Bolton Wanderers fan column: Positive steps and Schon form

How much difference a week can make is crazy. Last Saturday I wrote about the Birmingham defeat and effectively not knowing what kind of team Bolton Wanderers were, with mixed performances the norm throughout a quarter of this season played.

I am not going to lie, the wins over Peterborough United and Stevenage have alleviated some of those fears, with a real opportunity for Wanderers to push on now as they sit in the play-off places and just three points off second place Wycombe.

The irony of Bolton winning a penalty against a Peterborough side led by Darren Ferguson in ‘Fergie time’, as his father watched in the stands, is not lost on anyone. But even though the result seemed nervy, it was truthfully Bolton’s best performance of the season.

Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Stevenage was dominant in every sense of the word. From start to finish Bolton were on top and started the game by picking up where they left off against Peterborough.

Josh Sheehan ran the show and provided the assist for Ricardo Santos’ first goal in over 18 months, before his free kick eventually found the foot of John McAtee to make it 2-0. The Welsh international’s through ball to play through Szabi Schön to help set up the third was inch perfect.

Speaking about Schön, we can also start a dialogue about that assist for Adeboyejo’s goal. He has that ability in his locker to hit an early cross that finds space between the goalkeeper and the centre back, ultimately putting the ball right into the danger zone. He did it against Crawley a few games back and he did it again on Tuesday.

The Hungarian has really come on over the last six weeks or so and while he is better going forward than he is defensively, watching him play football is just an exciting time. He has that ability to get you out of your seat and we have been lacking someone that matches that profile out wide.

You could heap praise on a lot of the squad after the last week, but Santos needs a special mention. People keep talking about him regaining his form and confidence after losing the captaincy, but he never lost it. He has been on form for several weeks now and as Evatt has said, he is looking like the Rico that we all know he can be.

So yes, it looks promising right now, but as always it represents nothing more than two games in what is a long season. Consider that Wanderers have lost their starting goalkeeper in Nathan Baxter, Eoin Toal is now sidelined until 2025 which is a huge blow, Kyle Dempsey is expected to miss some time, George Thomason, Jordi Osei-Tutu, Gethin Jones are also out of action and yet, Bolton find themselves right back in the promotion hunt.

There is a distraction from the league this weekend with Walsall in the cup, so you would expect to see some of the B Team included who have impressed as of late, before it’s business as usual when we visit Stockport County next weekend.

Schon shining for Wanderers

By James Scott

Szabi Schon is in good form (Image: CameraSport - Dave Howarth)

As I sat in my seat in the West Stand during the first half against Burton Albion, Wanderers were attacking with Szabi Schon playing on the near side in front of me. I turned across to a friend, less well versed in Bolton these days, and described him as my favourite player so far this season.

A fellow supporter a few rows in front overheard this remark, and looked at me like he had just seen a ghost.

It had been a tumultuous campaign up until that point, and would get worse with a spineless defeat against Birmingham the following Tuesday. And yet, Schon has been the player who has consistently come out of games with credit.

It took a little while for Bolton’s Hungarian summer signing to get to grips with English football, but the turnaround for Schon came against Crawley. Up until this point, he didn’t lack any heart but it was the ability and consistency to find the right pass in key moments which had failed him early on.

After driving at the heart of Crawley’s defence and releasing Collins who subsequently found McAtee to secure the three points in the South, Schon has found a new level at Bolton. Wanderers now boast the most successful average cross accuracy rate in the league this season, and Schon has been a key part of that.

Victor Adeboyejo’s goal against Stevenage was the perfect example of how Bolton can keep the ball and exploit the wide areas with incisive and direct passing. In this case it was Sheehan who found Schon with an inch perfect pass, before the Hungarian powered down the wing and delivered an inviting cross, finished off nicely by the Wanderers number nine.

Schon’s unpredictability is also a key asset. Although very naturally left footed, I remember a couple of distinct times where he left Burton defenders red-faced after jinking left and then surging the opposite way. With his international experience comes an immense amount of skill, and Bolton are lucky that they have such a player on their hands.

His defending has become much more resolute as well. It is easier for him to shine now that George Johnston has rediscovered his best form in a white shirt, but Schon’s willingness to harry and impede opposition wingers has improved greatly over the last few weeks. It is all coming together nicely for Wanderers’ summer acquisition.

