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No level of football at Wanderers has suffered quite as badly in the club’s current downturn as the development squad.
Less than two years after being crowned national champions, Bolton have confirmed that they will no longer operate an Under-23s side from the start of next season.
Plans to step down from a category two to a category three academy are viewed by some as cost-cutting measure reflecting next season’s slide into League Two – although those inside the club maintain that is not the case.
What is beyond doubt, however, is that David Lee and the Under-23s appear to have been left to wither on the vine, something for which you have to have the utmost sympathy for the staff and players involved.
Huge damage was done last season as Lee was forced to contend with a non-stop procession of trialists, which cannot have had a positive impact on the homegrown players trying to make the next step.
The likes of Luca Connell and, eventually, Ronan Darcy and Dennis Politic, were fast-tracked to the first team. Their example will be the one Wanderers will look to follow as they divert their immediate intention to the Under-15s and 16s in an effort to get more players into senior football whilst still in their teens.
Since the takeover this summer it has been fairly clear that change was on the cards.
Assistant manager David Flitcroft has taken a more hands-on role in the dugout and Lee’s involvement seemed – at least from the outside looking in – to have diminished.
Concerns over the lack of preparation and training time for the Under-23s have been mooted and most certainly echoed in results, which have been poor in the main.
It can be argued that the level of football that Bolton are preparing to play cannot substantiate investment beyond the Under-18s. And it is true that the development squad has, in the past, been seen as limbo from which few progress.
But there are also notable exceptions. Rob Holding made his first team debut under Neil Lennon aged 19 years and 10 months – and just a year later was playing in the Premier League for Arsenal against Liverpool.
He had been a late bloomer, and one wonders without the safety net of the Under-23s how his career would have panned out?
Zach Clough was 19 years and nine months old when he scored for Bolton against Wigan Athletic on his debut in the FA Cup. He also stepped up to development squad level to showcase his talents before getting the chance at Championship level. Would a manager have been brave enough to test him at an earlier age? Not everybody shared the optimism which seeped through the club’s statement yesterday but it is encouraging that they intend to make the best possible fist of a step into category three. The likes of Portsmouth, Burnley, Preston and Wigan have all operated at a similar level recently and the option to step back into category two is also available provided facilities are maintained.
Those with longer memories will remember a time when Bolton operated with a school of excellence that brought through a raft of young talents, including Jimmy Phillips himself.
What Wanderers fans will want to see, however, is that staff who have worked tirelessly to operate the academy and provide players when the club was at its most desperate are treated fairly in the months to come.
Source
Less than two years after being crowned national champions, Bolton have confirmed that they will no longer operate an Under-23s side from the start of next season.
Plans to step down from a category two to a category three academy are viewed by some as cost-cutting measure reflecting next season’s slide into League Two – although those inside the club maintain that is not the case.
What is beyond doubt, however, is that David Lee and the Under-23s appear to have been left to wither on the vine, something for which you have to have the utmost sympathy for the staff and players involved.
Huge damage was done last season as Lee was forced to contend with a non-stop procession of trialists, which cannot have had a positive impact on the homegrown players trying to make the next step.
The likes of Luca Connell and, eventually, Ronan Darcy and Dennis Politic, were fast-tracked to the first team. Their example will be the one Wanderers will look to follow as they divert their immediate intention to the Under-15s and 16s in an effort to get more players into senior football whilst still in their teens.
Since the takeover this summer it has been fairly clear that change was on the cards.
Assistant manager David Flitcroft has taken a more hands-on role in the dugout and Lee’s involvement seemed – at least from the outside looking in – to have diminished.
Concerns over the lack of preparation and training time for the Under-23s have been mooted and most certainly echoed in results, which have been poor in the main.
It can be argued that the level of football that Bolton are preparing to play cannot substantiate investment beyond the Under-18s. And it is true that the development squad has, in the past, been seen as limbo from which few progress.
But there are also notable exceptions. Rob Holding made his first team debut under Neil Lennon aged 19 years and 10 months – and just a year later was playing in the Premier League for Arsenal against Liverpool.
He had been a late bloomer, and one wonders without the safety net of the Under-23s how his career would have panned out?
Zach Clough was 19 years and nine months old when he scored for Bolton against Wigan Athletic on his debut in the FA Cup. He also stepped up to development squad level to showcase his talents before getting the chance at Championship level. Would a manager have been brave enough to test him at an earlier age? Not everybody shared the optimism which seeped through the club’s statement yesterday but it is encouraging that they intend to make the best possible fist of a step into category three. The likes of Portsmouth, Burnley, Preston and Wigan have all operated at a similar level recently and the option to step back into category two is also available provided facilities are maintained.
Those with longer memories will remember a time when Bolton operated with a school of excellence that brought through a raft of young talents, including Jimmy Phillips himself.
What Wanderers fans will want to see, however, is that staff who have worked tirelessly to operate the academy and provide players when the club was at its most desperate are treated fairly in the months to come.
Source