A Year of Neil Lennon - View from the North

Living in Scotland, I can't say that i come across many Bolton Wanderers fans.

Of course, when Neil Lennon took over, the collective interest from 'football fans' in Scotland certainly became apparent. Yet a year on since his appointment, that interest has fallen off a cliff - not unlike our club!

Having followed Bolton over the last 20 years, I have seen everything  relegation, Play Off finals, a Cup final defeat sitting next to a Middlesbrough fan, European nights (i still have a memory of Jussi going up for a corner against Marseille and I'm still sure to this day that he punched Barthez in the face when going for the ball!).

One thing I hadn't seen until yesterday was us drop to bottom of the Championship.

At this time it's not great being a Bolton fan but of course we stick with it, Just like how I hope Bolton fans/board continue to stick with Lennon.

I'm the first person to defend him to any one who likes to take the p*** out of me (usually Celtic fans... Or Rangers) but I do believe he has made a few errors.

The first one has to be leaving out Josh Vela. For me he was one of the best players last season. Of course we know that in Lennon's opinion the 'tried and tested' Neil Danns does put a shift in. But I feel that we need to try something different.

A midfield of Vela, Mark Davies and Darren Pratley I think is up there with one of the best in the league. I also think Lennon needs to settle on a back 4.

Chopping and changing is causing us problems (granted some changes have been forced) but it can cause issues. I keep hearing all the time that we have been unlucky, If only we take our chances, Sadly this can only last for so long, otherwise we will find ourselves fighting to stay up come the end of the season.

I do feel that within the squad we have, it is good enough to stay up.

Lennon has found some really good players with his limited budget (Prince, Wellington Silva, Ben Amos) and he does bring the best out of others, including Pratley. If he can keep the younger players involved and injury free, such as Max Clayton, Tom Walker, Zach Clough and Vela, then i see no reason why we can't climb the table.

We have two consecutive home games now, against Birmingham City and then Leeds United -  despite the positivity that remains, if we don't get anything from them...it could be squeaky bum time!