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IF sympathy for Neil Lennon dried up with last weekend’s tawdry tabloid trouncing then patience on the terraces evaporated completely with this Boxing Day disgrace.
We have had the misfortune of seeing some pretty desperate halves of football this season – Middlesbrough, QPR and Huddersfield to name but a few – while more recent memories of collapses against Reading at the Madejski or Stoke City at Wembley unfortunately still linger.
But the speed at which Wanderers capitulated against Rotherham on Saturday was head spinning and it is little wonder that 1,783 travelling fans rose in unison well before the final whistle to say they have had enough.
Once Grant Ward opened the scoring on 56 minutes the white flag inexplicably went up. Half an hour of embarrassing football later Jonson Clarke-Harris walked through the middle of the defence virtually unopposed to score the fourth; rock bottom had been hit.
Fans made sure the players knew their thoughts: “You’re not fit to wear the shirt” they screamed as Wanderers drew close enough to the South Stand to see they really meant it.
And then anger turned towards the manager. Given unanimous backing from the terraces even through a most depressing start to the season and supported by the board after the club’s name was unnecessarily dragged back through the mud last weekend, this mass show of dissatisfaction felt like a defining moment.
Lennon won’t quit. It is that fiery stubbornness that made him so popular in the first place. He insists he can win this battle but it does not please this reporter to say he’s wrong.
The Northern Irishman has become the only expendable piece in this unfortunate game and even a victory against Blackburn Rovers this afternoon will just be a stay of execution.
Players back him publicly but not with their actions. This was not a team playing for their manager, in fact quite the opposite.
Just as with Sammy Lee, Gary Megson, Owen Coyle and Dougie Freedman the body language tells it all. And though Wanderers were in a more stable financial position to end their tenure, they must accept that relegation is inevitable if they fail to act quickly.
Lennon has done everything he can. Goodness knows what job he was sold on his arrival last October but suffice it to say, this isn’t what it said on the tin.
Wanderers have suffered from poor leadership inside and out for too long. Backing Lennon last week was a bold move, surprising even to some inside the club. The decision seemed financially motivated at the time and one wonders whether those who made it are now regretting it.
The first half at Rotherham was low on quality and low on chances until the final stages.
Darren Pratley’s pass took a deflection and landed at the feet of Emile Heskey on the edge of the box – his pass picked out Zach Clough, who had a clean view of goal but found his shot pushed away athletically by Lee Camp.
Rotherham’s chief threat came down the wings in the form of Grant Ward and Joe Newell; both brought Ben Amos into action before the interval. But it was ex-Wanderers youngster Danny Ward who had the best chance, surging down the middle to see his effort blocked by the Whites keeper.
Ward was cherry picked by Wanderers from Leeds United’s academy in 2007 as Elland Road went into financial meltdown. Oh how things have changed.
At the start of the second half the Whites briefly upped their game. The injured Heskey was replaced by Gary Madine, who instantly made an impact getting on the end of Dean Moxey’s free kick.
Then, total capitulation. Once Tony Andreu teed up Grant Ward to volley through a weak hand from Amos for the opening goal, it was a steep downhill slide.
Amos made a brilliant close range stop from Andreu but could do nothing as Danny Ward strolled through on Newell’s pass to slip in the second.
Newell then helped himself to a third, taking advantage of some non-existent defending. By this time the mood among travelling fans behind the goal had changed significantly.
Jonson Clarke-Harris completed the rout four minutes from time, latching on to a back-heel from Andreu, but Rotherham could have finished with more.
It seems impossible to think the Whites could sink this low again at home to Blackburn today. Even a comprehensive victory would fail to rid us of the bad taste left behind by this result.
Lennon vowed to stay and fight his corner. But it is hard to see what else he can do to arrest the slide, particularly as his options look certain to be diminished in January. The manager appears to be hoping that something will just happen – a knight in shining armour emerging from the distance. But it is that kind of thinking that got the club into their current predicament.
Those with longer memories will tell you it has been worse. Some still recall Rachid Harkouk scoring a six-minute hat-trick for Notts County in a game where Wanderers found themselves 6-0 down at half time in 1984.
Others who sank through the divisions will recall the 4-0 defeat at Scarborough in Division Four a few years later. Of course, some perspective is needed when assessing how far this side has sunk.
But the people who trekked to outposts like Aldershot, Newport and Halifax or watched Wanderers sell the Embankment at Burnden Park are worried too.
