Bolton knocked Swansea out of the FA Cup to progress to the 5^th round on Saturday.  It was a deserved win for the Whites, but far from plain sailing.  Goals from Daren Pratley and Chris Eagles secured the win for Bolton, after Luke Moore had given Swansea an undeserved lead.

Luke Moore. Won't be looking quite so bloody smug now. Photo ©Getty Images

Bolton started brightly, with Eagles offering the most consistent threat – combining well down the right with Joe Riley, whose swashbuckling runs were dangerous all game.  Swansea played a second-string, and it showed from the offing.  Eagles is never shy about getting at his fullback, and he clearly meant business whenever he got the ball.  However, Eagles love of a shot is not best served on the right of midfield and his attempts to cut in onto his left usually ended in pitiful efforts on goal.

It was from a set-piece that Eagles offered his first moment of creativity, but his ball into the box was headed right at the ‘keeper.  Next, Eagles cut inside for another left-footed effort, and having had a few sighters the crowd expected him to worry the goalie – he instead worried the corner flag.  Chris isn’t a player who lacks confidence though, and he continued to try and make things happen, winning a corner shortly after.  The ball was swung in by Martin Petrov and, as the second ball dropped, Swansea were forced to throw bodies in the way to block a shot.

Wanderers were dominating the game, yet it was a subdued performance from Bolton’s central  midfielders.  Darren Pratley is still finding his feet at the club, and his advanced position meant Mark Davies had to play a deeper role.  Davies is at his best pushing up and looking to link play and, in trying to incorporate Pratley, Wanderers lost some of their recent rhythm.  Nevertheless, Swansea’s distinct lack of bite and energy in the middle meant the Whites remained comfortable for most of the game; and getting Pratley up to speed could prove vital for Bolton in the run in.

Still it was Eagles who was looking like he might force the issue, and when his dinked pass released N’Gog it brought the Reebok faithful to their feet.  N’Gog took a touch and settled himself, only to put a weak shot straight at the ‘keeper.  The French striker looks bereft of confidence in front of goal right now, and Bolton will need that to change if they are to continue their pushes in league and cup.  What N’Gog can do, as he has shown in recent games, is hold the ball and feed runners – and that’s just what he did shortly after his miss.  Pratley was released, and he in turn fed Eagles who shot just wide.

Wanderers were well on top, but their inability to put the ball away was starting to worry the crowd.  Petrov had a good shot saved and the ball was released, with Swansea building from the back – the ball was played through and only a last ditch challenge from David Wheater prevented a goal.  If Bolton needed another reminder of Swansea’s threat, a disallowed goal should have given them that – but Wanderers failed to take heed.  As Swansea played in front of the back four, Boyata lost his head and dived into an unnecessary tackle.  He failed to win the ball, and Wheater was left isolated against Luke Moore, who ran onto a simple through ball and chipped his shot over an on-rushing Bogdan.  Wanderers were stunned, but it was a wound of their own making.

Bolton would once again have to show spirit and resilience to come back from behind, and they were not found wanting.  It took Wanderers less than 5 minutes to find a breakthrough of their own, with Darren Pratley rising to head home a Martin Petrov free kick.  The sides went in level at half time, with Bolton knowing they should already have put the game to bed.

Swansea started the second half with more attacking intent than they’d shown in the first.  It took a Sam Ricketts block to keep the visitors at bay just after the restart, and the Swans then saw a long range effort go just over the bar.  But Bolton began to assert themselves and Nigel Reo-Coker, especially, began to dictate play.  Having already played one beautiful ball out wide to start an attack just minutes earlier, the Bolton captain was at it again, feeding Martin Petrov on the left flank.   Petrov ‘s powerful shot was saved by the Swansea ‘keeper, but he spilt the ball at the feet of Chris Eagles, whose shot on the turn found the bottom corner.

Eagles slots home the winner.

Swansea refused to lie down, and went on the hunt for an equaliser.  A flowing move saw Luke Moore force a smart stop out of Adam Bogdan and an attack down the Bolton left saw Ricketts have to make a great tackle to deny the Swans a shot at goal.  However, Wanderers still had the better of it and Reo-Coker’s passing was once again key as Bolton almost found a third.  Reo-Coker sprayed a pass wide to Eagles, who flicked the ball over his opponent and sent a cross over towards Petrov, but the Bulgarian’s strike went just wide.  Petrov was involved again moments later, as his cross found the head of Pratley, but the ball struck the bar and bounced clear.

Pratley was becoming more and more involved in the game, and he went close again after good work from N’Gog.  The striker closed down Swansea’s defence, and Pratley showed good anticipation to intercept a sloppy back pass and flick the ball goalwards.  Many fans thought it was in but, as the roar went up from the crowd, the ball trickled agonisingly wide.  It was hard on Pratley, and on another night he’d have been celebrating a hat-trick.

In response to Wanderers’ renewed dominance, Brendan Rogers made two changes.  On came Danny Graham and Nathan Dyer, to offer Swansea more options in attack.  Dyer was immediately involved, as he was hacked down by Ricketts as he looked to skip past the Welshman.  Ricketts was lucky not to have been booked for what looked a bad tackle, but on the whole the Swans’ changes were ineffective.  When Bolton made their own change, it proved to be far more significant.

Kevin Davies was brought in on 74 minutes, to rapturous applause from the home crowd, and set about showing the Bolton fans that he’s still got what it takes to perform at the highest level.  Davies’ first touch almost set-up another goal, as Pratley ran beyond him and received the ball from a flicked header.  The burly midfielder couldn’t quite sort out his feet, and when he tussled with a Swansea player the referee harshly gave a foul against him.

Davies next contribution was a deft pass through to find the run of Nigel Reo-Coker, as the club captain found the captain for the afternoon.  It was a decent enough shot from Reo-Coker, but his effort was saved.  ‘Big Kev’ was there again barely a minute later, as he knocked the ball on to Eagles who found substitute Fabrice Muamba in space, only for the powerful midfielder to shoot wide.  Muamba then ran onto another Davies ball, but the keeper gathered as he tried to round his marker.  It was great stuff from the hosts, and especially from Kevin Davies, but Swansea weren’t quite finished yet.

The South Wales side still had time to trouble Bolton, and they forged a couple of openings before the final whistle; including hitting the post with a low drive and seeing a free kick saved and held by Bogdan.  Swansea, however, were never the same threat they had been at the Liberty Stadium earlier in the season, and most of the home support seemed fairly confident that their side would triumph.  There was just time for one last talking point, as Mark Davies tumbled in the box.  The crowd scream for a penalty, but the referee booked the midfield dynamo for diving – it was the correct decision, as Davies had played for it.

All in all, a comfortable win for the Whites in a game they dominated.  Swansea will feel they could, and perhaps should, have done better; but they can’t complain about the result.  Let’s hope Bolton can keep up their, thus far, impressive 2012 form with a win against Arsenal.

Final Score: Bolton 2 (Pratley, Eagles) – Swansea 1 (Moore).

