You need a rule on this as otherwise you could just have teams loaning certain players out 45 times to bully some other club. An extreme example but there has to be some cut off
And not everyone is free to work for as many employers as they like. Often higher level employees will have 6months or more notice and be forced to sit out gardening leave before commencing a new position.
If players don't want to be subject to a long contract just sign weekly or monthly deals. I suspect that wouldn't suit them though.
I had to look that one up…. This is how it happened: Tony Cottee once played in all four divisions in one season. Cottee started 2000-01 at Leicester City, where he made a couple of Premiership appearances as a sub before being released to Norwich, in what was then Division One. In November the chance to be player-manager of Barnet came up and soon Cottee was playing in Division Three, but alas it did not work out. By March he was again looking for work and found it, with two sub appearances, at Millwall in Division Two.
Our old friend Jason Banton played for us, Hartlepool and Notts County in the 15/16 season. In the 22/23 season he played for Sittingbourne, Herne Bay and Brightlingsea before retiring
Agree that Banton did play for Wycombe, Hartlepool and Notts County all in League 2 in 15/16, so not sure if the current EFL regs weren't in force back then, or they aren't as tight as some people might be hoping.
However he hasn't retired, it was only last week he was moaning on twitter having been released by Walthomstow.
Bringing it back on topic, here's the latest from Bolton Wanderers. Author: Marc Iles (The Bolton News)
“HEY, Aaron Morley (oooh-aah), we want to know (oh) how you scored that goal!”
It was a chant we have all heard a hundred times before at Bolton, aimed towards a player who has always retained his popularity on the terraces even if his fortunes on the pitch were changeable.
Only on Friday night, it was different. Morley was kitted out in Wycombe’s tracksuit and though he wasn’t able to play against Wanderers, he was very much in the opposition camp.
Supporters have made their preference known as Ian Evatt weighs up whether to bring Morley back from Adams Park in January, a decision which has taken on more significance than the manager could ever have thought possible when he sanctioned the move back in August.
Under Matt Bloomfield Wycombe have been the surprise package in League One over the first half of the season, tweaking the uncompromising, physical, high-energy approach they honed under his predecessor, Gareth Ainsworth, and turning in a genuinely impressive string of results to take them top of the table.
Morley has been very much central to that success, starting 16 games and already racking up more time on the pitch than he did in the entire of 2023/24 with Bolton.
For some, bringing him back next month is a straightforward choice. Not only does it mean an in-form midfielder is available for selection but is also gives Evatt a chance to throw a stick in the spokes of the Chairboys’ promotion efforts too.
Morley’s presence has allowed Josh Scowen, previously known as more of a defensive type, to push on as a number eight. And given licence to sit back and use his range of passing – never in doubt at Bolton, even in the toughest of times – Morley has been able to supply plenty of ammunition to Wycombe’s heavy-duty attack.
This season he has provided four direct assists, matching what he did at Wanderers last term, and he is also averaging 51 touches of the ball per game – almost double what he did over the previous year (26.7 per game) and back towards his best levels with the Whites from 2022/23 (56.9).
At Wycombe he has been installed as the sole playmaker, the quarterback tasked with launching the ball towards a notoriously aggressive attack. With Bolton, Morley did not have the same weight of solo responsibility with the likes of Josh Sheehan competing for the same sort of space and ball-carriers like Kyle Dempsey and Paris Maghoma driving the team forward in a different way.
Morley has been able to use his longer-range passing at Wycombe in a way that, perhaps, does not suit Wanderers’ smaller and more mobile attack. Since moving to Adams Park the number of long balls he has hit has doubled, and their accuracy improved from 33 per cent to 54 per cent.
The 24-year-old started only 10 league games in 23/24 but did boast a decent record, finishing up on the losing side on just two of those occasions, against Wigan Athletic and Bristol Rovers.
Evatt had hinted that Morley’s work out of possession had been one of the main reasons he did not start more games. Again, that area seems to have improved with regular football in the last few months.
