Get a good night’s sleep, Jules!
By Liam Hatton
Julian Darby’s affinity with Bolton Wanderers started by watching from the Burnden Park terraces as a kid before eventually playing for, and captaining, the club he always adored.
He then went on to coach the academy setup at all levels and he can now say that he has managed Bolton Wanderers, albeit for a brief spell.
There’s a certain emotional nature about football, whether that was Darby carrying his grandson over to the away end after Saturday’s win over Huddersfield on the verge of tears, or the fact that he was once a ball boy, dreaming of one day playing for his club.
That came full circle as he was greeted with high fives by the academy lads serving as ball boys themselves following the full-time whistle on Tuesday.
What Darby, Andy Taylor and Andrew Tutte have achieved in the space of eight days has been almost unfathomable.
A dark cloud has been hanging over this club since that defeat at Wembley in May and although there have been brief glimmers of hope, the last few months of Ian Evatt’s reign ventured into apathy and frustration.
The mood has lifted thanks to a lifelong Bolton fan who stepped up when it mattered, and for what he lacks in media training he makes up in countless other ways. He’s been a breath of fresh air, he hasn’t pretended to be someone he’s not and has ensured that Steven Schumacher walks into an environment that is buzzing again.
All that he asked was for in return was for the players to believe in themselves. Those three men have done more for this club than they would probably ever care to admit, which will never go unnoticed by this fanbase.
As for the new gaffer, how can you not be impressed?
The smile on his face told the whole story without him even needing to say a word, but when he did speak, you could not help but buy into what he was selling.
The fact is, he doesn’t need to sell us anything because his record speaks for itself. He took over Plymouth Argyle following Ryan Lowe’s departure in December 2021, resulting in a seventh placed finish - missing out on the playoffs by three points.
The following year he bested now Premier League outfit Ipswich Town, winning the league with 101 points as they were the second highest scorers.
His Stoke City tenure may be the only blip on his managerial career so far, but they are hardly the beacon of stability as made evident with his replacement lasting three months before getting the sack.
Schumacher spoke about having a squad that is adaptable and can play in different styles or systems, which was refreshing to hear. For all of the good that Evatt did during his tenure, his inability to divert from his tried and trusted tactics ultimately proved to be his downfall.
For Schumacher, you feel it’s about finding that balance between the defensive resiliency shown over the last two games and Evatt’s team, which was so possession focused yet seemed to be too clever for its own good at times.
It’s a show of intent from the board and on paper it’s an outstanding appointment. A new era has started and we can look forward, but for now we can rest easy knowing that Jules can finally get a good night’s sleep.
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The return of that feelgood factor
By James Scott
A week is an incredibly long time in football. Seven days ago, Bolton were managerless, with just two league wins in their last eight games.
Safe to say that I, like many others, felt pretty pessimistic about the rest of the season.
In a flash, Julian Darby led Bolton to an unlikely but comprehensive victory over Huddersfield, a side that were unbeaten since October. Wanderers played with freedom, were aggressive but calculated, and Aaron Collins’s composed finish early in the second half saw Bolton return from Yorkshire with three points.
Three days later, with Wanderers legend Kevin Nolan stood in the way of three points, Aaron Collins once again thundered a strike into the top corner to see off Northampton, after George Thomason had struck early on and Liam Shaw had found his own top corner in the first half.
Back to back league wins for the first time since October and countless renditions of ‘Aaron Collins Olé Olé’ can be attributed to the tireless work and fighting spirit of Darby himself.
Wanderers’s interim boss spoke with humility, class and raw emotion, something which Bolton fans had been craving.
And whilst all this had been going on, in the background lay the exciting but sometimes uncomfortable question as to who would lead Bolton for the rest of the season and beyond. Schumacher always looked the most exciting target, and for Wanderers to pull off this appointment provides a real statement of intent.
Suddenly, Wanderers’s position just outside the top six feels more positive. Schumacher has a free hit to take Bolton into the playoffs, and even if it doesn’t quite happen before the summer, he’ll have a full window to take the reins and stamp his mark on this squad.
The players have to receive some credit to how they have reacted over the last week. Smiles have returned to faces, and the simplicity of the football has brought back confidence from those who lacked it the most.
Will Forrester has been immense at the back in the last two games, and George Johnston has looked at his tenacious best too.
Victor Adeboyejo ran himself into the ground against Huddersfield, and Josh Dacres-Cogley provided Collins with a clever assist to set up victory in Huddersfield.
