STEVEN Schumacher admitted his side’s shortfalls against Stevenage were a microcosm of the issues that have plagued them all season.
Wanderers were wasteful in front of goal in the opening stages, with John McAtee, Szabi Schon and Aaron Collins all letting gilt-edged opportunities pass them by.
Josh Dacres-Cogley did put them ahead with 24 minutes of the game remaining but Stevenage finished much the stronger, drawing level through Jake Young and nearly snatching all three points with a couple of late chances.
Schumacher, whose side finish eighth, 10 points off the play-off places, admitted the afternoon brought home a few truths.
“I think that game probably sums up our season,” he said. “Quite honestly, I think that first 15 minutes that game should be over. We have had three of the best chances that you could possibly create and didn’t take any of them.
“It becomes a bit of a scrap when it didn’t need to be. And then we managed to get ourselves in front in the second half from a nicely worked set play, a good goal. And then we just get sloppy, again, and that just sums them up.
“That's kind of what they are, sloppy and loose. And we probably could have lost the game because Stevenage had the better chances later on. So, that day probably just sums it up.”
Schumacher will meet his players on Monday and Tuesday and then hold a recruitment meeting on Wednesday to assess his first moves in the transfer market.
The Bolton boss accepts, however, that there is plenty of work to be done.
“I think we knew that before today anyway,” he said. “Today just confirms it. I think there have been some good signs since we've been here, the start that we had, some of the chances we've created. But yeah, there's obviously work to do.
“We knew that a few weeks ago. This squad isn't capable of achieving what we needed to achieve. So, we've got to get to work and make sure that we're better next year.”
Wanderers have conceded 70 goals this season and finished with a goal difference of minus three – but it was their profligacy that cost them against Stevenage.
“We don't score in the moments,” Schumacher said. “We don't make the most of the opportunities that we get.
“The amount of times that I've come here and sat in this room and said: ‘We played so well, we created so many chances and we got punished for not taking them chances.’ It's crazy. I've never seen it this bad.
“Those three chances in the first half are as good as you're going to get for all three different forward players. And they've got to score. And if they go in, the game's easy. It's over. It's won. You'll probably win that 5-0 because Stevenage have got nothing to play for.
“But we don't punish teams. Same in the Rotherham game, loads of games. And then we make mad decisions as a team.
“We make some crazy decisions. We make things life hard for ourselves. So that's probably the most frustrating thing.
“Those two elements of it. We don't score when we should and we make mistakes.”
Schumacher will meet with incoming sporting director Fergal Harkin this week to discuss the type of player he wants to bring to the club this summer – and he has hinted at a busy time for the club with movement in both directions.
“Me and Fergal have been speaking for a while,” he said.
“All the staff, we all know players that can help us, players that can't. We have to just try and work our hardest to try and make that happen.
“It's not going to be easy. We've only got a few players out of contact. So it's not going to be easy to overhaul a complete squad. But we need to get to work.”
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