PremierLeague
Ginger Returns to the Reebok Stadium
Sunday, August 29th, 2010 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Gary Megson | No Comments
It’s a disturbing thought isn’t it? A ginger manager at the Reebok Stadium again. Fortunately it’s not that ginger one, but another with thinning copper locks, namely Alex McLeish, whose Birmingham City side take on Bolton Wanderers this afternoon.
There’s another tenuous link with the Whites provided by bean-pole striker Nikola Zigic who signed for McLeish recently. Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp watched the Serb as he played for Crvena Zvezda against Cork City back in 2006, with the possibility of recruiting him. Sam’s thoughts aren’t recorded, but ‘Arry wasn’t impressed.
Not a Pretty Sight
‘I don’t think five million will buy him,’ advised Zigic’s agent after the game.
‘I know, I’m one of them,’ replied Bagpuss.
Birmingham were last season’s surprise package. They were expected to struggle but survived comfortably, thanks to some stout organization and occasional last ditch defending.
So far the two sides have identical results, one draw, two wins and entrance to the next round of the Carling Cup. The performances of Owen Coyle’s side have been patchy. They were disjointed against Fulham and overrun in the first half at West Ham, before finishing as comfortable victors. Yet the points tally so far is satisfactory.
Coyle has an almost full squad to pick from, bar Ivan Klasnic and Sean Davis, who was only kept on to keep the medical staff busy now that Ricardo Vaz Te has transferred to the treatment room at another club.
The defence is a worry and the midfield hasn’t gelled yet, although individually there seems to be potential there. The most encouraging thing so far has been the improvement in Johan Elmander. Let’s hope it’s not another false dawn.
The last game at the Reebok between these two ended in a 2-1 victory for the Whites, but as all parties involved had already booked their summer holidays, it has limited relevance. Expect a tightly fought encounter with (optimistic hat on) Bolton running out the eventual winners.
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Joy For Burnley Fans at the Sight of a Premier League Team
Saturday, August 28th, 2010 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Owen Coyle | 5 Comments
Bolton Wanderers have been drawn away to Championship relegation favourites Burnley in the third round of the Carling Cup.
Owen Coyle returns to the club he used as a stepping stone to much better things, but will take a team comprised of reserve and youth players as the competition is seen as distracting to a Premier League outfit. Brian Laws, his counterpart at Turf Moor is expected to field a full strength side.
Laws, who guided two different clubs to relegation last season, may see the tie as something of a swan song, as he isn’t expected to last in the job past Christmas. His team were crushed at Swansea this afternoon, leading to more pressure on the Clarets boss.
The tie will take place in the week commencing 20th September, and Burnley supporters are eagerly awaiting Coyle’s visit, as it gives them a chance to pay tribute to a man who took them to the only spell in top flight football they’re ever likely to see.
- Fans celebrate an unexpected chance to see a Premier League team
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Should Bolton Cash in on Ali Al Habsi?
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 | BWFC News, BWFC People | 7 Comments
Ali-Al Habsi is a gifted player, but there’s logic in letting him leave…
It’s hard not to be amused by the situation at Wigan Athletic. Getting pasted by Chelsea is a fate that’s befallen quite a few teams recently, but being on the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing at home to Blackpool can only be classed as utter humiliation. The Latics aren’t particularly significant, but the thought of their relegation has appeal. It’ll be like getting rid of a tramp who’s been sleeping on the doorstep.
Now there’s another reason for Whites fans to look at the Premier League’s least fashionable club. Bolton reserve goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi is currently on loan at the Dave Whelan stadium, and rumour has it that Roberto Martinez wants to make the arrangement a permanent one.
'Why are sending me to Wigan? Why?..........
Al-Habsi has had the misfortune of being around at the same time as Jussi Jaaskelainen, one of the top flight’s most consistent performers. The big Omani hasn’t let anyone down when called upon. He gave a fine display at Bayern Munich in the UEFA cup and performed heroically at the end of the 2007-8 season, when Jaaskelainen was injured.
So getting rid would be folly, right? Well, not necessarily. Bolton have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to goal keepers and Adam Bogdan, who made his debut in the League Cup tie at Southampton may prove to be the best of them.
‘I have belief in the lad, that is why we were able to let Ali Al-Habsi out on loan because I knew Adam was competent and ready to go in goal and he showed his qualities in this match.’, said Owen Coyle in an interview after the game.
Regular reserve team watchers already know how good Bogdan is. The Hungary under-21 international arrived in 2007 and it was clear even then that he was a cut above. He’s big, a great all rounder and commands his area well. Since then he’s had the benefit of Fred Barber’s coaching, and is now ready to make the step up.
It will be sad to see Al-Habsi go, but he deserves his chance at the top level, and he’s certainly an improvement on Kamikaze Kirkland, Wigan’s current incumbent. The current bid, thought to be £1.5 million must be rejected, but if the pie-eaters get realistic with their valuation then Owen Coyle should do the deal.
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Bolton Meet Up With an Old Friend at West Ham
Friday, August 20th, 2010 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People | No Comments
Can we play you every week Rob?…
Bolton visit West Ham at the weekend, where they’ll encounter a generous acquaintance.
At the recent World Cup, goalkeeper Rob Green deprived England of a much needed victory, with a comical gaffe. This was no surprise to White’s fans. They’ve enjoyed Green’s attention deficit disorder immensely over the past few years. He’s good for at least three points a season – to Bolton that is.
