A proud moment for Super-kev

It’s not just fans of other clubs who seem keen to claim certain questionable players as ‘legends’. El Hadji Diouf has achieved legendary status to some Bolton fans, despite the fact that his consistency could often be called in to question and, regardless of his ‘love’ for the club, he felt the overwhelming urge just prior to our biggest match of the season at home to Sunderland to announce to the national press that, irrespective of the result of said match, he would be leaving Bolton for a big club on the continent. Now, I’ve visited Sunderland in the past and, while it does seem like another country, and sometimes another world, it sure as hell isn’t in Spain!

So what does constitute a legend? Well, in my humble opinion, in order for the word legend to have the impact it deserves, it has to be limited to certain players who have had a profound impact on the club. We have had some world class players grace the famous white shirt of Bolton Wanderers, particularly over the last ten years: Jay Jay Okocha – so good they named him twice; Youri Djorkaeff – World Cup winner in 1998 and European Championship winner in 2000; Ivan Campo – two time Champions League winner; Fernando Hierro – three time Champions League winner and five time winner of La Liga; Eidur Gudjohnsen – two Premier League titles with Chelsea and a La Liga title and Champions League winner with Barcelona; Stelios Giannakopoulos – European Championship winner with Greece in 2004; Nicolas Anelka – Premier League, FA and Champions League winner with Arsenal and Real Madrid respectively prior to his time with us, not to mention adding further Premier League and FA Cup success with Chelsea following his time at The Reebok. In total; ten domestic league titles, seven Champions Leagues, two European Championships, two FA Cups, one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one World Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal. Not to mention, the small number of 457 International caps. In short, these guys have won it all.

However, despite being hugely talented players and for all their numerous winners’ medals, only Ivan Campo has a legitimate claim of being a Bolton legend in my eyes. Legendary status is not about ability alone; it is about passion for the shirt, the club and the fans; always giving 100% effort and commitment in every game, no matter what your ability; staying at the club for a prolonged period of time and having created some amazing memories for the fans to treasure forever.

While I’m sure United fans will remember Hernandez’s winner for a few weeks, especially if it sparks a decent run in the competition, I doubt it will remain a talking point for generations nor will it last long in the memory unlike, say, a late equaliser in the Alianz Arena to claim an unforgettable 2-2 draw against a true powerhouse of European football, Bayern Munich.

The player who scored that goal is not a Champions League winner; he’s not an FA Cup winner either, having his one chance of a final appearance cruelly taken away from him in the eleventh hour whilst playing for Southampton in 2003. At the time of writing, he doesn’t have any international caps to speak of, although that will hopefully change in a week. However, despite the lack of international recognition or domestic honours, there is one player, one man who epitomises what being a legend is all about. That man is Kevin Davies.

Just can't put my finger on it....!

Two weeks prior to Diouf’s shameful self promotion, we had an arguably more important home game against West Ham. Four points adrift from safety and with time running out, it was imperative that we win. Failure to do so would almost certainly see us relegated, and didn’t the cockneys know it. In a match when we needed the players to stand up and be counted, one player stood taller than most. Even after putting Bolton into a second half lead, crashing the ball into the roof of the net after Green (who else) had made of mess of dealing with a Bolton corner, Davies continued to provide an all action display which eventually resulted in a severely dislocated finger. That would have meant the end of the action for most players, but not Kevin Davies. After getting it popped back into place, he returned to field in a relative act of strength and determination that would have made the Lion of Vienna proud. Bolton went on to record a five match unbeaten run which included further wins against Middlesbrough and Sunderland and our Premiership survival was secured.

For those of us who have watched Kevin Davies since he first arrived at Bolton in 2003, his call up, whilst welcome, is long overdue. Even Davies himself had given up the dream of international football, assuming that his three U21 caps would be the pinnacle of his international career, and even believed that the call telling him the news was some sort of wind up. But a wind up it most certainly wasn’t. Capello, in what was an admittedly unexpected move, had indeed called up Kevin Davies to the England squad to face Montenegro on October 12th. Davies is part of an unwanted pub quiz trivia question regarding his lack of an international call up. Which eight players have cost more than £7m in a single transfer but have never represented their country at senior level? No doubt Davies will be hoping to amend that question to read ‘which seven players’ come Tuesday evening.

