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The Bolton Wanderers manager wants more cash to splash… does he deserve it?

Gary Megson spent most of last season complaining about the size of his squad and he’s continued to send not-so-subtle messages to Phil Gartside and the Bolton Wanderers bank manager since the campaign ended.

Megson told The Bolton News that he’s confident of attracting big names to the Reebok, but do you trust him to spend your hard-spent season ticket cash wisely?

Let’s look at the evidence…

Of Megson’s signings so far, it’s fair to say that two – Gary Cahill and Matt Taylor – have proven to be outstanding. Gretar Steinsson has also done very well, although I’d stop short of putting him up there with Cahill and Taylor. One other, Mark Davies, has done enough to suggest he’s got what it takes.

The rest of the story is less impressive. The jury is still very much out on Johan Elmander and Fabrice Muamba. Their verdict will be delivered next season.

No such deliberation is required for the rest, all of whom were easily found guilty of not doing enough. The culprits were Tamir Cohen (one swallow doesn’t make a summer), Danny Shittu (enough said), Mustapha Riga (a lof of huff but not enough puff), Ebi Smolarek (unlucky not to get more chances), Sebastien Puygrenier (unlucky to get injured) and Ariza Makukula (worst Wanderer ever?).

So that’s four good signings out of 12. Of course, even Alex Ferguson gets it wrong sometimes (Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba), but is a one in three ratio good enough to earn Megson another Bolton Wanderers cheque book?

Have your say in the comment box below…

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What Manny Road has been reading (and thinking) about Bolton Wanderers

• Bolton rescued Newcastle reject Basham from McDonald’s counter
• Could Bolton’s Basham be another Bostock for Spurs?
• Bolton Wanderers Player Of The Year Votes
• Bolton Wanderers academy must produce more, says Gary Megson
• Puygrenier eyes England stay
• Blerim Dzemaili: Torino Gave Me Back My Life
• Big Eck fancies Danny Shittu
• Ebi Smolarek to leave Bolton?
• Blerim Dzemaili still a Bolton Wanderers player, says club
• Gary Megson Rues Bolton’s 15 Minute Short-Circuit Against Chelsea
• James Morrison To Leave West Brom For Bolton Wanderers
• Jay-Jay Okocha: I Gave Up Bolton Captaincy After They Tried To Sell Me
• Who has been your top Trotter over the past 20 years?

Have your say on Bolton Wanderers in the comment box below…

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Positives
- “The support from the fans was fantastic and apart from the first and last 10 minutes we dominated the game.”

- “Results went in our favour and that five-point gap to the relegation places is starting to look quite handy,” besides… “It’s possible that we won’t win another game this season but will stay up anyway.”

- “We weren’t out-footballed by a team who supposedly play better football than us” … “they didn’t even manage a single shot on target.”

- “Johan Elmander was our man of the match” … “he put to bed the myth that he doesn’t put in any effort” OR…

Negatives
- “Elmander is useless and worth nowhere near £ 8 million.”

- “If you take away his goal Matty Taylor had an absolute stinker. He should’ve buried that chance at the end.”

- “Sebastien Puygrenier was just as bad as Andy O’Brien. It’s time Danny Shittu got a proper chance.”

- “One point from games against Stoke, Fulham and West Brom is unacceptable.”

- “Once again Megson was afraid to make substitutions… he has to go,” OR … “The only embarrassment to the club are the fans who constantly chant for Megson to be sacked.”

- “With any luck Megson will be banned from the touchline for several games after his sending off.”

Disagree? Have your say in the comments below…

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

Watch West Brom 1-1 Bolton Wanderers video highlights here

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• Megson backs Euro sacrafice
• Cahill sets twin peaks
• Bolton in tune with cap’n Kev (The Sun being even slower than The Bolton News to pick up on Manny Road’s Ricardo Gardner story)
• Fairtrade Fortnight celebrations underway (“Bolton Wanderers football club has organised a banana eating event with 1,500 local schools” – bizarre)
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Your guide to all the hot air and pointless historical facts ahead of Bolton’s trip to Goodison Park

Reasons to be cheerful…

1. Everton played 120 minutes on Wednesday night in the FA Cup against Liverpool, while the Wanderers were sitting at home with their feet up enjoying ITV’s, ahem, excellent coverage of the game.

2. You might not have seen Everton’s winning goal on ITV, but they did manage to show Marouane Fellaini (back) and Steven Pienaar (hamstring) both coming off injured.

3. David Moyes apparently had a training ground bust up with one of his players this week.

Reasons to be fearful…

4. Everton have lost only one of their last 11 games and have won all of their last four home games.

5. Bolton, meanwhile, have won only once in their last 17 north-west derbies and have not won any of their last four away games.

6. As with most other Premier League teams, Gary Megson is mightily impressed by Everton, as are the four pundits at the Mirror, who all think we don’t have a hope. Megson’s opinion on his own team? “Shire horses!”

7. After weeks of playing without a striker, Everton have finally got one available for selection: new signing Jo from Manchester City (of course, you might say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, so this could turn in to a reason to be cheerful, especially judging by Jo’s impact at City).

And the rest…

8. Everton have lost 249 times in the Premier League, so a defeat today would be an unwanted milestone (who the hell works these things out?). If you like this kind of thing click here.

9. More desirable career milestones await Kevin Davies and Matt Taylor should they get on the score sheet today.

10. This website seems to think that Sebastien Puygrenier is a striker and that he’ll replace Ariza Makukula (I’m guessing that this won’t be happening, given that Puygrenier is a centre-half).