Morley has made 4.7 ball recoveries per game this season, up from 2.2 last year, and the number of successful ground duels has also improved from 42 to 55 per cent, with more than twice the number of instances.
In short, Morley is returning numbers comparable, if not better than his best campaign at Bolton two years ago when he helped Evatt’s side reach the play-off semi-finals and win the Papa Johns Trophy. He had suffered more than most when the midfield was reshaped the following summer with Maghoma quickly becoming an influential presence and George Thomason also leading the way in terms of physical returns.
Wanderers were asking more of their midfield men last season and there was a big question mark over whether Morley – also a new father, which is a factor often overlooked – could quite be relied upon in the same way.
Post play-off final, Evatt pushed the redevelopment further, bringing in a 3-4-3 formation which was not without its teething troubles. Even more was being asked from the central midfielders, and that led to the decision to let Morley – still with a couple of years left on his contract – move out elsewhere to find regular football and to regain his mojo.
Early season failures led to Bolton returning to their 3-5-2 roots, and they have largely remained faithful to that shape ever since, meaning Morley would at least be returning to a formation he knows well.
The environment to which he would return is quite different to Buckinghamshire, where the average crowds of just over 5,000 have been thrilled by the team’s progress this season and remain hugely behind the team and the manager. Bolton and Evatt’s relationship with a much larger fanbase has been changeable and the levels of expectation between the two sets of fans is quite different.
Wanderers have been short on central midfield options at times over the last few months – Scott Arfield’s move from MLS yet to bear fruit, Klaidi Lolos missing the first couple of months through injury and both Sheehan and Thomason experiencing issues on the fitness front too.
Even if Morley is recalled, it would not be a surprise to see Evatt bring in another player in the Dempsey-Maghoma mould to give him better options. And in the manager’s own words, he is not looking to recruit squad depth next month, only guaranteed starters.
Thanks to a brief outing against Mansfield earlier in the season, Wycombe are the only other club Morley can play for in the second half of the season. Local sources suggest the club’s wealthy Kazakhstan owner could provide serious funds to galvanise the squad after such a strong start but neither Bloomfield nor Evatt has hinted at any discussion about a permanent move.
If Wanderers bring Morley back they potentially weaken a team they see as a promotion rival and reunite with a player they know to be a match-winner on his best days.
But if Evatt brings back a player who has been playing regular football and enjoying himself away from the pressure cooker atmosphere of the Toughsheet and fails to find a place for him, then nobody really wins.
Fans would love to be serenading the midfielder after another trademark free-kick or pivotal penalty but as with anything at Wanderers these days, there are no guarantees.
Marc lles is one of the best (local) journalists out there. Others include James Heneghan (Northampton Town), Jon Colman (Carlisle United and Jon Palmer (Cheltenham Town).
they want to keep him, they need to make us a really significant offer. From our perspective, he just won't stay there on loan. We will recall him and he will be part of our team and our squad unless they offer us an offer we think meets his valuation.
"I have told them our valuation and now it is down to them to either meet it or not."
Ian Evatt has spoken about the future of Aaron Morley
Let's hope "really significant offer" isn't 500k upwards, as nothing suggests we're suddenly a club that lash those sort of fees out, however much our owner is worth.
My worry is this means that we will likely spend the entirety of January with a Morley shaped hole whilst negotiations are ongoing, whilst we have a very important month fixture-wise. Big test for the owners.
Comments
Paul Jones (goalkeeper) played for Southampton, Liverpool and Wolves in the 03/04 season
If Morley does get recalled by Bolton, do they have to make that decision on 1st January or do they have until 31st?
I think they can recall on Jan 1st.
You need a rule on this as otherwise you could just have teams loaning certain players out 45 times to bully some other club. An extreme example but there has to be some cut off
And not everyone is free to work for as many employers as they like. Often higher level employees will have 6months or more notice and be forced to sit out gardening leave before commencing a new position.
If players don't want to be subject to a long contract just sign weekly or monthly deals. I suspect that wouldn't suit them though.
