Unfortunately, Bolton attempt to sign an EFL “star” backfired.

But at the end of the season, the Trotters had risen from the bottom of the third division to the top three and the automatic promotion slots in League Two thanks to an outstanding January transfer window.

They added Lukas Jensen, Ben Jackson, Zach Elbouzedi, Declan John, Kieran Lee, and Dapo Afolayan—all of whom would go on to become important players in League One—during that window.

However, there was one noteworthy addition that made supporters truly take notice of Bolton’s operations: Marcus Maddison, who joined on loan from Charlton Athletic.
But in the end, it would be a letdown to everyone.

The aforementioned Lee, John, Williams, and particularly Afolayan—who joined St Pauli a few years later and would play in the Bundesliga the next season—went on to become important members of the Whites’ starting lineup for a few years.

But it was Maddison’s arrival that made Ian Evatt come out in public, acknowledging that he was a “maverick” while still implying he would “excite” the people.

Because of its possession-dominant and very complicated, sophisticated patterns of play, Evatt’s brand of football tends to be a touch too controlled and rarely results in quick, impulsive attacks. Thus, Maddison was to be the “mala leche” (poor milk) that Johann Cruyff’s Barcelona was meant to receive from Hristo Stoichkov.

Evatt had called Maddison a “good fit”. This decision to send Maddison off during his debut against Morecambe was subsequently overruled, but it may have served as a warning of things to come.

As Bolton advanced toward automatic promotion, the former attacker for Peterborough United and Hull City, who was sought in the Championship less than a year before returning to the fourth division, managed just ten appearances with four starts.

In those games, he took 1.5 shots on average per game but was unable to record an assist or a goal. George Taft, a center-back who made just one League Two appearance for the Whites that season, was the only other player to average more than 0.7 shots per game for Bolton without scoring or dishing out an assist.

Madison’s “maverick” style of play was obviously not what Bolton desired, and Evatt—who had called Maddison a “excellent player”—would have to push him to one side.
That occurred in April 2022 when Charlton received him back after his loan agreement was terminated. Before spending a brief time with Darlington in 2022, the 30-year-old concluded that season as a player for Spalding United in the Northern Premier League.

The one-time big-name acquisition for Bolton was given a 20-month prison term in August for GBH without intent.