Summer Dealings Review part 2: The Departed

Twenty-two players headed through the exit door at the Macron this summer. Having looked at those who joined Bolton Wanderers in part 1 of my 'Summer Dealings Review' (click here to read), I now turn my attention to those who moved onto pastures new!

Craig Davies

Davies was the personification of Bolton Wanderers' injury woes over recent years which is what cost him his place at the club. I have to say that I can see the logic in letting Davies go in order to bring in a more robust replacement. But with Gary Madine failing to fire along with the rest of the Bolton strike force, I am starting to miss our former front-man.

It is sods law that he will probably now have an injury free season at Wigan Athletic (you will be hearing that name far too often in this piece…). If he does then it would make a mockery of Bolton’s decision to release him and would be incredibly frustrating for all at the club. But it is more likely that he will spend half the season with the physio making Wigan look like idiots for taking a punt on him…

For me, the jury is still out on letting Davies go. If Madine had hit the ground running this season or Zach Clough was scoring for fun then there would be no problem. But that is not the case leading me to wonder whether having Davies fit for half the season would be better than what we have at the moment? Only time will tell.

Decision rating: 5/10

Adam Bogdan

The one player released this summer which the club had no choice at all about. It was a sad day when it was announced that Bogdan had left on a free, but no one can blame him for taking the chance to play for Liverpool this season and I have confidence that he will push Simon flappy Mignolet for the first team jersey. It was a shame not to get a fee for Bogdan but that is the way of the world for Bolton these days!

It was sad to see Bogdan go, but having signed Amos the negative feeling was short lived and if anything Bolton may come out of it in a better place than if Bogdan had stayed at the club.

Decision rating: N/A (not Bolton’s choice)

Matt Mills

Well Mills’ Bolton career had more peaks and troughs than a park in Baghdad after we invaded. Eventually he came good and it was worrying to see him leave. But having brought in Derik Osede and Prince-Desir Gouano I don’t think that the club has come out of it badly at all having lost Mills.

When you add to this the progress of the youngsters this looks like it was a good move getting rid of a high earner to add more depth and maybe even quality to the squad. It is though a shame that a player who cost Bolton a fee left on a free (a comment which will grow rather boring to read by the end of this!).

Decision rating: 8/10

Andy Lonergan

I think that Lonergan will rightly feel hard done by to have been released. He was always solid between the sticks for Bolton when called upon having kept Bogdan out of the team at times maybe he will be more upset that Liverpool didn’t decide to sign him too!

But I think that, ultimately, it was a good decision. Amos of course kept Lonergan, as well as Bogdan it is worth noting, out of the team. From that perspective it is a good piece of business to bring in Amos and let Lonergan go.

I did say that these comments would start to get boring but I believe that Lonergan also cost Bolton a fee when signed from Leeds. Again it is annoying to see him leave for nothing due to that.

Decision rating: 8/10

Jermaine Beckford

Another player brought in on a fee and allowed to leave for nothing. Beckford never looked good for Bolton after being brought in by Dougie Freedman (who I will come onto later in this piece). This is disappointing as Freedman brought Beckford in as a player who he knew well so should have known his strengths and how to take advantage of them, but I guess this is Freedman we are talking about.

Lennon gave him a chance to resurrect his Bolton career but he failed dramatically and it is defiantly a good thing that he is gone.

Decision rating: 10/10

Eidur Gudjohnsen

I was very sad to see that Gudjohnsen had signed for Shijiazhuang Ever Bright. It is a real shame that Bolton could not sort out a deal with him more efficiently to stop this from happening.

It is an odd move by the Icelandic legend though.

His reason for prolonging his playing career was to get back into the Iceland team and go to a major tournament with them. He managed that scoring on his return to the side. This makes it odd that he would put going to the European Championships in jeopardy by moving to the other side of the world to play his club football. Chung-Young Lee always returned from South Korea looking jaded and I imagine that Gudjohnsen will suffer in the same way when returning for intentional duty.

But it is worth noting that he only signed a short term deal in China so maybe he will go full Terminator and be back in preparation for the Euros?

Decision rating: 3/10 (not so much a decision more being useless but still…)

Keith Andrews

When he signed he was returning from a World Cup and I thought this was a great move. Andrews always struggled at Bolton though and as a high earner it was logical to let him go.

In fact Andrews did so little in a Bolton shirt that I have nothing at all to note here…

Decision rating: 10/10

Rob Hall

I don’t want to know how much Hall has cost Bolton in total, another complete waste of money brought in by Freedman (who I promise I will have a go at soon!).

His greatest contribution for Bolton seems to be being included against Blackpool on the last day of the season when we needed a win to secure a playoff berth, and being one of the reasons we missed out.

So I think it is fair to say thank God he is going out on loan and his contract will expire at the end of the season, sums up Freedman’s eye for a player that he was meant to become the best player outside the top flight…

Having said that he apparently put in some good performances in pre-season and I have this horrible image of him coming good at MK Dons…

Decision rating: 9/10

Oscar Threlkeld and Conor Wilkinson

Both of these guys have gone out on loan to Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley respectively. I think it will be good for them to get some first team experience under their belts. It remains to be seen whether either will be good enough to come back to Bolton and compete on a regular basis for the first team.

But the best way to find out is for them to spend a whole season on loan somewhere!

Decision rating: 10/10

Tim Ream

It has been an emotional time for some of those who contribute to this site after Ream left, as seen in this wonderful poem by Murbrokski.

I think that this deal showed the sad reality that we are a selling club. I disagree that this is a bad price for Ream. Now that we are in the Championship our players are worth less than they would be if we were still in the Premier League. The money gained from the sale will be lost in the cost of running the club which is sad but a necessary evil with our financial mess.

As the two time player of the year it is sad to see him go, but as I said in a piece on the matter Ream is not irreplaceable and with Dean Moxey’s good start to the season this is clearly evidenced.

As sad as it is to see him go, and while risking the wrath of others on this site, I think that it was a good deal for the club.

Decision rating: 8/10

Sanmi Odelusi and Andy Kellett

I have banded the rest of the Wigan Wanderers brigade together. I think that their situations are very similar. Both players were tipped to break into the first team at various points over the last few years and defiantly have potential.

It is a shame to see both leave, especially Kellett, but if Lennon does not think that they are up to it then I trust his judgement on the issue and for me that is that. Having said that though with these two there is a good chance that in a few years the club will seriously regret letting them leave.

Decision rating: 7/10

Ryan Sellers, Chris Lester, George Iliev, Luke Woodland, Glenn Matthews, James Bell, Carl Kennedy and Kieran Nolan

These players are mix of names I have heard in a good light down the years and expected to see maybe break through and some that I have literally not heard of at all. I trust Lennon and the staff in the youth set up to make the right call.

Let’s just hope that none of them go onto become world beaters!

Decision rating: 8/10

Overall

There are some disappointments in the form of Davies and Gudjohnson and some that will take time to see if they are a good move such as Kellett and Odelusi (and to an extent Hall). But overall I think that Bolton have made good decisions on who they let go as they have managed to replace those who needed replacing well and the others were surplus to requirements.

Now I promised that I would have a go at Dougie Freedman and I am a man of my word!

We have managed to get rid of Hall and Beckford, but we still have Mohamad Kamara and Liam Trotter in the squad. Both of these players have proved to be a waste of time. Medo has at least in his defence had spells where he has played well but I still don’t think he has done enough to justify his place in the squad, especially considering how much he costs in wages.

Freedman had a lot of money to spend when you look at where Lennon is now and wasted so much of it on players like Medo and Trotter, along with Hall and Beckford.

It is great to finally have some of those players off the books and out of the way!