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

Your guide to all the pre-match predictions and Mystic Meggery ahead of Chelsea v Bolton Wanderers

Reasons to be cheerful…
1. Only Arsenal have a better record at Stamford Bridge than Bolton in recent years… in fact we have only lost once in our last five visits to Chelsea.

2. Kevin Davies isn’t too disappointed that his rumoured January move to Chelsea never materialised. In fact, he thought it was as funny as everyone else did.

3. Bolton are able to name the same team that thrashed Middlesbrough last week, whilst Chelsea have one or two defensive selection headaches.

4. Due to our shocking performances in cup competitions, Chelsea have played 15 games more than Bolton so far this season.

Reasons to be fearful…
5. Chelsea have rather a lot to play for… Bolton, on the other hand – having now proven that we’re not quite as bad as all the other really bad teams in the Premier League this season – do not.

6. Michael Essien did a pretty good job of silencing Steven Gerrard the other night, so he shouldn’t have too much bother with Gavin McCann.

7. By Gary Megson’s own admission, we’re absolutely useless against the big four these days.

8. And the Bolton manager appears to have half a mind on a spot of West End shopping while he’s in London.

9. We have only kept one clean sheet in our last 19 Premier League games.

10. As usual, Megson has made a point of letting his opposite number know just how fantastic he thinks he is… although the ginger one has at least stuck the boot in by tipping Manchester United for the title (not that this will exactly endear him to Wanderers fans).

11. Chelsea have lost just once since Guus Hiddink replaced Phil Scolari… oh, and they had quite a good win in Europe mid-week.

12. Chelsea seem to think we won’t leave without putting up a fight (see Petr Cech below for more Bolton Wanderers cliches). Clearly they didn’t see our performances at Fulham, Spurs and Stoke earlier this season.

Reasons to be bored…
13. Here’s the obligatory pre-match “Bolton are a really tough side because they play direct football” bullshit, this week starring Petr Cech.

Share your predictions for the game in the comment box below…

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There seems to be no doubt who most of the papers would like to win the Premier League this season.

Robbie Keane’s sudden return to form may have ruined their juciest January transfer window story, but there was a definite air of excitement after Liverpool battered Bolton and gave journos hope that they might actually have something a little different to write about come mid-May.

‘It is not only the fans who are starting to believe that this could be the season when Liverpool end their 19-year wait for the title,’ said The Times.

It was all about Keane in The Sun, even if they did blame him for Rafa Benitez’s recent illness.

Even Gary Megson was keen to join the Liverpool love-in in the Express.

The Mirror offered Bolton sympathy, describing them as ‘poor’ (that’s poor as in ‘oh poor you’ rather than poor as in ‘shit’… although they did point out that our defending of set pieces was indeed… shit).

The Guardian were harsher, suggesting that Megson had learned nothing from his failed attempt to nullify Steven Gerrard at the Reebok a month ago.

The Telegraph, on the other hand, put our capitualtion down to the ‘frailties of left-back Jlloyd Samuel’.

The Daily Mail also salivated over both Keane and Liverpool and suggested any chance Bolton may have had disappeared when Kevin Nolan missed a first-half sitter.

The Independent, though, demonstrated just how tame Bolton’s threat was by reporting that after that Nolan effort it took another 82 minutes for us to muster another.

Share your views on the game in the comments below.

You can read the fans’ views on the game here.

1. Gary Megson has lost every games he’s ever managed against Liverpool, conceding 20 goals in six games and scoring just one (in fact, this stat fest contains a gold mine of depressing Liverpool-based stats for Wanderers fans).

2. Bolton have lost their last four games to Liverpool and conceded 12 goals in the process.

3. For a less depressing statistical outlook, visit bwfc.co.uk, who provided ths week’s most pointless stat: today’s referee Alan Wiley has produced 49 yellow cards and two red cards in 17 games this season (if that doesn’t whet your appetitie for a trip to Anfield I don’t know what will).

4. Oh wait a minute, what about this one… the game will kick-off at 5pm Bulgarian time (no, really, someone actually wrote a preview to tell the world that).

5. Looks like Sammy Lee won’t be in charge of Liverpool today as Rafa Benitez looks to return to the touchline following kidney stones.

6. Matthew Taylor and Kevin Nolan both want maximum points for Christmas (presumably they want that all year round, though, right?).

7. Fernando Torres probably won’t be fit to play OR… he could be fit to play… OR he will be on the bench (take your pick).

