What does Bolton Wanderers' summer business so far tell us about next season?

ONCE bitten, twice shy – perhaps a mantra we will revisit this summer as Wanderers continue their recruitment plan with the aim of going one step further than they managed last season.

The natural response post-Wembley was to call for an overhaul, for Ian Evatt’s squad to be paired back and for a completely different approach to be taken.

Even the manager, speaking through damaged pride an hour after the play-off final, admitted that change was needed, opening the door for everyone to say their piece on where it should be focussed.

But with Wanderers a week away from returning to the training ground for pre-season there has been no open sale declared, no big names pushing to leave, no panic buttons pressed.

Rather, the policy appears to be to underpin a team which finished third last season on 87 points, giving it better strength in depth, rather than to dismantle it altogether.

Make no mistake, there has been a thorough review into why Bolton did not maintain a top-two place from the turn of the year, and why after nudging past Barnsley they failed so spectacularly against Oxford United. And on the evidence supplied thus far, it has been decided to concentrate why the first instance occurred, rather than a singular 90 minutes in May.

How did Wanderers go from such a position of strength in League One, chasing down Portsmouth, to finishing five points adrift of Derby County and facing the jeopardy of the play-offs?

Squad mentality has been questioned, especially in the pivotal games where results in Evatt’s tenure have not been consistent enough. We will have to wait several weeks before gauging any improvement on that front, regardless of which signings come through the door.

Evatt has also faced resistance on his tactics, though one of the few certainties to come from his post-match interview at Wembley was that he would be sticking firmly to the style of football which he brought to the club four years ago.

There has been little public communication from Wanderers since the final, save for Sharon Brittan’s set of interviews which underlined her support for the manager and confirmed that a bigger playing budget would be supplied this season to try and secure a promotion spot.

One statement made by the chairman was picked up on by supporters, however, and may give some clue as to how Evatt and Co will tackle the summer transfer window.

She said: “I don’t like excuses, but we had a torrid run of injuries and in particular when we lost Nathan (Baxter) for 13 or 14 games, I personally, in my opinion, think that without that injury we would have been promoted.”

The run – between the 1-1 home draw with Barnsley on February 3 and the 2-0 win at Bristol Rovers on April 6 – saw Bolton take 20 points from a possible 39.

Before Baxter’s injury, and his attempt to play again the following Tuesday in the abandoned game at Cambridge United, the Whites were second in the table, three points behind leaders Pompey, with three games in hand.

By the end of it they were nine points behind Portsmouth having both played 42 games and had dropped a point behind Derby into third spot.

Nathan Baxter picked up an injury against Barnsley in February (Image: Camerasport)

Joel Coleman had a tough time after stepping in for Nathan Baxter last season (Image: Camerasport)

Deputy Joel Coleman had been signed the previous summer as a player with Premier League experience at Huddersfield Town but one without regular football for the previous couple of seasons. He was kept active – of sorts – in the early rounds of the cup competitions but was often not included on the bench for league games.

With that in mind, should there have been such surprise that it took him time to settle behind an unfamiliar back line?

Either way, the signing of goalkeeper Luke Southwood appears to be an attempt to bolster the position and could put Coleman’s own future into some doubt.

For the last two seasons Southwood has been first choice at Cheltenham Town, managing to pick up some good reviews despite the club’s struggles.

Last season he kept 11 clean sheets – three fewer than Baxter, and 11th overall in League One in a team which was eventually relegated to League Two.

Capped once by Northern Ireland, the 26-year-old had played understudy to Rafael Cabral at Reading after breaking through to the Royals’ first team in the Championship a few years ago but having played so regularly in the last couple of years he is unlikely to settle for second fiddle.

It was hoped that the signing of Baxter and Coleman last summer would create the same sort of competition Bolton once enjoyed in the goalkeeper stakes with Ben Alnwick and Mark Howard or Adam Bogdan and Andy Lonergan – but, in reality, the order was quickly established, and it may have been to the club’s detriment when changes were eventually enforced.

New Bolton signing Chris Forino in action against Victor Adeboyejo in Wycombe colours this season (Image: Camerasport)

The same could also be said for Bolton’s other confirmed summer signing, Chris Forino, who made 72 appearances for Wycombe in the last couple of seasons and looks well capable of shaking up the established order.

At 24, and relatively new to the professional game, Forino has room to progress at Wanderers. His statistics over the past two seasons point towards a defender who is good in the air and comfortable one-on-one, and his reviews from those who watched him regularly at Adams Park are also very encouraging.

Evatt brought in Caleb Taylor on loan from West Brom in January to try and give himself some extra insurance at the back, particularly with Gethin Jones out on international duty. By the Bolton boss’s own admission, Ricardo Santos has a skillset which has proven difficult to replace at League One level and with his available budget, but the young Baggies defender appeared to tick a good few of the boxes.

Unfortunately, injury struck early on. Whether Taylor’s comparative lack of football was an issue is unclear but if Forino is to step into the gap vacated in the squad by his departure, it is not an issue for which he should suffer.

Injuries unquestionably played their part in Bolton missing out last season, even playing some part in their downfall against Oxford United with Ricardo Santos and Dion Charles clearly running below their best.

If the individual components of the squad are not going to be replaced this summer then Evatt is faced with one of two options: Either improve the durability of those in place, or ensure his squad has better depth when fitness problems inevitably surface. On early evidence, he is opting for the latter.

Last season Bolton used 25 different players in League One, fewer than anyone else in the league. Evatt has traditionally preferred to keep his squad as lean as possible, reducing potential problems with unhappiness on the fringes of the squad. Should he opt for a bigger selection, there could be a different type of challenge ahead.