His call up has naturally attracted criticism in some quarters: he’s too old seems to be the primary concern and, had it not been Davies who had been called up, it’s one which I would tend to agree with. That said, when you look round for the youthful alternatives, Andy Carroll seems to be the only option, and he has all of 20 Premiership appearances to his name. However, they always say, if you’re old enough, you’re good enough, but Carroll also falls down on those criteria too. The other concern (apart from the obvious that, as he plays for Bolton, he is clearly not good enough for international football) is that due to his all action, competitive style of play, he’ll instantly be dismissed for serious foul play due to the continental style officials. They must have forgotten that Kevin Davies managed to amass thirteen UEFA Cup appearances for Bolton Wanderers and, despite being refereed by the same officials who will oversee the England matches, he was never dismissed and managed to play for the full 90 minutes in each match.

True, Davies may not have the skill of Messi and, to be fair to Kev, the same can be said for a lot of players, but, for fear of trotting out the clichés, he does have a good touch for a big man; the goal against West Brom being a prime example. He also has an element of craft and guile to his game which often goes overlooked. His outside of the right foot pass to Lee in the build up to Elmander’s goal against West Ham being yet another example of his skill with the ball at his feet and, had it been created by a player known for their passing ability e.g. Scholes or Fabregas, we would have no doubt seen it replayed for months.

He also has the attributes which were missing from the England team this summer; heart, passion, desire and pride in the shirt. If he gets even two minutes at the end of the match to wear the Three Lions of England, it’ll mean so much more to Kevin Davies than to the many players who come through the youth teams ranks nowadays who believe that they have made the grade simply because they have a Rolex watch and a Aston Martin at the age of 18. They can learn a lot from Kevin Davies. Had the England team shown the same passion, desire and will to win which Davies demonstrated two years ago against West Ham, there is a good chance that our World Cup dreams may not have ended with the same pathetic performances in the group stages before being torn apart by a far superior and efficient German team in the last 16. Rooney may be one of the best players in the world, but you couldn’t tell that this summer in South Africa yet regardless of form, opposition or circumstances, Kevin Davies always puts in a shift; Kevin Davies always puts in a performance. The same cannot be said for some of his new team mates.

Davies should feel immense pride in his call up, regardless of whether he gets any time on the pitch. We all do. It is the pinnacle of any player’s career to represent their country, or at least it should be. Davies is no exception. He has done incredibly well for Bolton and it is fantastic for himself and the club that he has (finally) got the recognition he deserves. It would be incredible for the fairytale call up to have a happy ending and Davies to get the cap he deserves but whatever happens Kev, you’ve done us all proud!

Super Kevin Davies – England International (hopefully); Bolton Legend (definitely)

Dave Hallsworth

"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.

Berbatov has been in good form though since the start of the season, and may be the player to fear from an attacking sense. More so than Rooney going off current stats. However, we are all too aware of the threat that Berbatov can cause having snatched yet another late winner in 2009 when Andy O’Brien managed to tackle himself and Puygrenier whilst leaving Tevez unscathed and free to cross for the a chance even the Bulgarian of old was not going to pass up. Added to the new form of Berbatov, similar to our own no. 9 (never thought I’d get to say that), there’s the long standing duo of Giggs and Scholes, who, the latter in particular, seem to turn out world class displays week in, week out. There’s also the added problem of Nani who seems to have found an end product to his endless trickery and, considering the lack of faith most fans have with at least one of our fullbacks, they could be in for a torrid afternoon. Is it all bad though? Should we do what Megson was only one short step away from and send out the reserves? Or better yet, not send out anyone at all. Just let them take the three points and leave the ‘stars’ free to concentrate of the ‘winnable’ game next week away at West Brom.

Do we stand any chance? Can we get something from this weekend? I think so. Their defence has looked far from solid since the season began, especially away, having conceded soft goals, and ultimately leads, in their previous two away games. True, Goodison Park and Craven Cottage are not happy hunting grounds for United of late and, sadly, the same cannot be said of The Reebok but their defence has looked undeniably shaky. Ferdinand could be back to play alongside Vidic. I’ll leave it up to yourselves whether you think that is good or bad for us. True, he is a great defender on his day, but he hasn’t played much football in the last few months and he’ll certainly have a baptism of fire coming up against Kevin Davies, who always gives defenders a game, and a rejuvenated Elmander, who is troubling goalkeepers more than ball boys this season. Is it not going to be easy this Sunday. Let’s face it, it never is, but we have reasons to be optimistic. Again, excluding the Carling Cup defeat to those bitter folk down the road, we’ve got some decent form to speak of ourselves.

