Wilson deepens Bolton’s woe
LIFE after Dougie Freedman proved no easier for Bolton as they succumbed to ten-man Bournemouth – but playercoach Andrew Hughes is convinced the Trotters will escape their relegation fight.
Freedman left Wanderers by mutual consent on Friday and, on the pitch, Callum Wilson’s second-half double sandwiched Jay Spearing’s equaliser after Yann Kermorgant saw a first-half red card.
But Hughes – who oversaw the game with goalkeeping coach Lee Turner for the Championship’s basement club – believes that the Bolton hotseat is an attractive proposition.
He said:“There’s only one way for this club and it’s up and this club will stay up.
“I’m sure there’s going to be some high-class managers out of work looking at this job chomping at the bits because if I was a high-class manager with this facility, the training ground, the academy, the town, the fans, I would be.
“He’s getting a driven, hungry bunch that are ready to work hard for the town, work hard for each other and first and foremost work hard for themselves.
“We need to win and we need to get someone in that’s going to lift the bunch which I think were lifted today.
“It was not what I would have wanted with the result, no, but everything else, yes – energy, endeavour, honesty, senior players leading and also the biggest one for me the fans getting behind their team.”
Bolton stopper Andrew Lonergan produced a diving save to stop Matt Ritchie’s 18th minute left-footed effort.
Kermorgant was unlucky not to give the Cherries the lead with a curling 31st minute free-kick that Dorian Dervite headed clear off the line.
But he was shown a straight 36th minute red card by Andre Marriner after catching Mark Davies with a high boot.
With their extra man, the Trotters were inches away from taking the lead after Jermaine Beckford’s 39th minute effort trickled just wide.
The Cherries took a surprise lead moments after the restart when Simon Francis cut back for Wilson who jinked past two Bolton defenders to slot home from an acute angle.
Spearing drew Bolton level after collecting the ball centrally and unleashing a ferocious 30yard 52nd minute effort that caught Artur Boruc out.
Craig Davies was denied by a combination of the woodwork and Tommy Elphick’s intervention as his 57th minute effort flicked off the post.
But Wilson grabbed his second against the run of play after he got away from Dervite and Matt Mills to finish clinically past Lonergan.
Cherries boss Eddie Howe had no complaints with Kermorgant’s dismissal but praised his side’s reaction to the sending off.
“The biggest compliment I can pay the players is we had a man less but we passed the ball the same and that’s not easy,” he said.
“Fair play to how they reacted and how they played because I actually forgot second-half that we were down to ten men.
“When you go away from home it’s difficult enough with 11 so to end up with ten in a game we were dominating was hugely frustrating. You did fear that would be the turning point in the game against us but it didn’t really affect us too negatively.”