Bolton (4-5-1): Bogdan 7, Riley, 7, Wheater 6, Boyata 5, Ricketts 6, Eagles 8 (Tuncay n/a), M.Davies 6, Reo-Coker 7, Pratley 7 (Muamba 6), Petrov 7, N’Gog 5 (K.Davies 8).

Man of the Match: Chris Eagles.  I seriously considered giving this to Kevin Davies, but in the end decided that would be unfair to Eagles, who worked hard, created plenty of openings and eventually got the goal he’d been after all game.  A good effort from the winger, who is starting to show more consistency in a white shirt.

Player Watch: Darren Pratley.  Since coming to Bolton from Swansea in the summer, nothing has gone right for the energetic midfielder; but there were signs today that he might have something to offer.  Pratley looked lazy and frustrated until his goal, but in the second half he started to make good runs and play some neat stuff in the middle of the park.  There’s a lot of work to be done if he’s to win over the Bolton fans, but his goal and second half display were a decent start.

What was that about!: Sometimes something happens in a game and you can’t figure out why.  Today’s example was a wild challenge by Boyata that opened up Bolton’s defence for Swansea.  All the big Belgian had to do was stay on his feet, but he dived in and left his defensive partner exposed.  Boyata is young, which is sometimes forgotten by his critics, but he needs to start learning fast if he’s to have a role in the team.

- Azreal88

How high do I need to raise it Owen ?

In case what follows appears grudging, it should be acknowledged that Stoke deserved their win and that the margin of victory did not flatter them. As stated on these pages previously, Tony Pulis’s side are more than the one-dimensional hoofers that they often portrayed as. They are admirably organised in midfield and have willing runners who are prepared to carry the ball through the centre of the park and place it in an area inconvenient to the opposition. Should they beat Manchester City in next month’s final, it will be a good day for football.

That said, the Wanderers didn’t just dig their own grave. They embalmed the body, drove the hearse to the cemetery and heaped soil on the rotting corpse.

Describing Paul Robinson’s pass across the face of his own goal as school boy defending, might provoke protests – but only from inmates of the country’s education system. Matthew Ethrington gratefully accepted the free shot, and the collapse was under way. Could Jussi Jaasklainen in the Bolton goal have done better? Possibly.

Things got worse shortly after as Robert Huth, fired home unopposed, after getting on the end of a feeble clearing header. Jaaskelainen went down on the shot with the urgency of someone falling off a zimmer frame.

On the half hour mark it was all over. Watching Jermaine Pennant admiringly as he dribbled from inside his own half was an option for supporters, but not for anyone on the pitch. His pass found an unmarked, onside Kenwyne Jones who couldn’t help but score. Suddenly, that 220 mile trip, including a two hour crawl through the London suburbs thanks to the M1 closure, seemed a seriously bad idea.

Whatever Owen Coyle said in the dressing room at half-time – it didn’t work. More of the same resulted. Wasteful passing, zero movement and a lack of energy and fight. Thomas Sorenson in Stoke’s goal had one save of note to make in the entire ninety minutes.

The shot from John Walters that provided the fourth goal was the moment of the game, but it came after he’d been allowed to run with the ball from the half way line with only Mark Davies challenging. The same player finished off the rout from close range after he’d had time to control the ball, look up and wave to his mum, before putting the ball past Jaaskelainen, who was rolling around on the floor like a clubbed seal.

A loss is hard to bear, a heavy reverse even more so. When it’s the worst performance ever seen at the most prestigious stadium in the country, in front of World-wide audience of a few hundred million, it’s hard to think of how it could be worse.

Bolton’s season is effectively over. A European qualification won’t be achieved through a league placing, and given the lack of squad depth such a thing would be a disaster, mitigated only by the large amount of alcohol that can be consumed on a foreign trip.

What Whites fans will be looking for over the rest of the campaign is pride, for there was little of it displayed on Sunday. With games to come against Arsenal, Manchester City, Blackburn, Blackpool and Sunderland, Bolton could have a crucial role to play in proceedings at the top and bottom of the table.

Fail to deliver acceptable performances and all the good work that Owen Coyle has done this season could well be forgotten.

- Richard McCormick

Can someone turn off those lights on your way out...!

However, reading several posts on various Bolton messageboards over the past three weeks, more than a few fans consider the season to be over already. In their minds, our season ended on 19th March 2011 at approximately 16.35.

This was when the boot of Manchester United’s Johny Evans collided with the knee of Bolton’s Stuart Holden. The initial reaction was not good: Holden was stretchered off the Old Trafford pitch in obvious distress and Bolton fans feared the worse. Two days later, those fears were realised: Holden was out for six months (‘gutted smilely’).

Evans, to his credit, called to Holden to apologise for the challenge, an apology that Holden has yet to receive from De Jong for a similar tackle twelve months earlier. Holden has accepted Evans’ apology conceding that, unfortunately, injuries are a risk in a contact sport such as football. Arsenal fans take note, it’s not just your players who can suffer injury as a result of a mistimed challenge, a fact that poor Holden knows only too well.

Since signing for Bolton in January 2010, becoming Owen Coyle’s first signing in the process, he has had two season ending injuries in as many seasons. For a player who is not considered to be ‘injury prone’, he has spent a lot of time keeping Sean Davis company in the treatment room.

It was that Jonny Evens who did it...!

I have every faith that Holden will bounce back from this set back, just as he has the others in his career. He seems to have the right attitude and is already focusing on his recovery. That said, I’m sure he’ll be gutted about missing the biggest game of his club career, not to disrespect to his achievements in the MLS.

He has been a breath of fresh air in a Bolton midfield terrified of the ball in recent seasons. Confident in possession, keen for the ball and with an eye for a pass as well as being equally adept in his
defensive duties: he is / was (I can’t be arsed checking) the top tackling midfielder in the Premier League. A solid all rounder. The only slight criticism I can think of is that I thought that he may have chipped in with a few more goals, although I instantly forgive him that when I remember that one of the goals he did score was the winner against Blackburn, the first at home for 13 years. What a goal it was too!

Losing a player of Holden’s quality will obviously be a big blow as, in this author’s opinion (and that of many others), he has been our player of the season this year, and by some distance. Any team would be weaker in his absence. However, despite losing our best performer, is our season effectively over?

Bloody Hell.... look what you've started now Jonny.... hope you're proud of yourself ?

Unfortunately, the stats do not make for good reading: since Stu-S-A made his league bow for the Mighty Whites in March 2010 against Wolves,  we have won 41% of league games in which Holden has featured (impressive eh?) compared with just 20% when Holden has been absent (not so impressive).

Another issue we have is the fitness of Mark Davies. In an ideal world, I’d pick Mark Davies and Holden to be my starting midfield duo as I think they compliment each other well; they’re both comfortable in posession, good on the ball (Davies especially) and are always willing to take the ball and try and make something happen, a trait which I feel some other Bolton players do not have. To lose Holden is a spanner in the works; to lose Davies too is a toolbox in the works.

However, despite what the stats say (people can use stats to prove anything even remotely true), we are not a one man team. (As yesterday’s game v West Ham proved) We were in great form prior to the Man Utd game with six wins in the previous nine games in league and cup.

