Alan Stubbs
Desert Island Goals: Jay-Jay Okocha v Aston Villa
Saturday, December 13th, 2008 | Alan Stubbs, BWFC People, Bruno N'Gotty, Jay-Jay Okocha, Kevin Nolan, Stelios, Youri Djorkaeff | 1 Comment
Celebrating great Bolton Wanderers goals from history
In the absence of Alan Stubbs’ 1994 FA Cup winner against Villa from You Tube, this goal from the thrilling Carling Cup semi-final in 2004 was the obvious choice for today’s Desert Island Goal.
In defence of Alan Stubbs…
Monday, August 25th, 2008 | Alan Stubbs, BWFC People, Claus Jensen, Eidur Gudjohnsen, El-Hadji Diouf, Jason McAteer, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Michael Ricketts, Nathan Blake | No Comments
Not everyone thinks Alan Stubbs is a Bolton Wanderers legend…
Apparently not all Bolton Wanderers fans hold Alan Stubbs in the high regard I do. I made him the first entrant in to my Bolton Wanderers Hall of Fame last week, but the forums and discussion boards have been filled with people offering a different view.
It seems the manner of his departure from the club in 1996, when he openly admitted coveting a move to Blackburn Rovers, upset many fans enough to make them forget the six years he gave the club… six years in which he helped us reach the Premier League and a League Cup Final (let’s not get all smug after our seven seasons in the Premier League and forget just how incredible that was).
Vital Bolton Wanderers were among the most critical, writing:
We would like to wish Mr Stubbs a long and unhappy retirement. He`s welcome at the Reebok anytime. There`s a set of stocks with his name on them.
Let’s put this in some context. In the 1995-96 season we were absolutely rubbish… completely out of our depth in the Premier League. At the time, Blackburn were the league champions and Stubbs was one of the most highly-rated young defenders in the country.
Was it so wrong of him – after six years of outstanding service at Bolton – to want to seize his chance in the big time (it seems a bit ludicrous now but Blackburn were the equivalent of Chelsea back then)?
OK, so he went public with his desire to leave. Would you prefer players to orchestrate moves behind-the-scenes while continuing to take the adoration of the crowd (El-Hadji Diouf), or players who get their agent to do the dirty work (Jussi Jaaskelainen)?
If I remember correctly, the Blackburn deal fell through because they wanted to buy Jason McAteer too, and he turned them down because he’d already set his heart – albeit less publicly – on a move to Liverpool.
I never understood why Claus Jensen and Eidur Gudjohnsen got such warm receptions from Bolton fans after their departures. Neither really achieved anything and both ran for the hills as soon as they could.
Say what you like about Stubbs, and I would add Michael Ricketts and Nathan Blake to this too… however ugly their departures, at least their performances actually had a lasting impact on the club. Can the same be said about Jensen, Gudjohnsen and the much-lauded Diouf?
Bolton Wanderers Hall of Fame #1: Alan Stubbs
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 | Alan Stubbs, BWFC People | No Comments
Stubbs was a Bolton legend despite the lack of internet evidence
The retirement of Wanderers legend Alan Stubbs today made this the perfect time to make him the first entrant in to Manny Road’s Bolton Wanderers Hall of Fame.
The first thing I did when I found out he’s hanging up his boots was search for my favourite Stubbs moment – his winning goal against Aston Villa in that memorable FA Cup run of 1994.
Sadly, it was nowhere to be seen on You Tube. Worse still, because Stubbs’ Bolton career came just before the internet age, searching for him on the web leaves you wondering if he ever played for the Whites at all: no You Tube videos, no Flickr photos; even a Google image search brings up page after page of Stubbs in action for Celtic, Everton and Derby County, but virtually nothing of him playing for the Wanderers.
His Wikipedia page does not have a section dedicated to his time at Bolton, instead it’s included under ‘Early Career’.
So if anyone’s got any old Stubbs footage or photos – especially from that Villa game – let’s get them up on the web and redress the balance a little.
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