This isn’t to blame him for the defeat.  The Whites acquitted themselves reasonably well, but one got the feeling that City could have moved through the gears had they needed to.  However, a schoolboy mistake, with Jaaskelainen getting his positioning horribly wrong, for what should have been a routine save, didn’t help matters.

Adam Bogdan. Whoever thought that pink shirt was a good idea needs a big girly slap

Sadly, Bolton’s veteran stopper is some way past his best.  In victory on the opening day at QPR, he was beaten early on after going to ground too early, only to rescued by an offside decision, and in last season’s catastrophic FA Cup semi-final he was at fault for Stoke’s second goal, after demonstrating his major flaw – the big man can’t get down to shots fast enough any more.

Fortunately, there’s a solution at hand, and it doesn’t involve buying Ali Al-Habsi back from Wigan.  In Adam Bogdan, Bolton have their next custodian.  Whilst the young Hungarian has only played a handful of competitive first team games, he has excelled in every one of them.

Experienced reserved team watchers knew that Bogdan was an outstanding prospect, when he arrived at the Reebok, aged twenty.  He’s a highly competent shot stopper, has good positioning and commands his area well.  Since then, he has benefitted from one of the best goalkeeping coaches around in Fred Barber.

Jussi Jaaskelainen has been an outstanding performer for over a decade.  But now it’s time for him to move on to the next phase of his career, helping the new man bed in.  That man is Adam Bogdan.

- Richard McCormick

TweetFollow @RMc2407

a)    Always injured
b)    Crap

Yes, Chris Kirkland, that’s you we’re talking about.

However, there have been a couple of snags.  After being roundly thrashed by Blackpool and Chelsea, Roberto Martinez’s side were expected to go the same way at Spurs.  Instead they scored an unlikely victory and the big Omani stopper performed heroically to keep a clean sheet for the second time in five days.

Wigan.  Clean sheet.  Same paragraph.  Doesn’t compute does it?

Agent Al-Habsi appears to have misunderstood his instructions.  He was supposed to keep the result respectable, not stop the other lot scoring altogether.

Secondly, events at the Reebok on Sunday, have got some fans in a panic, frantically calling for Bolton’s reserve ‘keeper to be recalled.  Jussi Jaaskelainen will receive a three match ban for violent conduct after giving Roger Johnson what John McGinlay might have described as a ‘wee push’, albeit in a somewhat girly fashion.

Owen Coyle doesn’t agree and has already pledged his faith in Adam Bogdan.

‘I have belief in the lad, that is why we were able to let Ali Al-Habsi out on loan because I knew Adam was competent and ready to go in goal and he showed his qualities in this match,’  he said after Bogdan’s debut at Southampton.  It’s a view that was re-iterated in his Birmingham post-match interview.

Bogdan faces a tough time.  His first league start will be at Arsenal, followed by a visit to Aston Villa, where Bolton have conceded thirteen times in three matches.  Then there’s  a trip to Burnley, which may well be a feisty affair, with the town still mired in bitterness after Owen Coyle’s perceived treachery.  The young Hungarian has the ability to cope, provided nerves don’t kick in.

This is how to slap someone around on a football field

The problem will arise if something happens to Bogdan.  His understudy for those three games will be Rob Lainton, who is well regarded amongst the backroom staff, but completely untested at first team level.

In that eventuality the only option will be to recall Al-Habsi, which can’t happen if his move becomes permanent.  Jaaskelainen’s reaction on Sunday was viewed as a rush of blood to the gloves, but it may well have cost Bolton a sum in the region of £3 million.

So is this.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvubZ9xGUxw[/youtube]

With the iPods all gone, Megson's latest recruit settles for something more traditional

Gary Megson revealed this week that he has issued Wanderers players with special iPhones to help them prepare for big games.

Apparently the phones contain information about upcoming opponents, but I can’t help thinking the players would rather use them to listen to music on the iPod.