Not only was our form impressive, but the spirit within the team was as good as I can remember. 3-2 victories against Aston Villa, after going behind twice, and Birmingham in the cup, after twice being pegged back, demonstrated the great character and spirit in this Bolton team.

Under Megson, we would have lost the game against Villa for sure and could have easily lost the game against Birmingham. I very much doubt we would have gone on to win 3-2 under Megson. If I’m honest, I doubt we would have done so under Allardyce, whose teams were set up to grind out narrow 1-0 opposed to last minute winners.

The team demonstrated amazing resolve in each of those matches. Having dominated for large periods against Birmingham, passing up several opportunities to secure the win, they were hit with a big sucker punch with Phillips’ goal, however good a goal it may have been. It would have been easy for Bolton to take the draw and look to the replay in that position, but Owen Coyle’s men are made of sterner stuff. They didn’t allow Birmingham to establish any momentum following their goal and, ultimately, got the result which, overall, I think they fully deserved.

That is the type of attitude and desire that needs to return, not only on the pitch but in the stands. There’s no point in us feeling sorry for ourselves. Holden is a great player, but he’s just that, one player. The results we got before were down to the team, not any one man.

The fans and the team need to return to the previous mindset we had all of a month ago. Holden’s injury could be the defining moment in our season, it could give M Davies the chance to shine etc, but we can’t let it define our season.

We have a fantastic opportunity to reach our first FA Cup final in 53 years. What has happened in the last three weeks cannot be erased; it cannot be altered, however much we may wish it could be.

Go on cocker.... do it for me...!

However, we do have control over the next few matches. I’m sure Coyle will have team fully prepared for the semi final, but the fans can play their part too. The players need us now more than ever. Together, we can win this semi final, no matter who is in our midfield. Contrary to what the naysayers may believe, our season is far from over!

-Dave Hallsworth-

I'll blow all my rivals out the water......!

We can also discount the fledgling tenure of current manager Owen Coyle, and Roy McFarland’s strange half-season spell as co-manager.

This leaves seventeen full-time managers who held the position for a season or more, but includes short-ish unsuccessful spells for Nat Lofthouse, Stan Anderson, George Mulhall, and Charlie Wright, all of less than two years.

Taking these out, we are now down to thirteen contenders.

Of these thirteen, I would immediately dismiss six as candidates.

John Somerville and Will Settle managed us in the early part of the twentieth century, and during their tenures we were the 17^th best and 14^th best team in England respectively. Given that there were only two divisions and forty league clubs by the end of Settle’s tenure, the fact that we were in the top half of the Football League does little to enhance either manager’s claim to greatness. Additionally, Somerville managed to get us relegated four times between 1899 and 1910.

Settle in fairness did gain promotion in his first season, kept us in the First Division for his remaining four seasons in charge, achieved a top placed finish of 4^th in 1912, and enjoyed a win ratio of 43%. On the other hand, he didn’t win anything, I know bugger all about him, and he’s been dead for donkey’s years, so I don’t think he’ll mind me discounting him. I would probably have included him in a top ten, but I’d have had to find two other half decent managers, which is where the plan fell over.

Walter Rowley managed us for four years after the end of WWII. All four seasons were spent in the bottom half of the First Division, with a best finish of 14^th.

John McGovern joined the club as player manager in 1982, taking over a team that had narrowly avoided relegation from the Second Division the previous season. McGovern went one better, getting us relegated at the first attempt, rooted to the foot of the table. Whilst selling off our assets at rock bottom prices, and replacing them largely with non-league stars, McGovern managed to consolidate our position in the lower leagues over the next year or two before being mercifully put out of his misery in January 1985. He had accrued a miserable 31% win ratio mostly in the Third Division. If only Pele had said “yes”.

Phil Neal basically left us where he found us after six and a half miserable years of aimless clog-ball. His greatest achievement was an unprecedented relegation to the Fourth Division, although in fairness we were only there for a year. He managed a win ratio of 37% in the bottom two divisions in a period that saw us as statistically the 56^th best team in England – our worst performance under any manager. After his abject failure to display any managerial talent at Bolton, his rehabilitation included spells as manager of Coventry and as assistant England manager.

I will dismiss Gary Megson from the list of candidates – something I dearly wish I could have done in October 2007 – for obvious reasons. Megson’s attempts to build a team of negative hoofers in his own image, squeeze four defensive midfielders into the same side, and stubbornly refuse to give us anything to get excited about make his tenure the most mind-numbingly miserable since Phil Neal’s. Megson achieved a win ratio of 28% in his two and a half years of relegation battles, with his finest moment coming in the second half against Hull, which finally ended our agony. Was it really only two and a half years?

We are now down to seven candidates…

Also-rans…

There are one or two managers that couldn’t be seriously considered as our greatest ever manager, but will undoubtedly inspire fond memories in most Bolton fans for various reasons.

#7 Colin Todd enjoyed a title success in the second tier in English football, and probably one of our most exciting seasons, with a brand of football that swept all before it.

Ignoring the farcical half-season with Todd and McFarland as joint managers, Todd took the reins in January 1996 with Bolton rooted to the foot of the table and nine points from safety. He could do little to prevent relegation, and we finished the season sixteen games later in exactly the same position – rooted to the bottom and nine points from safety. The following season was our (almost) record-breaking title success. This was the zenith of Todd’s tenure. Some strange transfers and odd team selections were partly masked by the unfortunate nature of our relegation on goal difference to Everton on the final day.

In reality, it was for the most part a poor season, and a run of twelve games without a win between December and March, including a 5-1 home defeat to Coventry, ultimately helped to seal our fate. The following year saw a disappointing 6^th place finish, and a tepid defeat to Watford in the play-off finals. After a disappointing start to the following season, Todd left the club in September 1999 with a win ratio of 43% and one glorious season spoiled by much disappointment.

#6 Jimmy Armfield is another manager held in high regard due to his 1973 Third Division Championship winning effort, setting us on the road to recovery (first time around) and to laying the building blocks for Ian Greaves’ exciting young team of the 1970’s. Armfield took over a side that had just finished bottom of the Second Division, and finished 7^th in the third in his first season. The following year, Bolton went up as champions, and followed this up with an 11^th place finish in Division Two in 1974. Armfield’s claim is weaker than Bruce Rioch’s primarily because he took over the club at what was at that stage it’s lowest ever point with a realistic expectation that he would bounce straight back. The fact that it took two years to get out of the Third Division and Armfield left the club mid-table in the Second Division, coupled with the fact that we were comfortably outside the top echelons of the game throughout his three year tenure (we were the 45^th best team during this period) means that Armfield is not a realistic possibility, despite a respectable 44% win ratio.

#5 Ian Greaves presided over a five-year spell at the club that saw an exciting blend of young home-grown talent, with the likes of Peter Reid, Paul Jones, Sam Allardyce, Neil Whatmore etc, and experienced stars such as Peter Thompson, Willie Morgan, and Frank Worthington.