The sight of Julian Darby holding his grandson in front of over 2,000 Bolton fans singing ‘Julian Derby, he’s one of our own’ really made me feel connected with Wanderers once again this season. The mood has gone from apathetic to excited.
And although there might be teething troubles, I can’t wait to see Schumacher stamp his authority on this Bolton squad. It could be quite a ride…
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Promotion race is back on with Schumacher at the wheel
By Lee Sidebotham
Steven Schumacher was the best candidate for the role.
Side note, I love the fact that the two favourites for the job were Steven and Des Buckingham, both managers we’ve faced at Wembley over the past two years.
And ironically, we chose the one whose side were demolished by us in the Papa John’s Final. Still, when you get over 100 points with Plymouth in a League One campaign that also contained the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Derby County and Bolton Wanderers, that speaks for itself.
Argyle fans can’t speak more highly of the man and it sounds like that has a lot to do with his role in the club’s community as well as results.
What you do off the pitch goes just as far as on the pitch here and I am confident he will turn out to be a great success in that aspect too. The appointment has certainly seemed to bring a lot of fans back together already.
If you had asked me this time last week, I would have said changing the mentality of our players should be top priority for our new gaffer. But after impressive wins against Huddersfield and Northampton this week, maybe it’s not as bad as we have all thought.
I remember Ian Evatt talking about how mentally fragile we were as a unit. Yet, we’ve not seen any of that over the last week.
Instead, I think our style of play now needs to be redefined. Schumacher, like Evatt, also enjoys playing a more modern and attractive style football.
So, it will be interesting to see how we fair this time around under his tactics and leadership. Too many teams knew what we were about under Evatt.
I want to see how he can change things up. Most importantly though, I want us to start becoming more proactive than reactive.
He’s got a very favourable run of games to get started with too. Reading, Crawley and Shrewsbury are all winnable and can help us build momentum for a tough March ahead.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who would also like to see Julian Darby’s efforts rewarded.
He stepped up when called upon and exceeded greatly. I know Schumacher will have his own backroom staff lined up, but I would like to think there’s a place somewhere for Darby, even if his main duties still lie with the Under 18s.
The future is bright. We’ve got the squad to go all the way. And now we’ve got the manager too.
There’s no reason why we can’t all start believing that the chase for the Championship is back on.
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Julian’s dream journey
By Chris McKeown
As I write this I’m still eagerly awaiting the news of who’s going to be appointed the next Bwfc manager - and whilst I hope it’s concluded soon, it creates a chance to talk about the last week, and what a week it’s been for Wanderers fans.
The caretaker manager role is a tough one to navigate, especially so when no coach or assistants remain in place after the previous manager’s departure.
Step forth Julian Darby!
Considering the timing and the immediate fixture of high flying Huddersfield, he ( and his team )was certainly chucked into the deep end!
What happened next was what dreams are made of.
Given the short time to work with the squad, to go and put a display in of that level was merit enough, to find a way to beat the Terriers and end the long unbeaten run, was something special.
‘Special’ is the word I want to focus on. After such a traumatic recent period, the fans (and no doubt all concerned to the club) needed a boost, they needed someone who understood the brief, someone who could heal the hurt, whilst holding the fort, we found that in spades with Julian.
Whilst gaining the two wins from two is absolutely vital to maintain the hopes of a play-off spot - perhaps more important, was to bring back the joy, the love and the passion of what it means to be a supporter.
After a very turbulent few months (or perhaps season), it did feel like a crack in the belief was growing larger by the game, possibly reaching its pinnacle against Charlton, hence the need for change.
Julian Darby came into the job with a real hard task to try to oversee, In what was an unknown timeframe that could end at any point.
He has managed to not only fill the said cracks but reinforce the foundation, put the smiles back on faces, the pride has returned, supporters re-engaged with this wonderful club.
Now, from his point of view, he must be living the dream of all Bolton fans. Ball boy, long term player , coach and now manager, it really is Roy of the Rovers stuff and I couldn’t be happier for him and his family.
He deserves all the praise. it will never be forgotten.
The board couldn’t have wished for a better man at the helm - so whatever happens in the future, I wish him all the very best.
The next question is who gets the chance to take the hot seat at Bolton Wanderers- it’s such a big decision to get right, this is a sleeping giant of a club, anyone who watched the Huddersfield game and saw our support must realise this is something special - no ordinary club.
What Julian and his team have tapped into once more - must be continued.
The feelgood factor is back.
Let’s keep the good times coming!