Given Bolton’s unconvincing start to the season, here’s the playlist Manny Road imagines Mergson might have put on there for them…

• Down Down, by Status Quo
• Loser, by Beck
• Favourite Worst Knightmare, by the Arctic Monkeys
• The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, by The Script
• Sam’s Town, by The Killers
• Muamba Number 5, by Lou-ser Bega
• Shittu and You Know It, by The Streets
• How Deep Is Your Glove? by The Bee Gees (especially for Jussi Jaaskelainen)
• From Despair to Where? by the Manic Street Preachers
• Anything by Take Zat (to inspire a comeback)

Any more suggestions? That’s what the comment box is for…

Pic: BL1961, some rights reserved

Now this is a picture (from abudardak, some rights reserved)

Violence is a cancer that has long afflicted football, and sadly we got a glimpse of it again at the weekend when fighting broke out between rival gangs of Wanderers and Hibernian fans following Jussi Jaaskelainen’s testimonial.

Worse still, it appears that as well as their inability to get on swimmingly with each other, football fans are not very good at citizen journalism either.

Yesterday The Bolton News published some shocking pictures of the violence. The photos, which were available for anyone to view without any warning as to their graphic content, show groups of men standing around, apparently doing not very much, as several police officers (recognisable only because of their colourful attire) walking towards what appears to be another group of men (although it’s difficult to say because they’re quite blurred).

It really is shocking stuff. So shocking in fact that I’m frankly surprised The Bolton News was willing to expose our vulnerable young people to such shocking examples of photography.

The reader who sent in the pictures asked not to be named, presumably out of embarrassment at being so close to the action and taking such terrible pictures of it.

A picture paints a thousand words, but if you’d like to shed some more light on what happened then please use the comments box below…

Image via Wikipedia

The Sky wannabes let Gary Megson off the hook

It’s the time of year when newspapers and websites fill empty space with reviews and analysis of the season just passed. Most of them are hardly worth reading, especially when you’ve had a season as dull and uneventful as the Wanderers have.

One section from Setanta’s end-of-season Bolton Wanderers review jumped off the page, though.

To be fair, most of what Setanta said about Bolton’s season was spot on: Jussi Jaaskelainen as player of the year, Gary Cahill as young player of the year.

They also picked the right two players for worst signing of the year and biggest disappointment: Johan Elmander and Danny Shittu. They just got them the wrong way round. As I wrote the other day, Elmander was far from a total disaster, he just didn’t live up to the record signing billing. Shittu, on the other hand, was a disaster from start to finish.

The bit that really stood out, though, was the signing of the season award, which was given to Mustapha Riga.

Now, for all that Riga may have won some affection from the fans, it’s difficult to see how anyone could argue that he had a significant impact – if any – on the campaign.

As the Setanta review points out, he managed just two starts, and aside from the odd trick and turn of pace, he did pretty much nothing.

The point here is that after impressing with the signings of Matt Taylor, Gary Cahill and Gretar Steinsson during his first transfer window as Bolton Wanderers manager in January 2008, Gary Megson failed to with pretty much all of his signings during the 2008-09 campaign. The fact that Riga won this award shows that none of them set the world on fire – indeed several of them failed to even manage a spark.

So why did Setanta not point out Megson’s failings rather concocting some lame argument for Riga?

All of which once agin begs the question: Do you trust Gary Megson with your season ticket money?

Have your say in the comment box below…

How the national press reported the Wanderers goalless draw at the JJB Stadium

The News of the World gives top billing to Jussi Jaaskelainen, suggesting Wigan would have won at a canter but for the Bolton keeper’s heroics. The Guardian described Jaaskelainen as “immense”. The Mail is similarly complimentary, although it does point out that he almost got punished for a howler early in the game.

In contrast to most other papers, the Times thought it was a boring game, even going as far as suggesting that the fans might have enjoyed it more if their teams were more deeply involved in the relegation battle. The Times was also the only paper to point out that the Bolton fans’ present to Gary Megson on his 50th birthday was abuse (anybody else hear this?).

