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It has been a remarkable turnaround in fortunes at Wanderers, and no one embodies the sea change more than Gary Madine.
Under fire from supporters who had seen their team relegated with a whimper a year ago, the ex-Sheffield Wednesday forward was given a clean slate by incoming boss Phil Parkinson.
Fans followed suit and Madine played his way back into their affections during a memorable promotion campaign.
And the faith Parkinson showed in him was a prevailing factor in the striker signing a new two-year deal at the Macron this week.
“I think all the lads who were around at the end of the relegation season had a point to prove, the ones who had got relegated,” Madine told The Bolton News.
“Fans do form opinions on players and it isn’t often they change those opinions, very often they stick, so I’m grateful and happy they gave me another chance.
“The relationship with me and the gaffer is good too, we get on really well and he’s been very good for me. I’ve worked hard and I think I earned a chance to sign a new deal, I’m so happy to have done that now.
“The lads are all in it together, and everyone respects and appreciates what the manager and all the coaches have done for us – it’s an easy, straightforward decision for me to show loyalty to him and to the club because he put a lot of faith in us.”
With no shortage of personal highlights for him to pick from – Madine’s 10 goals saw him end the year as joint-top scorer – the one he selected as a key season-defining moment came when he was at a real low ebb, having suffered a shoulder injury that could have ended his involvement in early April.
“Strangely enough, that Southend game was one of my best moments of the season, even though I went off injured,” he revealed. “I was in the changing room, pretty down because I’d come off injured. I tore ligaments in my AC joint in the shoulder and it isn’t something I’d done before so I didn’t know how long it meant I was going to be out for.
“Then I heard the massive roar when Mark Beevers scored that winner at the end, we were singing all the way home on the coach, til we got back at about four in the morning, so I remember that as a really good moment, there were so many last season. The shoulder is still sore but I’m working hard to get it right, hopefully it will be by the time the first games come around.”
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Under fire from supporters who had seen their team relegated with a whimper a year ago, the ex-Sheffield Wednesday forward was given a clean slate by incoming boss Phil Parkinson.
Fans followed suit and Madine played his way back into their affections during a memorable promotion campaign.
And the faith Parkinson showed in him was a prevailing factor in the striker signing a new two-year deal at the Macron this week.
“I think all the lads who were around at the end of the relegation season had a point to prove, the ones who had got relegated,” Madine told The Bolton News.
“Fans do form opinions on players and it isn’t often they change those opinions, very often they stick, so I’m grateful and happy they gave me another chance.
“The relationship with me and the gaffer is good too, we get on really well and he’s been very good for me. I’ve worked hard and I think I earned a chance to sign a new deal, I’m so happy to have done that now.
“The lads are all in it together, and everyone respects and appreciates what the manager and all the coaches have done for us – it’s an easy, straightforward decision for me to show loyalty to him and to the club because he put a lot of faith in us.”
With no shortage of personal highlights for him to pick from – Madine’s 10 goals saw him end the year as joint-top scorer – the one he selected as a key season-defining moment came when he was at a real low ebb, having suffered a shoulder injury that could have ended his involvement in early April.
“Strangely enough, that Southend game was one of my best moments of the season, even though I went off injured,” he revealed. “I was in the changing room, pretty down because I’d come off injured. I tore ligaments in my AC joint in the shoulder and it isn’t something I’d done before so I didn’t know how long it meant I was going to be out for.
“Then I heard the massive roar when Mark Beevers scored that winner at the end, we were singing all the way home on the coach, til we got back at about four in the morning, so I remember that as a really good moment, there were so many last season. The shoulder is still sore but I’m working hard to get it right, hopefully it will be by the time the first games come around.”
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