Tony Cottee wins that one
Ah yeah, didn't he play in all 4 divisions in the same season?
I had to look that one up…. This is how it happened: Tony Cottee once played in all four divisions in one season. Cottee started 2000-01 at Leicester City, where he made a couple of Premiership appearances as a sub before being released to Norwich, in what was then Division One. In November the chance to be player-manager of Barnet came up and soon Cottee was playing in Division Three, but alas it did not work out. By March he was again looking for work and found it, with two sub appearances, at Millwall in Division Two.
Our old friend Jason Banton played for us, Hartlepool and Notts County in the 15/16 season. In the 22/23 season he played for Sittingbourne, Herne Bay and Brightlingsea before retiring
And Tony Cottey played first class cricket for Sussex that year too.
Agree that Banton did play for Wycombe, Hartlepool and Notts County all in League 2 in 15/16, so not sure if the current EFL regs weren't in force back then, or they aren't as tight as some people might be hoping.
However he hasn't retired, it was only last week he was moaning on twitter having been released by Walthomstow.
About to say the same
Bringing it back on topic, here's the latest from Bolton Wanderers. Author: Marc Iles (The Bolton News)
“HEY, Aaron Morley (oooh-aah), we want to know (oh) how you scored that goal!”
It was a chant we have all heard a hundred times before at Bolton, aimed towards a player who has always retained his popularity on the terraces even if his fortunes on the pitch were changeable.
Only on Friday night, it was different. Morley was kitted out in Wycombe’s tracksuit and though he wasn’t able to play against Wanderers, he was very much in the opposition camp.
Supporters have made their preference known as Ian Evatt weighs up whether to bring Morley back from Adams Park in January, a decision which has taken on more significance than the manager could ever have thought possible when he sanctioned the move back in August.
Under Matt Bloomfield Wycombe have been the surprise package in League One over the first half of the season, tweaking the uncompromising, physical, high-energy approach they honed under his predecessor, Gareth Ainsworth, and turning in a genuinely impressive string of results to take them top of the table.
Morley has been very much central to that success, starting 16 games and already racking up more time on the pitch than he did in the entire of 2023/24 with Bolton.
For some, bringing him back next month is a straightforward choice. Not only does it mean an in-form midfielder is available for selection but is also gives Evatt a chance to throw a stick in the spokes of the Chairboys’ promotion efforts too.
Morley’s presence has allowed Josh Scowen, previously known as more of a defensive type, to push on as a number eight. And given licence to sit back and use his range of passing – never in doubt at Bolton, even in the toughest of times – Morley has been able to supply plenty of ammunition to Wycombe’s heavy-duty attack.
This season he has provided four direct assists, matching what he did at Wanderers last term, and he is also averaging 51 touches of the ball per game – almost double what he did over the previous year (26.7 per game) and back towards his best levels with the Whites from 2022/23 (56.9).
At Wycombe he has been installed as the sole playmaker, the quarterback tasked with launching the ball towards a notoriously aggressive attack. With Bolton, Morley did not have the same weight of solo responsibility with the likes of Josh Sheehan competing for the same sort of space and ball-carriers like Kyle Dempsey and Paris Maghoma driving the team forward in a different way.
Morley has been able to use his longer-range passing at Wycombe in a way that, perhaps, does not suit Wanderers’ smaller and more mobile attack. Since moving to Adams Park the number of long balls he has hit has doubled, and their accuracy improved from 33 per cent to 54 per cent.
The 24-year-old started only 10 league games in 23/24 but did boast a decent record, finishing up on the losing side on just two of those occasions, against Wigan Athletic and Bristol Rovers.
Evatt had hinted that Morley’s work out of possession had been one of the main reasons he did not start more games. Again, that area seems to have improved with regular football in the last few months.
Morley has made 4.7 ball recoveries per game this season, up from 2.2 last year, and the number of successful ground duels has also improved from 42 to 55 per cent, with more than twice the number of instances.
