Taylor was an easy target for the boo boys. He lacked pace, couldn’t go past a player and his defensive capabilities were of a standard that made the idea that he could stand in at left back seem laughable. Yet he most certainly had an end product.

Matt Taylor pictured left. The man with an enormous right testicle.

The midfielder was signed in January 2008 as Gary Megson* went on a spending spree with money acquired from the sale of Nicolas Anelka. Things did not begin well. Played further forward than he was used to, Taylor was famed for not scoring when he should have done. Most notably he missed a hat trick of sitters against former club Portsmouth as the Whites went down to a 1-0 defeat at home after dominating the game.

The following season he netted ten times, no mean feat for a midfielder, including the highlight of his time at Bolton, a scorching free kick against, ironically, West Ham at the Boleyn. A good goalkeeper would have struggled to save that effort. The Hammers only had Rob Green, whose fumblings have gifted the Wanderers so many points that he’s been assigned an honorary squad number at the Reebok.

The 2009-10 campaign was blighted by glandular fever which was undiagnosed until late February. Still, he got on the score sheet eight times, including a brace at Stoke that virtually guaranteed Premier League survival for Bolton. From then on he was a bit part player, struggling to hold down a place after the arrival of Martin Petrov and failing to string two good games together when given a chance.

At his best, Taylor was a deadly striker of the ball, an expert set piece taker and an accurate long range passer in open play. His main problem was that he didn’t produce his best frequently enough, which left the lesser parts of his game more open to criticism. But there was never any doubt about his commitment, with the stats frequently showing that he’d covered the most ground during a game.

There were claims that he was Megson’s man, but touchline arguments with the Ginger One test that assumption. His response, when asked if the former Bolton manager’s constant yelling bothered him, was also interesting.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” he said. The body language and tone of voice suggested that the words were not an accurate reflection of his thoughts.

Not that Taylor was averse to making his feelings known. There are some who claim that paying the entrance fee to a stadium entitles them to barrack an individual they see as underperforming. That’s another argument, but those people shouldn’t complain when the abuse is returned, as it was with Matt Taylor. Yet no player enjoyed the crowd’s adulation more when he scored.

Will Bolton miss him? Possibly. A set piece specialist is always useful in a side that lacks creativity. The counter argument is that this move brings in much needed revenue for the club and gives the player a chance of regular first team football and therefore an opportunity to regain his form.

Fans at Portsmouth still regard Matthew Taylor with affection. On the whole, that isn’t the case at Bolton, which is regrettable given his overall contribution. This supporter for one, wishes him well.

- Richard McCormick

TweetFollow @RMc2407

* Note for lazy journalists.  Matt Taylor will not be re-united with ‘former boss’ Sam Allardyce

Would you buy a second hand car off these boys?

Aspirations have changed at Bolton since the dark days of Gary Megson. The arrival of Owen Coyle followed by our impressive start to the season had the more optimistic of us counting air miles and dusting off our Bulgarian phrase-books. Even when European qualification had passed us by – embarrassingly so in the cup – a top half finish was still on the cards right up to the end of the season.

Never mind. Coyle’s inherited Megson’s bunch of cloggers. Once he’s had the summer to make serious changes, we’ll be back to chasing Europe again. Surely relegation battles are a thing of the past? Aren’t they?

Maybe not. Our form after Christmas was relegation-standard, and the end of the season – five defeats on the bounce – was abysmal. It wouldn’t be the first time poor form at the end of one season has carried over to the next. Add to that our tough start to the season and it wouldn’t be a great surprise to see us rock-bottom after the first seven games. We’ll have easier runs to follow, but everything looks that bit tougher if you’re sat at the bottom and confidence may have taken a bit of a battering.

So how relevant is end-of-season form to performance in next campaign? Let’s hope the answer is ‘not very’. Only two previous premier league teams have ever lost their last five matches: Sunderland in 2003 and Derby in 2008. Both teams finished bottom and were relegated. Sunderland set a record low points tally of nineteen. Derby set a new one with eleven. We are therefore proud holders of another record – the only premier league side to have lost their last five games without being relegated.