Now I know I tend to jinx these things, but I have full confidence that Schon will play an incredibly important role for Bolton in the coming weeks. The Hungarian has proved he has a high ceiling, now he must reach this level consistently for the rest of the season.

Get behind Victor

By Lee Sidebotham

Adeboyejo took his goal well at Stevenage (Image: CameraSport - Andrew Kearns) The silent majority always rises.

The handful of fans who decided to pick on Rico a few weeks ago soon found out how much we’re all behind him and each one of our players. However, there’s one I believe gets far too much stick from the stands and we need to start getting behind.

In January 2023, Victor Adeboyejo was brought in from Burton Albion following the sale of Dapo Afolayan to St Pauli. I think some fans have been trying to compare the two ever since then.

It’s easy to forget the type of player Victor is. He’s not a deep lying or advanced forward like Dapo and the rest of our current striking options. He’s a poacher slash target forward. He’s the type of striker who looks to get on the end of a good pass and or lay-off the ball to a team-mate, though unfortunately service has been few and far between so far this season.

We need to stop comparing him to other strikers in our side and accept he’s a different type of forward, he provides us with another option. Just like how Rico and Johnston are two completely different centre backs - Johnston isn’t expected to get a head on every corner ball, nor is Rico is expected to chase that pacey forward on the counter-attack.

We need the same attitude towards Victor. He’s not going to carry the ball thirty yards up the pitch or suddenly break on the counter like Charles or Collins can.

Charles and Victors’ partnership at times last season went unmatched and played a significant part in Dion getting over 20 goals, though Victor doesn’t get much credit for that in the stats.

He grabbed 10 goals last season and has so far added two this year in an underwhelming start to the season. With the likes of Charles, Collins, McAtee and new Wrexham striker Bodvarsson all fighting for the same place during this time, I’d say that’s pretty good going.

I’m not saying he should be immune to criticism, just like others this season I’m sure he knows that individually and as a team we haven’t been good enough. But our form is changing and so is Victors’.

To those who still criticize his form or question his character, I ask them to watch the goal from Tuesday against Stevenage and the celebrations afterwards. That man is determined to help get us promotion this season, so let’s get behind him.

Smile is slowly returning

By Chris McKeown

Most people I know enjoyed the Peterborough match, but, for me it was a test of endurance.

While I definitely think we deserved it, the match was a pure battle - the second half stoppages disrupted any fluidity Bolton tried to make. Despite that, we had numerous chances and not for the first time this season,
we once again found a goalkeeper in fantastic form.

However, they say play to the final whistle and the thrilling end not only secured the points but could well be a catalyst for the season. With that job done, it was important to follow it up against Stevenage and I don’t think anybody can complain that the 4-1 victory did just that.

The turnaround of form since Huddersfield has been amazing. It's not exactly been a straightforward run, injuries have really hit us heavy, but also gave chances to players who have been on the periphery. 

Matete has come in and is looking more comfortable each game, Southwood has shown he is more than capable between the sticks and Forrester, certainly against Stevenage, did a solid job. Hopefully, we can get through to the next international break with a clean bill of health and give some currently injured players time to get fit.

I’ve mentioned many times about confidence being the key factor and you can see that the team is starting to show a bit more belief which, for me, has come from certain individuals really finding their top levels. Of late, Santos is the most prominent player whose performances have shown him at his commanding best, which is great to see.

I still say with the front line we have, the goals will flow and if the deliveries from across the pitch can match that quality (we have seen some outstanding balls played in from Schon, for example) and we can stay injury free, then our opposition will have plenty to fear in the coming months.

For now, after an intense period, we can take a breath and enjoy the fact we are back in the top six before we play Stockport.

The FA Cup gives us that brief respite from the all important promotion push and while Walsall will certainly be a test, we can go into it with perhaps a bit more freedom of mind, even if the squad looks to be pushed to the limits with unfortunate injuries. I’m sure players like Lolos will be chomping at the bit to add to his impressive cameos recently.

The smile is slowly returning to the fans' faces and positivity is growing. Let’s build on this!

Football works in weird ways. If we’d have had bad results going into Halloween, the outlook may have been a lot scarier. But perhaps the spooktacular winner against Peterborough may just see off any ghosts of the past, and with everyone’s spirits at BWFC raised, this spell of form could lead to great things!