ManchesterUnited
It’s Official. Manchester United Fans Have Turned into Scousers
Monday, September 12th, 2011 | BWFC People, Kevin Davies, Stuart Holden | 43 Comments
Having scored more than a handsome win at Bolton over the weekend, one might think that fans of Manchester United would be in good spirits. Alas, it isn’t so.
Over the phone lines and online, there has been an uncontrolled outpouring of anguish, due to opposition striker Kevin Davies launching an evil, vicious, pre-meditated, bone-crunching, career-ending, murderous attack on Red Devils midfielder Tom Cleverley. Or as more normal observers described it, the Bolton captain committed a minor foul and conceded a free kick.
Kevin Davies. A menace to society. Apparently.
United boss Alex Ferguson kicked off the grief-fest just after the final whistle. “He may have a broken foot, it was unfortunate,” he advised, failing to explain why he ordered his player to ponce around the stadium in a ski-boot rather than send him to hospital.
Cleverley was more measured. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve seen it back, it was just an unfortunate coming together,” he told Davies in response to the latter’s phone call.
The unfettered torrent of woe that followed appeared to start in Malaysia, but supporters in United’s UK heartland in the home counties soon joined in. On Twitter, worshippers of the sourest manager in football bravely attacked Kevin Davies’s wife, Emma, whilst the ‘Kevin Davies is a Thug’ Facebook group quickly picked up members, although it is still somewhat smaller than the ‘I support Manchester United but don’t have a clue where Old Trafford is’ page.
Quick to react to the tragedy, United have applied for planning permission to build a shrine outside the Stretford End, so that the tiny minority of fans who live close by can place flowers, cards and other objects in tribute to Cleverley’s foot. Meanwhile, it is rumoured Ferguson has been granted an audience with the Queen where he will request a national day of mourning.
A routine scan has revealed that Tom Cleverley’s bones remain intact. He will return to action in around three weeks.
Stuart Holden. Joint and bone damage. Twenty-six stitches. Surgery. Out for six months. Courtesy of Jonny Evans. Any thoughts Fergie?
- Richard McCormick
Owen Coyle Needs to Wise Up and Fast – Part Two
Sunday, September 11th, 2011 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Owen Coyle | 12 Comments
Those cursed with following Bolton Wanderers have experienced heavy defeats before. Some of them against Manchester United. On an ugly day at Burnden Park in 1996, Alex Ferguson’s side triumphed 6-0. Ten years later there was a 4-0 home reverse, which was something of a let down as the White’s had gone into the game on a four match winning streak. Both of those results were devastating.
By contrast, Saturday’s feeble capitulation to Wayne Rooney and Co barely registered mild disappointment, at least with this fan – for it was fully expected.
Sod off back to Burnley
The gap between those at the very top of the Premier League and the rest should be acknowledged. As a competition it is now very similar to that which exists in Scotland. At the root of the issue is money, or the lack of it. The yearly interest repayments on Manchester United’s debt are more than Bolton’s entire turnover. A level playing field it isn’t.
However, those facts don’t excuse the pitiful lack of resistance offered by Owen Coyle’s men, even if they were facing opposition blessed with World class players in the most clinical of moods, and a manager who is arguably the best of the modern British era. For the second game in succession, Bolton were brushed aside without making the other side work.
Individually there are too many weak links, and depressingly, some of them have just arrived. Chris Eagles is so far out of his depth, that he is painful to watch. Nigel Reo-Coker is that rare thing – a defensive midfielder who can make you miss Fabrice Muamba. The man who Aston Villa were so pleased to offload usually arrives at the scene a second after he should have done, with the ball already several metres away. In the run up to United’s third goal he was outpaced by the lumbering Phil Jones. Not good. › Continue reading
Bolton Wanderers. And a Deal Involving Death
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 | BWFC News | 18 Comments
Sponsorship deals have been the order of the day in the Premier League over the past few days with Manchester United picking up a cool £40 million from DHL for an arrangement involving their training kit, and neighbours City frantically renaming outlying bits of the Etihad stadium, in order to rake in even more dough.
Meanwhile, tucked away in a corner of the club’s official website, was news of a deal between Bolton Wanderers and South Korean firm Hanwha SolarOne, which will lead to a series of advertising campaigns at the Reebok Stadium, featuring that company’s range of solar panels. Inter Milan and Hamburg SV have similar agreements.
The promotion of a clean, sustainable, environmentally friendly method of energy generation seems an ethically sound project to be involved with.
There’s a snag though. Hanwha Group also makes landmines.
Yes, you read that right. Those devices which have a tendency to explode, sometimes thirty years or more after they’ve been laid, leaving victims, frequently children, dead or maimed.