So are we realistic relegation candidates, and if so who else is? Maybe recent history can give us some pointers.

Teams relegated from the premier league over the last ten years generally fit into one or more of the following categories:

1. Newly promoted

The omens aren't good, Neil

The most obvious category. Thirteen of the last thirty relegated sides were newly promoted, and not since the class of 2001 – Bolton, Blackburn, and Fulham, who are all still there – have all three promoted sides stayed up. Looking on the bright side, it’s 1998 since all three promoted teams were relegated (Bolton, Barnsley, and Crystal Palace), so maybe at least one will survive?

Candidates: QPR, Norwich, Swansea

2. Narrowly avoided relegation
Five of the last ten years’ relegated sides – including each of the last two years – finished in 17th place the previous year, so history suggests there’s a 50:50 chance Wolves will be in the mix next season.
For the record those relegated sides were Derby, Sunderland, West Brom, Hull and West Ham, and those that have survived were Fulham, Wigan, Portsmouth, Everton, and Bolton.

Although no team finishing 16th has been relegated the next year, the closeness of this year’s relegation scrap suggests that the other last day survivors, Wigan and Blackburn, could also be in the mix.
Candidates: Wolves.
Possible: Wigan, Blackburn

3. Second season
Five of the 30 slots have gone to teams ‘enjoying’ their second season in the top flight. In the case of West Brom and Hull, they had also narrowly avoided relegation the previous season, but the other three – Ipswich, Reading, and Birmingham – had finished in the top half.

Newcastle and West Brom are the two clubs facing their second season. West Brom have steadied the ship under Roy Hodgson and will be targeting mid-table at least. Of the two, Newcastle would be the more likely candidates for me, but only because of indications of internal problems and my belief that Pardew is a poor manager, although they should have the finances to build a decent side after the sale of Andy Carroll.

Candidates: Newcastle and West Brom.

4. Finished the previous season badly
Accounts for six of the thirty relegation slots in the last ten years. Two of these were teams that had also narrowly avoided relegation, but the other four all finished comfortably mid-table, albeit in poor form, reminiscent of this year’s Bolton.

Leicester finished the 2000/01 season with nine defeats in their last ten and dropping from 4th to 13th in the process. They carried this form into the new season, getting thumped by newly promoted Bolton in their first game of the new campaign, losing seven of their first ten games, and being rooted to the foot of the table for most of the season.

Southampton finished 12th in 2004 but with only two points from their last five games. Again, this carried over to the new campaign, with them winning only one of their first twelve and ultimately finishing bottom.

Charlton finished the 2005/06 season in 12th place despite four defeats in their last five then started the next season with seven defeats and only one win in their first ten games, ultimately finishing 19th.

Birmingham’s impressive 2009/10 season saw them defy expectations and claim a top ten place, but also saw them win only one of their last ten games. Whilst the following year started with a four-game unbeaten run, they only managed one win in the first eight, and ultimately a poor end to a topsy-turvy season saw them relegated on the last day.

In four of the last ten seasons, one of the relegated teams have had the worst form of any surviving team in the last five games of the previous campaign. Obviously this also means that the other six teams that finished bottom of the form guide survived, including Everton in 2004 and Man City in 2007 who went on to enjoy top half finishes the following year.

Remember, though, that losing your last five games is unprecedented for any surviving club, so Bolton are in uncharted territory. We managed less than a point a game since Christmas (only Blackpool and West Ham had worse records) and with our diabolical away record, a tricky start at newly promoted QPR (reminiscent of Leicester in 2002) closely followed by games against five of last season’s top six and things could look bleak by mid-October.

Last season’s only other premier league ‘survivor’ with less than a point per game in their last five was Arsenal, who are clearly in no danger of relegation.

Candidates: Bolton

5. Other factors
This category covers other potential ‘warning signs’: financial troubles, loss of a long-term manager, change of ownership, daft managerial sackings and disastrous appointments.

Many of the teams already mentioned also fit into this category. Leicester had recently lost Martin O’Neill. Charlton had lost Curbishley and followed up with three managers the following year. Southampton lost Strachan and appointed Sturrock (briefly) then Wigley (laughably), and so on.

