Bolton Wanderers: Steven Schumacher name-drops Plymouth Argyle amid summer transfer hint | OneFootball

The Bolton Wanderers manager Stephen Schumacher wants to emulate his Plymouth success.

Bolton Wanderers manager Steven Schumacher has hinted that he will make significant changes to his squad this summer in the quest to be promoted out of League One.

The Trotters fell short once again, but unlike the last two seasons where they reached the top six, Schumacher saw his side fall out of contention and end up in eighth position.

Schumacher arrived at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in January to replace Ian Evatt, but despite early promising signs, momentum could not be continued, and it will be another season in the third tier of English football for the Greater Manchester outfit.

Steven Schumacher hoping to follow Plymouth Argyle blueprint to achieve Bolton Wanderers success

Based on Schumacher's post-season comments following a run of six matches without a win to end the campaign, there could be big changes to come at Bolton this summer, and the 41-year-old will draw inspiration on his time at Plymouth Argyle to try and push Wanderers into an automatic promtoion battle next season.

"We won the league with 101 points on a £4million budget, so it can be done". Schumacher told the Bolton News, in reference to his achievements in Devon.

“You have just got to find the right players and get the right personalities, more than anything.

"You've got to get people who have high standards every day, train properly, professionally, and can carry out what you've asked them to do on the pitch, week in, week out, and be consistent.

“We found a way to do that a few years ago, hopefully we can find another way to do it again.”

Some significant spending on new players during the summer 2024 transfer window saw Bolton installed among the pre-season favourites for promotion to the Championship, but previous manager Evatt couldn't get the required consistency out of his team and he was sacked in January following a 2-1 home defeat by Charlton which left them 10th in the League One table.

Schumacher arrived at the end of that month, having made his name two years earlier by taking Plymouth Argyle to the League One title in 2023, but he left the club the following December to go to Stoke City.

His spell in the Potteries lasted just nine months before he was removed from this position. His record in charge of Bolton so far has, if anything so far, been less impressive than that of his predecessor, but he will be given the time to make the changes he sees fit to the squad.

Steven Schumacher could be hamstrung this summer by previous Bolton Wanderers spending

The problem that Schumacher may have this coming summer is Bolton's previous spending.

Within the last twelve months, Aaron Collins arrived from Bristol Rovers for £750,000, Szabolcs Schön arrived from the Hungarian club Ferencvaros for a figure reported as £800,000, Joel Randall arrived from Peterborough United for a "substantial undisclosed fee" that was suggested as being more than £1m, and Jordi Osei-Tutu arrived for VfL Bochum for another undisclosed fee.

The club reported financial losses of £11.2m for the 2023/24 season, which is double that of the season before.

This means that Bolton's purse strings may be pulled a little tighter this summer than last year, and while the idea of moving players on in order to rebuild is appealing, the players themselves will have a big say over whether they move on or not.

If contracted players are to be offloaded this summer, someone will have to be found who'll meet their wage demands and that might not be straightforward.