Bruce Rioch

David Lee, The mighty Atom Speaks to Manny Road

Friday, April 16th, 2010 | Andy Walker, BWFC Goals, BWFC News, Bruce Rioch, Tony Kelly | 1 Comment

David Lee speaks to bwfcforum & Manny Road
Those of us of a certain age will have been fortune enough to have witnessed the rise following the fall of BWFC; from the dark depths of the Football league into the bright lights of the Premier League. Along that journey we saw some great players, great teams and great games and David Lee was at the forefront of that resurgence. After much nervous discussion we managed to secure his signature (albeit initially on loan) and his impact was instantaneous. He had pace, desire and a knack of making full backs wish they hadn’t bothered to come into work that day. He is now Bolton’s Assistant Academy Director.
He spoke to bwfcforum’s James Derbyshire:
You joined Bolton in 1992 from Southampton, did coming back to the North West play a big factor in wanting to move to Bolton?
It did yes, I had an indifferent time down at Southampton, I never really settled. When you’re a footballer you want to be playing regularly in the first team and I’d gone down with all expectations of being a regular, unfortunately things didn’t really work out for me. While I was down there, Bruce Rioch came to watch me play in a reserve game and gave me the invitation to come back and play in the north-west. To come and play back in the north-west was great, and obviously to come and play for Bolton Wanderers was just an added bonus.
You mentioned Bruce Rioch, what was he like to work with?
He was excellent. He is a disciplinarian, you knew what he wanted from you, he got every ounce of effort from you, and as long as you gave 100% regardless of whether you played good, bad or indifferent, he would stick by you. You’re not always able to play well every week but if you give 100% commitment that was what Bruce was looking for and he certainly got the best out of me. › Continue reading