We’ve only lost one game, away at Arsenal, and we were in with a shout of getting something their too until the sending off killed it as a contest. We’re also showing some bottle and drive which was absent last season. Apart from playing Stoke, we managed to obtain all of zero points from losing positions last season. If you include Stoke, the grand total is four points. We have managed to get level in the last three league games in which we went behind, and managed to get points from two of them. Such a comeback, especially the one against Birmingham, would have been unthinkable under Megson. Don’t get me wrong, I’d prefer us not to go behind at all, but at least we have demonstrated that we can still get something from games, despite any early setbacks. I think the form of Petrov can be the key on Sunday. He has had an indifferent start to his Bolton career, and may not have had quite the impact many of us would have hoped. However, he has the ability to be a match winner and, if we can get him the ball, I think he can give the United right back just as difficult a match as the likes of Nani and Giggs are likely to give Steinson and Robinson. We know that Davo will be his usual defence harrying self and Elmander seems to be playing without such a huge weight on his shoulders. Funny what a goal (or three) can do. Jussi will of course return between the sticks, although credit must go to Bogdan for some impressive saves and performances in tough games. I’m sure he will be a better keeper for his experience.

Yes, we’re still without Cahill but, at the risk of putting off any potential suitors, we have only kept two cleans sheets with him in the side in over a year. While I would not put the blame for that solely of Cahill’s shoulders, it is evidence enough that we can cope without him. I believe that we can give United a good game. I think Coyle will demand a response following Tuesday’s unpleasantness. I think we can trouble them going forwards. They’ve already dropped silly points and their defence looks far from solid. Plus, I fancy us to lift our game come Sunday. I play football Monday evenings with a shit load of United fans. It would be good to walk in there with a smile on my face having put another dent in their title dreams (even if it is only September). Here’s to a good game, a full house (although I think a 5-0 Bolton triumph is more likely) and a good result. Come On You Whites.

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.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv69mqem2-I[/youtube]

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.

On face value, Bolton and Birmingham don’t have a great deal in common. Bolton have always struggled to compete against local big-city clubs, whereas Birmingham are based in England’s second city. Birmingham have enjoyed several high-profile- and sometimes controversial – owners, whilst Bolton have been quietly run by the local bakers for much

Wakey in manny road stand watching Wanderers v Birmingham 1922

of their history.

Scratch the surface (and clutch a few straws) and you can find the odd similarity. Both were formed within a year or so of each other, initially as church sides. Both have lived largely in the shadow of more successful local rivals. Both would see their rightful place as mid-table (ish) in the Premier League, although there are probably at least twenty other clubs with similar aspirations.

Scratch even deeper, and there’s a much closer similarity between the two.

Bolton fans would probably claim that the Trotters are the more successful of the two clubs. Founder members of the Football League, they have four FA Cup wins plus three losing final appearances to Birmingham’s two losing finals. They have completed – or will have by Sunday evening – 71 seasons in the top flight to Birmingham’s 56. Of the 107 seasons both teams have been league clubs, including this season, Bolton have finished higher than Birmingham 69 times. Bolton even edge the meetings between the two, with 46 wins to Birmingham’s 39.

But it’s in terms of league success that the two clubs share their greatest similarity.

The method we use to measure how successful a team is historically is to take the overall average league position, i.e. ranking every team’s league position each season from the winner of the Premier League (1st), to the bottom of League Two (92nd), or less in seasons with less than 92 league clubs. Follow the same principle from the inception of the league to present and you can give each team an overall average league position.

In this respect, the two clubs couldn’t be closer.

Historically – including this year and working on the basis that professional league football in England began in the late 1880’s, rather than the early 1990’s as Sky would have you believe – Bolton are the 21st most successful league side in England. Birmingham are 22nd.

Incidentally, and annoyingly for Bolton and Birmingham fans respectively, our local rivals Manchester United and Aston Villa are 5th and 6th most successful, although all four teams are one place higher if you ignore founder members Accrington’s five years as a First Division side.

Bolton fans and regular readers of Manny Road will know that Bolton’s “all-time league” position has dramatically worsened since the 1960’s. In 1960 Bolton were England’s 5th most successful team, and despite the club’s decline, didn’t slip out of the all-time top 10 until the early 1970’s. But how do the two teams’ performances compare?

