THIS is a hard time of year at any football club, let alone one like Wanderers where emotions are running so close to the surface.

We all knew difficult decisions had to be made after the takeover if the club is to escape this financial nightmare, more so once relegation to League One was confirmed.

There is no nice way to tell someone their services are no longer required, and particularly so when young players are involved. Hundreds of young footballers will be released this summer and the sad fact is, some of them will be lost to the game for good.

For the most part, senior players and coaching staff have a peculiar bravado about these things. They accept change is part and parcel of life in the game.

Hearing of the cuts in first-team coaching and medical staff last week I spoke to a few of the people involved. Their reaction was just as I thought it would be: professional, respectful of where the club is right now, but understandably disappointed.

I dare say it will be the same when Wanderers announce their retained list and old soldiers like Emile Heskey move on to pastures new. For the record, the former England star has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and I would be amazed if he does not have something to contribute to the coaching side of the game.

Other decisions are harder to fathom. Releasing Oscar Threlkeld, Niall Maher, Jamie Thomas and Harry Campbell in particular seems at odds with the philosophy preached repeatedly in the last six months.

Wanderers claimed they wanted to build a core of younger players for next season, add some experienced heads on the right wages and go for promotion.

Threlkeld had featured prominently in the last few weeks under Jimmy Phillips, who had not been shy voicing how impressed he had been with the defender’s attitude.

Maher might have blotted his copybook a little with the red card against Cardiff City but that can and should be put down to youthful exuberance.

Fans have clamoured to see more of Thomas since he scored goals by the dozen for David Lee’s Under-18s and gained Wales youth honours. When he made the bench at the end of the season, it appeared a pre-cursor to bigger things as a professional next year.

My own personal view is that Thomas was not ready for first-team football. But there is no question the young man has a knack for scoring goals – and that is a talent you just can’t buy.

With a little more nurturing, some time out on loan, who knows – maybe the Whites could have saved themselves a few million in the transfer market, just as they did with Rob Holding?

Allowing players like that to leave for nothing seems a curious choice. Clearly financial cuts must be made but the money we are talking for youth team players of Thomas and Campbell’s ilk seems negligible when you consider the club is also saying it does not need to lose all of its top earners, like Jay Spearing.

Seeing a team based around home-grown players is one of the few positives fans can cling on to at present – so with Holding seemingly in the middle of a public auction and Threlkeld and Maher cut adrift, is it any wonder fans are feeling on edge about Wanderers’ future?

Let us not forget the club still doesn’t have a manager. And you would like to think he would have a say on who stays and who goes.

It isn’t the first mixed signal to emerge from Wanderers in the last few months and it probably won’t be the last.

The co-ownership finds itself losing trust quickly and though every fan recognises this is a tough time to preside over Bolton Wanderers, they must give them some concrete evidence things are moving in the right direction.

We have gone past the stage where statements of intent are enough; fans want to see progress made with the appointment of a board and a manager who can lay down the groundwork for next season.

Releasing youngsters such as Threlkeld, Maher and Thomas feels like another story in the negative pile.