Thoughts on Holden to Bolton

Just a week or so after his former Houston Dynamo teammate Ricardo Clark inked a new deal in Europe, Stuart Holden has signed one of his own, joining Bolton for the remainder of the EPL season.  After four productive seasons in MLS, Holden will now join a club that is in the midst of a serious relegation battle, as teams 12 through 19 (Bolton) in the EPL table are separated by just 6 points. 

There are positives and negatives about this move (mostly positives in my opinion), but overall I think it is a good one for Stu.  Unlike Ricardo Clark's deal that includes club options for up to three years, Holden's contract ultimately leaves him in control.  If Bolton gets relegated, if he decides that another league better suits his style of play, or if he simply chooses to go elsewhere in hopes of a more prominent role in a team, he will not have to worry about the looming possibility of the club picking up his option for another season, essentially locking him into a situation that he might not want to be in (the same logic could be applied in the event of a managerial change and a slew of other circumstances, but for the sake of brevity I'll just leave it at that).  On the flip side, a good showing over the next couple months capped off by a strong World Cup would boost Holden's stock even further and attract attention from bigger clubs or, at least, give him some more leverage in contract negotiations.

Another good thing about this move is Owen Coyle's fairly brief reign as Bolton manager.  In such little time at the helm, Coyle will have hardly developed any strong favorites, so Holden will have a little less of an uphill battle to win playing time compared to if he was entering a club where the manager had an established preferred lineup that he penciled in week after week.  Further Coyle seems pretty keen on Holden, having brought him over for a trial with Burnley and then bringing him over to Bolton upon his change of positions.  Despite the fact that a minor injury limited Holden's participation in training to little more than a week, Coyle still offered the former Clemson standout a contract, a positive sign (though not overly big) of his faith in Holden's ability to contribute.  Though the response to Holden seemed fairly tepid throughout the process because of the injury, a lack of updates, and a few tabloid rumors, there is reason to believe that Coyle does expect him to bolster the Bolton lineup down the stretch in hopes of staying up.  I mean, he's not going to sign a "project" to a four month contract, is he?

One of the downsides I can see with this contract is that an established lineup could very well rise out of the relegation battle.  As times get desperate, Coyle might find a lineup that he particularly likes and will continue to go to that in the final months of the season.  While Holden could be fortunate enough to find himself in these plans, he could also find himself on the outside looking in, earning little playing time in the lead up to South Africa.  Were he at a solidly mid-table club, the last month of the season might provide a couple meaningless games in which he might get an extended run to hone his abilities.

The relegation battle, though, could actually end up being a positive, considering Coyle will likely exercise all his options over the coming weeks in hopes of stumbling upon the right mix of players to get the Wanderers out of the drop zone.  From this point of view, it would seem likely that Holden would at least get a chance or two to show his stuff in an EPL game (something other Yanks in Europe have had to wait awhile for), potentially earning some more minutes thereafter.  Even just these couple of appearances would be invaluable experience for a young player likely headed to his first World Cup. 

Holden likely has several years in Europe ahead of him, and a four month stint at Bolton is a good point of entry.  His new team will play host to Owen Coyle's old team tomorrow, as Bolton play host to Burnley in a critical bottom-half affair.  Let's hope Stu can recover from his injury soon and get off to a good start with his new club.