The reporter from the Independent enjoyed the game rather more:

Despite the score, there were the odd outbreaks of excitement, too, particularly in the first half when Wigan were kept at bay only by the agility of Jussi Jaaskelainen. Hugo Rodallega hit a post and Bolton’s Gary Cahill had a shot deflected on to the bar, so it was not quite the arid wasteland implied by Gary Lineker on Match of the Day.

In seeming apparent ignorance of the rivalry between the two club’s sets of fans, the Telegraph rather patronisingly suggests Wigan and Bolton are like two peas from a pod (what because we’re both small northern towns?). The same report then rather bizarrely feels need to comment on the game between Barcelona and Real Madrid on the same day, which can only lead us to conclude that the reporter’s heart wasn’t really in his duties at the JJB.

Also struggling to take in the action on the pitch was the Express, who also lumped Blackburn in to the “aww aren’t those plucky northerners cute” analogy.

What did you think of the game? Have your say on Wigan Athletic 0-0 Bolton Wanderers in the comment box below…

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The Bolton Wanderers match report you won’t read in the papers (or see on Match of the Day)

What the various Bolton Wanderers message boards made of the goalless draw at Wigan…

Positives
- “We would have won the game but for the terrible decision that ruled Matthew Taylor’s goal out as offside when Mido was playing him on.”

- “The coverage on Match of the Day was a disgrace. It was an exciting game despite the way they portrayed it as a boring 0-0″… “either side could have won it but it was a fair result in the end.”

- “The game was much better than the scoreline and it was great to see Gary Megson experimenting with different formations again… with a couple of signings we can be a real force next season.”

- “Jussi Jaaskelainen was our man of the match.”

- “What the hell was the Shoes Up For The Wanderers chant all about?” (I think it’s what they call having a laugh)… “And it’s good to see Megson praising the fans too.”

Negatives
- “We were too defensive and played with too many men behind the ball.”

- “We’re so boring it’s starting to get embarrassing… we need to sort this out before next season.”

- “If you look at the recent performances of Johan Elmander and Fabrice Muamba, you have to say that’s a whole lot of wasted money.”

- “Some idiots pulled an advertising hoarding off the back of the stand and flung it through the crowd, causing injury to our own fans!”

Disagree? Have your say on Wigan 0-0 Bolton in the comment box below…

Watch Wigan 0-0 Bolton video highlights here

Sources: Burnden Aces, The Wanderer, BBC 606, The Bolton News, Bolton Banter, Rivals, Bolton Wanderers Mad

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How the national newspapers reported the Wanderers’ 1-0 defeat at Fratton Park

The Express said that Bolton weren’t even trying to win the game and were seemingly content with a dull, goalless deadlock.

The contrast with the fighting spirit shown at Chelsea seven days earlier was also pointed out by the Guardian, who described the Whites as “uninspired”. The Telegraph, meanwhile, said we “lacked ambition and failed to ignite.”

So much so that the Daily Mail reckon we’re still in some danger of relegation, not that you would know from the urgency in our performance at Fratton Park. The News of the World described Pompey’s dominance as a “sustained assault.”

That the home side thoroughly deserved all three points was “undisputable”, in the view of the Mirror.

In the Independent, the blame for Bolton’s negative approach was laid entirely on Gary Megson for the way he set up his side with 0-0 in mind.

Only Jussi Jaaskelainen could come away from the game with any credit for the Wanderers, according to the Times. Matchwinner Kanu took most of the plaudits for Portsmouth, although some Wanderers fans might take issue with the Guardian’s assertion that he is Nigeria’s greatest ever player (Jay-Jay Okocha, anyone?).

What did you think of the game? Have your say in the comment box below…

Read the fans’ view on the game here

Watch Portsmouth 1-0 Bolton Wanderers video highlights here

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Image via Wikipedia

The Bolton Wanderers match report you won’t read in the papers (or see on Match of the Day)

Here’s what the various Bolton Wanderers message boards made of the 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth…

Positives
“Jussi Jaaskelainen was our man of the match.”