In anticipation of Sunday’s clash, Manny Road takes a decade-by-decade view of the respective league history of both clubs.

1889-1899
Founder members Bolton spent the first decade (and a bit) in the top flight without ever setting the division alight – a third place finish in 1892 being their highest – and ending the century as the 7th most successful side overall. However, 1899 saw the club finish 17th and face relegation from the top flight for the first time.

Birmingham joined the league as founder members of the newly formed Second Division, and won the inaugural title in 1893 but failed to gain promotion, losing a Test Match (a.k.a. play-off) to Newton Heath (a.k.a. Man Utd). The following year they did go up, finishing second but beating Darwen in a Test Match. Incidentally, Liverpool beat Newton Heath via the same system to take their place in the top flight.
Two years later, Birmingham were relegated after a Test Match against Liverpool, and spent the remainder of the decade in the Second Division.

Birmingham ended the period as the 19th best side, one place ahead of Manchester United. Villa were the most successful club, winning the title 4 times and with an overall average of 3.6, well clear of 2nd best Everton’s average position of 4.1.

1900-1909
The first decade of the twentieth century saw both clubs spend six years in the First Division and four in the second.

Bolton bounced back at the first attempt in 1900, but were relegated again two years later. The following year they had their worst finish to date – 7th in the Second Division – before gaining promotion again in 1905. After two 6th place finishes, Bolton were relegated again in 1908, before going back up as champions the following year, ending the decade as the 16th most successful club, a significant drop on the previous decade, but still comfortably above neighbours Manchester United in 23rd.

Birmingham had their own mini yo-yo spell, with promotion in 1901, relegation in 1902, and promotion again in 1903. They then spent five years in the top flight, with best finishes back-to-back 7th place in 1905 and 1906, before being relegated in 1908 and finishing the decade mid-table in Division Two. Over the decade as a whole, Birmingham were the 18th most successful side.

Newcastle were top dogs for the decade, pushing Birmingham’s arch-rivals Villa into 2nd place.

1910-1919
Only six seasons were completed due to the outbreak of WWI, with Birmingham spending all six in the second tier. They started the decade with their worst year, finishing bottom, and had a best finish of 3rd in 1913.

Bolton briefly continued to yo-yo, finishing bottom in 1910 and bouncing stright back, but then spent an extended period mostly in the top half of the First Division, and – apart from a 17th place finish in 1915 – didn’t face a serious relegation threat again until the 1930’s.

For the six completed seasons of the decade, Bolton were the 13th most successful club, with Birmingham 33rd. Local rivals Villa were again 2nd (Blackburn were top dogs), whilst Manchester United had established themselves as a top flight club, and were in 6th place overall.

1920-1929
The 1920’s saw Bolton’s best ever decade, spending the entire period in the top flight – mostly in the top half – with best placed finishes of 3rd in 1921 and 1925. They also won the FA Cup three times in the decade, including the first Wembley final in 1923.

The period also saw an improvement in Birmingham’s fortunes, with promotion in 1921 followed by an extended run in the First Division. Their best finish was 8th in 1925, which was also their only top half finish in the decade.

Bolton were the 3rd best side in the 1920’s with Birmingham 16th. Local rivals Villa and Manchester United were 5th and 17th respectively, with Liverpool top dogs overall.

1930-1939
The ten years up to WWII saw Birmingham’s best ever decade in terms of league performance, spending the whole period in the top flight, albeit mostly in the lower half. Their best performance was 9th in 1932, and they flirted with relegation in 1931 (19th), 1934 (20th), 1935 (19th) and 1938 (18th), before ending the decade – and the break for WWII – with relegation in 1939 in 21st position. The Blues also reached their first FA Cup final in 1931, losing 2-1 to West Brom.

The first four years of the 1930’s saw Bolton struggle in the bottom half of the First Division, finally being relegated in 1933. They narrowly missed out on promotion in 1934, before regaining top-flight status the following season. After finishing mid-table in 1936, they narrowly avoided relegation the following year, finishing 20th. The final two years of the decade saw Bolton finish comfortably in the top half.

The period saw Birmingham enjoy the 14th best average league placing to Bolton’s 16th, the first of three decades in which the Blues would come out on top. Arsenal were top dogs, with Villa 8th and Manchester United – yet to emerge as a major force and spending six of the ten years in the second tier – 26th.