Hanwha Group was founded in 1952 as Hanwha Explosives Inc, and has since grown into a global conglomerate embracing a vast variety of businesses. However, the explosives division is still thriving and continues to peddle landmines as well as cluster munitions and missiles. Unlike the UK, South Korea is not a signatory to the Ottawa Convention, which bans anti-personnel mines. This leaves Hanwha free to continue that gory branch of its trade.
SungSoo Lee, CSO of Hanwha’s business division was enthusiastic about his latest deal.
“Hanwha Group is proud to support the Bolton Wanderers, one of the most respected Premier League football clubs,” he said.
“Most of all, full attention of Bolton on sustainable world is accordant with the Hanwha Group credentials on social responsibility addressing climate change, energy disparity, and energy security and scarcity on a global scale.”
It’s yet to be explained how that vision fits in with the sale of products that can blow a human being to bits.
- Richard McCormick
Its not over yet cocker…..!
Sunday, April 10th, 2011 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Football Association, Gary Megson, Marc Iles, Nat Lofthouse, Owen Coyle, Premier League, Sam Allardyce, Stuart Holden | No Comments
Sunday 22nd May 2011 – the day the 2010/2011 Barclay’s Premier League comes to an end. Champions will be decided (although, if Arsenal continue to falter, Man Utd may have clinched their nineteenth league title long before the final day), teams (hopefully Wigan and Blackburn) will be relegated, European places will be confirmed and, for the remaining twelve teams, midtable obscurity / survival will be secured.
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. › Continue reading
Champagne on ice
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Lee Chung-Yong, Owen Coyle | 6 Comments
Harry Redknapp stated prior to the Arsenal game that, if Spurs were victorious in the North London derby, his Tottenham side could win the Premier League. His statement was widely ridiculed, though not quite as widely as it should have been, not due to the idea that Spurs could win their first league title in 50 years, but because Spurs hadn’t won such a fixture since 1993. Thirty minutes in and ‘Arry’s pre-match boast was looking even more ridiculous as the distance between the pretenders and the elite could not have been more stark. However, 60 minutes later and, following a miraculous turnaround, Spurs fans were toasting their first win at their rival’s home in seventeen years. Once the three o’clock fixtures finished, Redknapp was considered almost clairvoyant. Chelsea’s defeat at St. Andrews meant that Spurs were now just six points away from the league leaders. Title challengers indeed.
eh up... Harry's going on about the title again, better make an appearance just to keep things real...!
However, whilst journalists were marvelling at Redknapp’s Nostradamous like predictions, few noticed a fatal flaw in his plan. Whilst Arsenal were slipping up at home, that was their third home defeat of the season and fourth in total, Chelsea had suffered back to back defeats for the first time in years, City were struggling to play more than one attack minded player in any given team and Man United, while unbeaten, cannot win away, few had noticed that another team in white were above Spurs, and their form was not faltering. › Continue reading
Is Owen Coyle Any Better than Gary Megson?
Thursday, October 14th, 2010 | Abdoulaye Faye, BWFC News, BWFC People, Kevin Davies, Owen Coyle | 1 Comment
With Saturday’s game against Stoke City coming up, the mood amongst Bolton supporters is relaxed right now. Performances against Aston Villa and Manchester United were good and self belief has found its way to Owen Coyle’s men.
This time last season, Whites fans were looking forward to the inevitable sacking of Gary Megson, and as Johan Elmander’s recent comments show, the players were sick of the Ginger One’s if-it-moves- shout-at-it routine.
Mystery solved. It was Martin Samuel who ate all the pies. And probably the mash too.
The mood has also been lifted by the belated England cap awarded to Kevin Davies, which has had the added bonus of upsetting the morbidly obese West Ham supporting monkey that is the Daily Mail’s Martin Samuel.
So the question posed in the title to this article might seem a bit odd. A look at the league table shows it isn’t. Bolton sit in twelfth place with eight points and a goal difference of minus one. Or to put it another way, exactly the same position as last term after seven games. Now Coyle has the chance to move ahead on that front.
Last season’s fixture against the Potters marked a low point in terms of what happened on the pitch. Disaffected football fans have been known to voice their disapproval, but they usually wait until the half or full time whistle. The match was only 25 minutes old when the Reebok faithful started to boo.
Megson’s comments after the game demonstrated that he was beyond redemption. An interviewer asked if the second half performance been enough to send the fans home happy.
‘I don’t know, I’m not bothered,’ came the reply. When your manager morphs into Catherine Tate it’s time to go.