And that’s about it for this section of the report, nothing else to see here…

Negatives
“Pompey were rubbish but we were even worse… no tactics, no subs, no skills” … “and the defence were incredibly sloppy” … “Pompey should have scored way more than they did” … “On today’s evidence we really are a very poor team.”

“Only using one substitute is a disgrace… do we have to pay them more if the come on or something?”

“And why did Gary Megson not replace Johan Elmander with Kevin Davies up front after what happened at Chelsea last week?”

“We only had one shot on goal, the midfield had no idea and no-one wanted to take responsibility.”

“Gavin McCann appears to have some kind of disease. Symptoms include inability to recognise white shirts, inability to move in a forward direction and inability to think creatively.”

“If that’s the way the players reward the fans for paying £35 for a ticket and making a six hour journey to get there then it’s an absolute disgrace” … “They looked like they already had half a mind on the beach.”

“Looking at our run-in there’s not much to get excited about for the rest of the season… but we’ll stay up because there are so many poor teams in the league.”

“Let’s just hope Ricardo Gardner’s injury isn’t too bad.”

Sources: Burnden Aces, Bolton Banter, Rivals, BBC 606, The Bolton News, The Wanderer.

What did you think of the game? Have your say in the comment box below…

Watch Portsmouth 1-0 Bolton Wanderers video highlights here

Image via Wikipedia

The Bolton Wanderers match report you won’t read in the papers (or see on Match of the Day)

Here’s what the various Bolton Wanderers discussion forums made of the 3-1 home defeat to Fulham on Saturday…

Positives
- “It was just a bad day at the office. There are no major problems.”

- “Gary Cahill had a good game considering who he was playing next to, he was Man of the Match” … “and Mark Davies played well too.”

- “We have to be realistic. Our place in the league is still pretty good considering the resources Gary Megson has at it his disposal. Even Brian Clough couldn’t get us above 10th.”

Negatives
- “We were so bad it was almost comical” … “our worst performance for a long, long time” … “we are in an absolute mess right now.”

- “The performances of the two teams dispelled the myth that it’s better to play less games or not be in cup competitions.”

- “Fulham played us off the park.”

- ” Andy O’Brien made Andy Johnson look like Thierry Henry” …”he was absolute garbage again” … “and his sarcastic clap towards the fans was totally out of order too.”

- “Gavin McCann is a Championship player too.”

- “O’Brien is not the only one to blame. Jussi Jaaskelainen doesn’t command his box enough.”

- “The players couldn’t control the ball or find another white shirt. Megson had no Plan B” … “we had nothing but long ball” … “the players deserved all the boos they got because they were completely gutless.”

- “Why didn’t Ebi Smolarek and Chris Basham even make the bench?”

- “Those who were saying relegation was off the cards because of an easy run-in against the likes of Stoke and Fulham will not be sitting so comfortably now” … “our own survival last year shows that anyone could stage a miracle survival run and we could be the victims of that this time.”

- “It’s difficult to be optimistic about playing the likes of West Brom when other poor teams have taken us apart so easily.”

- “We’ll be lucky to stay up and need a massive clear out of players this summer” … “this is the worst Bolton team of the last ten years” … and “that was the worst Bolton performance since we came in to the Premier League in 2001.”

- “And there certainly isn’t a cat in hell’s chance of us making the Uefa Cup.”

- “If there is a God then he will take this negative, inept manager away from us” … “we are going to lose thousands of fans very soon because of Megson” … “especially if he continues to blame the fans when we lose!”

- “What happened to Ladies’ Day?”

Disagree? Have your say in the comments box below…

Watch video highlights of Bolton 1-3 Bolton here

Sources: BBC 606, The Bolton News, Rivals, Bolton Wanderers Mad, The Wanderer, Burnden Aces.

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