Back when Wanderers were the ‘finishing school’ for top-flight prospects like Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge there was a legitimate argument raised by some supporters that they created an unwanted short-term economy at the club.

Back then, Bolton were operating a category one academy. Millions of pounds per year was being pushed into the youth system in the hope of bringing through the very best youth talent the area had to offer.

Either side of Kevin Nolan and Nicky Hunt – latecomers to the system but claimed nevertheless – and Joe Riley, Josh Vela and the post-Premier League graduates, there was a genuine drought of players deemed ready by the men in charge.

Owen Coyle played the type of football that made Chelsea and Arsenal happy to loan out their best young talents, and it worked for a while. But the former Bolton boss went to the same well too often and with finances starting to dry up, so did the quality of player he could bring in from elsewhere.

Fast forward a decade and Ian Evatt’s Wanderers are playing a style of football which reflects that seen at the top clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool. He has again made Bolton a place where youngsters can be placed to progress.

James Trafford’s game took a step forward in his loan spell last season and the coaching staff at City are confident he can do the same again with a whole year at the UniBol.

If talks between Bolton and Liverpool go well, Liverpool’s Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley will be the next Premier League prospect to test himself in League One.

There has also been strong rumour this summer that Evatt is looking to bring in an attacking player from a category one academy, such is the optimistic pitch Wanderers have made this summer.

At their best towards the end of last season, the Whites were energetic and entertaining. And if they can find that steady measure of consistency, there is no doubt in my mind they can mount a stronger challenge for the top six this time around.

But let lessons be learned. If Wanderers are to loan players in, let there be a chance that a longer-term arrangement, if not a permanent one, is possible further down the line.

Evatt discussed the possibility of Marlon Fossey signing full-time from Fulham but was ultimately beaten by the wingback’s own success. He stepped away – in my eyes, wisely – when the prices involved became too steep.

Trafford’s success last season was not just based on what he did on the pitch. It came from the fact he embraced the culture at Wanderers, made it obvious that he had not just stepped in for a warm by the fire. The fact he has now signed on for a whole season gives the town several months to get under his skin a little more – and then, who knows?

There has to be an appreciation of the situation Bolton are in as a League One club, and not one splashing around exorbitant money.

And while the first team is being boosted in this manner, make sure that the club do not take their eye off the ball at the academy.

The introduction of the B Team this summer was an important concession that players who were coming through at Under-19s level were not ready for the physical demands of League One. And the extra step enables Bolton to look at players who have failed to break through that glass ceiling into senior football at other clubs too.

Wanderers need to make that level of football work because Brentford and Huddersfield Town have shown it can be just as profitable as shining up talents for other clubs at first team level.

It would be a fine thing indeed to see both sides of the club operating well, and if Wanderers are to stand any chance of achieving sustainability in this crazy financial tar pit we call football, it is the only way that it is going to happen.

 

Tutte could surprise us

WOULD I have picked Andy Tutte out as a Bolton Wanderers coach of the future? Well, probably not.
But the Liverpudlian midfielder has got a big chance now in the club’s new B Team set-up, surrounded by people who know how to make good coaches.
Both head of academy, Dave Gardiner, and B Team manager, Matt Craddock, are well skilled in bringing the best out of people on that side of the touchline.
Tutte had a fine schooling at Manchester City, bleeds Liverpool, so hopefully the Bolton players of the future can reap the rewards of what he has to offer.
It always amazes me which players take to coaching, which shy away from it, and who fails entirely. There is no obvious formula, that is for certain.

 

It's not a holiday!

I’LL be spending a few days over in Portugal with Wanderers next week, to get the latest news from their training camp in the Algarve.
Pre-season trips with the club are always good value. You get a good sense of what a manager feels his side can achieve, the mood in the camp and where things have to improve before the real business begins.
Despite the insistence of some cheeky Bolton News staff, though, it is no holiday. Hours spent kicking your heels in hotel lobbies and by the side of training pitches waiting for footballers to give you an interview is not something I’d nip into my travel agent’s to book.
I’m there because pre-season generates great stories and if your local paper can’t make the effort to jump on a plane and get a bit of sunburn for the cause, who can?