Home
Wanderers fans may have watched Jermaine Beckford fire Preston North End towards Wembley this week and feel just a little hard done by.
The out-of-contract striker, on whom Dougie Freedman had placed so much faith two years earlier when he signed him on a lucrative deal from Leicester City, had rarely looked so sharp in a Bolton shirt.
Jettisoned quickly to League One by Neil Lennon after a brief run in the first team, few mourned Beckford’s departure in November. Yet the 31-year-old seems a man reborn since moving up the M61, and could yet be heading back to the Championship next season.
Beckford’s two stunning goals against Chesterfield on Sunday booked a play-off final date with Swindon Town, who overcame Sheffield United 7-6 on aggregate after a jaw-dropping 5-5 draw a day later.
And by the time the final is played in a fortnight, the striker’s exit at Wanderers should be confirmed.
Should Preston succeed in the final, sources at Preston claim Simon Grayson will push hard to find the finances to make his stay a permanent one.
But considering the investment made in the last two years, Bolton fans may legitimately ask what went wrong for the former Leeds United man, who never seemed a good fit for two successive managers.
Beckford may have dropped his own clue, speaking to journalists after winning the semi-final against Chesterfield.
“I’m playing in a team which appreciates how I play and I appreciate how they like to play,” he said – perhaps referring to a two-year stay at Wanderers where he rarely got a chance to forge a partnership as effective as the one he currently shares with Joe Garner.
Often played as a lone striker by both Freedman and Lennon, the image of Beckford turning to acknowledge another fruitless chase to a long ball is often joked about on the terraces at the Macron.
He finished his first season at Wanderers as top scorer yet rarely seemed to fire as regularly as Freedman, or the fans, had hoped.
Freedman knew Beckford from his time as a player at Leeds and was not shy of giving him public praise during a lukewarm first season at the club.
Nine goals – including a purple patch of five goals in six games in October and November – represented a solid, if unspectacular return, especially considering much of the campaign had been spent as the thankless focal point of Freedman’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
Beckford had gelled well with another former team-mate, Neil Danns, but never got the help up front he needed.
The following season he was starved of opportunities. Two goals at Crewe in the Capital One Cup proved a false dawn and his ill-advised thumbs-up to the Leeds fans with his side a goal down at Elland Road evaporated any goodwill left within the Wanderers support.
He was suddenly looking like an expensive mistake. But it seemed the slate had been wiped clean when incoming boss Lennon singled the striker out in his first press conference.
Just four starts later, the Northern Irishman had changed tack altogether, sending Beckford packing to Deepdale with head-spinning speed to make way for the incoming Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Back in League One, where he had been so prolific for Leeds, Beckford made a fairly slow start. Three goals in 13 games fell well short of expectation.
Out of the blue, however, Beckford found himself sidelined with a mysterious illness that left him bed-ridden, struggling to see, and even considering retirement.
Five weeks later he made a playing return, and this time the goals flowed.
Going into the play-off final Beckford has scored 11 goals in his last 17 games and, according to his former Leeds boss Grayson, is at the top of his form.
“Jermaine knows how we work and we know how he works,” he told the Lancashire Evening Post.
“I think the one thing you have to do with him is make sure he is enjoying his football and is happy.
“You put your arm around him, tell him how good a footballer he is.
“While it is Jermaine’s goals we talk about, his all-round work rate for the team must be acknowledged too.
“That has been fantastic and is a big part of what we have done here.”
Good news for Preston, not so for Wanderers, who may feel a tinge of bitterness as they end a lucrative deal with the striker this summer.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The out-of-contract striker, on whom Dougie Freedman had placed so much faith two years earlier when he signed him on a lucrative deal from Leicester City, had rarely looked so sharp in a Bolton shirt.
Jettisoned quickly to League One by Neil Lennon after a brief run in the first team, few mourned Beckford’s departure in November. Yet the 31-year-old seems a man reborn since moving up the M61, and could yet be heading back to the Championship next season.
Beckford’s two stunning goals against Chesterfield on Sunday booked a play-off final date with Swindon Town, who overcame Sheffield United 7-6 on aggregate after a jaw-dropping 5-5 draw a day later.
And by the time the final is played in a fortnight, the striker’s exit at Wanderers should be confirmed.
Should Preston succeed in the final, sources at Preston claim Simon Grayson will push hard to find the finances to make his stay a permanent one.
But considering the investment made in the last two years, Bolton fans may legitimately ask what went wrong for the former Leeds United man, who never seemed a good fit for two successive managers.
Beckford may have dropped his own clue, speaking to journalists after winning the semi-final against Chesterfield.
“I’m playing in a team which appreciates how I play and I appreciate how they like to play,” he said – perhaps referring to a two-year stay at Wanderers where he rarely got a chance to forge a partnership as effective as the one he currently shares with Joe Garner.
Often played as a lone striker by both Freedman and Lennon, the image of Beckford turning to acknowledge another fruitless chase to a long ball is often joked about on the terraces at the Macron.
He finished his first season at Wanderers as top scorer yet rarely seemed to fire as regularly as Freedman, or the fans, had hoped.
Freedman knew Beckford from his time as a player at Leeds and was not shy of giving him public praise during a lukewarm first season at the club.
Nine goals – including a purple patch of five goals in six games in October and November – represented a solid, if unspectacular return, especially considering much of the campaign had been spent as the thankless focal point of Freedman’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
Beckford had gelled well with another former team-mate, Neil Danns, but never got the help up front he needed.
The following season he was starved of opportunities. Two goals at Crewe in the Capital One Cup proved a false dawn and his ill-advised thumbs-up to the Leeds fans with his side a goal down at Elland Road evaporated any goodwill left within the Wanderers support.
He was suddenly looking like an expensive mistake. But it seemed the slate had been wiped clean when incoming boss Lennon singled the striker out in his first press conference.
Just four starts later, the Northern Irishman had changed tack altogether, sending Beckford packing to Deepdale with head-spinning speed to make way for the incoming Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Back in League One, where he had been so prolific for Leeds, Beckford made a fairly slow start. Three goals in 13 games fell well short of expectation.
Out of the blue, however, Beckford found himself sidelined with a mysterious illness that left him bed-ridden, struggling to see, and even considering retirement.
Five weeks later he made a playing return, and this time the goals flowed.
Going into the play-off final Beckford has scored 11 goals in his last 17 games and, according to his former Leeds boss Grayson, is at the top of his form.
“Jermaine knows how we work and we know how he works,” he told the Lancashire Evening Post.
“I think the one thing you have to do with him is make sure he is enjoying his football and is happy.
“You put your arm around him, tell him how good a footballer he is.
“While it is Jermaine’s goals we talk about, his all-round work rate for the team must be acknowledged too.
“That has been fantastic and is a big part of what we have done here.”
Good news for Preston, not so for Wanderers, who may feel a tinge of bitterness as they end a lucrative deal with the striker this summer.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
you're right about Steve Elliott though
