Bolton need a familiar face in the hotseat, says ex-Whites skipper Bergsson

Gundi Bergsson has urged Wanderers to appoint a familiar face as their next manager.

Dean Holdsworth and Ken Anderson are in no rush to name Neil Lennon’s successor and look willing to give Jimmy Phillips a chance to audition for the role until the end of the season.

Phil Brown was quickly installed as the bookmakers’ favourite but his club Southend United have already placed roadblocks in the way if the 56-year-old is to make a return to the North West.

That leaves Wanderers’ new ownership with a big decision to make in the coming months as they consider who should be given the responsibility of rebuilding in League One next season.

Bergsson, the former Wanderers skipper and one of the most distinguished defenders to have represented the club, hopes former colleagues Brown and Phillips are strongly considered.

“Phil Brown has been linked with the club in the past and he has been named as a candidate – he’s got varying experiences as a manager in all four divisions, which is what we need,” he said in an interview with bwin.news.

“Jimmy Philips [current first-team coach] is in the hot seat temporarily and he has got a lot of experience as a coach and at the club. He’s an ex-Bolton player and is a Trotter through-and-through, so I think he should be considered for the permanent role based on the team’s performance between now and the end of the season.

Source

I always loved Gudni as a player- but I think he's talking bollocks here. We don't need a 'familiar' face at all- we need someone who can manage a poor squad of players on a non-existent resource base and who can pick up ether raw young talent or ageing professionals and get the best out of them. Whether that's a 'familiar' face or not is irrelevant. The last 'familiar 'face we had ( remember him- a bloke called Coyle) turned out to be a disaster.
Lets not go into this with a blinkered perspective.

rammywhite wrote:I always loved Gudni as a player- but I think he's talking bollocks here. We don't need a 'familiar' face at all- we need someone who can manage a poor squad of players on a non-existent resource base and who can pick up ether raw young talent or ageing professionals and get the best out of them. Whether that's a 'familiar' face or not is irrelevant. The last 'familiar 'face we had ( remember him- a bloke called Coyle) turned out to be a disaster.
Lets not go into this with a blinkered perspective.

Completely agree. No room for sentiment with the state our club is in.

Proven league 1 and out of work Steve Cotterill.

God help us

I agree with Steve Cotterill,. He's good, but seems to be able to take his team so far, but lacks consistency. Good manager though.

A familiar face will mean that the solution is sought on the cheap rather than the emphasis being on a search for a manager with the right experience, whether we know him or not. We wont be the first team to promote someone from the lower management leagues.