Kevin Davies believes Neil Lennon is capable of leading Bolton Wanderers back into the Premier League in the near future.
Having sacked Dougie Freedman earlier this month due to a horrendous start to the season, the Lancashire club turned to Lennon as his replacement. And with three league titles and two Scottish Cups to his name from his spell in charge of Celtic, the appointment of the 43-year-old raised expectations amongst supporters that he can help the Trotters climb the table.
Lennon’s spell began with a 1-0 win at Birmingham City, which was followed on Tuesday with a narrow defeat at Charlton Athletic. Bolton remain in the relegation zone in the early Championship table, three points from safety and 14 from a playoff position. But club legend Davies, who spent a decade at the club, is confident they now have the right man to take them forward.
“Lennon will do a fantastic job,” said Davies, who made over 350 league outings for the club. “I wasn’t surprised at his appointment because Bolton is a fantastic club. They have fantastic history, a fantastic stadium, great fans and the training ground is excellent, so is the academy – it’s all set for the Premier League. Three of their next four games are at home so they’ve got a great opportunity to get out of the bottom three and I expect them to do so. Bolton is a Premier League club.”
Lennon will expect his side to get back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon, when they welcome Brentford to the Macron Stadium. This will be the former Northern Ireland international’s first home match in charge, and the first meeting between the two sides since Bolton triumphed 3-2 at Griffin Park in a League Cup second round clash way back in October 1995.
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