Failed entirely by its leaders, Bolton Wanderers Football Club needs a fresh start, and soon.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
We have had the misfortune of seeing some pretty desperate halves of football this season – Middlesbrough, QPR and Huddersfield to name but a few – while more recent memories of collapses against Reading at the Madejski or Stoke City at Wembley unfortunately still linger.
But the speed at which Wanderers capitulated against Rotherham on Saturday was head spinning and it is little wonder that 1,783 travelling fans rose in unison well before the final whistle to say they have had enough.
Once Grant Ward opened the scoring on 56 minutes the white flag inexplicably went up. Half an hour of embarrassing football later Jonson Clarke-Harris walked through the middle of the defence virtually unopposed to score the fourth; rock bottom had been hit.
Fans made sure the players knew their thoughts: “You’re not fit to wear the shirt” they screamed as Wanderers drew close enough to the South Stand to see they really meant it.
And then anger turned towards the manager. Given unanimous backing from the terraces even through a most depressing start to the season and supported by the board after the club’s name was unnecessarily dragged back through the mud last weekend, this mass show of dissatisfaction felt like a defining moment.
Lennon won’t quit. It is that fiery stubbornness that made him so popular in the first place. He insists he can win this battle but it does not please this reporter to say he’s wrong.
The Northern Irishman has become the only expendable piece in this unfortunate game and even a victory against Blackburn Rovers this afternoon will just be a stay of execution.
Players back him publicly but not with their actions. This was not a team playing for their manager, in fact quite the opposite.
Just as with Sammy Lee, Gary Megson, Owen Coyle and Dougie Freedman the body language tells it all. And though Wanderers were in a more stable financial position to end their tenure, they must accept that relegation is inevitable if they fail to act quickly.
Lennon has done everything he can. Goodness knows what job he was sold on his arrival last October but suffice it to say, this isn’t what it said on the tin.
Wanderers have suffered from poor leadership inside and out for too long. Backing Lennon last week was a bold move, surprising even to some inside the club. The decision seemed financially motivated at the time and one wonders whether those who made it are now regretting it.
The first half at Rotherham was low on quality and low on chances until the final stages.
Darren Pratley’s pass took a deflection and landed at the feet of Emile Heskey on the edge of the box – his pass picked out Zach Clough, who had a clean view of goal but found his shot pushed away athletically by Lee Camp.
Rotherham’s chief threat came down the wings in the form of Grant Ward and Joe Newell; both brought Ben Amos into action before the interval. But it was ex-Wanderers youngster Danny Ward who had the best chance, surging down the middle to see his effort blocked by the Whites keeper.
Ward was cherry picked by Wanderers from Leeds United’s academy in 2007 as Elland Road went into financial meltdown. Oh how things have changed.
At the start of the second half the Whites briefly upped their game. The injured Heskey was replaced by Gary Madine, who instantly made an impact getting on the end of Dean Moxey’s free kick.
Then, total capitulation. Once Tony Andreu teed up Grant Ward to volley through a weak hand from Amos for the opening goal, it was a steep downhill slide.
Amos made a brilliant close range stop from Andreu but could do nothing as Danny Ward strolled through on Newell’s pass to slip in the second.
Newell then helped himself to a third, taking advantage of some non-existent defending. By this time the mood among travelling fans behind the goal had changed significantly.
Jonson Clarke-Harris completed the rout four minutes from time, latching on to a back-heel from Andreu, but Rotherham could have finished with more.
It seems impossible to think the Whites could sink this low again at home to Blackburn today. Even a comprehensive victory would fail to rid us of the bad taste left behind by this result.
Lennon vowed to stay and fight his corner. But it is hard to see what else he can do to arrest the slide, particularly as his options look certain to be diminished in January. The manager appears to be hoping that something will just happen – a knight in shining armour emerging from the distance. But it is that kind of thinking that got the club into their current predicament.
Those with longer memories will tell you it has been worse. Some still recall Rachid Harkouk scoring a six-minute hat-trick for Notts County in a game where Wanderers found themselves 6-0 down at half time in 1984.
Others who sank through the divisions will recall the 4-0 defeat at Scarborough in Division Four a few years later. Of course, some perspective is needed when assessing how far this side has sunk.
But the people who trekked to outposts like Aldershot, Newport and Halifax or watched Wanderers sell the Embankment at Burnden Park are worried too.
Failed entirely by its leaders, Bolton Wanderers Football Club needs a fresh start, and soon.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
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