Bolton An Example To Follow - Woodward

By Mark Heys
February 10 2006

Former England rugby boss Sir Clive Woodward has called for Championship side Southampton to follow the lead set by Bolton Wanderers.

The Southampton director of football is currently responsible for searching for new innovative methods to take the club forward and he says that whilst the Saints cannot compete on a financial footing with the richer clubs they can at least take some heart from what Sam Allardyce has achieved with a so-called unfashionable Wanderers team.

"We might not be able to compete with the very rich clubs but we should be able to compete with the likes of Bolton, who have made huge strides in this area," said Woodward to the Southampton official site

"Sam Allardyce deserves a huge pat on the back because he has gone into sports science in a big way and that has helped them punch above their weight. They are just so far ahead, they have 22 staff just on the sports science side of things".

"I am not suggesting we copy them because if you copy people you come second. We have to look at anything which could give us an advantage and move us forward." he added

Woodward successfully lead the England Rugby Team to World Cup success in Australia in November 2003 but his role in football has often been the subject of much debate in recent times.