Bolton Wanderers: Player it "isn't clicking" for under Steven Schumacher pointed out | OneFootball

George Thomason’s Trotters struggles are emblematic of a a campaign that’s promised plenty but delivered little

Bolton Wanderers find themselves staring down the barrel of another year of what-ifs.

Four consecutive defeats have left the Trotters six points adrift of the play-offs, with only two games remaining. To stand any chance of sneaking into the top six, Steven Schumacher's side would need to win both and hope for a serious collapse from the teams above.

It’s a far cry from where many expected Bolton to be at this stage - pushing confidently for promotion rather than relying on favours from elsewhere.

With the Whites’ season’s objectives all but slipped away, Football League World asked Bolton Wanderers’ resident fan pundit, Liam O’Meara, if any player had also undelivered on expectations this year.

Bolton fan left frustrated as George Thomason fails to build on breakthrough year

The downturn in form has sparked questions across the pitch, but few players sum up this season’s frustrations quite like George Thomason.

Once a beacon of Bolton’s progress and potential, the midfielder has struggled to find consistency this term. O’Meara puts it plainly: “I’d say George Thomason’s had a pretty disappointing season.

“It seemed like he was pretty well placed to build on last season, Ian Evatt made him captain earlier in the year, but for whatever reason his form has dipped, and he hasn’t been able to retain the levels that he maybe did last season, and maybe earlier in the year.

“That has been disappointing. I can see that Schumacher’s tried to move him around a bit in terms of position, playing him at left centre-back, because he does have a range of passing and a work rate - and he is trying - like there is effort there.

“But for whatever reason, he just isn’t clicking like he did last season.”

Thomason, who rose through the club’s academy ranks and played a pivotal role in their League Two promotion campaign, was seen as a cornerstone for the future.

With a contract running through to 2027 and the captain’s armband handed to him earlier in the season, expectations were high.

But as Bolton’s season has faltered, so too has the consistency of one of their most promising talents.

That’s not to say the effort hasn’t been there. Thomason’s work rate remains one of his most defining traits, and his willingness to adapt - slotting into different roles across the pitch - has been clear. But for reasons perhaps tactical, psychological, or simply form-related, it hasn’t quite clicked.

He’s been a symbol not of failure, but of a wider sense of stalling; a club and a player both caught between the promise of last season and the disappointment of this one.

Off the pitch, Thomason speaks well. In interviews, he’s switched on - aware of the standards required and the responsibility that comes with his role, understanding the task at hand.

For Bolton to build again, they’ll need more than results - they’ll need leaders. Thomason still has the tools and temperament to be one.

The next step in his development, much like the club’s, demands renewed focus, clarity, and a return to the standards that once made Bolton look like a team on the rise.