Greaves’ first season saw him improve one place on predecessor Armfield’s 11^th place finish, but then followed three years in which we narrowly missed out on promotion twice before finally winning the Second Division championship in 1978 and returning us to the top flight for the first time in fourteen years.

After consolidating the following year with a 17^th place finish in a season that saw us beat Manchester United home and away and Frank Worthington finish as First Division top scorer, hopes were high for the start of the 1979-80 season, particularly as Greaves was given funds to invest in the team.

Unfortunately, this is where the wheels came off, and Greaves was sacked in January with Bolton adrift at the foot of the table, eight points from safety and with only one win from twenty four league games.

Greaves built a fantastic young side, but then saw it largely fall apart, left us well on the way to relegation and set the seeds for a decline that would ultimately take us all the way to football’s basement. Two near misses and one Second Division title, with a fairly healthy 39% win record, can’t mask the fact that he left us more or less in the same – or potentially worse – position than he found us.

#4 Bruce Rioch took over a side that had just finished 13^th in the Third Division, built an attractive footballing side including ‘legends’ such as John McGinlay, and dragged us from the lower leagues to the Premier League in three thrilling seasons. Add the giant killing cup runs, including knocking out the holders in replays on their own grounds in successive seasons, plus a League Cup final appearance, and Rioch could be considered a credible candidate.

However, despite gaining promotion from the third in his first season and – dramatically – promotion to the Prem two years later, Rioch left before testing his team in the top flight. Choosing an ill-fated move to Highbury rather than finishing the job at Burnden leaves Rioch open to the accusation that he had taken us as far as he could.

Despite an impressive win record of 48% and the dramatic rise under his tenure, the fact that Rioch didn’t manage us in the top tier and that we were statistically only the 36^th best club in England in his time here rules Rioch out of the running, but does not diminish the respect most fans have for his achievements at the club.

The Top Three

We’re now down to three, and with the exception of the romanticism of the Bruce Rioch era, we’ve yet to set the world alight with managerial talent.

Our top three managers (or my top three, at any rate) are: Charles Foweraker (July 1919 – August 1944), Bill Ridding (October 1950 – August 1968), and Sam Allardyce (October 1999 – April 2007).

#3 Sam Allardyce

Despite delivering our most successful spell since the 1950’s, Allardyce still manages to split opinion amongst Bolton fans. There are obvious plus points: four consecutive top eight finishes, qualifying for Europe twice, bringing the likes of Djorkaeff, Okocha, Hierro and Campo to the Reebok, and a League Cup final appearance stand out a mile.

His league performance is a story of almost uninterrupted success. Taking over from Colin Todd after a poor start to the season, we somehow managed to pip Huddersfield for the last play-off spot despite being seven points behind them with four games to play. The disappointment of the controversial semi-final defeat to Ipswich was eclipsed by our fury at referee Barry Knight, who sent of our entire team three times, booked most of the Bolton fans, and awarded Ipswich a couple of dozen penalties (although in fairness, we were awarded a free-kick – for offside – mid-way through the second half).

A year later we secured third place and promotion via the play-offs, then got off to a flyer in the Prem, topping the table for the first four games. Inevitably, we still ended up battling relegation, and may well have gone down but for the introduction of Djorkaeff and Fredi Bobic.

The following season saw another relegation battle sweetened hugely by the arrival of Jay Jay Okocha and Ivan Campo, followed by four consecutive top eight finishes (8^th, 6^th, 8^th and 7^th respectively).

Over his entire tenure, including the two seasons in the second tier, we were the 11^th best team in the country, an achievement the likes of which we hadn’t seen for fifty years. Add to this the repeated successes over the Sky Four – including back-to-back wins at Old Trafford and regular sulk-inducing victories over Arsenal – and a League Cup Final appearance, and Big Sam’s reign looks like a golden era in the history of the club.

Against all this, Allardyce’s reign is tainted in some fans’ eyes. The case for the prosecution may well be helped by the disingenuous nature of his departure “to take a break from football”. He promptly tipped up as Newcastle boss a few weeks later, although to be fair his break from football was not long delayed (most Newcastle fans believe it started long before he became their manager). The fact that he was followed to Newcastle by members of his backroom staff and pinched Abdoulaye Faye off us for peanuts also left a sour taste for some.

Even if he’d left under better circumstances and still sent us all Christmas cards, Allardyce would have plenty critics amongst Bolton fans, due in part to his cynical brand of anti-football (diving was encouraged, shooting from outside the box strictly prohibited), and in part to his blatant attempts to talk himself into a “better” job throughout his entire reign. After a couple of years, you start to get a bit blasé about the success, and crave the occasional bit of excitement, particularly in the last couple of years. There was a time under Allardyce when I would almost hope that the opposition would score early, because we only seemed to come out of our shell once we were behind.

Allardyce has not exactly been kind to the club’s hierarchy since he left, claiming that the club’s ambition did not match his own, and that a few bob in the January transfer window would have brought us Champions League football (despite our lofty position at the time, in truth we had a poor side that had over-achieved in the first half of the season and were blatantly on the verge of being found out). Partly due to Allardyce’s comments, and partly due to those of chairman Phil Gartside upon Allardyce’s departure, Big Sam’s most vocal supporters are often Gartside’s most vociferous opponents.

This is one of the conundrums of the Allardyce reign: without the support of the club’s hierarchy, Allardyce could not have achieved the same level of success.

By giving Allardyce a ten-year contract early in his reign, Gartside effectively made him too expensive to sack, thereby immediately giving him absolute authority in the dressing room. On the verge of relegation in 2001-02, the board put together a financial package the likes of which we’d never seen to lure both Djorkaeff and Bobic to the Reebok. At the start of Big Sam’s final season we smashed our transfer record to bring Anelka to the club, only to be accused by Allardyce of lack of ambition a few months later.

Although Gartside didn’t have his finest hour upon Allardyce’s departure (for the record, Little Sam is not a better manager than Big Sam, and the less said about Megson, the better) the relationship between Big Sam and the Chairman prior to that point was strong and fruitful, and the club played a huge part in supporting Allardyce’s success.

In truth, Allardyce started to lose interest and look for a bigger stage once the England job had passed him by, but probably the thing that drags down Allardyce’s achievements the most – apart from his failure to win a trophy – is the state that he left the club in.

Throughout his reign, Big Sam was a short-term manager, consistently patching the team up with loanees or older players at the end of their career. Before the foreign superstars, we had the likes of Ian Marshall, Colin Hendry, Michael Bridges etc. Despite the ten year contract and the claims that he had a long term plan for the club, only Kevin Nolan – who was already at the club when Allardyce arrived – ever came through the ranks to make a real impression. I’ve deliberately ignored Nicky Hunt. We consistently brought in “promising” young players, introduced as “one for the future”, and consistently watched them disappear without trace.

In the end, Allardyce’s legacy was a team well past it’s sell-by date that needed a complete overhaul to prevent disaster, and a youth structure that had little potential to uncover future stars. Allardyce undoubtedly got the best out of some of his signings, but it is highly doubtful that he could have dragged this on for another season without an investment in the team that would have been way beyond our means. Sam is undoubtedly a canny operator, and he displayed this to the end, getting out at the right time before he ran the risk of ending up back where he started.