Oops...
Ultimately, Green was rescued by his colleagues in the national side. They were even more dismal than he was, including Matthew Upson, another who shouldn’t have been in South Africa, unless it was to have a gander at Table Top Mountain.
Making up the trio of undesirables is Tal Ben Haim, formerly a competent centre-half for the Wanderers. Since leaving the Reebok, Ben Haim has failed at Chelsea, Manchester City, Sunderland and Portsmouth. He put the blame for his mis-adventures at Stamford Bridge on someone else.
‘If I knew Avram Grant was going to be the coach I would have signed for another club. I knew nothing good would come for me with Grant as Chelsea coach,’ he moaned.
It must have been an unpleasant surprise when Ben-Haim joined Portsmouth, only to be followed by Grant a few weeks later. Yet now he’s signed on loan for West Ham. Guess who the manager is? Maybe the Israeli has lost his mind as well as his ability.
Bolton go into this one, with six straight wins over the Hammers. They’ve lost only once in twelve league games against Saturday’s opposition, a Carlos Tevez inspired affair, at the start of Sammy Lee’s ill fated tenure.
‘Who’s the midget in the suit?’ sang the home support.
The Wanderers were lacklustre against Fulham, West Ham had a disaster at Aston Villa. Both sides need a win. Which is probably why a draw is the likely result.
Enjoy. Contains a few naughty (but very funny) words at the end.
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The Many Departures of Gary Megson
Monday, August 16th, 2010 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Gary Megson | No Comments
It’s often said that one shouldn’t use Wikipedia as a sole source of reference. At least not if the intention is to write a serious article. Happily, this piece has no such pretensions, so Wiki it is.
Gary's Gardening Efforts Haven't Met With Success...
Former Bolton manager Gary Megson appeared on TV at the weekend. Despite warnings on this very site, a few Wanderers fans chose to tune in. Others have foolishly watched various clips of the programme that are lying around on the internet.
This wasn’t necessary. Everyone knew what he was going to say. If the Ginger One was to be believed, Bolton were all but challenging for a Champions League place when he was unfairly placed on gardening leave.
Just to balance things up, here are a few snippets from that Wikipedia article, which cast Gaz in a slightly different role than the one as football saviour.
Norwich
‘Megson managed the Canaries for the remainder of the 1995-96 season, but was sacked at the end of the season’ › Continue reading
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It’s Time to Have Stuart Hall Stuffed and Mounted
Monday, August 16th, 2010 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Johan Elmander | 4 Comments
A game between Bolton and Fulham was never likely to be a classic, this being the fifth 0-0 draw in ten fixtures between the sides at the Reebok. Maybe that’s why only 20,352 turned up for the first game of the season. Given the weather, there were more enjoyable things to do.
Expecting Owen Coyle to immediately transform Bolton’s dysfunctional game into something more dynamic would be foolish. He is after all, working mainly with the squad that his predecessor assembled in order to play dull football. But more evidence that he’s moving in the right direction is required.
The centre back pairing coped easily with Bobby Zamora, but the defence as a whole is still too easy to get behind, particularly on the side that should be occupied by Gretar Steinsson. Up front, the Whites were toothless, incapable of putting the opposition under sustained pressure.
The most damning criticism of Gary Megson, is that his players looked as if they were strangers to each other. After a pre-season with Coyle and a whole host of friendly games, little progress has been made in that department. Can we have some movement please?
A scoreless draw, against a side notoriously poor on their travels is not a satisfactory result (Fulham won one game and lost eleven away last season.) Especially with a difficult September to come in which the points tally is likely to be zero.
Worse was to come for those Wanderers fans who tuned into Five Live on the way home where the BBC demonstrated their continuing contempt for Bolton by giving the match summariser’s gig to Stuart Hall.
Hall is many things, an irritating wanker being one of them, but he’s no football reporter. The use of language is bad enough. It reminds you of On Again, On Again, the song that Jake Thackray wrote about his wife. › Continue reading
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Bolton v Birmingham – The Modern Era
Friday, May 7th, 2010 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Football Association, Premier League | No Comments
BWFCforum’s Wakey continues with part three of the decade-by-decade review of the league history of Bolton and Sunday’s visitors Birmingham, covering the modern period: 1990 to present.
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. › Continue reading
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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.
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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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The night I found Jesus
Sunday, February 7th, 2010 | Alan Gowling, BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Owen Coyle | 2 Comments
Come breezeblock, let us spread harmony amongst the forumites
Here’s a brilliant contribution from ‘breezeblock‘ a prolific poster on bwfcforum
I went to the Fulham game by train. I don’t do it very often because it’s quicker to drive and no-one complains about the smell on the M60. The trains were slightly messed up because of some essential repairs in Preston…probably having electricity or running water installed. Met up with Wayne and some of the old BWFC board regulars and had a couple of Australia’s finest auburn blush hops-based beverage served in a delightful polyethylene terephthalate decanter (Fosters in a plastic bottle). Would have been nice to have a pint at half time but the queue at 3.39pm was already fourteen deep and I gave up by 4.53pm when that number was down to seven deep. Not only does the beer taste like sheep dip but you have to suffer a similar queuing process as the animals themselves do.
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