The war was to cut short the 1939-40 season after just three games, and the league programme didn’t resume until the 1946-47 season, so this is as good as any a point to look at the overall average league positions from 1889-1939.

Bolton, having spent 40 of the 47 completed seasons in the top flight, were 7th overall. Birmingham had missed the first four years, and spent 26 years in the top flight and 17 in the second tier, and were 20th best overall, one place above Man United, who had spent almost half of their 43 years in the second tier.

Overall top dogs were Sunderland, who had spent all of their 45 league seasons in the top flight and won the title six times, followed by Villa, who had also won the title six times, but spent two years in the Second Division, and five times champions Everton, who had spent all bar one year in the top division.

Look out for parts 2 and 3 over the next couple of days.

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.

How to interview a Bolton Wanderers fan, courtesy of striatic

Just in case anyone cares what we think…

Following on from my post the other day about the use of silly analogies, I stumbled across another – albeit over a week old – article that shows how generalisations and misrepresentations are being used to bash Bolton Wanderers fans and their dislike of Gary Megson.

It comes from The Sun (disclosure: I used to work for The Sun), whose reporter Neil Custis wrote:

LISTEN to some Bolton fans and you would think Gary Megson had taken the club down two divisions and into administration.

In the 25 paragraphs that follows Custis then quotes a sum total of 0 Bolton fans, which can only lead us to the conclusion that, despite the word being in capital letters in the first paragraph, Custis didn’t actually LISTEN to any Bolton fans at all, other than the ones booing in the stands.

If The Sun would like a more articulate reasoning of our dislike for Megson, I’d be more than happy to set out my reasons, which are infinitely more complex than an over-simplisitc analysis of league tables and balance sheets.

I suspect, though, that the mainstream media doesn’t want an articulated response. It doesn’t suit the story they’ve already decided on (Megson = victim, Bolton fans = big bullies), so instead Sky Sports goes and finds as many idiots as they can on Bolton market (not normally a hot bed of footballing intellectuals) who all failed to get the point across properly.

If I’m wrong about this then The Sun, Sky and other mainstream media outlet is more than welcome to contact me here.

And to prove this isn’t just an excercise in vanity, I’m sure the good people over at Burnden Aces, BWFC24, the Bolton Wanderers fancast and all the other independent fan site would be equally willing to share their thoughts, some of which may even Pro-Megson (fine by me as long as they’re well articulated). In fact that only goes to show that things at Bolton are not as black and white as The Sun and others would have you believe.

Comments, suggestions, criticisms, jokes all welcome below…

We know how you feel about supporting Bolton Wanderers, because we feel the same (Image courtesy of ElPablo)

Sky’s subtle and understated-as-ever marketing campaign for their Premier League coverage this season is a series of TV adverts and posters featuring the line ‘we know how you feel about football, because we feel the same.’

Leaving aside the rather patronising assumption that all football fans are replica-shirt wearing, 606-calling halfwits (OK, a lot are), the other problem with these ads is that they’re too general, aimed at fans of every club without thought for the fundamental differences in the emotional make-up of fans of clubs as diverse as, let’s say, Bolton and Manchester United.

To solve this problem, Manny Road is proposing a new version of the advert targetted specifically at Bolton Wanderers fans (see pic above). I think this more adequately sums up the reality of being a Wanderers fan right now than this video.

What do you think? Comments in an orderly queue below please…

Image from 101 Great Goals

I lost count of the number of times the press made reference to Sam Allardyce being manager of Bolton Wandererers last season.

After Big Sam returned to management in the north-west with Blackburn midway through last season, a succession of newspaper articles and – if memory serves – over-excitable Sky Sports pundits, lazily got Bolton mixed up with their Lancashire rivals.

Perhaps the media are showing sympathy with Wanderers fans, many of whom would also like to forget that Gary Megson is actually our manager these days. Either way, a summer of – ahem – exciting activity from Megson at the Reebok doesn’t seem to have given some journalists the ability to write the words ‘Big Sam’ without accompanying them with either ‘Bolton’, ‘Wanderer’ or ‘Trotters’.

Just check out this story from The Sunday Mirror, spotted by the website 101 Great Goals, in which Miguel Veloso is joining Allardyce at Bolton one minute and Blackburn the next. Come on lads, it’s not that hard.

Your views, as ever, welcome below…

Image via Wikipedia

The final round of ins, outs and shaking it all abouts at Bolton Wanderers this January

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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