Bolton Wanderers manager Steven Schumacher has praised the club’s recruitment department and the processes that they had in place after the club navigated a busy January transfer window.
Wanderers brought in seven players during the winter window and had to deal with both goalkeepers leaving the club.
Pre-Planning Allowed Quick Reactions
Bolton are currently third in League One and have added significantly totheir squad in preparation for the promotion run-in.
The club had to contend with injuries to Amario Cozier-Duberry and Marcus Forss and lost goalkeepers Teddy Sharman-Lowe and Tyler Miller, meaning the club needed reinforcements, and fast.
Working alongside sporting director Fergal Harkin and head of recruitment Jimmy Dickinson, Schumacher claimed that having the correct processes in place made adaptation possible.
Schumacher told the Bolton News:
“That is the benefit of pre-planning because you have to be able to react and you have to be able to deal with unexpected things that pop up.”
“But if you haven’t got the right players in place or the right profiles of players lined up – or thinking, ‘If this was to happen, what do we do?’ – you would maybe miss out on those opportunities.”
Lewis Temple arrived from Shelbourne before the goalkeeping reshuffle saw Jack Bonham and David Harrington join from Stoke City and Fleetwood Town, respectively.
Corey Blackett-Taylor and Rob Apter came in to provide cover and competition in the wide area, motivated partly due to the injury to Cozier-Duberry.
“We wanted to bring in another winger anyway; that was always the plan. We brought in two with the injury to Amario.”
“When we knew that both players were available – I’ve said before I wanted to sign Rob Apter permanently in the summer but didn’t manage to do that.”
“And Corey is obviously somebody who’s got loads of Championship experience and experience of this division.”
“He brings a different element to what we need – that pace and power – so to be able to do that straightaway is really important. I’m pleased that our processes are good.”
Leaving January Stronger Than When Entering
January is a busy month, with fixtures continuing to come thick and fast and the opening of the transfer window. Bolton lost just once in the league throughout the month and ended it with four wins and a draw to put pressure on the top two.
Schumacher told the Bolton News that he is pleased with how his club handled the hectic period.
“It can be a month that can have a bit of disruption, it can be a month where there’s a lot of speculation and rumour that goes around, it can be exciting for the fans, it can be monotonous for the staff.”
“But I think we’ve come out of the January transfer window in a stronger place than what we entered it in.”
