Zat Knight
Will the Real Bolton Wanderers Please Stand Up?
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Owen Coyle, Stuart Holden, Zat Knight | 6 Comments
And so it ends. A season of thrilling highs and crushing lows; flowing football and the Megsonesque; stirring fightbacks and feeble surrenders; fine home form but the worst away record in the league. Will the real Bolton Wanderers please stand up?
The campaign has ended with a small black cloud hanging over the Reebok and a genuine fear amongst fans of what might happen next time around, after five defeats on the bounce and a disastrous last day that saw the club drop five places in the Premiership and lose over £4 million in bonuses.
Martin Petrov finishes off Spurs, eight seconds after the ball had been on the edge of Bolton's penalty area.
It seems a long time ago that the Whites were sweeping aside Spurs, Wolves and Newcastle in quick succession with the sort of pass and move football that supporters had been longing to see. The roar of anticipation as the side broke from defence hadn’t been heard since the promotion season of 1997.
There were special goals too, the result of both individual and collective brilliance. Johan Elmander’s triple turn on a sixpence at Wolves that left four defenders needing to have their internal organs unplaited; Stuart Holden finishing off a move involving twelve passes in the same game; Mark Davies starting and finishing a move that saw a late equaliser against Blackpool; Elmander skipping around Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul to complete a passing sequence that started on the half-way line; Holden’s half volley at home to Blackburn that put a stop to Sam Allardyce’s victory jig on the touchline, and his managerial tenure at that club.
Lee heads the winner at Birmingham. It was going to be our year.
The FA Cup run was long overdue and much appreciated, even if it did end in disaster. Beating three Premier League teams away from the Reebok is no mean feat, and victory at Birmingham City was the best away day Wanderers fans had had in years.
After beating Newcastle, there was a slump in form and another, more significant one, in the final games. In both cases, Stuart Holden’s absence was the key factor. The American’s astute reading of the game and his ability in recovering possession after his colleagues had lost it, covered up a major problem with Bolton’s midfield organisation. There wasn’t any.
Failing to deprive the opposition of space in that vital area isn’t a luxury that any top flight side can afford, yet Owen Coyle didn’t come anywhere near to remedying the problem. Coyle has a different idea of how football should be played than Sam Allardyce, but he could learn a thing or two in that respect, from the man who used to occupy his chair.
The manager’s persistence with Zat Knight at the expense of David Wheater was also a puzzle, as the new signing seemed to gel better with the rest of the defence. One wondered if Knight had footage of the supposedly tee-total Scot doing unnatural things with the club mascot, whilst swigging from a bottle of Buckfast.
Oh no it wasn't.
After events of the last couple of months, the Bolton boss doesn’t quite have the God-like status he enjoyed before, with some wondering if he is too inflexible to be a truly great manager. Time will tell no doubt, especially if he is afforded the funds to make the squad truly his own over the summer months.
The habit of gifting points to teams in desperate need of them was seriously irritating, the worst instance being the visit of Sunderland. The Wearsiders hadn’t scored away from home since January when they arrived at the Reebok in May, and had no recognised strikers available. So there was a grim inevitability about their 2-1 win, with Bolo Zenden running the show after stopping off for his pension on the way to the game.
Liverpool under Roy Hodgson were the worst they’d been for decades, yet secured two wins. Chelsea were in dismal form on meeting the Whites but managed the same. Relegation threatened Blackburn were grateful for the easy three points at Ewood Park after not winning for months, as were Blackpool at Bloomfield Road, although it wasn’t enough to save them.
Has there been progress overall? It can be argued either way. More points have been gained than last term, with fewer goals conceded and the highest number scored since Bolton returned to the Premier League in 2001. Yet the finishing position is exactly the same as last year and one place lower than Gary Megson managed in his one full season.
There has been a glimpse of what Bolton Wanderers could be, tempered by harsh reality that comes from a squad lacking in depth. The season may be over, but the next mission, one that involves building a side to compete at the top level for an eleventh straight year is already underway.
- Richard McCormick
Sex sells, unless it’s about Bolton Wanderers
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 | Andy O'Brien, BWFC News, BWFC People, Gary Megson, Paul Robinson, Phil Gartside, Sam Allardyce, Sam Ricketts, Sean Davis, Zat Knight | No Comments
Finally, something to wake Wanderers fans from their summer slumber
Andy O'Brien: Better than sex
It’s not often you see the words ‘Bolton Wanderers’ and ‘sex’ in the same headline.
In fact, thanks largely to the existence of Gary Megson, it’s not often you see the words ‘Bolton Wanderers’ and anything remotely interesting and exciting or interesting in the same headline.
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