A little on our club’s young prospects
I conducted a poll a few days ago (which is still up for you to vote on) asking you who you think our top young prospects are.
Max Clayton is currently in a pretty clear lead, 20% ahead of second placed Connor Wilkinson who got 23% of your votes.
Those who read my regular ramblings will know that I agree with this. I think Clayton is our best young talent since Kevin Nolan. He’s made several exciting cameo appearances off the bench and now I think he’s ready to start a match for us. He’s been doing it since he was a teenager for Crewe- with decent success I might add. While this was in Leagues 1 and 2 he’s much much further along than any other of our young players. Look at Oscar Threlkeld- he’s a decent young player. Threlkeld’s made three league appearances for us. Clayton, who is 7 months younger has made 95 senior appearances- and has scored a fair few.
Not only stats but his ability back this up too. His biggest contribution in a Bolton shirt (for the senior team) is probably his assist for Matt Mills’ goal against Cardiff. He turned with great finesse and speed to get around Fabio and pull the ball back for Mills.
Connor Wilkinson in second also makes a lot of sense. He impressed during pre season and was a good performer for Oldham Athletic earlier this season during a loan spell.
The likes of beforementioned Oscar Threlkeld, Josh Vela and Andy Kellett all look promising and I think we can expect to see more of all of them in a white shirt pretty soon.
A surprise for me was that nobody voted for Jamie Thomas, an U18 striker. I interviewed Jamie (and posted it on this website) in the Summer and what struck me is that he is a very down to Earth, dedicated young man and that will certainly help him in the future. He’s a fantastic finisher and scores countless goals for both Bolton and Wales. Maybe his lack of votes is because he’s a few years younger than the rest of the poll options.
Anyway, who’s your most exciting young talent? Comment and vote on the poll!