Stepping Up: Contrasting fortunes for Pratley and Eagles at Bolton Wanderers

Covering the Football League – and the Championship in particular – rather than the Premier League or a specific club, it is impossible to escape comments questioning the quality of players making the step up from the second tier to the top flight. “Championship player”, they say dismissively. So can Darren Pratley and Chris Eagles dodge this label?

Owen Coyle’s summer transfer dealings at Bolton Wanderers represented something of a mixed bag, but there certainly seemed more inclination to put faith in Football League players than could be found at most other Premier League clubs. Bolton lost a number of squad members, either for undisclosed fees or on free transfers. They had few first-team players to replace, so it made sense to look to the Championship for bargain additions to the ranks. Understandably, Coyle opted to head to Turf Moor and see which of his former Burnley charges could reasonably be expected to make the step up to the top flight. He chose Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears, while also recruiting Darren Pratley from Swansea City when the midfielder’s contract expired.

Coyle’s other business consisted of taking punts on a mixture of permanent deals and loans for experienced Premier League players with a point to prove (Sanli Tuncay and Nigel Reo-Coker) or promising youngsters from bigger clubs (David N’Gog, Gael Kakuta and Dedryck Boyata). Both of these categories have served Bolton well in recent years and both Chelsea and Manchester City must have considered the progression made by Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge during their loan spells at the Reebok Stadium when farming out Kakuta and Boyata respectively.

It is interesting to see now where the Football League recruits fit into Coyle’s plan. Mears suffered a similar fate to Bolton’s other long-term injury absentees Lee Chung-Yong and Stuart Holden when breaking his leg in training less than a week after joining the club, so he is yet to make his debut. In contrast, Pratley and Eagles have both played a part in the opening months of Bolton’s campaign despite looking like squad members rather than regular starters upon their arrival.

With Chung-Yong and Holden both missing from the Bolton midfield thus far, Coyle would have been keen on Pratley and Eagles settling in quickly. Pratley was bedded in gradually, a late substitute for the first three games of the season before playing a longer period of half an hour from the bench in a 5-0 defeat at home to Manchester United. This result is indicative of Bolton’s form either side of the 4-0 win at QPR on the opening day and the 5-0 victory against Stoke last weekend. It hasn’t been the ideal team to settle into and some of the blame has been laid at Pratley’s door by supporters.

Matilda Hankinson, from the Bolton Wanderers blog Lion of Vienna Suite, says: “Pratley has struggled to make an impression, but that is largely due to the overwhelming number of central midfielders at Bolton. He’s fitted in well in a five-man midfield, but has less of a presence in a 4-4-2 in that he struggles to retain or reclaim possession. He’s had his moments of brilliance but it’s been just that, moments. Hopefully he can grow more into the role as the season progresses.”

There is certainly evidence of potential that Pratley will find his role within the Bolton setup, as seen by the differences between his performances in the two-goal defeats to Sunderland and his former employers Swansea City:

Against Sunderland, Pratley’s long passing was largely ineffective but he kept the ball well at the Liberty Stadium. Wasting none of his 21 passes at Swansea, all of which were short, only tells part of the story though. Pratley was highlighted during Match of the Day’s analysis of the game for the half-hearted attempt he made to close down Joe Allen in the moments leading up to the opening Swansea goal and he conceded a penalty less than ten minutes later, converted by Scott Sinclair for the home side’s second. These are the moments that stick in the minds of supporters rather than a 100% pass completion rate in a game dominated by the opposition, and rightly so.

The physical aspect of Pratley’s game is also something Bolton may need to call upon. Swansea City blogger Abigail Davies feels that the Swans will miss Pratley as the season wears on, despite fine showings so far from midfielders Leon Britton and Joe Allen.

“Time and time again during his time with Swansea, Pratley’s defensive capabilities proved just as prolific as his offensive displays”, says Davies. “He offered a great physical presence when required, as well as scoring many important goals. His absence has been more noticeable away from home, as we have no similar, physical midfielder to fill the void he left. Pratley’s great vision and off the ball movement saw him constantly trouble defenders as well as create openings for other players – two more reasons why he received mass accolades and was so well respected whilst at Swansea.”

While Bolton fans largely remain sceptical about Pratley, Coyle’s addition from the Burnley midfield has certainly made more of a positive impact.

“Chris Eagles has been a revelation this season”, says Hankinson. “When Chung-Yong Lee, our star winger, was injured we were really worried about where creativity would come from, but Eagles has proven himself one of the most consistent players in the side. He’s scored four goals, made many assists, and makes solid tackles. We’ve been very impressed with him.”

In Bolton’s last outing, Eagles scored two of the five goals they put past Stoke. The chalkboards show how effective he can be from wide positions. If Bolton get their central midfield setup right, Eagles is best left on the flanks. When less disciplined, we could see something more like the result of his last Premier League start for Burnley:

It would be folly to place too much importance on chalkboards from two games specifically chosen to highlight a point, but they do support the notion that Eagles can be an effective Premier League player if allowed to stick to the confines of his natural role as a creative wide man. It was no coincidence that Bolton’s five-star display was largely attributed to the performance of Fabrice Muamba in their midfield. As Pratley continues to adjust to the demands of top flight football, Eagles should benefit from having the likes of Muamba, Reo-Coker and Mark Davies alongside him.

Burnley, meanwhile, have responded well to the unenviable task of replacing his goals. Eagles was joint top scorer in all competitions last season with 15 strikes, but fellow winger Ross Wallace already has six to his name and looks to be enjoying a much improved campaign thus far. Clarets fans will care little about Bolton’s efforts to stay up this season but some may well be keeping an interested eye on whether Eagles can establish himself as a reliable Premier League performer.

In short, one new Bolton man has a point to prove while the other is already earning them for his club.

The Seventy Two

The Seventy Two published an outstanding series of articles about the Football League between 2010-12 and was the brainchild of Leicester City fan, David Bevan. As well as collaborating with The Two Unfortunates on the Football League Blog Network and a mammoth 2011-12 season preview, the site featured a host of leading bloggers and David was rewarded with a nomination in the 2011 Football Supporters’ Federation awards. Latterly, he was joined as co-editor by Joe Harrison and TTU is happy to present this archive of the site’s output.