'Problem' that Josh Sheehan has at Bolton Wanderers involving Ian Evatt raised | OneFootball

FLW Fan Pundit Liam explains how Josh Sheehan continues to divide opinion at Bolton Wanderers.

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 transformed their squad over the summer with Steven Schumacher, aided by new Head of Recruitment Jimmy Dickinson and Sporting Director Fergal Harkin, able to reconstruct what was a team that did need dismantling to begin a new era.

The former Stoke City and Plymouth Argyle boss had spoken of his desire to play a different shape for this season and that has seen Wanderers move away from almost exclusively playing a back three to now playing either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2.

Performances have remained strong throughout the campaign and now, after a frustrating start in terms of results, Wanderers are beginning to motor with a 6-2 demolition of Oldham Athletic in the EFL Trophy in midweek meaning that they have now enjoyed five successive victories across all competitions.

One man that has remained in place, though, despite all of the changes going on around him, is Wales international Josh Sheehan – and yet he is a player who continues to divide opinion at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Josh Sheehan divides opinion at Bolton

Josh Sheehan was Bolton’s Player of the Year in the 2023/24 campaign, a season in which they narrowly missed out on automatic promotion on the final day before then losing 2-0 to Oxford United in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

Sheehan, who joined on a free transfer from Newport County in the summer of 2021, following Bolton’s automatic promotion from League Two, splits opinion among Bolton supporters, though, as FLW’s Bolton Fan Pundit Liam O’Meara outlines:

Liam says: “This is quite a hard one to answer actually, but I would say at the moment Josh Sheehan.

“I would say that Josh Sheehan’s problem is that he is very closely tied with the Ian Evatt era, which a lot of Bolton fans do want to move on from.

“I think the general consensus outside of Bolton supporters is that he is one of the best players in the league in terms of that central midfield position, linking defence and attack.

“He can appear a little bit lightweight and his effectiveness in games does appear to have waned in the last 12 to 18 months.

“Personally, I think he is the best that we have got in that position at the moment, but I do understand the concerns about how little he can affect games, particularly away from home.

“I think, at times, away from home, he doesn’t have the same power in terms of getting on the ball and making things happen, and defensively he can struggle.

“Although, he does seem as though he has had a little bit of bite injected into from Steven Schumacher so, whilst I understand some frustrations from Bolton fans, I do think he is the best we have got in that position at the moment.”

Josh Sheehan could still be pivotal to Bolton

The recent improved run of form has coincided with Josh Sheehan also beginning to have more of his usual controlling and calming influence on the team and in possession.

There is a theory that Sheehan would be more suited to playing at a higher level than League One, and his technical quality and intelligence would be of more benefit in the Championship.

In the third-tier, where Bolton are expected to and generally do have more of the ball and more say in how the game goes, someone who isn’t exclusively a recycler of possession, but is someone whereby their game fundamentally revolved around ticking things over, isn’t necessarily required.

At a higher level, when Bolton find themselves under a lot more pressure; Sheehan’s ability to retain the ball and therefore ease that pressure would likely be valued a lot more.

Whether or not that proves to be true is one thing, another is the fact that Bolton have a lot of competition for his role, including from former Wycombe Wanderers loanee Aaron Morley, and a lot more variety to their play and so the predictability of Sheehan playing, let alone the way in which he plays, has been reduced a fair bit from the Evatt era.