11. A more likely scenario may be that Ebi Smolarek gets a chance.

Have your say in the comment box below…

• All quiet on the Anti-Megson Front
• Why are Bolton fans so negative to Gary Megson?
• Taylor backs under-fire boss
• Protests before the Spurs game
• I’m going to throw my season ticket on the pitch if we lose today
• BBC bias towards Bolton
• Diouf transfer to Blackburn triggered by angry dressing-room row at Sunderland
• Bolton boss Megson confident fans are with him
• Bolton defender Puygrenier: Call me Steak
• The career of Mark Davies at Wolves – in pictures
• Davies didn’t fulfil potential – Wolves boss Mick McCarthy
• Youri Djorkaeff Offered Advisory Role At PSG
• Can Mark Davies Really Save Bolton Wanderers from the drop?
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The final round of ins, outs and shaking it all abouts at Bolton Wanderers this January

Ins
With the three ins this year – Davies, Sebastien Puygrenier and Ariza Makukula – already in the bag, Bolton barely got a mention on Sky Sports News’ overly-dramatic transfer deadline day coverage (was the countdown of the last 10 seconds, accompanied by pictures from Big Ben, really necessary, especially as the Premier League had extended the deadline due to the bad weather?).

Gary Megson confirmed after the Spurs game that he was targetting two more signings before the window shut at 5pm yesterday, so the Wanderers failure to bring in any more new players has to be seen as leaving Megson short of what he feels he needs to keep us in the Premier League.

In particular, Kevin Nolan’s departure would now seem to leave a hole in the Wanderers’ midfield, in spite of Mark Davies’ impressive home debut against Spurs. The Bolton News said that Rangers’ Barry Ferguson was the man Megson had earmarked to fill Nolan’s boots, but in the end the Scottish club weren’t interested in selling either him or Pedro Mendes, another midfield target. The same was true of Portsmouth’s Sean Davis.

The Wanderers faced a different problem in their pursuit of Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso: a lack of cash, although many papers and websites continued to link Veloso with a move to Bolton even after Megson had said the deal was dead on Match of the Day.

Outs
Failing to field the full quota of subs at Arsenal in early January meant Bolton were never likely to offload too many players this January. Nolan’s departure to Newcastle came as a shock to many though, including some of the players. Heidar Helguson’s move to QPR caused less distress.

The key statistic here, though, is that for the second year running Bolton have made a profit in the January transfer window, despite Megson claiming he did have money to spend. And for the second year running we have sold – in the eyes of many – our most influential player (although Kevin Davies might have something to say about that).

Shaking it all abouts
A move for Henrik Larsson never materialised, and rumours of Fred’s imminent arrival at the Reebok Stadium also turned out to be pie in the sky. Ditto for striker Pavel Pogrebnyak and Marco Zorro.

The key questions that arise from all this are as follows:

1. If Megson had money to spend, why is it that he failed to bring in more players?

2. Is it Megson’s fault for not making Bolton an attractive enough proposition for players; is it Phil Gartside’s fault for not making even more money available for the likes of Veloso; or is it just unfortunate that other clubs weren’t willing to sell?

3. Given no-one else was brought in after his departure, was selling Nolan to Newcastle a bad move?

4. Does making a profit in the transfer window represent a lack of ambition or good business sense?

5. Is the January transfer window a welcome distraction or a farcical circus that should be abolished?

If you have the answers to any of these questions, please share your wisdom in the comment box below…

Here’s what the various Bolton Wanderers discussion forums made of the 3-2 win over Tottenham at the Reebok Stadium yesterday:

- “This was our best performance of the season and will hopefully kick-start our season” … “Great result, great determination and a great comeback.”

- “Overall it was a great performance apart from a five-minute blip.”

- “If we can nail three of four more results like that between now and the end of the year we’ll be fine.”

- “It’s time to stop slating Megson and start getting behind the team” …. OR  “you have to question Megson’s tactics again when we were 2-0 up.”

- “Mark Davies looks like the player we’ve been screaming out for for years” … “he can pass, dribble and tackle” … “he looks like a sound investment.”

- “Credit to Megson for his new signings, he even made some substitutions” … although “Ariza Makukula needs to get match fit, he was knackered after 20 minutes.”

- “Kevin Davies has to be made captain on a permanent basis” … “he was man of the match today” … “but what the hell was that goal celebration all about?”

- On the downside… “it was Fabrice Muamba’s worst game for us, he gave the ball away way too often.”

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

Disagree? Have your say in the comments below…

Watch video highlights from Bolton Wanderers 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur here.

Sebastien Puygrenier’s opening goal is below. Hopefully more to follow soon…

Full highlights of Bolton Wanderers v Spurs below, three hours before you’ll see them on Match of the Day…

Were you at the game? Have your say in the comments section below…

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What the web is predicting will happen between Bolton and Spurs this afternoon

1. Harry Redknapp thinks his players aren’t strong enough… so a game against a team that hasn’t won since December 20th may be just what they need.

2. They’ll have to do it without Jermain Defoe though, who will be out for the rest of the season (possibly).

3. Bwfc.co.uk, of course, prefers to focus on Tottenham’s poor record at the Reebok Stadium.

4. Apparently Spurs also have problems staying focused for 90 minutes, although you could say the same about Bolton given events at Ewood Park on Wednesday night.

5. Jlloyd Samuel says the players have been preparing for the game by speaking French to new signing Sebastien Puygrenier:

“A few of the lads reckon they can speak French too. I can tell you there’s quite a lot of French gets spoke in the dressing room – but not in a good way.”

Shame about the standard of English.

6.  Some Spurs fans think that Reebok has a c at the end of it. I assume this is some kind of joke at our expense, either that or their mum bought them some really shoddy knock-off trainers when they were younger. Like the Horwich Wanderers jibe of a few weeks ago, I just don’t get it.

What do you think will happen? Share your predictions in the comments below…