Little surprise was expressed across the Bolton fanbase when it was announced on Monday that the 26-year-old attacking midfielder was to be reunited with Ian Evatt at Blackpool on loan for the season.
Randall had started just three of the last 15 games in all competitions, had not scored since the 3-0 win against Wimbledon in September, and was looking as far away from the first team picture as he had been at any time in his 12 months with the club.
Unlike others who had found themselves on the periphery of a large squad at the end of 2025, there were few calls from the terraces for Randall to get another shot, only questions about how much of their investment could reasonably be recouped for him in the January window.
Evatt had pushed hard for several months to sign Randall at Bolton. And that is why most folk on this side of Lancashire will hope he finds some form at Bloomfield Road, regaining some resale value in the two years he still has to run on his contract.
To appreciate the bewildering timing and risk involved in the deal that brought Randall from Peterborough United last January, you must first rewind to the messy weeks after the play-off final defeat to Oxford Unted in the summer of 2024.
Evatt had been given the green-light to carry on as Wanderers boss until the following summer but intended to change the tactical make-up of his squad against accusations of being ‘predictable’ in the 3-5-2 formation that had got the team to Wembley.
He wanted a creative number 10 and had picked out Randall, who was coming off his most prolific season at London Road, which yielded 12 goals.
The player had endured a slow start to life with Posh, who had paid just over £1m for him from Exeter City, but canny chairman Darragh MacAnthony felt his stock was at its highest and demanded £2m to get the deal done.
Randall had pushed for the move but haggling between the two clubs continued for longer than either felt comfortable, and Bolton switched their attentions towards Luton Town’s wantaway striker John McAtee, who had impressed on loan at Barnsley the previous season.
The situation at Peterborough was hardly rosy for Randall, who manager Darren Ferguson pointedly revealed had become the club’s highest paid player when he signed a new three-year deal that summer, post-Bolton interest.
Things were no less complicated at Bolton, where Evatt’s tactical experiment had turned out to be a disaster. He reverted back to 3-5-2, displacing his new £1m signing McAtee among others, and was struggling to rediscover the consistency of results needed to keep his side at the top end of the table.
Randall rues a near miss in December’s FA Cup defeat at Swindon Town (Image: CameraSport – Andrew Kearns)
Furthermore, the recruitment structure which had served the club well in the previous few years was also showing signs of strain. Whereas Evatt had been given the thumbs-up to carry on in the summer, accusatory eyes were now looking at the sporting director, Chris Markham, and his role in what had been an unconvincing window.
By the time January came around the relationship between Evatt and Markham had deteriorated and fans were demanding wholesale change.
Posh were suddenly amenable to a deal for Randall at much less than the figure quoted in the summer but, even so, it remains a truly incredible to have invested £1.2m, given the issues surrounding Evatt and the recruitment team of the time.
Through no fault of his own, Randall had arrived at Bolton as some sort of Hail Mary pass. And yet a simple check on his history since moving away from his native Devon showed that he is a player who takes time to settle in new surroundings.
Just 11 days after shaking Evatt’s hand as the most expensive signing of the Football Ventures era – one which had not been surpassed since the late Eddie Davies was still pumping money into the club – Randall was saying goodbye to his manager, who walked out just hours after he had scored in a 2-1 home defeat against Charlton Athletic.
Steven Schumacher made a point of wiping the slate clean for all on his arrival in late January but for Randall, the sense that he was Evatt’s man was impossible to shrug-off for the supporters.
The new boss started him in three of his first four games but then in only four of the last 15, including the win at Wigan and a 2-2 draw against his former club Posh.
This season Randall started six of the first eight league games, seemingly backed by his manager as the first choice of several number 10s in the squad. But limited returns on goals and assists meant he has stated just three of the next 18 games in League One.
Schumacher has made a point of protecting the playmaker, particularly when fans cheered his substitution at the Toughsheet during the Boxing Day win against Rotherham United.
He started the following game at Mansfield and his last appearance was made off the bench in the goalless draw against Northampton Town earlier this month.
With Wanderers making no secret of the fact that their bloated squad had caused some issues in-house, Randall was one of the names which immediately sprung to mind when drawing up a Bomb Squad.
Whilst true, nobody in the Bolton dressing room has yet made themselves an indispensable number 10, Randall’s returns summed up a player who just did not fit the picture.
Whereas Kyle Dempsey and John McAtee have retained some popularity on the stands despite not fully cementing their position in the side, Randall’s battle with the boo boys was one he was never going to win.
And though he remains a Bolton player, hope of a reconciliation seems remote, especially if Schumacher is successful in his promotion ambition.
Randall’s name will inevitably enter the argument alongside other historical flops such as Len Cantello, Mario Jardel, Johan Elmander, Marvin Sordell and David Ngog, as to which player has represented least value for their price tag.
But his signing – and others from the latter end of the Evatt era – serve as costly reminders of an unsuccessful promotion chase, and what can happen when the recruitment plan goes awry.
Randall’s talent and technical proficiency were never called into question during his year with Wanderers. Schumacher once described him as his “most intelligent” option at number 10. And to sever ties at this stage does indeed seem the smart thing to do.
Randall simply did not chime with the Wanderers fans from the start. It was not a matter of hard work – his running figures were as good as anyone’s in the squad – but he simply did not ‘feel’ like a Bolton player.
Even the most meticulously planned transfers carry an element of risk but some – particularly with a year’s worth of hindsight – continue to make no sense at all.