"I'm encouraged" - Claim made on Bolton Wanderers' promotion chances under Steven Schumacher | OneFootball

FLW's Bolton Wanderers fan pundit weighs in on concerns and expectations for Steven Schumacher next season.

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Bolton Wanderers are looking to secure a return to the Championship for the first time since 2019, following a disappointing 2024/25 campaign which saw them miss out on the play-offs.

Last season was one of change for Trotters supporters, as long-serving manager Ian Evatt departed the club in January, following a run of poor results.

The former Blackpool defender was replaced in the dugout by 2022/23 League One Manager of the Year Steven Schumacher, who was out of a job after being sacked by Stoke City earlier in the season.

Despite some encouraging results, Bolton ultimately wouldn't make the play-offs under their new head coach, and many supporters felt relieved when the season finally drew to a close.

This has seen plenty of change already in the summer, with key members of Schumacher's staff at Plymouth Argyle making the move to Lancashire, and an overhaul of the playing squad, with long-serving players such as Ricardo Santos being let go.

It's an exciting time for Wanderers supporters, who will be hoping that the changes implemented to assist Schumacher will help him be the man to guide the former Premier League side back to the Championship.

Bolton Wanderers supporters don't have "any particular concerns" over Steven Schumacher

In the midst of a busy summer at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, Football League World spoke to our resident Bolton expert, Liam O'Meara, quizzing him on any concerns he has regarding Schumacher heading into the new season.

"I don't have any particular concerns about Steven Schumacher at this point," O'Meara responded.

"It is a big summer for him and I think he has pre-season to get his ideas into the squad.

"I'm encouraged by the fact that Bolton seem to have gone out and built a team around him, particularly people that were at Plymouth working alongside him, so that will be encouraging. He's been given all the tools he needs to make it as successful as possible."

It seems that the changes in staff are a great source of encouragement for Bolton fans, having seen what Schumacher did last time he was in League One with a strong team working behind the scenes.

There is hope that the changes will help identify the shortcomings on the pitch from last season, and give the 41-year-old greater support in player recruitment this summer.

Steven Schumacher, Bolton Wanderers promotion claim made

FLW also asked Liam if he believes the former League One winner is the man to finally get Bolton back into the Championship, and what are the expectations heading into the new season.

O'Meara followed up: "In terms of him being the man to go up, I think this season will be difficult for us. We finished well outside the play-offs in the end, so it's quite a big jump to get us from there into the top two.

"No one ever says that the top four is an aim in the EFL, because it's either play-offs or top two, but I think top four should be where Bolton should finish in terms of this season.

"I think it's going to be hard to beat the likes of Luton, who've got two sets of parachute payments to throw at it, and I imagine Stockport will be very strong.

"The next batch; your Plymouths, your Readings, we need to be in that mix, and if we get off to a good start, there's no reason why we can't be pushing for automatics," Liam concluded.

League One is going to be an incredibly competitive division at the sharp end next season, but there is a sense of optimism that after a big summer, Bolton could have their name in the hat for automatic promotion.