Only six of our thirty relegated teams do not fit into at least one of the categories above. Two of these – Leeds in 2004 and Portsmouth in 2010 – were victims of financial meltdown, as the consequences of overspending took them from European qualification to relegation in short time.

Another – Newcastle – had recently changed ownership, and were going through their Laurel and Hardy phase as new owner Mike Ashley was demonstrating why he should never have been allowed anywhere near a professional football club. There were already murmurings of discontent before Keegan walked out at the start of their relegation season.

Barring sudden loss of interest from the Arabs / Russians / Americans, there are a couple of potential candidates from this category.

Blackburn’s recent change of ownership coupled with the appointment of an inexperienced manager probably put them at the top of the list.

Bet you daren't appoint ... him!

Mike Ashley still should be allowed nowhere near a football club, and Newcastle’s sacking of Hughton and appointment of Pardew seems a bit of an odd one. Again there are murmurings from within the club, and the sale of your captain and main goal threat to a championship club doesn’t bode well, so let’s add them too.

Aston Villa’s appointment of McLeish is the most head-scratchingly daft for a while, but they have too much money and (currently) too good a squad to be genuine candidates.

Candidates: Blackburn, Newcastle.

That leaves only three clubs out of the last thirty relegated that were relegated without any of the ‘warning signs’ listed above, which suggests that if you’re an established premier league club not mentioned thus far, you’re probably safe..

Summary: put your money on …
It’s difficult to look beyond the three promoted sides, and likely that at least a couple will be in the mix. Other prime candidates for me would be; Blackburn due to their potential for off-field turmoil with the new owners and because they narrowly avoided relegation this year, Newcastle due to Mike Ashley, Alan Pardew, and second season syndrome, Wolves simply because the worst placed survivor tends to have an even chance of going down, and finally Bolton due to our poor form at the end of last season and our difficult schedule at the start of this one, but mainly so I don’t jinx us by saying we’ll be safe.

To narrow it down further, I’d expect Wolves to build on their survival in the last two seasons and Bolton to have too much pedigree, too solid a set-up and too good a manager to be in the mix after Christmas.

So perm any three from Norwich, QPR, Swansea, Newcastle, and Blackburn.

There you go – the three relegated teams will definitely come out of that bunch. Probably.

- Wakey

Rob Green in familar pose

Given the respective league positions of the two sides, one might expect that sequence to continue, but it isn’t that straightforward.  At Christmas, the Londoners looked certainties for relegation, but they showed  improvement in February with the emergence of Thomas Hitzlsperger, Demba Ba and some fine captain’s performances from Scott Parker.

However, they may be somewhat deflated after last week’s capitulation to Manchester United at the Boleyn.  With 65 minutes gone, the home side were sat on a two goal lead, but then Wayne Rooney happened.  That the chav master general scored a hat-trick has been overshadowed by the conversation he had with a pitch side camera.

Who or what Rooney was responding to hasn’t been established, but his tirade cost him a two match ban and a lucrative contract with a soft drinks company.  It was either that or change the name of the beverage to Coca Fucking Cola.

Bolton go into this game both distracted by an impending FA cup date at Wembley and with selection problems.  The loss of Stuart Holden is significant and the slow recovery of Mark Davies from an ankle injury frustrating.  Last Saturday’s game at Birmingham saw Fabrice Muamba and Tamir Cohen start in midfield, a pair who are to creativity what Julian Clary is to cage fighting.

Added to that, Paul Robinson, on nine yellow cards for the season, will be on the bench, leaving the jittery Marcos Alonso at left-back.  David Wheater is also one booking from suspension, although Zat Knight came through a reserve game in midweek, with no ill-effects.  On the plus side, Lee Chung-Yong has been under used recently and Ricardo Gardner has returned from his loan spell at Preston in good form, so Owen Coyle has options to change the game if necessary.

Matthew Upson contemplates facing Kevin Davies

Other assets for the home side are Hammers ‘keeper, Rob Green who can usually be counted on to be at fault for at least one goal against Bolton, and Matthew Upson, who is invariably reduced to a jibbering wreck by Kevin Davies.