Games against Stoke aren’t easy. ‘Physical’, ‘dirty’ and ‘long ball’ are labels used by lazy football writers and resentful opposition fans. In truth, Tony Pulis has assembled a squad, who work hard and for each other, containing several individuals of genuine quality – former Bolton favourites Abdoulaye Faye and Eidur Gudjohnsen amongst them.
But a victory should be the aim here. Gradual improvement is the realistic objective for Owen Coyle’s Bolton. Supplanting Stoke who finished in comfortable mid-table last time round will be a valuable first step.
- Richard McCormick
A Visit From the Ugliest Team in Football
Sunday, September 26th, 2010 | BWFC Goals, BWFC People, Owen Coyle, Premier League | 2 Comments
Manchester United are today’s visitors to the Reebok with the home support not exactly in a confident frame of mind. The days when Bolton could put it up the big boys seem a long time ago.
Owen Coyle’s men have had a mixed few days. A creditable performance at Aston Villa, followed by a lethargic showing at Burnley. The latter demonstrated that the Wanderers boss hasn’t got much depth in his squad.
Meanwhile, up the road in Stretford, Alex Ferguson has spent the week playing hide and seek with Patrice Evra. United’s left-back hasn’t been the same since being terrorised by Kevin Davies in 2007 and is always a reluctant participant in this fixture. Last season, Evra’s fingers had to be prised off the door frame as he was dragged out of Old Trafford and onto the team coach. A similar scuffle is anticipated this time round with the Frenchman’s passport having been confiscated as a precautionary measure. › Continue reading
Wanderers v Man Utd preview
Saturday, September 25th, 2010 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Football Association, Gary Megson, Premier League | No Comments
A date which will live in infamy for eternity. A day in which millions were glued to their TV screens, unable to watch, understand or even comprehend what had just happened in the previous two hours. Those who were there and witnessed it first hand will never forget that day. On the one year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Bolton Wanderers proved that lightning can strike twice and defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford for the second year running. The masses were stunned.
"Rooney just hasn't been the same since all this came out"- Ferguson
It’s the game which every Bolton fan looks for when the fixtures are published; United at home. The team we love to beat more than any other. Seems hard to believe it was eight years ago that we recorded the second of our famous wins over United, and in their own back yard to boot. However, since that night in September, our record against Man Utd. has not made for nice reading; one solitary league win, Megson’s first as Bolton boss, and the first at home since December 1978; two draws, which felt like defeats due to the manner in which they were obtained – a last minute equaliser from Solskjaer denying us a famous double in 2002/2003 and an even later equaliser from David Bellion (remember him? No-one else does) in 2004 after ‘Sir’ Les Ferdinand had handed us a late lead.
Every other match against United has resulted in defeat, and some heavy defeats at that. Can this Sunday be any different? After the ‘concentrating on the league’ result on Tuesday, I can understand people being sceptical about our chances of success. However, there are some reasons to be optimistic surely? Well, Rooney’s had a poor start to the season by anyone’s standards, but especially his. That’s always a plus, yeah? Well, perhaps not. The last time we faced a Rooney in the middle of a goal drought, he went home with the match ball! The ‘charity boys’ strike again! That said, J’Lloyd Samuel isn’t playing so they’ll have to do without his impeccable finishing ability. Swings and roundabouts really. › Continue reading
Bolton v Birmingham – Part Two: Post War Years
Thursday, May 6th, 2010 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Football Association, Premier League | No Comments
BWFCforum’s resident anorak Wakey continues the decade-by-decade review of the league history of Bolton and Sunday’s visitors Birmingham, covering the period 1940 to 1989.
Trevor Francis lines up for his league debut
1940-1949
The resumption of the league programme saw only three completed seasons in the 1940’s. Bolton struggled in the bottom half in all three, and were 19th best overall, whilst Birmingham – relegated in 1939 – missed out on promotion in 1947 before winning the Second Division the next year and finishing 17th in 1949, leaving them with the 22nd best average league position for the period.
Manchester United were top dogs, finishing 2nd in each of the three seasons, with Villa 6th, with league finishes of 8th, 6th, and 10th.
1950-59
The 1950’s were another successful period for Bolton, spending the entire decade in the top flight, enjoying five top ten finishes and two FA Cup Finals, including the 1958 win over the post-Munich Busby Babes. Over the decade, Bolton were the seventh best league side, although this was to precede four decades that were to see Bolton drop down the leagues and back up again twice.
Every Day’s a cup final for Mark Halsey….!
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Football Association, Ivan Campo, Jay-Jay Okocha, Nicolas Anelka, Owen Coyle, Phil Gartside, Premier League, Premiership referees, Sam Allardyce, Youri Djorkaeff | 11 Comments
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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