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Neither midfielder seemed to fit into Neil Lennon’s preferred profile when they were sent away in January but both have now returned aiming to change the manager’s mind.
Just a year ago, Dougie Freedman was building his team around the tenacious pair, their names etched firmly into his favoured 4-2-3-1 system.
Between them, Spearing and Medo had cost Wanderers more than £2million, a hefty price considering the spare change Neil Lennon is currently playing with, but Freedman was confident he would see a big return on his investment.
Lennon thought otherwise and while Spearing got a brief opportunity to show his worth, Medo never got close to the first team before he was sent out to Israel.
The Whites boss wanted his midfield to have more energy, more pace, more dynamism than it showed when he arrived at the club, the players still slowly emerging from the defensive brand of football employed by his predecessor.
Spearing and Medo were two of the highest-profile fall guys. Both loans seemed to be precursors to a permanent move but after Blackburn fell foul of the Financial Fair Play rules the chances of them meeting Bolton’s valuation became nil.
Medo was optimistic of a move to Israel right up until the coach that signed him, Marco Babul, was replaced by Ronny Levy, who like Lennon also wanted to move in a different direction.
There is nothing to suggest the Whites boss has changed his mind on either player, indeed with his finances as tight as they are, both may represent investment that could be made elsewhere.
But as Wanderers have found out to their cost on countless occasions since they dropped into the Championship, moving players on is not as simple as it once was. The market outside the Premier League is a slow one, increasing in pace only in the latter stages of August.
For the first few months of last season Spearing looked to be suffering in a Whites shirt, with the added responsibility of being captain.
Those badly-timed holiday snaps caught him up in a backlash from supporters that was as much about the management as his own judgement at the time.
Like Alex Baptiste, however, the former Liverpool man looks to have recovered some of his mojo down the road.
If he can get back to the kind of form he showed at the start of his Bolton career then who is to say Lennon cannot benefit from the blue chip investment his predecessor Freedman once boasted about?
Medo’s path to salvation looks longer still. While he never encountered the fans’ wrath in the same way as Spearing, the lack of conditioning he showed on Lennon’s arrival was exactly the thing the Northern Irishman has vowed to banish from the squad this season.
That Lennon has also been linked with a few defensive-minded midfielders – Wilson Palacios, Rudy Austin – also suggests he sees Medo and Spearing’s future elsewhere, regardless of their efforts this summer.
As the gears begin to turn in pre-season once more there may well be a few new faces in training today, as Lennon continues to assess his options on a limited budget.
While not officially confirmed as Bolton players until the start of next month, Ben Amos and Gary Madine were expected into Euxton today, the latter meeting his new team-mates for the very first time.
A smattering of trialists are also expected to be present, with the Whites boss keen to take a close-up look at a handful of free transfers at home, with another few expected to join the squad when they travel to Austria next Monday.
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/13358623.Midfield_duo_s_return_to_Wanderers_is_a_surprise/
Just a year ago, Dougie Freedman was building his team around the tenacious pair, their names etched firmly into his favoured 4-2-3-1 system.
Between them, Spearing and Medo had cost Wanderers more than £2million, a hefty price considering the spare change Neil Lennon is currently playing with, but Freedman was confident he would see a big return on his investment.
Lennon thought otherwise and while Spearing got a brief opportunity to show his worth, Medo never got close to the first team before he was sent out to Israel.
The Whites boss wanted his midfield to have more energy, more pace, more dynamism than it showed when he arrived at the club, the players still slowly emerging from the defensive brand of football employed by his predecessor.
Spearing and Medo were two of the highest-profile fall guys. Both loans seemed to be precursors to a permanent move but after Blackburn fell foul of the Financial Fair Play rules the chances of them meeting Bolton’s valuation became nil.
Medo was optimistic of a move to Israel right up until the coach that signed him, Marco Babul, was replaced by Ronny Levy, who like Lennon also wanted to move in a different direction.
There is nothing to suggest the Whites boss has changed his mind on either player, indeed with his finances as tight as they are, both may represent investment that could be made elsewhere.
But as Wanderers have found out to their cost on countless occasions since they dropped into the Championship, moving players on is not as simple as it once was. The market outside the Premier League is a slow one, increasing in pace only in the latter stages of August.
For the first few months of last season Spearing looked to be suffering in a Whites shirt, with the added responsibility of being captain.
Those badly-timed holiday snaps caught him up in a backlash from supporters that was as much about the management as his own judgement at the time.
Like Alex Baptiste, however, the former Liverpool man looks to have recovered some of his mojo down the road.
If he can get back to the kind of form he showed at the start of his Bolton career then who is to say Lennon cannot benefit from the blue chip investment his predecessor Freedman once boasted about?
Medo’s path to salvation looks longer still. While he never encountered the fans’ wrath in the same way as Spearing, the lack of conditioning he showed on Lennon’s arrival was exactly the thing the Northern Irishman has vowed to banish from the squad this season.
That Lennon has also been linked with a few defensive-minded midfielders – Wilson Palacios, Rudy Austin – also suggests he sees Medo and Spearing’s future elsewhere, regardless of their efforts this summer.
As the gears begin to turn in pre-season once more there may well be a few new faces in training today, as Lennon continues to assess his options on a limited budget.
While not officially confirmed as Bolton players until the start of next month, Ben Amos and Gary Madine were expected into Euxton today, the latter meeting his new team-mates for the very first time.
A smattering of trialists are also expected to be present, with the Whites boss keen to take a close-up look at a handful of free transfers at home, with another few expected to join the squad when they travel to Austria next Monday.
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/13358623.Midfield_duo_s_return_to_Wanderers_is_a_surprise/