#2 Bill Ridding

Manager for eighteen years until 1968, Ridding presided over our second most successful decade, the 1950’s, in which we were the country’s 7^th best side. Under Ridding’s tenure, we enjoyed seven top ten finishes, one FA Cup win and one losing FA Cup final. The 1958 cup final success was achieved with a team that hadn’t cost a penny in transfer fees.

Over the entirety of Ridding’s reign, we were the 12^th best club in England – one place worse than under Allardyce. He also had a worse win ratio than Allardyce – 38% compared with 41% – and left us in a worse position than he found us, having finished 12^th in the Second Division in his final season. This was, at the time, our worst ever league placing.

Having said this, it would have been difficult if not impossible for any Bolton manager to have maintained our position at the top table given the changing financial climate in football, and specifically the removal of the maximum wage which meant that clubs like Bolton could no longer compete with big city clubs over players’ wages.

It may well also be the case that Ridding had had his day, but it is also notable that the club struggled following his departure, wallowing at the bottom end of the table for two seasons and then rock bottom in 1970. It would take a further six years and four managers to get back to where we were when he left.

Ridding pips Allardyce to second place despite the last few years of his tenure because of what he achieved in his first decade or so, with more top half finishes and higher league positions than Allardyce managed, including one 4^th place, and two FA Cup final appearances including one success. I suppose you could throw the Charity Shield in there for good measure if you really wanted to.

#1 Charles Foweraker

Charles Foweraker is still our longest serving and most successful manager.

English league football did not begin with the Premier League, it began a good few years (a hundred plus) beforehand, and the fact that Foweraker has been dead since 1950, or the fact that all the games were in black and white, does not diminish his achievements at the club.

Over the entirety of his 25 year tenure as manager, Bolton were the 6^th best team in the country. He managed us through our most successful spell in the 1920’s, when we were the 3^rd best team in the country overall. He achieved ten top-ten finishes, including twice finishing 3^rd, and won the FA Cup three times, in 1923, 1926, and 1929.

The only blot on his copybook was our relegation in 1933, but we bounced back two years later, having narrowly missed out on promotion in 1934, and went on the finish the 1930’s with a couple of seasons in the top eight.

Although his win ratio is slightly less than Allardyce’s, a far greater proportion of his tenure was in the top flight (23 out of 25 years, compared with 6 out of 8 for Allardyce), and his combination of cup success and relative league success make Foweraker an absolute shoe-in for our greatest ever manager.

1990-1999

another close encounter....

The 1990’s are a strange decade for Bolton fans. Whilst they only spent two seasons in the top flight and four in the third, and had their second worst ranking of any decade, most of us look back on the decade with a great deal of fondness. It was undoubtedly the decade that started the revival in the club’s fortunes after the misery of the 1980’s; that brought Bruce Rioch’s free-flowing football to the club; that saw great giant killing acts, including knocking cup holders Liverpool out of the competition in a replay at Anfield, before repeating the feat the following season at Highbury against then cup-holders Arsenal. It was the decade that saw a return to the top flight for the first time in fifteen years, a record breaking promotion campaign under Colin Todd, the move to the Reebok, and local legends like John McGinlay, David Lee, and even commentator Dave Higson.

The 1990’s started for Bolton with a 6th place finish and a play-off semi-final defeat to Notts County. The following season saw a 4th place finish, and this time a trip to Wembley in the play-off final, again ending in disappointment with defeat to Tranmere.

The following year was a disappointment, with Bolton finishing 13th, heralding the departure of manager Phil Neal and the appointment of Bruce Rioch. Rioch’s first season saw promotion from the third tier – by now the Division Two – at his first attempt, finishing runners-up to Stoke.

After consolidating their place in Division One with a 14th place finish, Bolton gained promotion to the Premier League in 1995 after a memorable play-off final win against Reading. Rioch departed for Arsenal, and Roy McFarland was brought in as joint manager with Colin Todd. The Wanderers spent most of the season rooted to the foot of the table, before their inevitable relegation, nine points adrift of safety.

The following season saw the Trotters win the First Division by eighteen clear points from second-placed Barnsley, and only missing out on becoming the first team to amass 100 points and 100 league goals in the same season due to a Tranmere equaliser on the last day of the season.

Again the stay was short-lived, with relegation on goal difference to Everton on the final day of the 1997-98 season. The following season, Bolton again made the play-off final, this time losing to Watford.

Birmingham spent the first three years of the decade in the third tier alongside Bolton, finishing 7th (one place behind the Trotters) and 12th before gaining promotion in 1992 as runners up to Brentford. The following season saw them finish 19th, but they were relegated the year after, losing out on goal difference to West Brom.

As Bolton were gaining promotion to the top flight in 1995, Birmingham were gaining promotion as champions of Division Two, with Brentford as runners up.

The next four years saw steady progress but no promotion, finishing 15th, 10th, 7th, and 4th respectively, and losing out to Watford in the play-off semi-finals in 1999.

The 1990’s had seen Bolton recover from a third tier club to one with genuine Premiership aspirations, but their overall ranking of 33rd was the second worst in the club’s history. Birmingham were the 24th best team in a decade which had also seen them climb from the third tier to the upper reaches of the second.

Manchester United were the team of the decade, winning the title five times, followed by Liverpool and Arsenal with Aston Villa in 4th, enjoying their best decade since 1919.

2000-2009

The first decade of the new millennium was to prove Bolton’s best since the 1950’s, although it started in yet more play-off disappointment in a season that was to see the Wanderers fail in three semi-finals: to Tranmere in the League Cup, to Aston Villa on penalties in the FA Cup, and to Ipswich after extra time in a controversial play-off semi-final which saw Ipswich awarded three penalties and referee Barry Knight hand out twelve yellow cards and two red to Bolton players. The same season saw Sam Allardyce replace Colin Todd as manager.

The following season, the Trotters put their disappointment aside and returned to the top flight once more after play-off victory against Preston. They had finished the season in third place behind Fulham and Blackburn. All three teams remained in the Premiership for the remainder of the decade.

Despite leading the table briefly at the start of the season, 2002 saw Bolton in a relegation scrap, eventually finishing 16th and avoiding relegation by four points. A year later, they needed 44 points to retain their Premier League status, a home win on the last day against Middlesboro securing safety and condemning West Ham to relegation on 42 points.

The next four years saw top eight finishes for the Wanderers, enjoying a best place of 6th and securing European football on two occasions.

The end of the 2006-07 season saw the departure of manager Sam Allardyce and the ill-fated appointment of his assistant Sammy Lee. Lee was sacked shortly (no pun intended) into the following season, leaving Bolton bottom of the table with five points from ten games when Gary Megson took over. Having seemed to put themselves in a comfortable position, a poor run of form at the start of 2008, following the departure of Nicholas Anelka, saw the Trotters facing relegation, until a run of eleven points from the last five games saw them avoid relegation by a point.

They flirted vaguely with relegation at times the following season, but helped by a run of four wins in five matches in November, finished comfortably in 13th, seven points clear of relegation to end the decade in the top flight.

