Bolton Wanderers

Neil Lennon: "I'm not a dictator"

By Steven Toplis, Reporter | 14 October 2014

New Bolton Wanderers manager Neil Lennon assures his players that he is not a dictator, after he bans them from wearing winter hats for training.

New Bolton Wanderers manager Neil Lennon has assured his players that he is not a dictator, after he banned them from wearing winter hats in training.

The Northern Irishman met many members of the Wanderers squad for the first time on Monday, and one of his first acts was to ask players wearing woolly hats to remove them.

However, Lennon has insisted that he will not make unreasonable demands of the players.

"I don't want players training in hats because you don't play football in hats," he told Sky Sports News. "It's just a little thing. Once they run around they're soon pretty warm.

"It's demands, but demands within the realms of their abilities. I'm not going to ask them to do things that they can't do, but I will demand that they come in and train and do things the right way, whether it be training or a match on a Saturday.

"I'm not a bully, I'm not a dictator. I don't work that way because I don't think that's the way you get the best out of players. You have to evolve with the times."

Former Celtic boss Lennon was appointed as Dougie Freedman's successor at the Macron Stadium on Sunday.