STRAIGHT FROM THE STANDS: Centre-back options and bad memories

Business might be about to pick up

By Liam Hatton

It is back to your regularly scheduled programming this week, so no Euros talk (the less said about England the better I guess), as we cast an eye back to Bolton Wanderers.

So what has been happening? To be honest, not a great deal. Two new kits have been announced which are pretty good if I do say so myself, and Bolton have also made a signing in the form of Chris Forino, a centre back from Wycombe Wanderers who is a free agent this summer.

It sounds like a promising piece of business, with the general feeling from Wycombe’s fanbase being that he is a talented player, albeit he has had some injury concerns over the last few years. There were rumours Bolton had beaten off Championship interest to sign him.

He stands at 6ft 3ins but has made 90 appearances across his last three seasons (18 in 2021/22, 34 in 2022/23 and 38 in 2023/24). He is also described as a player who likes to run with the ball and has decent recovery speed when chasing a ball down.

So, on paper it sounds like a player in the mould of Ricardo Santos, which probably does not help the rumour mill. Believe what you want, but what this move does secure is more depth across the backline.

However, with Santos, a returning George Johnston, Eoin Toal, Gethin Jones, Will Forrester, Jack Iredale and now Forino, that could potentially mean someone is offloaded.

Maybe it moves Jones to wing back to challenge or backup Josh Dacres-Cogley, but you would think it secures Bolton at centre back now with the ability to focus on other positions.

There may be an argument that business is slow, but as The Bolton News’ own Marc Iles pointed out on social media, there have been 42 transfers confirmed in League One, with a fifth of those made by Rotherham (who also let a lot of their squad from last season walk).

In other words, business is about to pick up at some point and that is likely to kick into gear come the start of July, as contracts expire for free agents to be. Clubs will have their targets lined up but in an environment in which players’ agents will seek the best offer from clubs battling for signatures, sometimes getting a deal over the line will take time.

That has been the case in the past, as it will continue to be. However, in Chris Forino, it represents a shrewd signing by looking at it from the outside. More faces will be unveiled in due course, but until then you can relax and watch the Euros.

Unless you are watching Gareth Southgate’s England team, of course.

England stirring bad memories

By Tony Thompson

England and Wanderers players dejected (Image: PA)

Watching England is stirring up some unwanted memories that I’d locked away last month hoping never to return.

The slow, agonising build-up, the manager refusing to shift from his plan despite all and sundry seeing it otherwise, inferior opponents being made to look like Brazil circa 1970.

I don’t know if it is quite as bad, as I didn’t spend the better part of £300 to watch England draw against Denmark, but their underperformance at the Euros so far is definitely tickling parts of my footballing psyche that I think should be left well alone until August, at least.

We were given an hour off on my shift to dash home early and catch the game which, at the time, looked like a generous gesture. I spent most of the second half figuring out how much money I might have earned in that hour had I stayed in the office.

I guess this coming week will be the one where we all start looking forward to the new season, when we get news of what the fixtures will be.

If I were Ian Evatt, I’d be praying for a decent run of games in August and early September, so he can build up a bit of a run before playing some of the tougher opposition in League One.

As many people have said before me, you see a bit of Phil Neal in his situation at the moment and when we lost that play-off final in 1991 the disappointment carried on into the next season and eventually saw him out of a job. I might complain about a few of his choices sometimes but I don’t want that to happen to the current man in charge.

If the fixture computer can be kind to us and offer a few nice home games against Mansfield and Crawley, for example, or a lovely late summer’s trip to Shrewsbury or Exeter, perhaps? I wouldn’t have anything against that.

It has always bugged me that they left it all down to a machine. Maybe that’s why we always end up somewhere miles away like Lincoln on Boxing Day, or why Charlton away almost always seems to be on a Tuesday night?

We’ll be able to see practically every game on Sky Sports this season so you wonder whether that will stop some people getting in their car after work and driving miles to watch an away game. Say what they want, it certainly won’t convince more to go.