Three points from this game will provide a useful springboard for the Wanderers as they set off for Wembley.  For West Ham, a win could propel them up the table toward safety, depending on how other results go.  There are too many variables to call this game either way, and with nerves aplenty and attention perhaps elsewhere for Owen Coyle’s men, a draw will be neither a surprise, nor a bad result for either side.

- Richard McCormick

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

Of course Cahill wasn’t anything close to being first choice.  Rio Ferdinand has a knee problem and John Terry a shagging injury, whilst West Ham’s Matthew Upson is still hiding under the stairs in East London after being terrorised by Kevin Davies again.  Not that Upson should be anywhere near the national squad, unless it’s to hand out the half-time oranges.

In the event Cahill acquitted himself well, bar one early mistake, as Fabio Capello’s side ran out comfortable 4-0 winners against Bulgaria.  So, the burning question.  Will Cahill make his first start on Tuesday in Switzerland?

Logic says he should do.  There’s a need for a convincing alternative centre-back pairing and the one with Phil Jagielka that finished Friday’s game is as good a starting point as any.  But this doesn’t take into account the strange mental meanderings of the England manager.  This is the man who pledged not to pick players who were out of form or injured and then did both.

Fabio Capello is an odd individual, and that’s before you allow for him being Italian and bearing a striking resemblance to Animal off the Muppet Show.   We can but wait and see.

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]

All the goals from the Wanderers 3-1 Carling Cup win over West Ham (minus the last goal for some reason)…

Your views welcome below…

Manny Road gets ready for battle (Pic: Gidzy, some rights reserved)

The media are looking for a victim and the Bolton Wanderers boss might not get such an easy ride this season

Disclaimer: Before we get started, it’s worth pointing out that in preparation for writing this post Manny Road has kitted up in full body armour in anticipation of the backlash likely to come my way. Manny Road is well aware that it’s a marathon not a sprint, that it was only one game, and that but for the legs of Marton Fulop we might well have got a point against Sunderland on Saturday.

So what’s my point? Why is Manny Road stoking the fires of negativity after just one game?

The answer is that I’m not. I’m merely pointing out that others in the media are starting to sound a little less sympathetic towards Gary Megson, who I believe got a pretty easy ride in the press last season.

Here’s a rough sketch of the timeline of attitudes towards Megson during his time at Bolton Wanderers…

Phase 1: Bolton fans outraged by Megson’s appointment, the media – shocked that someone with his track record has been given another chance – are largely in agreement.
Phase 2: Megson keeps Bolton up, fans are still largely unsure but the media – probably just relieved that the lack of anything interesting happening at the Reebok means they don’t have to write about Bolton much anymore – think he’s done a great job.
Phase 3: Megson continues to keep Bolton on an even keel, the media still think he’s doing a great job and slag fans off for not supporting him.

But some of the reports over the weekend suggest we may now be entering a new phase, one in which the fans continue to be disillusioned with Megson (if you think it’s just me, see if you can find any optimism or positivity in reaction to Saturday’s result over on the BWFC Facebook page) and the media start to see our (well, some of us) point again.

Exhibit A: The Bolton News finally get round to pointing out how, despite slashing prices, the club can barely give season tickets away.

Exhibit B: Following on from Daniel Taylor’s pre-season mauling of Megson, The Guardian continues to stick the boot in in their Sunderland match report, saying Bolton were devoid of tactics, ‘insipid, pedestrian and uninspiring’, and that none of Megson’s summer signings made any kind of impact.

Megson got any easy ride from the media last season. There were enough managerial-merry-go-round type stories elsewhere (Newcastle, Tottenham, Portsmouth) to prevent the media from smelling blood at the Reebok. That meant that when the fans got on Megson’s back, it inspired sympathy for the Wanderers boss among the press rather than any kind of killer instinct.

But this season, with the usual candidates for implosion – Spurs, West Ham, Man City – all looking fairly well set, the press may need to seek its prey elsewhere. Newbies are the usual target, but Roberto Martinez (playing the kind of football Bolton fans can only dream of right now) got off to a flier with Wigan at Aston Villa, and most of the other teams of Bolton’s stature – Stoke, Hull, Wolves et al -are all still content enough in the ‘grateful just to be here’ stage of their Premier League lives to get rid of the managers that got them there just yet.

