This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/12/neil-lennon-bolton-wanderers

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Neil Lennon appointed Bolton Wanderers manager Neil Lennon appointed Bolton Wanderers manager
(about 4 hours later)
Bolton Wanderers hope to parade their new manager on Monday, after Neil Lennon was named as Dougie Freedman’s successor. Neil Lennon’s dug-out absence will be confined to just six months after the Northern Irishman was confirmed as the new manager of Bolton Wanderers.
Freedman was sacked at the start of this month after almost two years in the role, with the team rooted to the foot of the Championship. Tony Mowbray, Steve Clarke and Chris Hughton were among those linked with the Lancashire club but it is Lennon who has been handed the post six months after leaving Celtic. Lennon, who will be paraded in Lancashire on Monday, has signed a three-year deal with the club who sit at the foot of the Championship. The news may be of disappointment to Fulham, who it is believed had identified Lennon as a leading candidate for their own vacant managerial role.
“The club are delighted and excited to appoint Neil Lennon. He brings with him experience at the highest level and an infectious enthusiasm to take the club forward,” read a club statement. After initial talks last week, Lennon accepted his new position after detailed discussions with Bolton’s owner Eddie Davies and the chairman Phil Gartside on Saturday. Steve Clarke and Chris Hughton were the other leading contenders for the post which was vacated by Dougie Freedman at the beginning of October.
Lennon will be joined at the club by assistant manager Johan Mjallby and the first-team coach Garry Parker. “Following a process of first and second interviews with a shortlist of initial candidates, a unanimous decision was taken by Eddie Davies, [vice-chairman] Brett Warburton and Phil Gartside,” said Bolton in a statement. “The club are delighted and excited to appoint Neil Lennon. He brings with him experience at the highest level and an infectious enthusiasm to take the club forward.”
Lennon was approached by the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad within the past fortnight but opted against a move to the Middle East. He was also believed to be in the frame to replace Felix Magath at Fulham but it was Bolton who moved quicker to secure the Northern Irishman. Lennon departed Celtic in May, after four years at the club he had earlier captained and the claiming of three titles in a row. He believed he had taken the club as far as he could, with Lennon also increasingly disillusioned with the Scottish football scene. The 43-year-old’s coaching staff from that Celtic reign, Johan Mjallby and Garry Parker, will join him at Bolton.
As the manager of Celtic, Lennon won three Scottish titles in a row and two Scottish Cups. His reign will perhaps be best remembered for the run to the last 16 of the Champions League in 2012-13, which included a memorable win over Barcelona in Glasgow. Bolton have won only five points from 11 league games, having won just a single match. Their next one is away to fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday. The club statement added: “The extensive list of high calibre applicants demonstrated how those candidates viewed the opportunity to manage the club, even in its present position at the bottom of the Championship table.”
Reports at the end of last week claimed Lennon was on the verge of taking up a lucrative coaching position in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad. He didn’t, as was claimed, travel to speak with the club as Bolton’s interest in Lennon’s services became more serious.
Lennon’s initial task is to improve Bolton’s league position, which is on account of just one win in 11 league games. He is unlikely to be handed vast transfer sums, with the club still counting the cost of over-spending before relegation from the Premier League two years ago. Bolton haven’t so much as reached the play-offs during the intervening seasons, with that added to a dismal start to this campaign the trigger for Freedman’s exit.