I Am Disappeared: Those Bolton Wanderers Let Go

It won’t surprise anyone to hear that I am overjoyed at some of the players who have been let go. There are others I am sad to see go and think could have been useful players next season. Having said that it is good that the club has if anything let too many players go and not fallen into the trap of signing too many of them with such finite resources currently available.

I won’t bother looking at all of the players who have been released just those who I think are worthy of a mention, so that means this is a Stephen Dobbie free zone!

David Wheater

Everyone knew that Wheater would leave at the end of the season like it or not. Personally I would have liked to have seen him stay at the club for another season as I think his experience could well be key to help what will likely be a young back line next season. Dorian Dervite is now the old head in the defence and that fills me with considerable dread.

But realistically we could not offer him a contract that would have been anything less than an insult based on how big the pay cut would have been. A shame he had to leave but necessary as the club looks to restructure. With any luck the transfer embargo can be lifted and an experienced League One defender can be brought in in his place.

Oscar Threlkeld

Just as I finally learn how to spell his name…

Threlkeld is one I would have kept. He has shown himself to be a useful player since returning from an impressive loan spell at Plymouth Argyle. He is a player with promise who I think would have proved to be an asset in League One next season. I would not be surprised if he popped up at a promoted Plymouth and makes us look a little silly for letting him go, but we will see.

One of the most annoying things is that he is a player who could be used in a number of positions (right back, central defence and defensive midfield) and therefore at the very least could have offered valuable back up in a number of areas. I am not sure that we will be able to attract a replacement any better if even as good as him if and when the transfer embargo is lifted.

Further if the rumours as to the circumstances of his release are true then that is a real shame and reflects badly on the new regime. A failure to show players respect could well play on the mind of others we try to sign.

Niall Maher

Another I probably would have kept. Yeah he didn’t set the world alight in the games he played before his red card but I fell we will struggle to get another player in as good as him with the financial constraints should we need to, and that is assuming the transfer embargo is lifted of course.

I don’t think Maher will pop up somewhere else and make the club look silly for letting him go but I do feel he could have at least offered some, presumably, cheap cover in a squad now worryingly short on first teamers.

Liam Feeney

Feeney was never going to hang around being probably the only Bolton player this season who deserves to remain in the Championship next season. Add to that the fact that he was a high earner and it is good to see him leave the club.

There can be no doubt that we missed him at the end of the season, not that it mattered given we were dead and buried before his move to Ipswich Town. He would likely have been an asset in League One but not a player who cannot be replaced. With any luck Kaiyne Woolery will kick on next season and his pace can be the weapons Feeney’s could have been.

Rob Hall

He did nothing for Bolton before showing a bit of something at MK Dons which is frustrating. Of course the well documented finances of his move from West Ham United to Bolton meant that he was never going to be able to make an impact at the Macron.

He may well have made a useful League One player but realistically after his nightmare Bolton stay was never going to agree to a new deal. A shame to lose a player just as they appear to be developing into a player we could use. But then again after Marcus Alonso and many more in recent years us Bolton fans are used to this.

Hayden White

White has impressed in League One this season with our very own Liam being amongst those impressed. As such it is a shame not to have kept him as he could have been a useful asset next season given his experience of the league.

What’s more we are now light in defence and it is likely that White would have been a cheap option. Here is to hoping he doesn’t play too well for Peterborough United and shows that it was the right call to let him go!

Ross Fitzsimmons

This is an interesting one. With Chubs being let go and no doubt the powers that being trying to move Ben Amos and his large wage on it would maybe have been useful to have kept Fitzsimmons around, hopefully, to back up to a new keeper.

If Amos stays, which in all reality is quite likely, this shouldn’t be an issue. But if he leaves then Bolton could find themselves with little in the way of goalkeeping options, particularly if this pesky transfer embargo is not lifted. I do not like the idea of our only options next season being keepers from the youth teams, but right now that is worryingly possible.

Quade Taylor

Taylor is a slight surprise having broken into the first team picture at the end of last season. With Wheater leaving and Rob Holding probably being sold we could have used the cover. This would especially be the case if someone comes in for Derik Osede which is a possibility.

Time will tell whether we should have kept the youngster around as cover for Dervite and whoever else will join him in what promises to be a terrible League One defence. As said before hopefully we can recruit a decent League One centre back over the summer, but if that does not happen we will be left wondering why Taylor wasn’t kept on board.

Jamie Thomas

This one has already divided Bolton fans and I am not completely sure which side I fall down on. Thomas has shown potential but has struggled with the step up to Under-21 football and didn’t manage a first team debut at the end of last season despite George Newell breaking through.

He has clearly dropped down the pecking order of young strikers but I can’t escape the feeling that it is a shame that Thomas never got a chance at first team level. But you would fell that if he was going to make the breakthrough they would have kept him and indeed that Jimmy Phillips who would know Thomas well would have given him that chance.

Time will tell but this was likely a solid decision.