In short, Morley is returning numbers comparable, if not better than his best campaign at Bolton two years ago when he helped Evatt’s side reach the play-off semi-finals and win the Papa Johns Trophy. He had suffered more than most when the midfield was reshaped the following summer with Maghoma quickly becoming an influential presence and George Thomason also leading the way in terms of physical returns.
Wanderers were asking more of their midfield men last season and there was a big question mark over whether Morley – also a new father, which is a factor often overlooked – could quite be relied upon in the same way.
Post play-off final, Evatt pushed the redevelopment further, bringing in a 3-4-3 formation which was not without its teething troubles. Even more was being asked from the central midfielders, and that led to the decision to let Morley – still with a couple of years left on his contract – move out elsewhere to find regular football and to regain his mojo.
Early season failures led to Bolton returning to their 3-5-2 roots, and they have largely remained faithful to that shape ever since, meaning Morley would at least be returning to a formation he knows well.
The environment to which he would return is quite different to Buckinghamshire, where the average crowds of just over 5,000 have been thrilled by the team’s progress this season and remain hugely behind the team and the manager. Bolton and Evatt’s relationship with a much larger fanbase has been changeable and the levels of expectation between the two sets of fans is quite different.
Wanderers have been short on central midfield options at times over the last few months – Scott Arfield’s move from MLS yet to bear fruit, Klaidi Lolos missing the first couple of months through injury and both Sheehan and Thomason experiencing issues on the fitness front too.
Even if Morley is recalled, it would not be a surprise to see Evatt bring in another player in the Dempsey-Maghoma mould to give him better options. And in the manager’s own words, he is not looking to recruit squad depth next month, only guaranteed starters.
Thanks to a brief outing against Mansfield earlier in the season, Wycombe are the only other club Morley can play for in the second half of the season. Local sources suggest the club’s wealthy Kazakhstan owner could provide serious funds to galvanise the squad after such a strong start but neither Bloomfield nor Evatt has hinted at any discussion about a permanent move.
If Wanderers bring Morley back they potentially weaken a team they see as a promotion rival and reunite with a player they know to be a match-winner on his best days.
But if Evatt brings back a player who has been playing regular football and enjoying himself away from the pressure cooker atmosphere of the Toughsheet and fails to find a place for him, then nobody really wins.
Fans would love to be serenading the midfielder after another trademark free-kick or pivotal penalty but as with anything at Wanderers these days, there are no guarantees.
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/24814853.will-bolton-wanderers-bring-aaron-morley-back-wycombe/
There are decent standards of English in local journalism then
Marc lles is one of the best (local) journalists out there. Others include James Heneghan (Northampton Town), Jon Colman (Carlisle United and Jon Palmer (Cheltenham Town).
And Alan Swann
That’s an outstanding article for a local reporter. Thoroughly well researched and equally well written to boot.
Flipping heck, I hope Evatt doesn't read that!
But as he seems to reckon we've not changed much since Gaz's days, we probably should be ok.
No doubt the last 3 managers were all idiots and 2025 will be his year....
latest from Bolton
they want to keep him, they need to make us a really significant offer. From our perspective, he just won't stay there on loan. We will recall him and he will be part of our team and our squad unless they offer us an offer we think meets his valuation.
"I have told them our valuation and now it is down to them to either meet it or not."
Ian Evatt has spoken about the future of Aaron Morley
Please Dan 🙏🙏🙏
Let's hope "really significant offer" isn't 500k upwards, as nothing suggests we're suddenly a club that lash those sort of fees out, however much our owner is worth.
I'm sure we'll let the data guide our decision. We'll finish January with either Morley or a Morley-like player - I'm not worried.
GYCOL!
Get your what out Lomtadze?!
Chequebook. The average age on here is around 70.....
My worry is this means that we will likely spend the entirety of January with a Morley shaped hole whilst negotiations are ongoing, whilst we have a very important month fixture-wise. Big test for the owners.
That young?
looks like we have been told, so it’s a we buy him or don’t don’t think there will be a delay
And I think if Evatt is openly admitting to have told us the asking price ahead of the window, it's pretty clear they want to sell.