30 quid a ticket?

We've just a smattering of snow over here and I can feel it in the air. Wrap up kids

East upper. I'm too posh for the Esl

Bit about Lennon and us in the times today. Take it we can't legally copy and paste the whole article?

He could be your dad.

He could be your dad.

Jimmy Saville,

He could be your dad.

 

Got my life size, tin foil FA Cup, I'm ready !!

Radcliffe - M26

 

Marple - SK6

 

Pot and kettle spring to mind young man

 

 

he could move and you would still be a manc

Bit about Lennon and us in the times today. Take it we can't legally copy and paste the whole article?

 

add the link and youre fine

East upper. I'm too posh for the Esl

 

 

me too

 

not happy but you give meldrew one job and end up sat with the unwashed plebs

Sounds like it's an east upper pile on

 

Big E is bringing the party bags

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/article4678278.ece

 

Neil Lennon: I was a child of the Troubles, then I got death threats in Glasgow. After that you can deal with anything

 

xclusive: Neil Lennon, the Bolton manager, is putting his club’s perilous financial position into perspective

Neil Lennon has been drawing on all his innate resilience as his Bolton Wanderers side struggle in the Sky Bet Championship, players and staff are at times owed money by a financially stricken club now selling off a car park to stave off administration. And now Leeds United are in town today, as two famous clubs who have endured tough times collide in the FA Cup.

 

“We’ve tried to create a siege mentality where we say ‘things aren’t going for us, so let’s just stay together and see if we can ride through this really difficult time’,” Lennon says over breakfast in Bolton Whites Hotel at the Macron Stadium. “The players are starting to really respond now.

“People always think in football it’s all about money, money, money. To a certain extent it is the players’ livelihood. They’ve mortgages to pay. They’re not on Premier League wages, particularly some of the younger ones. The senior players rallied around the younger ones, and said: ‘Look, we’ll help you out if you need any help.’ Which is fantastic.

 

“That’s the beauty of human nature: you see a different side to the players, they’re not just machines who go out and play football, buy nice cars and designer clothes. They’re prepared to roll their sleeves up and muck in. The players have been absolutely superb through all this. Not one of them has come knocking on my door, saying: ‘Look, gaffer, I’m not putting up with this. I’m going to go.’

“Last week, when the staff hadn’t got paid, the players, certainly the senior ones, were going to people and saying: ‘Look if you need anything, just let us know.’ That meant a lot to the staff. The staff are the lifeblood of the club. They put their heart and soul into it. This is a community club. It’s wonderful when you win at home and see what it means to so many people. The supporters have been absolutely amazing.

“It has been difficult to become accustomed to it because of the success I had at Celtic. I’ve been through a lot in my life and this is just another challenge that gets me motivated.”

 

Lennon takes his principles of resilience and hard work from his parents growing up in Lurgan, County Armagh. “My parents taught me to treat people the way you want to be treated. I had a really good upbringing, a happy childhood,” he says. “I’m very proud of my family, and the way that through difficult times in the Seventies, and early Eighties, they kept us away from all the Troubles. I was a child of the Troubles. I was born in ’71 and left in ’87, and there was a lot of strife over there, but they kept me well away from all that and well away from the religious divide.

 

“My dad worked in an electronic company but was signed off on disability in 1982. He had a disease of the nerves. He still got up every day with the same positive demeanour, saying, ‘Whatever went on the day before is gone, and today’s a new day.’

 

“He’s a wonderful man, a great role model for me. I’m very, very close to him.”

For guidance and inspiration, Lennon also draws on managers he knows well such as Martin O’Neill and Sam Allardyce. “I had ten years under Martin [at Leicester City and Celtic] and it was fantastic,” the 44-year-old says. “He’s so strong mentally I sometimes wonder how he does it. I saw him at his best again when Ireland qualified [for Euro 2016]. It was real backs-to-the-wall stuff.”

 

“What I admire about Martin and other managers like ‘Big Sam’ is their longevity in the game, the stresses they go through but still come back for more. They must love it. It’s certainly not for money. They are driven individuals who want to make a difference in the game and they certainly do.

 

“I’ve thought about walking away. I had a break after Celtic for six months but I got the itch to get back in after two months. I missed the day-to-day stuff and matchday situations. I spent time with my boy. Oh yes, it was great. That’s a downside of managing: you don’t get to spend enough time with your kids.

