Opinion: Tom Thorpe: An Unsung Hero

It could be argued that any part of our mighty team is the reason for its lofty league position.

There have been articles about Gary the Goalmachine, our imperious defence, the work done by the new number one Ben Alnwick, however, one man to come under fire just a touch in comparison to his colleagues is the former Manchester United man Tom Thorpe.

In the same way that we must thank the stupidity of Wigan Athletic for lending us Andy Taylor, we must congratulate Rotherham for gifting us one of the best holding midfielders in League One (be it only for one season).

He has contributed a great deal to our club and for that we must be thankful. Now, I am not going to lecture you about how he is the greatest player in our midfield since a certain Ivan Campo graced our patch of Lancashire turf, however I will ask that you hear me out.

Thomas Joseph Thorpe has scored a measly 3 goals in his entire senior career, and after just 18 senior appearances for any club before he joined Bolton he was hardly proven. In comparison, our very own Josh Vela has now made over 100 senior appearances across his career, and they are the same age.

So, he doesn’t score a lot, and he hasn’t played a lot. He has in his time been played across the back four, and in central midfield, so it could be argued that his managers haven’t known what his best position is.

You would be forgiven for wandering where this article is heading, a little bit like Tom’s career. However, like all sensible humans, Bolton Wanderers would be his saving grace.

A run in the Wanderers first team, after injuries had decimated our ranks, became the chance that would turn his career around. Not only did he take his chance, but also managed to keep our favourite frizzy haired Spaniard out of the team.

Every now and again he does make the odd rash challenge, occasionally gets caught ball watching and even gets dragged out of position every now and again.

However, these are all things which are perfectly forgivable when 95% of the time, he is calm, accurate, dependable, competent, reliable and loveable.

He may well have been a Manchester United man, but we will forgive him his solitary appearance for them on the basis that he works his socks off, week in, week out. He gives the commitment that we Bolton Wanderers fans love to see, and the passion for our club, our town, and the game that we expect of our players.

Praise has to go to the manager for instilling this, but let us leave his praises for another day.

Today is Tom Thorpe’s day.

Thank you Thomas, keep up the hard work and there is every chance that you will be remembered as a regular in our promotion winning team of 2016-17.