“Stay clear” - Bolton Wanderers fan pundit urges club to avoid move for former Man Utd player | OneFootball

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 picked up a crucial three points at Cambridge United in the week to keep themselves firmly in the hunt for a top two finish.

Ian Evatt has done a brilliant job with the Trotters, and they will hope to record a second promotion under his guidance later this year.

Bolton keen on Ravel Morrison

With the team playing good football and looking settled, it was somewhat surprising to see that Bolton are supposedly among the clubs considering a contract offer to free agent Ravel Morrison.

The 31-year-old is without a club after leaving DC United last year, and it’s thought that Bolton, Sheffield Wednesday and Peterborough are weighing up a short-term offer to the midfielder.

The former Manchester United youngster is regarded as a top talent when it comes to natural ability, but there have been many off-field incidents over the years, which has disrupted his progress.

Whether his reputation as a troublemaker is justified is open to debate, but it will certainly make some clubs think twice before moving for Morrison.

And, speaking to FLW, Bolton fan pundit Oliver admitted that he thinks this would be a risk the League One high-flyers don’t need to take at this stage of the season.

“Personally, I’d stay clear of Ravel Morrison, just because he’s got a track record with attitude problems.

“Ian Evatt’s moulded his squad over a number of years now to be the right sort of characters, and we all seem to be pulling in the right direction.

“If it was an area of the pitch we were particularly light on through injuries or whatnot, then maybe I’d consider it but I still wouldn’t be too sure.

“But we certainly aren’t light in the midfield area, so I think it would be an unnecessary signing to be honest. We’ve seen in the past how things have played out when we’ve taken gambles on players who are perhaps maybe considered a level above, but quite often there’s a reason for that.

“Marcus Maddison’s a good example of that. We signed him in League Two, everyone was gobsmacked and he was supposed to be the next best thing as he’d had a pretty good career to that point, but quite often there’s a reason why these players are signing in the lower reaches because there’s something not quite right.

“With Maddison, his attitude wasn’t right and he didn’t succeed with us, and I can see some parallels with Morrison, so I’d rather him go to another side.”

Bolton don’t need any disruption

It’s hard to argue with Oliver’s assessment here, as the Trotters are in a good place right now, as they are very difficult to beat, and they’re in a position where automatic promotion looks a real possibility.

Of course, you could argue that Morrison will enhance those chances, and he certainly has the talent to make a difference in the third tier.

However, he hasn’t played football for over a year, so he will need time to get up to speed. Furthermore, there are question marks over his attitude, so when you combine those two factors, it does seem like a pretty pointless deal from Bolton’s perspective.