THERE’S something wordly-wise about Wanderers’ new signing Ben Amos.

As someone who grew from boy to man in the intense surroundings of Old Trafford, and who could count on the advice of goalkeeping great Edwin van der Sar as a teen, it is little wonder that such a wise head sits on young shoulders.

At 25, Amos has a career’s worth of experience on which to draw and a list of world class former colleagues whose opinion he could seek.

It is easy to forget, however, that this is a defining stage of his career, the summer in which he cut the apron strings at Manchester United and decided to strike out alone.

But there is not an ounce of uncertainty about the quietly-spoken Macclesfield native when he sits down to speak; surely the kind of assuredness that Neil Lennon will hope spreads across his back four this season.

I managed to catch up with Amos twice over the summer, the first huddled in a dugout avoiding the blazing sun in the Austrian hills, the second in pitch darkness as a chilly Vale Park closed for the night.

While the backdrops differed, Amos’s calm demeanour did not. And as he prepared to go it alone after 14 years under the wing of United, he insists he won’t be looking back in regret.

“It is a strange thing really,” he told The Bolton News. “There hasn’t been as much emotion as you might expect.

“I’d been at United for such a long time and friends and family asked me how I felt on the last day I went in, knowing I wouldn’t be going back. But to be honest, I knew deep down I was ready to kick on.

“For a while I’ve known I had to starting playing every week. And that it wasn’t going to happen at Manchester United.

“So when the time came to leave I wouldn’t say I was liberated but I knew it was the right time to cut ties and get on with it.”

Goalkeepers, as a group, tend to be different to deal with than the outfield players; they can seem intense and driven, like Jussi Jaaskelainen, thoughtful and self-depreciating, like Andy Lonergan, or mildly eccentric, and relaxed to the point of being horizontal, as Adam Bogdan often was when dealing with the press.

Amos sits more at Jaaskelainen’s end of the scale, each response measured and considered.

Just a few days into their Austrian training camp came the news that Lee Turner, the club’s goalkeeping coach for the last few years, would be leaving for Charlton.

As someone who had worked with the Londoner on loan last year, it might have been a difficult thing to take so soon after arriving at a new club.

Yet Amos comes across as someone with a grand plan for himself, perhaps honed from several seasons watching and waiting patiently in the wings at United as some of the world’s best went about their work.

“I’ve always made a conscious effort to learn from the older players, like Edwin van der Sar, and some of the other characters around the place, how they dealt with things playing at that level,” Amos said.

“That will always be with me and I’ll be able to draw from my experiences at United whenever I need them.

“I like to think I learned good habits. I look after myself the best I can – so hopefully I can play until I’m 40 or more.

“I’ve started to do things now that a lot of goalkeepers only start to worry about in a panic at 35 so they can play on longer, hopefully that will stand me in good stead.

“It’s all too boring to explain. Body alignments, dieting has gone quite advanced, compression after training, it won’t make a very good story – but if I want to keep my body right, it needs to be done.”

When Amos arrived on loan from United last season as an emergency measure, it was hard to think he would be going into the following season as Wanderers’ number one.

Bogdan had just picked up an injury but Lonergan was in the form of his Bolton career – the battle to be first choice in Lennon’s first full campaign seemed to be a two-horse race.

Fate changed on the day Wanderers crashed 4-1 at Nottingham Forest. Lonergan was stretchered off with a concussion after conceding a penalty and Amos was thrust into his first competitive action in more than 12 months.

No stranger to having to prove himself out on loan – there had been five previous temporary moves – he went about his business in the most professional manner possible, conceding no more than a single goal in his nine appearances.

Wanderers attempted to talk Bogdan into staying but once the Hungarian’s head was turned by Liverpool, Lennon was only too happy to renew acquaintance.

Amos feels the manager’s no-nonsense style could serve the Whites well this season, when improvement is a must.

“There will never be any complacency when he’s about,” he said. “He is striving to get Bolton back up where they should be. You could say he’s old school but he gets a response from players and gets them doing what he wants. We’ll be fit going into this season, that’s for sure.

“I don’t think anyone has set targets, although aiming higher than last season is an obvious one.

“I’m not sure you can ever tell whether you’ve succeeded or failed until the end of the season when you look back over results and performances, whether you’ve over-achieved or under-achieved as a group.

“For me it’s about getting my head down and playing some football. What other people are saying or predicting, I can’t have much control over it.”

As the floodlights started to power down in the Potteries, I asked Amos whether Wanderers really can give their fans something to look forward to after what has been an uncertain old summer of off-the-field issues.

Amos doesn’t strike me as someone to pay lip service – so it was refreshing to think that he felt they could.

“I genuinely look at the players we’ve got in the squad and there is quality there,” he said. “Last season was last season, and what happens off the field shouldn’t distract you from what is happening on it.

“We’ve got lads back in the squad over the last few weeks that can make a real difference. I hope it will be better this year, with regard to injuries, because it was difficult to cope.

“But there is a good mood among the players and we think we’ve got a shot.

“I came here because I think we can progress. Everyone in this division is looking towards the Premier League and we’re no different.”