‘I know I’m young, but I’m cheap,’ said Thomas Fielding as he tried to convince board he could whip unfit footballers into shape

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A football-loving schoolboy applied for the job of Bolton Wanderers manager – telling the chairman the players were slow, unfit and overweight.

Thomas Fielding, nine, a season-ticket holder at the Macron stadium, asked for the job when the struggling club parted company with Dougie Freedman last month.

After his honest assessment of the players, Thomas added: “I know that I am young but I am cheap”.

Despite listing his own football experience with Oxford Grove under-10s, and ending his letter “BWFC Rulse”, the board instead appointed Neil Lennon, the former international and double-title-winning ex-Glasgow Celtic manager.

But Thomas’s disappointment was tempered by a surprise visit from Lennon to the boy’s football training session.

The manager told bwfc.co.uk: “His letter was very similar to the one I sent in – it’s just his had better handwriting.”

The championship club currently stand just above the relegation places.