Johan Mjallby wants Bolton to move on from 'disappointing' Championship campiagn
Monday 4 May 2015 11:05, UK
Bolton assistant Johan Mjallby has termed their Sky Bet Championship campaign "disappointing" but wants the Wanderers' management team to be judged after a full pre-season.
Mjallby was part of the backroom staff Neil Lennon brought with him when he was hired to take over the toiling Trotters back in October.
The Trotters lost just three of Lennon's first 17 fixtures to drag themselves clear of relegation trouble but, with injuries mounting, their season has tailed off and they have recorded just four wins since January.
Mjallby is frustrated that Bolton did not build on the initial fillip they experienced under Lennon and he has challenged the players to put themselves in the play-off picture comes 2015-16.
"It's been a disappointing season," said the Swede.
"We're not really happy that we haven't progressed more. It starts in day one in pre-season after the summer. We have to improve in a lot of areas and we hope to freshen up the squad and get a few new boys in as well.
"You always try to set your standards high. We were in a very poor position when we came in.
"Obviously, the first target was that we got out of the relegation zone, which we did quite quickly, and we had a really good run. But after Christmas we hit a brick wall, down to injuries, down to bad form and a few bad performances.
"We always aim high and next season we want to be around the play-off positions. We know we have a lot of hard work to do in all areas - fitness, physicality, the football and trying to get the players in for next season as well."
Lennon and his backroom staff will get their first chance to work with the Bolton players during a pre-season this summer and that will give Mjallby and Co the opportunity to build and develop a unit in their style.
"The only defence we have is we came in after 11 games," Mjallby added of this season.
"It's obviously hard to change things too much, even if you still have 30-plus games to work until the end of the season.
"We should be judged on what's going to happen in this season coming now. We have a chance to build a team that we can stand behind and say, 'This is our team' and if they don't do well enough, then, yes, blame us."