“Yet we’re football animals. It’s the only thing I’ve known. There are nights when I think: ‘God, what would I do without football? What would I do without that feeling?’ Any time there’s a game on the TV I want to sit down and watch it, much to the detriment of my partner. I get drawn to it, whoever’s playing. I wonder what the manager is thinking, how’s he feeling? Watching Manchester City against Everton, I saw the two guys [Manuel Pellegrini and Roberto Martínez] on the touchline, thought what emotions they’re going through, and I’m thinking I’d love to be down there.”

 

He feels that British managers are undervalued. “I hope Gary Neville does well in Valencia and sets a marker,” he says. “I’d have no problem going abroad. The Premier League is really difficult to break into. For the likes of British managers, the best way is to get promoted from the Championship. I thought Garry Monk did a brilliant job at Swansea. I know things weren’t going brilliant this season but it wasn’t that bad. So that was a blow. I felt Aston Villa got rid of Tim Sherwood too soon. Maybe they look at foreign managers as the be all and end all and I’m not convinced they are.

“I had great times at Celtic in Europe and domestically. This is a totally different challenge now. If we can keep Bolton in the Championship, then that would be a real achievement as well. Once you’ve been through Glasgow you can deal with anything.”

 

As manager of Celtic, Lennon had death threats and bullets through the post. Suspect packages addressed to him were stopped at sorting offices. “Nothing can compare with that,” he says. “That was, shall we say, an ‘interesting’ aspect of life up there but I was well briefed. The intelligence people up there kept me well informed. They were fantastic. I felt pretty reassured going through that period.

 

“But there were still doubts. There was one stage when I was thinking maybe it’s not worth it. But when you see the players training and you see the players you brought from different parts of the world, and the joy they got out of training and playing, it’s a lot to give up. After the four years, I was ready for a different challenge. I was tired and needed the break. I have no regrets about leaving. Maybe I could have come to a more sound club, on a sounder footing.

“I came here and looked at the stadium, the infrastructure and it was all very good.” Yet the debt of £172.9 million runs deep. Famous clubs do get afflicted. “We are playing Leeds and they don’t come much bigger than Leeds in terms of support,” he says. “When I was growing up in the Seventies, Leeds were one of the best teams in England. They’ve had their problems.

 

“When we came down [in 2012], we kept the main bulk of the squad and the wages were quite hefty. They tried to make a go of getting back up, and that didn’t happen, and have been chasing their tail ever since. When I came here I thought the wage bill was excessive, we have trimmed that right down, but when you lose quality, and can’t replace it, then that becomes difficult from a footballing aspect.

“On the outside people look at the results and go ‘well he’s not doing that great a job’ and I understand that. But we haven’t been able to freshen the team up. I’ve not spent a penny since I came here. We’ve had bids for Mark Davies and Zach Clough, who are two of our more attack-minded and exciting players. I’m really hoping we can hold on to them.

 

“Zach’s really had a meteoric rise. This time last year not many people had heard of him. Now he’s the subject of a £2 million bid from Bristol City. It speaks volumes for his talent. He’s worth more but then people are looking at our situation and thinking maybe they can get the players for less. That’s business.

“From our point of view financially it probably would have been prudent to do the deal, but from a footballing point of view I’m quite pleased that — as we speak — he’s still here. We’ve got a couple more, Josh Vela [a midfielder] and Rob Holding [a defender], who’ve broken into the team from the academy. The club means more to these guys because they’ve come through the ranks.

 

“We are starting to see a bit of light coming through. With the car park sale going through it’s kept the club going. We’re just hoping now there will be a takeover eventually that will secure the long-term future of the club. I do think a lot about morale, the long-term future of the club, and my own future, there is always that uncertainty. There could be a takeover. They may want to bring their own people in. In terms of the present incumbents I’ve had nothing but support.

“The most devastating thing was the illness to Phil [Gartside, the chairman, who stepped away from his duties in November] because me and him are quite close. That was a loss personally as well as professionally. Trevor Birch has come in [as financial adviser] and done a fine job. I speak to Trevor at least three or four times a week and he keeps me up to date on everything. We knew if we got the validation on the car park that would stave off any possibility of administration and gives Trevor, the board and Eddie [Davies, the owner] more time to make a decision on who’s going to take over.”

 

The cup is a welcome distraction. “It’s a tie which is winnable and then who knows what the next round will bring?” he says. “But we still have to negotiate Leeds, which is going to be tough enough because Steve [Evans] has really steadied the ship there.”