Birmingham started the decade with three 5th place finishes, losing out in the play-off semi-finals to Barnsley and Preston before beating Norwich on penalties in the 2002 final. They also reached the final of the League Cup in 2001, losing on a penalty shoot-out to Liverpool.

They went on to enjoy three comfortable seasons in the Premier League under manager Steve Bruce, finishing 13th, 10th, and 12th respectively, but 2006 saw them relegated along with West Brom and Sunderland after a late rally from Portsmouth.

Bruce remained in charge, and Birmingham achieved an immediate return as runners-up to Sunderland. However, after a disappointing start to the following season, and amidst speculation about a possible takeover and its implications for Bruce’s position, he left the club to join Wigan in November 2007 and was replaced by Alex McLeish. Ironically a month earlier, Bruce had been a target for Bolton, but the Trotters were refused permission to speak to him.

McLeish couldn’t keep Birmingham up, and despite looking well placed going into the later stages, a run of five points from the last six games, combined with the late-season form of both Bolton and Fulham, saw the Blues relegated, one point behind Fulham but with a superior goal difference.

Again, the Blues bounced back up immediately, finishing runners-up to Wolves and ensuring that they would start the new decade in the top flight.

The decade was Bolton’s fourth best ever, with eight seasons in the top flight, including four top eight finishes, helping them to a ranking of 11th. Birmingham split their time equally between the top two divisions, with three promotions and two relegations, and finished with a ranking of 17th, also their best rating since the 1950’s.

Unsurprisingly, Manchester United were top dogs, with six league titles helping them to top spot (and a ludicrously low average league position of 1.7), followed by Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Aston Villa.

Whatever happens on Sunday, Birmingham will finish above Bolton for the 38th time, and the first time since 2003, and both teams will meet again in the Premier League next season.

Summary Table

The support from football fans and ordinary people in the street has been inspirational

Click the link to listen to Mark Halsey’s Exclusive  interview.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/751463426e948768/

Despite hailing from Hertfordshire, Mark Halsey has firmly established himself as one of Bolton’s favourite adopted sons. After spending 12 years playing non-league football for Cambridge City and Hertford Town he began his refereeing career in 1989 and a decade later refereed the famous 1999 Football League One Play-off Final between Gillingham and Manchester City at Wembley. The same year he was promoted to Premier League status and shortly after the FIFA List of referees. He quickly established himself as one of the most popular referees in the League.

Mark was kind enough to take time out of his schedule to speak Exclusively to Manny Road & bwfcforum’s Andi Walton. He started by asking him about his current health:

MH:      Yeah I’m feeling very good, I seem to be getting stronger with every game I do and it’s a bonus for me because I never thought I’d be back refereeing again, so every day is a cup final and it’s really great to be back and the reception I’ve received from the two games I’ve done at Rotherham and Port Vale and Oldham and Bristol Rovers, the fans have been absolutely fantastic and it’s been very emotional and overwhelming for me.

AW:      It must have been the furthest thing from your mind getting out on the football pitch when you were in the midst of your treatment but now you’ve got to that stage, it must be a real thrill.

MH:      For me to come back and, you know, I suppose…for what I’ve gone through with all my chemotherapy and my radiotherapy…I mean if you saw me at Christmas, I was nowhere near the Mark Halsey of old, you know, but I’ve worked hard and a lot of people have helped me and it’s been great.  The support I’ve received from people around the country – just ordinary football fans and ordinary people in the street.  They’ve been inspirational to me and they’ve got to really pat themselves on the back for the way they’ve helped me and it’s down to them that I’m back where I am now.

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Click the link to listen to the interview.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/751463426e948768/

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AW:      Tell us about the club Mark, how have they been helping?

MH:      Oh they’ve been fantastic. I come into remission and Adie the fitness coach and you’ve got Nick Worth in charge of the physios, they’ve been brilliant with me.  Then you’ve got the doc who’s been brilliant with me.  Owen Coyle’s been running with me and Adie’s set me running programmes to do to build my fitness back up and without the club I don’t think I’d be where I am now as well because they’ve been absolutely first class with me, first class.

AW:      Let’s go back a bit earlier in your career. You were a player before you were a ref weren’t you?

MH:      Yeah.  I was a player. I played non-league as a goal keeper down in the Ryman’s league and up until I was about 28 really then I gave up playing and sort of…well 30 I was, and gave up playing and took up refereeing.  I got one or two injuries and took up refereeing.

AW:      Do you think that’s given you an advantage as opposed to somebody…well you know, it’s a decent standard you played at.

MH:      It was yeah. It does help you playing the game. I have empathy for the game, I give players a chance, I love football, I’m a football fan and it’s all about 22 players on the field and the fans, you know, it’s not about the referee.  And I think that’s where sometimes we lose sight.  It doesn’t always mean to say that ex-players make good referees.

AW:      So how did you end up in Bolton then, because obviously we can tell from you voice that you’re not born and bred.

MH:      No born and bread in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire and I married a Bolton lass so obviously that’s when I moved up here and here I am.

AW:      You’ve become an honorary northerner.

MH:      I’m an honorary northerner, yeah and I love being a northerner. I love being a northwester, I wouldn’t move back down south.

AW:      So you’ve talked about the club helping you with your recovery, but how did you come about getting involved with Bolton in the first place?

MH:      When I first moved up here in 2000…Sam Allardyce has been brilliant with me as well.  He was in charge of the Wanderers and I asked if I could come along and train with him and I am and I’ve been there 10 years now, going every day.  I mean the lads have been fantastic with me and over the last 9 months I’ve got to know Joey O’Brien and Sean Davis very well, although Sean’s got on my nerves, in there recovering in the gym because of the long term injuries…but we’ve passed the time away really well and we’ve had a good laugh and he’s a bit of a pain in the backside is Sean!

We’ve had good times.  It’s been great, you know…but that’s why there’s a plus point being in the gym with them two all the time.

AW:            Obviously you arrived in 2000 and that was when the club was just about sort of on the up and up wasn’t it?

MH:      In 2000 first season in the Premier League it was.

AW:      And has the club advanced since you first arrived? I imagine that you’re one of those who have been around for the longest now.

MH:      I think they’ve gone from strength to strength really. You can’t take it away from what Sam Allardyce done.  I mean he’s put the club on the map and he’s done a fantastic job.   And obviously all good things come to an end and you move on.  And we’ve had people come and go and they’ve all done well in their own way and I think now that Owen Coyle’s here.  I mean Owen Coyle…his enthusiasm is second to none.  When I first saw his training session I thought he was absolutely…his enthusiasm was fantastic and he’s got all the lads up there and playing and working for him.

AW:      I suppose you’ll be coming up against Sam now won’t you because obviously you never did while was in charge of Bolton?

MH:      No I don’t referee Sam. He’s at Blackburn and we’re right good friends so they never give me Sam’s club’s.

AW:      Right, so that’s all kind of acknowledged then by the powers-that-be, is it?

MH:      Yeah.

AW:      Who are the best Bolton players that you worked alongside then over the last 10 years Mark?

