Steven Schumacher is making big Bolton Wanderers mistake as Stockport County transfer nears | OneFootball

Schumacher could live to regret sanctioning the departure of Josh Dacres-Cogley from Bolton Wanderers to Stockport County.

Bolton Wanderers are enduring a woeful run of form that has cost them permanently in the cups and could well be terminal to their promotion chances, too, with the January transfer window contributing to a feeling of uncertainty at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

One piece of business that appears could well happen, as first reported by Alan Nixon over the weekend, involves experienced right-back Josh Dacres-Cogley departing for fellow League One promotion contenders Stockport County.

In a bizarre situation, Dacres-Cogley actually started for Bolton in their recent 1-0 defeat at home to League One’s basement club Port Vale in the round of 16 of the EFL Trophy, despite reports suggesting a move to Stockport is now all but complete, with a medical pencilled in, as per Pete O'Rourke.

However, could this planned exit be a mistake from Bolton? Head coach Steven Schumacher should perhaps be more than willing to let the defender prove himself and, if a move is to be sanctioned, then it could be one he lives to majorly regret in the second-half of the season.

Josh Dacres-Cogley has been a good servant for Bolton Wanderers

In the 2022/23 campaign, Bolton finished fifth and won the EFL Trophy with a 4-0 demolition of Schumacher’s Plymouth Argyle at Wembley Stadium, with arguably their key man from that season being Liverpool loanee Conor Bradley.

The Northern Ireland international was absolutely superb at right wing-back for the Trotters and filling his boots was always going to be a difficult job, with that job falling to Dacres-Cogley.

Joining on a free transfer from League Two side Tranmere Rovers, it would have been unfair to expect the same level of quality and productivity as Bradley in the final third, as well as energy and strength in defence.

However, naturally, a lot of Bolton fans have often judged the defender by the standards of the now semiregular Liverpool starter, rather than by the standards of what would make a good full-back for the third-tier.

In his first season, Dacres-Cogley made the League One Team of the Season and was a key cog in a Bolton side that narrowly missed out on automatic promotion on the final day of the campaign before a play-off final loss to Oxford United.

Often criticised for a lack of end product, it can be fairly argued that Dacres-Cogley was a victim of the general caution and style of manager Ian Evatt in that regard, often being one of the highest, if not the highest, players in attack for Bolton and being tasked with being an efficient winger as well as a solid defender.

With performances dipping, Schumacher switched the system to a back four following his appointment in the second-half of last season and Dacres-Cogley returned to a more natural right-back role and, again, excellent for the Whites, keeping Jordi Osei-Tutu out of the side.

Stockport County would be stealing a key Bolton Wanderers man if Josh Dacres-Cogley deal is sealed

In the first half of this season, Bolton’s best performances have come when Amario Cozier-Duberry has been at his best and shone for the Whites, with notably impressive performances in games against Plymouth Argyle, Lincoln City, Cardiff City and Port Vale in particular.

In those games, Cozier-Duberry scored four goals and provided four assists, standing above the rest of the division with his quality, but his form has majorly tailed off in the last month or so.

It is probably not a coincidence that in three of those four-star displays from the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee, Dacres-Cogley was in behind him on the right-hand side, providing more dynamism when getting forward than Cyrus Christie and far more defensive protection for the winger than Osei-Tutu.

Since his sudden omission from matchday squads, from the start of December, Cozier-Duberry’s form has left a lot to be desired with a lack of chemistry hampering him on the right.

Bolton have hamstrung themselves and limited their best player, thus best route to victory, with the surprising absence of Dacres-Cogley and now the sanctioning of his departure is providing a promotion rival with a more than steady, potentially season-defining signing with a few months of the campaign to go.

To be able to sign an experienced 29-year-old versatile defender, not yet out of contract, in a winter transfer window from a direct promotion rival must seem like a dream for Dave Challinor and Stockport.

Dacres-Cogley has come very close to promotion with Bolton and it would be a mistake for his move to Edgeley Park to be approved, ending an underrated and impressive 125-game stint in Lancashire.

Bolton fans who have been critical of Dacres-Cogley may believe the grass is greener but, as has already begun to be shown in the last month or so, may not realise what they have until it is gone.