 

He promises there will be no “touchline friction” today. “I’m a bit more mellow than I used to be,” he says. “There was so much pressure at Celtic, in my first and second years, and I found myself sitting in the stands a couple of times because I overstepped the mark. When I first came in, my temper would flare now and again but I’m not too sure the modern-day player gets all that. You have to modify your approach.’’ But the resilience remains.

How today’s FA Cup opponents have fallen on hard times — on and off the field

Bolton Wanderers

 

Classic match: Bolton 1 Arsenal 0, Reebok Stadium, Barclays Premier League, January 15, 2005

 

Stelios Giannakopoulos’s header was enough to earn a win that was the highlight of a seven-match winning streak. Bolton finished sixth that season, only three points off a Champions League position, and qualified for the Uefa Cup.

 

Average home league attendance 2004-05: 26,006.

Last season: 14,680.

 

Manager 2004-05: Sam Allardyce.

Permanent managers since: Five.

 

Finances: Year ending June 2005 Bolton posted turnover of £53.1 million; Year ending June 2014 Bolton’s turnover was £31 million. Debt stood at £172.9 million.

 

In short: With Eddie Davies, their longstanding benefactor, no longer willing to bankroll the club, Bolton are in a race against time to secure a new buyer or find the short-term funds to stave off the threat of a winding up order and administration. The sale of players and assets, such as the club’s Euxton training ground in addition to car park space around the Macron Stadium, are possible.

Leeds United

 

Classic match: Leeds 3 Deportivo La Coruna 0, Elland Road, Champions League quarter-final, first leg, April 4, 2001

 

Goals from Ian Harte, Alan Smith and Rio Ferdinand that night were enough to send Leeds into a Champions League semi-final against Valencia, despite a 2-0 defeat in the second leg. A 0-0 draw at home was followed by a 3-0 defeat away to the Spanish club.

 

Average home league attendance 2004-05: 37,866.

Last season: 24,276.

 

Manager 2004-05: David O’Leary.

Permanent managers since: 13.

 

Finances: Year ending June 2001 Leeds posted turnover of £86.3 million; Year ending June 2014 Leeds’s turnover was £25.3 million.

 

In short: Few, if any, clubs in England have endured such a spectacular fall from grace as Leeds. Their story has been a lesson in how clubs should not be run.

 

Words by James Ducker

decent read and i still waqnt him to be with us in this league next season

 

this para is noteworthy

 

 

“The most devastating thing was the illness to Phil [Gartside, the chairman, who stepped away from his duties in November] because me and him are quite close. That was a loss personally as well as professionally. Trevor Birch has come in [as financial adviser] and done a fine job. I speak to Trevor at least three or four times a week and he keeps me up to date on everything. We knew if we got the validation on the car park that would stave off any possibility of administration and gives Trevor, the board and Eddie [Davies, the owner] more time to make a decision on who’s going to take over.”

Looking forward to this. LoV for me, no Yorkshire twat sitting in my seat.

 

I'll be wearing my lucky coat again. One appearance, one win so far.

decent read and i still waqnt him to be with us in this league next season

 

this para is noteworthy

it is for those loons who thought Gartside was right as rain.

Unless Lennon is part of the conspiracy.......

Looking forward to this. LoV for me, no Yorkshire twat sitting in my seat.

 

I'll be wearing my lucky coat again. One appearance, one win so far.

That Lonsdale one you got the other week?

That Lonsdale one you got the other week?

That's the one. I've ditched the now unlucky Donnay socks though.

Me and three others are scaling the dizzy heights of ESU, rest assured we will lower the tone.

On a bus from Bolton train station full of Leeds, oh the joy ????????

That's the one. I've ditched the now unlucky Donnay socks though.

I'm wearing my lucky golddigga trackie. This game is all but won!

NLSWA

I'm wearing my lucky golddigga trackie. This game is all but won!

The purple velour one? You look fit in that.

The purple velour one? You look fit in that.

yeh, ta. I think it's the appliqué wording across my arse that is slimming

Me and the lad also in ESU. He's just written the Mrs car off so we're having a great day so far.

We've just a smattering of snow over here and I can feel it in the air. Wrap up kids

I'm wearing my ski jacket. Not that I've ever skiid, but it's like being wrapped in a duvet.

Off subject a little, the girl who just served me at Scotts bar is bloody gorgeous, just thought i would throw that in, thanks for your attention

Off subject a little, the girl who just served me at Scotts bar is bloody gorgeous, just thought i would throw that in, thanks for your attention

 

Rules

I'm wearing my ski jacket. Not that I've ever skiid, but it's like being wrapped in a duvet.

make sure you put your moon boots on too. It's hailstoning