MH:            Obviously there have been some great players haven’t there? I think Jussi Jaaskelainen  and I’ve trained with Jussi and I think he’s got to be up there, one of the top players, top performers, consistently week-in week-out.  And Ivan Campo was fantastic in the midfield there.  Djorkaeff and Jay Jay Okocha – there are some great names of the past aren’t there.

AW:      I suppose those are the sort of names as well that the fans remember best, particularly those like Campo really had a connection with the fans.

MH:      Oh of course he did.  They were some good days under Sam weren’t they. You know, I think the lads now that have come in are doing well and playing for Owen and if they keep us in the Premier League, which I think they will…I don’t think there’s a problem there…and see if we can kick on and see if they can kick on next season.

AW:      So you’ve said ‘us’ – you said ‘we’ there.  Does that mean that you’re a Wanderers fan? What would you describe yourself as?

MH:      Well you know, obviously being attached to the club you do, don’t you.  But I mean obviously people know I’m a QPR fan but obviously living in Bolton and training in Bolton, you get an affection for the club because as I say, the club have been fantastic with me and, you know, it’s a family run club.  So you do tend to say we, you know what I mean?

I’ve been to most games there this season because of my illness but you do, you use that terminology don’t you?

AW:      I imagine at times that it didn’t make you feel much better with some of the performances

MH:      [laughs]

AW:      Tell us about the rest of the league then.  You talked about Wanderers players.  Any other players that you’ve jut enjoyed being on the same pitch as?

MH:      Oh I mean there’s loads.  I mean there’s some fantastic players around isn’t there?  From refereeing, you just look at the likes of Alan Shearer, Henri, David Beckham. I had the privilege of refereeing Zidane and he was got to be one of the best, you know…it’s great to be on the pitch with players like that.  And you’ve got there some great players now.  You’ve got Rooney, you’ve got John Terry, you’ve got Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, they’re absolutely fantastic players aren’t they. And it’s one everyone would want to pay to see, whether you’re support for Chelsea or support for Arsenal, cos you’ve got Fabregas who’s outstanding as well, so there’s some fantastic players.  And instead of all the supporters booing and when they come to their grounds, they should be clapping them because you don’t want them players leaving the Premiership and going playing back in Spain and Italy and things like that cos we want to be the best league in the world and we need to keep those players in the Premier league.

AW:      Yeah, there’s the sort of well-known story of Wanderers fans of when Ruud Gullit played at Burnden Park, you know, he just absolutely played us off the park but the fans just clapped him off cos they hadn’t seen a player of that standard for 20 / 30 years on the pitch there.

MH:      But that’s what it should be like every ground…life’s too short.  I know that. You just don’t know what’s round the corner.  And instead of, you know, the fans…yeah of course they get emotional don’t they, with people, so it’s just great to have all these great players gracing our football pitches.

AW:      That brings me onto how you deal with the fans’ reaction to you.  We all know some of the choice language that fans can use about refs if things don’t go the right way.  How hard is it when the whole ground – they question your parentage or whatever it might be?

MH:      [laughs] It’s emotional.  People get emotional.  Football’s emotional.  And I mean 9 times out of 10 you don’t hear it because you’re concentrating and focussing on what you’re doing, so you don’t really pay any attention to it to be honest.

AW:      Do you understand it though?  Say there’s the FA Cup semi final over the weekend and John Terry’s tackle on James Milner has come in for a bit of scrutiny and then there was the penalty in that game as well.  Howard Webb doing that game and obviously someone that you know well.  But can you understand the frustration of the Villa fans there for instance?

MH:      Well obviously I can’t comment.  I honestly haven’t seen any of the incidents, obviously because I was refereeing my game at Oldham, so I’ve not seen.  And I was at Manchester City so I can’t really comment on that because I’ve not seen any of it.

AW:      Well speaking in general, you can understand how…because you know, fans spend a lot of money.  They travel to Wembley for instance in that case and you know, we as Wanderers fans have had loads of decisions, as of course all clubs have over the years, and you do remember them.

MH:      Yeah, it’s just…as I say, these things happen don’t they?  As I say it’s very difficult for referees.  They get a split second, you know, and so it’s very difficult for referees to referee at the top level.  As I said, they get a split second whereas you get all these replays and then you can make your mind up afterwards after watching it two or three times can’t you?  If you look at Fabio Capello, he said the English league’s got the best referees in the world.

But it’s just one of those things.  We all make mistakes.  I make mistakes.  It’s just one of those things.

AW:      Would you appreciate some help from cameras though Mark?

MH:            Obviously that’s not gonna happen because FIFA have said no so that’s the end of the matter so there’s no point, no matter what I say.  It can’t be used and that’s it.  I think we can make good use of them but obviously we cannot…

AW:      What’s the best match you’ve ever reffed at?  The City Gillingham playoff final, I know you did that.  That was an extraordinary match wasn’t it?

MH:      Oh it was fantastic.  Every game I referee is good.  You know, I treat every game the same.  You know, I just love refereeing.  I just love football and I treat every game the same, whether it be at Rotherham, Morecambe, Accrington or wherever it be…at Goodison Park, I treat every game the same.

AW:      You’ve done a league cup final, a charity shield.  Would the FA Cup Final be the dream?

MH:      Oh yeah it would be. I mean with my illness and obviously, you know, being out all season, there’s that carrot there and it would be great if I could come back and referee that FA Cup Final, on merit and not on sentiment.

AW:      How’s the restaurant going on?  You still involved?

MH:      Yeah, it’s not too bad.  It’s been a struggle.  It’s been a massive struggle but you know…it’s been difficult.  But yeah, my wife’s been running that so I’ve not had a lot of involvement with that.

AW:      Where do people go if they… you’ve been good enough to talk to us so we might as well give you a plug.  Where do people go if they want to get involved?

MH:      It’s Ristaurante Sottovento, 69 Worsley Road in Farnworth.  So come along and speak to us or whatever, and support your local restaurant.

AW:      Just a couple of final things then, just on more general reffing issues.  Are players more disrespectful now and does that really affect kids watching them?

MH:      No I don’t think so, no.  To be fair, I think the Respect Programme’s working very well from what I’ve seen of it and, you know, I can only talk for myself and I get the utmost respect from players and I think that the players give the referees the utmost respect as well to be fair.  You know, I think that’s been working well.

AW:      You know when players do surround you though and obviously we’ve talked about the passion that’s involved, and they do get right in your face and, you know, you only have to watch Match of the Day to see that there is some fairly choice stuff being said by the players.  Are you not tempted just to get the yellow card straight out?  That would stop them soon enough, wouldn’t it?

MH:            Well…as I say, football’s a very emotional game and, you know, that’s what it is, it’s very emotional.  And referees manage the occasion, they take that into consideration, so they may just be doing it to themselves and it may look as if it’s at the referee.  I mean the referee on the whole; I think the referees in England do an excellent job.  And the players and the managers do respect that.

AW:      And how’s it different when you’re refereeing an international game or a European game?  Is it more difficult with the language and that kind of thing?

