Former Wanderers talisman Adam Le Fondre says Neil Lennon’s “belief” was a major factor in his decision to first join the Whites.
Le Fondre initially headed to Bolton on loan from Cardiff in January 2015 and enjoyed a successful spell, scoring eight goals during the second half of the campaign.
The forward revealed that he had an opportunity to join Huddersfield but couldn’t turn down the chance to play for Lennon after a conversation with the then-Wanderers boss.
“We were at Middlesbrough away,” he told the Wanderers Way Podcast. “I had started the games before it and someone from the club came up to me at the airport – ‘You can go out on loan if you want’.
“I spoke to my agent and we went up to Middlesbrough, I drove back home after the game. On the Wednesday, Chris Powell rang up and I had a really good conversation with him about joining Huddersfield.
“Then I spoke to Lenny, that was a funny conversation! I needed to hear what he had to say to me, he was very positive about me and I always say it about him, he sort of rejuvenated me.
“Chris Powell was very calm, composed and said all the right things. I spoke to Lenny and he was an excited kid. He was like, ‘You’re not going anywhere, you are coming here, you are playing for me’.
“I needed to hear that because my ego was probably a bit bruised from Cardiff and not scoring goals there consistently. I thought, ‘I want a bit of this’.
“He said, ‘I have been trying to sign you for ages, when I heard you were available it was like Christmas’. I was like, ‘I need to sign for you, I can’t sign for anyone else’.
“It didn’t matter, it could have been playing for anyone but the way he spoke to me, I was like, ‘This guy has the most confidence in me ever, I need that’.”
He then got on the scoresheet in the following games against Watford and Nottingham Forest, building momentum for a strong end to the campaign.
“We played against Fulham on a Tuesday and I scored my goal, it was a massive relief for me. After that, I just didn’t look back,” the 38-year-old recalled.
“Every game I would go into with the sort of confidence… not to say I didn’t have confidence at Cardiff.
“But I knew I was going to get the opportunities I am accustomed to at Bolton, and I had one million per cent belief from Lenny and the staff that they had the right person up front to take the chances they created.
“Bolton at that point created a hell of a lot of chances. I have watched a few of the games back that I played in and I’m thinking, ‘How have I not got five in this game?’
“I would come off with a goal and think I could have had a hat trick. That was the sort of thing I fed off at that point and that spell, for me, I didn’t want to play for another club after leaving Bolton. I wanted to come back.”
Le Fondre headed back to Cardiff after his loan finished and despite his desperation to return to Wanderers, the move never materialised.
Spells at Wolves and Wigan followed before the forward finally got his wish, re-joining the Whites under Phil Parkinson in January 2017.
He was excited to play alongside Zach Clough again, unaware that the youngster was heading to Nottingham Forest.
Le Fondre took a bit of time to get back up to speed but soon got back to his best form, scoring five goals in as many games.
“It was sort of drawn out with Bolton at that time,” he explained. “They were in financial constraints and could only get embargo players [loans or free agents].
“It went down to the wire, they were saying all window they were going to come and sign me. The last day, I am driving over as everything is pretty much agreed.
“I rang Cloughy – ‘Cloughy, we are back’. ‘Oh, we are not. I’m going Forest’. He had gone so I could come.
“I guess it was sort of proving myself again at Bolton. I had come from a spell where I had not played and I don’t think Bolton saw the best of me until the Wimbledon game at home, where I started to feel myself again. I played really well and didn’t score but affected the game.”
His first goals back at Wanderers came in a 4-2 victory at Fleetwood in which Kyle Dempsey was on target for the opposition.
“When I started feeling like myself again, I could start to perform like myself again and the Fleetwood game was a real catalyst,” Le Fondre added.
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