In his own words: Jimmy Phillips post-Fulham

Post-game quotes from interim manager following final day defeat at Craven Cottage

Jimmy Phillips spoke to the media following Bolton’s final day defeat at Fulham.

A solitary Tom Cairney goal was enough to secure victory for the hosts, as a thoroughly disappointing campaign came to an end in West London.

And speaking in his post-match press conference after the game, Phillips covered the below points.

On the performance…
I don’t think we ever really got going. We relied upon Ben Amos in goal to make a series of great saves and he kept us in the game. It was going to take something special to beat him today and Tom Cairney did that. It was disappointing that we never really gave our fans anything to cheer about. 

On Rob Holding’s absence from the matchday squad…
I asked by the board of directors on Friday to leave him out of the squad. I believe there is interest in him from other clubs, but that’s all I know. Of course we wanted to play him because you want to have your best players in the team, but on this occasion it was out of our hands.

On Oscar Threlkeld’s return to the team…
We started with Oscar in front of the back four and then moved him into central defence. He’s obviously spent his youth career playing in the back four, so it is something he is accustomed to. He got his opportunity with Rob missing the game and I thought he did very well.

On the travelling away fans…
They were fantastic today. It’s a real shame we didn’t give them something to go home happy with. They were loud all game and had a sense of humour about them. They deserve a lot of credit after going through the season with very little to shout about.

On the period ahead…
In my opinion, we need to get things sorted in the next few weeks. From what I’ve heard, that is in place and the wheels are in motion. It is going to be a big and important summer and the club has to get it right. It’s vital we look to get the transfer embargo lifted so whoever is in charge can look to get some players in.

On his role as interim manager…
I was asked to do nine games and over the course of this period I was certainly hoping for a better return in terms of points. That has been a big disappointment for myself, Peter Reid and Nicky Spooner.

On the season as a whole…
It has been a really disappointing season, there’s no shying away from that. As I’ve said previously, the one positive we can take out of the season is that we’ve still got a football club, albeit as a League One club next season.

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