MH:      No they all speak English.

AW:      So you make yourself understood?

MH:      Yeah.

AW:            Refereeing an international game must be a real honour as well.

MH:      It is yeah.  It’s a great honour to represent your country, just like a player, it’s a great honour to represent your country abroad with the three lions and the FIFA badge.  It’s fantastic.  So it’s just the same for a referee as it is for a player representing your country.

AW:      And what’s the future hold Mark?  Obviously you’ll try and keep your recovery on track and get back as a regular Premier League ref next season?

MH:      Yeah, well hopefully I’d like to get a game this season.  But we’ll see how my fitness goes and I’m getting stronger all the time and as I say, it’s not been easy, considering another 2 weeks I wouldn’t be here standing talking to you, it’s been amazing and the Christie  has been a fantastic hospital and my professional team has been brilliant with me and as I say I’ve got a charity dinner on May 7^th at Lancashire Cricket Club, which we’ve got Roberto Mancini, Sir Alex Ferguson, Owen Coyle and Sam Allardyce is guest of honour so it should be a great night.

AW:      Brilliant, how do people find out more about that if they want to?

MH:      They can contact Lancashire County Cricket Club. There’s a Lancashire website and if they want to make a donation, they can text Mark to 78070 to help raise money for the Christie. Or they can visit the Just Giving website…www.justgiving.com/Mark-Halsey

AW:            Fantastic. We wish you all the best with your recovery and it’ll be great to see you back on the pitch in the premier league.

MH:      OK thanks very much.

Click the link to listen to the interview.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/751463426e948768/

As well as battling the illness he is actively fundraising to raise money for The Christie, the leading cancer centre in Manchester. You can help him reach his £50,000 target by visiting www.justgiving.com/mark-halsey or goto http://www.lccc.co.uk/index.php?p=news&id=3495 for details of Mark’s charity dinner on May 7^th at which Sir Alex Ferugson, Owen Coyle, Roberto Mancini and Sam Allardyce will be in attendance.

It's like looking in a mirror (Pic: Terry Wha, some rights reserved)

By ‘eck, The Guardian thinks we all wear flat caps and work down mines…

Regular readers from last season will know Manny Road is not a huge fan of match previews. I attempted to hijack the ridiculous notion that stats and facts based on past events have any bearing on upcoming matches with the regular ‘… things you didn’t need to know about Bolton Wanderers v Team X‘ series.

Manny Road won’t be doing that this season, partly because I think I made my point, but mainly because I’ve got better things to do on a Saturday morning (like sleeping off hangovers, for example) than trawling through endless, tedious football fan sites reading anodyne facts about how many times Kevin Davies has used his enormous backside to win a free-kick.You can read this nonsense for yourselves over at NewsNow.

Besides, it’s a little dispiriting when you make the effort and all you get back is abuse from Wigan fans who have clearly had a sense of humour bypass.

Nevertheless, I did think it was worth bringing the thoughts of The Guardian to your attention, given that they made such a hash of their predictions last year.

Firstly, I should give credit where it’s due and say that The Guardian’s Daniel Taylor was the only football writer I could find who had the balls to step away from the comfort zone of the ‘Megson has done a good job with the resources on offer’ party line that seems to have been agreed by most pundits. Taylor even touched on some of the ideas Manny Road has been banging on about for months:

Megson, it must be said, is not a man to inspire a sense of great excitement, chewing his gum, looking angry, with a reputation for ostracising any players he thinks have crossed him. He has none of the stardust or charisma that some fans seem to think is essential. He does not inspire an element of fantasy.

It’s just a shame that the same paper had this to say in a separate preview:

If they had three wishes

1 Sam Allardyce

2 Return of the Charleston – they won the FA Cup three times in the 20s

3 To play Arsenal under rugby league rules

What a typical fan says

“It’s a man’s game so shut it, Wenger.”

And if you think that’s patronising, they went on…

If they want to get ahead they could wear an … Ecky-Thump cap

Outmoded Lancashire establishment, a triumph of substance over style that repels allcomers, especially fancy dans, with surprisingly effective improvised weapon. Baffling to southerners it remains unsurprisingly efficient in rough conditions. Constantly tipped for imminent extinction it soldiers on oblivious to all progressive trends. Liable to provoke pain in the neck.

Perhaps next year’s preview will read:

What a typical fan says

“The Guardian? I wouldn’t wipe my arse with it.”

In the spirit of hypocricsy and two-facedness that is, of course, the hallmark of any self-respecting journalist, Manny Road did agree to write a pre-season preview for ESPN, although they don’t appear to have published it yet. Perhaps my response to the question ‘Which three teams do you think will get relegated this season?’ (Manny Road’s answer: ‘In an ideal world, Manchester United, Manchester United Reserves and the Manchester United Youth Team’) wasn’t quite anodyne enough.

I’m taking it as a compliment, but will be sure to alert you all to it either here, or on Manny Road’s Twitter feed, should ESPN decide to re-write my nonsense and turn me in to a proper pundit, hackneyed cliches and all.

UPDATE: Just got an email from ESPN saying they have used my interview. You can read my ramblings here.

If you’d like to offer any predictions for the coming season, slag Manny Road off for being a miserable git (as is rapidly becoming the norm)  or disprove the theory that the sense of humour gene never made it to Wigan, feel free to leave your views below…

Jlloyd Samuel feels nice and rested… but will it do him any good against West Ham this weekend?

Jlloyd Samuel seems to have become Bolton Wanderers’ official spokesman during this international/FA Cup fallow period. A whole host of Samuel-based stories – not all of them especially fascinating, it has to be said – have kept the Wanderers news pages churning out copy during this terminally-slow-news couple of weeks.

One of Samuel’s more, ahem, interesting opinions was that Bolton would benefit from the break, a claim that immediately set alarm bells ringing in my head, with the memory of the supposed benefits of resting players against Sporting Lisbon last season still relatively fresh in the memory.

So just how accurate is Samuel in claiming the Wanderers will benefit from this break?

I looked back at the Whites’ performances following international breaks going back to the start of last season, and this is what I found…

Following the six international breaks last season, Bolton won two (one against Manchester United, to be fair) and lost four.

So far this season there have been four international breaks, with Bolton losing two, drawing one and winning one.

Which, if my calculations are correct, means we have a 30 per cent success rate… not exactly a solid basis for Samuel’s optimism.

Given the relatively low number of players that Bolton send on international duty, should we have a better record following these rest periods? Or does this just show that the idea that players play too many games these days is a nonsense?

Tell us your views in the comments below…

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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…

For a while it looked like Ebi Smolarek was going to be the only runner for this award after his consolation goal against Sunderland in the FA Cup at the start of the month.

But in the end five goals in the last two games of January – against Blackburn and Spurs – meant we were spoilt for choice.

The clear winner, though, was Kevin Davies for his cool and collected finish against Tottenham in what was a man of the match display.

And given that that game was also the Wanderers only win in January, it’s also the obvious winner of the game of the month award.

Disagree? Leave your comments below…

To watch highlights from Bolton’s 3-2 win over Spurs click here.

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