Jimmy Phillips has faith in the future

In fact, considering the financial woes faced by the club this season and the doubts which still remain about its future, his prediction borders on the fantastical.

But Phillips has complete faith in the club he has served for 28 years as player, coach and interim manager and recalls a time when similar questions were being asked about the direction in which the Whites were heading.

At the turn of the millennium Sam Allardyce returned to Bolton and got players, staff and fans to buy into his vision of top-flight football and European competition.

And that is why Phillips believes the next manager at Wanderers needs to be equally compelling with his argument the club is not necessarily consigned to the wilderness after relegation this season.

“The club is at a low right now, and I would be foolish to suggest otherwise,” he told The Bolton News. “But I have been around long enough to know there have been difficult times before.

“Confidence drops in any losing team. But that can change quickly and sometimes all it needs is the right person to come in, say the right things, bring in the right types.

“It will be a huge challenge for the new manager but it’s achievable.

“I remember sitting in a staff meeting about 14 years ago with the club in the Championship and they were saying our aspirations were a top-eight finish with aspirations of European football.

“Anyone else in that meeting might have thought we were all mad but that was the dream, that was the ambition and that was the mentality of the staff at the time. It was all headed up by Sam Allardyce, obviously, but that is what they wanted to achieve and with that they managed to drag the players along on the journey.

“Now we’re in that situation again. We need someone to pick up the baton and say to the players ‘this has been done before’ because that is the challenge.”

The signs are that Wanderers will be pursuing a manager or management team who know League One and who will be willing to work with a tight budget, at least in the short term.

Phillips has never ruled himself in or out of the equation in public but the more he discusses the management role, the more he talks about the next man in charge in the third person.

“It will be a great job for someone, I am sure of that,” he said. “Whoever comes in will be a lucky man because whatever has happened at the club recently there is still a lot going for the place.”

The last time Phillips took temporary charge, before the arrival of Dougie Freedman, fans were calling for him to get the nod.

This time, the situation faced by the academy boss has been near-enough irretrievable. But despite the odds being stacked against him, it is clear Phillips’ pride has been stung by the lack of results gained in his tenure.

“It was a case of trying to make the best of what we had,” he said. “I thought we’d have more points on the board. To have avoided relegation would have been a tall order but it is what it is, we can’t change that.

“We have worked hard to try and find a formation that suited the players we have left. We’ve tried different personnel, different tactics, we’ve used the whole squad to a degree but it hasn’t happened.

“We have given some young players a chance, some took it and some didn’t do anywhere near as well as we thought they would.”

Having given the likes of Oscar Threlkeld, Niall Maher, Alex Finney, Tom Walker and Alex Samizadeh an opportunity on the first-team stage, it now remains to be seen whether Dean Holdsworth, Ken Anderson or the potential new manager feels they are due a place in the squad next season.

“I suppose it depends on who is watching these games,” he said.

“It would appear the bigger earners won’t be here next season or that those out of contract will not be kept on; that’s not my decision, it just seems common sense.

“It will be up to the manager to decide which of the players who are contracted for the next year or two years he wants to keep on.

“A meeting took place between us, the players and Ken Anderson where he asked the lads to put their cards on the table. If they wanted to stay, fair enough, if they wanted to leave, come forward.

“They certainly haven’t come forward to me but then I’d expect they would contact Dean or Ken because they are running the show.”