Notts County loanee Josh Vela determined to work his way back into Bolton Wanderers reckoning

Josh Vela wants to prove to Wanderers he is worth all the hype by leading Notts County out of relegation danger.

The injury-plagued Academy graduate looked to be losing his way at the Reebok this season but has made a 100 per cent start for Shaun Derry’s League One strugglers, helping them off the foot of the table with three victories in three starts.

Vela has already indicated that he would like a longer stay at Meadow Lane – if only to show Dougie Freedman he is serious about first-team football in the Championship next season.

The 20-year-old wants to put the knee problems that have dogged his promising career behind him and return to the Wites a stronger player.

“I want to show that I’m ready to play for them and I’m better than what they have got,” he said.

“They must see something in me, hopefully anyway, so after this I need to make sure they see what I can do on the big stage.

“It’s a massive step for me because I’ve got nine games to get some experience and if that doesn’t mean first team football at Bolton, it might mean another loan for a full season.”

It is close to two years since Vela burst on to the first team scene in the Premier League but a succession of injury and fitness problems have stalled his progress.

“I’ve played Premier League, which was a great experience, but it was a couple of years ago now,” Vela said. “It’s been in and out of squads and the bench but it’s made me more determined to come here (Notts County) and play first team football.

“I had to have another operation on my knee because it was swelling up all the time but that’s sorted now and I’m ready to push on.

“It’s been frustrating sat in the stands watching every week when really I should have been playing on a Saturday afternoon.”

Vela believes there have been offers to take him on loan in the last 12 months which have been turned down by the club as they continued to cast a watchful eye over his fitness.

But the Salford-born midfielder did not think twice when offered the chance to go to Nottingham and help lift the Magpies out of the relegation zone.

“I think there have been other opportunities but they’ve been kept quiet at Bolton – maybe I wasn’t fit enough, maybe they wanted me to stay, I don’t know,” he said.

“I’ve played in a relegation battle before with Bolton. I thrived off that pressure and the fans, because they were really good for me because I was a young local lad coming through.

“I’m in good shape, I’d been doing well in the reserves at Bolton and now I want to step up and help Notts County stay up.”

Source

I don't think we'll see him here next season. He's another Tom Eaves, loaned out to every tom dick and harry instead of being given the chance to show what he could do here.

He's a better option than "The Trotter Experiment" and I expect him to be in or around the first 11 next season.

Over recent years we haven't done enough of this for our young players development, going out and getting game time is vital and he's clearly hungry to show what he can do. Judging by a Notts County forum I looked at they're pretty impressed by him so far. League one's more physical than the championship, the experience he'll get will really help him push on next season. But he has Medo, Spearing and Danns to compete with so he'll have to keep upping his game.

Vela is 20 years old. If he was going to be good enough we'd have seen signs by now.

Unfortunately he's just another injury prone reserve ponce.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Vela is 20 years old. If he was going to be good enough we'd have seen signs by now.

Unfortunately he's just another injury prone reserve ponce.

Do you ever have anything good to say about any of our squad?   

Natasha Whittam wrote:Vela is 20 years old. If he was going to be good enough we'd have seen signs by now.

It's comments like this that make me think you don't have a clue about football.

bwfc1874 wrote:

It's comments like this that make me think you don't have a clue about football.

Surely at 20 years old if you were going to be good enough you'd have shown a bit of class.

I'll stake my reputation that Vela never makes another Championship start for BWFC.

I don't know if he'll make it or not, but there are plenty of footballers who show their class in their early 20's and relatively few who breakthrough in their teens. To write somebody off at 20 is just stupid to be honest.

I've seen him play a few times, he's looked very good once and reasonably anonymous the other few, a successful spell with Notts County will give him some confidence. Let's see where he's at after that.

bwfc1874 wrote:I don't know if he'll make it or not, but there are plenty of footballers who show their class in their early 20's and relatively few who breakthrough in their teens. To write somebody off at 20 is just stupid to be honest.

I've seen him play a few times, he's looked very good once and reasonably anonymous the other few, a successful spell with Notts County will give him some confidence. Let's see where he's at after that.

This.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

I'll stake my reputation that Vela never makes another Championship start for BWFC.

What reputation ?

He's already notts county's midfield general.

Just been on a Notts County forum to read their view on Vela and here's a few views:

We've managed to win all the games he's played in so not doing too bad I think he's certainly made a difference in our midfield.

Judging by Saturday's performance I thought he looked a great prospect and played a good, if unspectacular, part in a great team performance.

Physical and skillful - he puts all our other midfield options bar Gary Liddle to shame.

Can we keep him please?

Slow start against Carlisle but excellent second half when he really settled in. Didn't go to Crewe but on Saturday he again had a quiet first half but his second half performance showed he has real potential. When he gets stuck in he wins the ball and uses it well.

Carlisle and Crewe games comfortable, Colchester he seemed to get bounced around a little, still mixed it though. Good prospect and fitting in well.

Looks a promising player. We haven't seen anything spectacular, but he has a good work ethic and seems to have given us a bit more shape in an area that's been a problem all season. I'm sure he'll learn far more playing in games like these than he ever would playing reserve football, so hopefully both clubs will benefit.

Anonymous at times but when he's involved he looks a decent prospect. To make the grade in the Championship he will need to start imposing himself more in games, which may come through experience.

He has provided a touch of grit, creativity and industry in our previously lacklustre, underperforming midfield.

He has the confidence & ability to beat a man, gets stuck in and has the mobility to recover from his occasional mistakes. Plenty of potential there, he is doing very nicely, thank you.

He's one of those players who gets through a lot of hard graft and good work without really being noticed . . . a bit of an unsung-hero. Played 3 Won 3 since he arrived, and whilst that's not all down to him he can certainly claim to have played a big part in it.