Michael Ricketts
Reebok Round-Up (29.03.09): Starring Amir Khan, Andy O’Brien and Michael Ricketts
Sunday, March 29th, 2009 | Andy O'Brien, BWFC News, BWFC People, Eddie Davies, Fabrice Muamba, Gary Cahill, Gary Megson, Gretar Steinsson, Johan Elmander, Kevin Davies, Michael Ricketts, Phil Gartside, Tamir Cohen | No Comments
What Manny Road has been reading (and thinking) about Bolton Wanderers during the international break
Why I’m glad the Bolton three aren’t playing for England
Saturday, March 28th, 2009 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Gary Cahill, Gary Megson, Kevin Davies, Matt Taylor, Michael Ricketts | No Comments
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Fabio Capello has done Bolton a favour by not picking Cahill, Davies and Taylor
The various Bolton Wanderers message boards erupted in anger last Sunday after Fabio Capello’s latest England squad failed to include Bolton’s Kevin Davies, Matt Taylor and Gary Cahill.
Davies and Cahill had both been included in Capello’s initial 32-man squad but were left out when the England boss whittled it down to 22 following last weekend’s Premier League games.
Top 10 Bolton Wanderers player spots
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 | Allan Johnston, BWFC People, Dave Higson, Dean Holdsworth, Fabian De Freitas, Michael Johansen, Michael Ricketts, Neil Cox, Paul Ritchie, Per Frandsen, Radhi Jaidi, Ricardo Gardner, Robbie Elliott | 2 Comments
Have you spotted a Bolton Wanderers player?
When not writing this blog I work at a digital publishing company at Oxford Circus in London, which is probably the busiest street corner in Britain. It’s not unusual to see the odd celeb hanging around. Some people in our office regularly see A-listers, but somehow my own celebrity spots always seem a little less glamorous. In the last few months they include Mark Foster (the Olympic swimmer who was rubbish on Strictly Come Dancing), the gobby girl off The Apprentice who got to the final but didn’t win (Claire?) and Bradley from Eastenders.
Of course back in the days when I lived in Bolton the only celebs I ever saw were Bolton Wanderers players. So here, for no another reason than seeing Wanderers players was more exciting than my Bradley encounter, are my top 10 Bolton Wanderers player spots (not including seeing them in football stadiums, obviously)…
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?
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