Bola | Vital Football

Bola

SeasideEssexXile

Vital Football Legend
Piece in the Boro press today:

Marc Bola, transfer hindsight and a managerial decision that has proved damaging
The left-back struggled in his first half a season with Middlesbrough before heading for former club Blackpool on loan in January


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Marc Bola

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you wonder now whether Marc Bola thinks his move to Middlesbrough came a year too early.
Last year at this time the young left-back was approaching the end of his first full season in senior football.

And, from a personal point of view for Bola, it had been quite the season, establishing himself as a Blackpool regular and favourite, and later scooping two Player of the Year prizes.
It was the type of success story that brings a smile to the face. Bola had initially caught the eye of former Blackpool boss Gary Bowyer while playing for Wigan in a trial game - against the Seasiders. Bola had impressed Bowyer and when the then-Blackpool boss learnt Wigan weren't interested, he got a number for the former Arsenal defender, called him on his way home from the game and invited him to Blackpool.

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Marc Bola in action for Blackpool (Image: Getty Images)
A year down the line it was Blackpool receiving the phone calls from interested clubs. Boro weren't the only Championship club interested. Brentford, so often hailed for their transfer acumen, were, according to strong, well placed sources, "extremely keen" and made offers for the defender.
But Boro, as they did with the capture of Anfernee Dijksteel, another talented full-back who'd shone in League One, beat off their rivals to the signing of Bola.


He ticked the boxes: young, bags of potential on the pitch and potential for an up-sale off it. That was the thinking anyway. But Bola's first season really hasn't gone to plan.
Jonathan Woodgate and Boro have seen very little of the energetic left-sider who took League One by storm last season.
His first appearance for Boro brought a late goal against Crewe, his last was an afternoon to forget at Leeds.

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Marc Bola makes it 2-2 against Crewe to force penalties
He headed out on loan in January alongside Marcus Browne, the thinking being for the pair to benefit from regular football and return in the summer prepared to give it another go, with the added nous and experience of now knowing what the Championship is about.
For Browne, things have worked out well, he's flying at Oxford.
For Bola, back at Blackpool, less so. Things started out promisingly enough, until a managerial change stopped him in his tracks, a setback he could have done without in a frustrating season.
"It's been a bit of a mixed bag, truth be told," Matt Scrafton, football writer for the Blackpool Gazette tells Teesside Live.
"He was thrown straight into the side, at wing-back rather than full-back, and showed glimpses of the Bola we saw in tangerine last season. In his first two or three games, he looked a threat going forwards although he was getting caught out defensively a bit too often. A lot of that was down to the shape and formation Simon Grayson was adopting at the time, which left him isolated and exposed.
"A month after rejoining the club, Bola found himself out of the team after Grayson was sacked, missing Blackpool's last six games (and sometimes not even making the bench).
"Bola was at fault for two of the three goals Blackpool conceded in the 3-2 defeat at home to Gillingham in February, the game that proved to be Grayson's final game as manager - he was sacked the following day.
"David Dunn came in as caretaker and tweaked a few things, which saw Bola miss out. The Seasiders already had two capable left-backs in James Husband (another former Middlesbrough player) and Calum Macdonald prior to Bola's return, and they were favoured to Bola with Dunn playing a more balanced 3-5-2 system with Husband on the left of the back three and Macdonald as wing-back.
"Once football resumes, he'll have to fight his way past those two and, as it stood before the suspension, he found himself third in the pecking order with no guarantee of game time."

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Marc Bola in action at Bristol City
Scrafton adds: "It's obviously been a difficult season for Middlesbrough which potentially hasn't helped, either. But I was surprised Bola opted to make the move to Teesside given he's a Londoner and Brentford were also strongly linked with a move.
"It's hard to judge him too much on the minimal game time he's had (back at Blackpool). He did look a little rusty, which perhaps shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given the lack of action he's seen at Middlesbrough.
"As I previously alluded to, he did look his usual self going forward, almost playing as a winger at times and causing problems with his direct running and low crosses. But defensively he struggled a bit and often found himself out of position. I do believe had Bola enjoyed a more consistent run in the side we would have begun to see more of the player we saw last season."
Which takes us back to our initial question, did he leave a year too early?
Given the way the season had panned out, you'd say yes.
But put yourself in Bola's shoes back in the summer. He stood-out for Blackpool last term and played 23 times for Bristol Rovers during a loan spell in League One the year earlier. Approaching his 22nd birthday and with one and a half seasons under his belt at the third tier, Bola understandably backed himself to step up a level. And after coming through the ranks at Arsenal as a kid and having a taste of life at the top, you can't blame him for wanting to climb again.
But for Bola it's been one step forward and one, perhaps two, back.
"I said at the time of his departure that he was leaving Blackpool a season too early," says Scrafton.
"His first season with the Seasiders was his first proper full season to date as a professional, so I thought the best thing for his development was to get another 30/40 games under his belt. I do understand, however, that when big Championship clubs come calling it's extremely difficult to turn down such an opportunity, so you can't exactly blame him for backing himself and making the move."

When Bola left for Blackpool in January he admitted the transition to Championship football had been "a bit difficult". The aim of the loan, he said, was to go out, play regularly and return in the summer a better player "ready to smash pre-season".
Has he shown any signs at Blackpool that he can force his way into the Boro squad and become a regular next season?
"Again, it's difficult to say given he's only had five games and he's seen no action since February 11," says Scrafton.
"While his performances during that short spell were up and down, a lot of that was out of his control as he was playing in a system that left him exposed. I also think he was probably asked to do a bit too much, too early, as he didn't look 100% fit and, playing four games in 13 days as he did, probably didn't help him.
"Given what I saw of him last season and the fact he's only 22, I've no doubt he's still got a very bright future ahead of him. But I think he's the sort of player that needs to be settled and needs a consistent run of games in the first-team, which he's obviously not assured of at the Riverside."
 
To say he looks a shadow of himself is an overstatement. Shame I hope he sorts himself out