So far Phil Gartside has been able to stave off calls for Gary Megson’s head, but once the fans, media and bank manager (once he counts up those season ticket receipts) are in unison, the only thing that will save Megson is an above average run of results/league position over the next couple of months – and on Saturday’s evidence, it’s difficult to see how this season is going to be any different from last year’s stop-start campaign.

OK, Manny Road is braced… unleash your fury in the comments below…

Watch ‘highlights’ of Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Sunderland here

Here’s what the various Bolton Wanderers message boards made of the 1-0 win over Newcastle United yesterday…

Positives
- “It was a seminal result. There’s no way we’re going down now” … “we only need seven more points from a possible 33″ … “in fact we might only need 37.”

- “Recent results against Spurs, West Ham and now Newcastle at home show that Gary Megson is doing a good job” …”he’s really ramming it back at his critics” … “it’s good to see the opposition manager getting it in the neck for a change.”

- “Mark Davies looks like a star in the making” … and “Ricardo Gardner was brilliant too” … “he’s been arguably our most important player this season.”

- “Gary Cahill was man of the match yet again.”

- “Ebi Smolarek looked sharp. Megson did the right thing bringing him on rather than Ariza Makukula.”

- “Kevin Nolan was in the stand and took the banter from the Bolton fans well.”

- “The fans got behind the team well” but…

Negatives
- “There are still a lot of empty seats” and… “the fans who seem to want the team to lose just so we can get rid of Megson are a disgrace” … as is “Phil Gartside, who threatened some fans with action from the stewards after they criticised team selection.”

- “Once again the midfield disappeared and we ended up getting pinned back in to our own half.”

- “Both teams were rubbish. Neither of them could pass a ball properly.”

- “The problem is we have players willing to run themselves in to the ground but no-one with the technical know-how to see out a game without the usual pant-shitting at the end.”

- “Johan Elmander worked hard but his finishing needs some work” … in fact “he’s a complete waste of money.”

Disagree? Have your say in the comments below…

Sources: BBC 606, The Bolton News, The Wanderer, Rivals, Bolton Wanderers Mad, Burnden Aces.

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I’m aware that I seem to spend a lot of time writing negatively about Bolton Wanderers (and one man in particular), so it’s good to have something nice to say for once.

I’m currently taking advantage of the free 30-day trial of Wanderers World on bwfc.co.uk and reviewing it on here. This week I’ve watched ‘West Ham Flashback’, ‘Rivalry’ and ‘Davo’s 50′.

I’ve criticised the Flashback feature on Wanderers World before. My gripe is that they invite you in with some enticing lines about reliving past glories against whichever team we happen to be playing next, only for you to find that you’ll have to pay to view the content after you’ve clicked in to the page.

My response has been to find some of the same goals on You Tube and post them on here for people to watch for free.

There are two reasons why what you get from Wanderers World is better (I guess this is what you get for your money): firstly, the quality is much better than most of the stuff you get on You Tube; secondly, they’ve got so many more matches in their archive to draw from. In fact, one of my criticisms of the West Ham preview was that it seemed to go on forever, a feeling that wasn’t helped by there being no narrative to any of the goals.

I’m a big believer that any goal or game is only as dramatic or important as the context in which it is played, so it would have been nice to be reminded about where we were in the league at the time, what point of the season the game took place, why the win was significant etc etc.

‘Davo’s 50′ is a tribute to Kevin Davies’ 50 goals for the Whites, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Like the West Ham compilation there was no real context given – just a string of goals shown one after the other – but it was great to see loads of goals and games that I’d totally forgotten about.

‘Rivalry’, which has loads of footage of famous wins over our local rivals, was also enjoyable. Great to hear some classic Dave Higson in there too, even if some of the footage from back in the day leaves a bit to be desired.

All in all, I began this free trial thoroughly expecting to cancel my subscription after 30 days. After one week I’m already starting to rethink that.