After 79 games, 18 wins and more players than you can shake a stick at, Neil Lennon has taken charge of his last game as Bolton Wanderers manager.
The former Celtic boss has left the Championship’s bottom club by mutual consent, leaving behind an 11-point gap to safety and whatever’s left of Jay Spearing.
Given the huge turnover of players at the Macron Stadium – Wanderers have used 28 in the league this season alone – it’s easy to forget the glory days under Sam Allardyce where some of the world’s best came to the North West (albeit a little later in their career).
Following the £7.5m takeover earlier this year, the club’s new owners might look to bring in a club legend, or a cult hero at the very least, to replace Lennon at the helm.
We’re almost spoilt for choice, but we’ve picked out seven former stars who we’d love to see make a triumphant return.
Youri Djorkaeff
One of the first real stars to rock up at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium, as it was known at the time, World Cup winner Djorkaeff added a touch of class and big-game grit to help the club narrowly avoid relegation in 2003.
He’s yet to move into football management, but we can see his experience as patron of a football charity translating well to the task at hand.
Fernando Hierro
There aren’t too many footballers who take semi-retirement in Qatar before returning to Europe to test themselves in the Premier League, but Hierro was no ordinary footballer.
The former Real Madrid captain spent just one season at Bolton after signing from Al-Rayyan, but later moved into coaching with a spell as Carlo Ancelotti’s number two in the Spanish capital. Could he attract some of Los Merengues‘ youngsters if he gets the job?
Ivan Campo
Rumour has it that Campo flew back and forth to Madrid whenever his distinctive haircut needed attending to, and surely that’s the kind of maverick approach the Trotters have been crying out for.
The 42-year-old has gone off the grid somewhat since hanging up his boots in 2010. Perhaps he’s just looking for the right job.
Jay-Jay Okocha
We couldn’t make a list like this without including probably the finest player to ever pull on that famous white shirt.
The one potential problem surrounds how he’d react to Darren Pratley trying to do this in training.
Clip via DidledeeBWFCtube
Mario Jardel
Once regarded among the world’s best strikers, it didn’t work out for Jardel in England. After scoring 53 goals in just 49 games for Sporting in Portugal, the Brazilian managed a big fat zero in the league for Bolton.
But he was on Sporting’s books when Cristiano Ronaldo made his professional debut, so maybe…just maybe…he’s owed a favour by his former team-mate.
Fredi Bobic
One of only three Germans with a Premier League hat-trick to their name (a great one for pub quizzes, that), Bobic helped Allardyce’s team keep their heads above water in 2002 with a first-half treble against Ipswich.
He served as VfB Stuttgart’s director of football for several years before leaving the club in 2014, so there’s every chance he wants to stay in football.
Shola Ameobi
He might have played fewer than 10 games for the club, but Bolton fans love Shola after he offered to play for the club for free.
While the Nigerian international might not be ready to end his playing career right away, perhaps he could be tempted in the summer.