8. Liverpool are top of the league at Christmas for the first time since 1996, a year when they went on to win… absolutely nothing. And Bolton went on… to get relegated (I can do useless and irrelevant historical information too).

9. Bolton’s recent form under Megson is ‘quietly impressive’ (surely it’s only quiet if you’re not listening?).

10. One thing that’s never quiet is Megson’s ego-stroking of the opposition before every game, this week featuring Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

11. Liverpool fans are hoping we won’t ‘park the bus in front of the goal’.

12. But they still expect to win 2-1.

Think the pundits talk a load of rubbish? You can leave your own preview or prediction in the comment box below.

Fair play to Gary Megson for somehow managing to keep a lid on his anger on the two occasions that Rob Styles has worked his magic on us this season (this occurred to me after watching Neil Warnock’s latest undignified rant over the weekend).

But I fear Megson may be taking the FA’s much talked about Respect campaign a little too literally.

I wrote prior to the Liverpool game that I hoped he would be less complimentary about Liverpool during his team talk with the players than he was in the press, where he lavished praise on Rafa Benitez’s side.

Was Megson showing them too much respect? Judging by our first-half performance, he may well have been.

There’s also a more serious tactical point to be made here. Clearly Megson showed too much respect to Steven Gerrard too, who he man-marked with Fabrice Muamba. It didn’t work: Liverpool ran amok, Muamba was hauled off at half-time and Megson was again forced to admit that his original game plan had totally failed.

I noticed on the Liverpool website that they gave Xabi Alonso the man of the match, and as this match report from The Independent points out, the biggest flaw in Megson’s game plan was that in giving Gerrard so much respect, he showed an ignorance of the amount of influence both Alonso and Javier Mascherano have on making Liverpool tick.

The implication is that while the uneducated layman (that’s you and me) might think Liverpool’s success begins and end with Gerrard, a highly-paid Premier League manager should have the ability to see the bigger picture.

And that, in a nutshell, is why the only person who didn’t get any respect at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday was Megson himself.

I wrote recently about the number of Bolton Wanderers fans who find this blog because they are searching Google for Gary Megson’s email address.

As before, I still don’t have his email address. But I do have the next best thing.

In my analysis of anti-Megson groups on Facebook last week I mentioned that I’d stumbled across the man himself and was awaiting acceptance of my friendship request.

To his credit he has now accepted and it appears that he’s happy to make friends with fans, as well as the likes of Steven Gerrard, Nicolas Anelka and Alex Ferguson.

So, if you really want to contact Gary Megson and share with him your ideas for how he could make Bolton Wanderers better, why not add him as a friend on Facebook and send him a message that way?

Gary Megson on Facebook

With results looking up in recent weeks some have suggested that Megson needs to go on a charm offensive in the media if he is ever to win fans over.

The problem is that – whether he means to or not – he has a habit of saying things to the press that don’t make a lot of sense. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by fans: check out this ‘Megsonisms’ discussion.

Communicating with fans on this more personal level rather than via the sycophantic Bolton News may well help him.

My only criticism is that the club haven’t publicised it more. Why not plaster it all over the official website? It has to be more interesting than most of the stuff they put on there.

- Bolton’s attitude to cup ties is a disgrace. Roll on January for another humiliation in the FA Cup! Mind you, we get exactly what we deserve, given that only 7,136 fans bothered to turn up to watch.

- Gary Cahill should be fined a fortnight’s wages for getting sent off.

- Our only tactic is hit and hope. Stoke fell for it because their defence is rubbish but few other teams will.

- What happened to us taking the Cups seriously this season, Mr Megson?

- Match updates on the official BWFC website stopped after Northampton went 2-0 up within 28 minutes, which shows what they thought about the result/performance!

- The players are more worried about buying a new 86 inch Plasma telly from the Trafford Centre than wearing the white shirt.

- Danny Shittu looked like the Championship defender he is. In fact, he and Megson were more like Laurel and Hardy. Come back Abdoulaye Meite and Radhi Jaidi all is forgiven!

- The only explanation for Heidar Helguson’s inclusion in the team is that Megson was putting him in the shop window. He and Kevin Davies couldn’t score in a brothel.

- Joey O’Brien and Gavin McCann are Bolton’s version of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, only nowhere near as good.

- Still, at least ITV put us out of our misery by not bothering to show the highlights.

- Special mention to Ding Dong Doo, whose match report summed up the general lack of confidence in Gary Megson, even if he did write it 12 hours before the game finished.

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