedly, results have been terrible, and Neil Lennon seems happy to state that every time we lose. But I like the performances we`ve been putting in, and it`s important to remember that during a season there are going to spell`s during matches when we play poorly, that shouldn’t make us turn on our manager or players.

The problems at our club are bigger than whether Neil Lennon is the right man to be manager. Our owner doesn’t want to invest any more money, and although there is a brick wall between Gartside, Davies and us fans – brought by their lack of communication to us – I believe they are doing their best to try and sell us to the right people. £30 million seems like a high price tag but hopefully a deal will get done sooner rather than later.

Until those new owners arrive, who presumably intend of splashing some cash, I would hate to see Neil Lennon leave. If he can guide us to safety, hopefully without a season full of stress, he has done his job well. He is a great manager, if we can keep him until the situation in which he has money to spend, that would be brilliant.

He has had nothing to work with, making it very hard to assemble the squad he wants whilst trying to cut club expenses. Give him something to work with so he can create the squad he wants, that will play the way he wants, and we`ll have a lot more potential with a great manager to go with it.

The point when that happens is when Neil Lennon`s project at Bolton really begins.

All Lennon needs is some new owners and he`ll show us the managerial ability that helped him beat Barcelona not too long ago.

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