The loan of Ali Al Habsi to Wigan Athletic was seen as beneficial to all parties.  It gave the player a chance of first team football, eased the load on Bolton’s wage bill and provided Wigan with a goalkeeper who wasn’t:

a)    Always injured
b)    Crap

Yes, Chris Kirkland, that’s you we’re talking about.

However, there have been a couple of snags.  After being roundly thrashed by Blackpool and Chelsea, Roberto Martinez’s side were expected to go the same way at Spurs.  Instead they scored an unlikely victory and the big Omani stopper performed heroically to keep a clean sheet for the second time in five days.

Wigan.  Clean sheet.  Same paragraph.  Doesn’t compute does it?

Agent Al-Habsi appears to have misunderstood his instructions.  He was supposed to keep the result respectable, not stop the other lot scoring altogether.

Secondly, events at the Reebok on Sunday, have got some fans in a panic, frantically calling for Bolton’s reserve ‘keeper to be recalled.  Jussi Jaaskelainen will receive a three match ban for violent conduct after giving Roger Johnson what John McGinlay might have described as a ‘wee push’, albeit in a somewhat girly fashion.

Owen Coyle doesn’t agree and has already pledged his faith in Adam Bogdan.

‘I have belief in the lad, that is why we were able to let Ali Al-Habsi out on loan because I knew Adam was competent and ready to go in goal and he showed his qualities in this match,’  he said after Bogdan’s debut at Southampton.  It’s a view that was re-iterated in his Birmingham post-match interview.

Bogdan faces a tough time.  His first league start will be at Arsenal, followed by a visit to Aston Villa, where Bolton have conceded thirteen times in three matches.  Then there’s  a trip to Burnley, which may well be a feisty affair, with the town still mired in bitterness after Owen Coyle’s perceived treachery.  The young Hungarian has the ability to cope, provided nerves don’t kick in.

This is how to slap someone around on a football field

The problem will arise if something happens to Bogdan.  His understudy for those three games will be Rob Lainton, who is well regarded amongst the backroom staff, but completely untested at first team level.

In that eventuality the only option will be to recall Al-Habsi, which can’t happen if his move becomes permanent.  Jaaskelainen’s reaction on Sunday was viewed as a rush of blood to the gloves, but it may well have cost Bolton a sum in the region of £3 million.

So is this.

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What Manny Road has been reading (and thinking) about Bolton Wanderers

• Johan Elmander plays for Sweden (Good to see he’s been playing for someone)
• Football Focus Interview – Kevin Davies (Why can’t Gary Megson be this diplomatic?)
• Youngsters coming through at Bolton
• Calling For Consistency (I love phrases like “Samuel is targeting six points from the next two games”… well I’d be worried if he wasn’t)
• Fanzone Returns For West Ham Clash!
• Lancashire rivals monitor Egyptian
• Deadly Davies targets top-10 spot
• Al Habsi happy with role (what, on the bench?)
• One-club wonders:  Sportsmail’s guide to the top 15 players who only ever kissed a single badge (featuring Nat Lofthouse)
• Matt Taylor Sure That Bolton Wanderers Will Improve
• Fojut Heads Home (Another one bites the dust. I just hope Megson has enough players to fill the bench for the rest of the season)
• MOXEY DEVASTATED BY DAVIES DEPARTURE (that’s Jez Moxey, the Wolves chairman)
• Shittu going nowhere (as much as I think he’s a Championship defender, with Fojut going, wouldn’t Shittu leaving leave us a little short at the back?)
• Kevin Davies retains England hopes
• Safe as houses, on the brink or a goner? Sportsmail predicts the future for the remaining 18 Premier League managers (Not looking good for Megson, according to this)

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• Reebok Round-Up (10.02.09) (mannyroad.com)
• Reebok Round-Up (06.02.09) (mannyroad.com)

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What Manny Road has been reading about Bolton Wanderers over the last week or so

• All quiet on the Anti-Megson Front
• Why are Bolton fans so negative to Gary Megson?
• Taylor backs under-fire boss
• Protests before the Spurs game
• I’m going to throw my season ticket on the pitch if we lose today
• BBC bias towards Bolton
• Diouf transfer to Blackburn triggered by angry dressing-room row at Sunderland
• Bolton boss Megson confident fans are with him
• Bolton defender Puygrenier: Call me Steak
• The career of Mark Davies at Wolves – in pictures
• Davies didn’t fulfil potential – Wolves boss Mick McCarthy
• Youri Djorkaeff Offered Advisory Role At PSG
• Can Mark Davies Really Save Bolton Wanderers from the drop?
• Why Bolton are in serious need of some creative reinforcement

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• Bolton Wanderers Hall of Shame #8: Gary Megson – or is it me? (mannyroad.com)
• So how accurate were all those transfer window rumours? (mannyroad.com)
• Bolton 3-2 Spurs: What the papers say (mannyroad.com)
• Wanderers window shopping dispatch #4: Five questions that need answering (mannyroad.com)

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The ins, the outs and the shaking it all abouts at Bolton Wanderers this January transfer window

Ins
The Guardian estimates that we have £5 million to spend, which is why Joey Barton (thank God), Jimmy Bullard (another person who thinks Phil Brown is a better bet than Gary Megson) and several others (see shaking it all abouts below) will not be donning the white shirt any time soon.

Instead, Megson will be searching the bargain basement bucket for the remainder of this season’s January transfer window, for example…

Swindon Town striker Ian Cox is wanted by Bolton and, er Barnsley and Huddersfield (to be fair Spurs and Fulham are also being linked). Other cheap options could be Grant Leadbitter (Sunderland), Szabolcs Huszt (Hannover) and Mark Davies (Wolves).

A more exciting option might be Sebastien Puygrenier’s Zenit St Petersburg team-mate Pavel Pogrebnyak, who is a striker. Surely he’d be a better option than Darius Vassell, Kevin Doyle or Marlon Harewood, anyway. Or would he?

Outs
Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia has decided he doesn’t want Danny Shittu (must have got round to watching that tape of him playing), but will Sam Allardyce come to the rescue of the increasingly unsettled Shittu?

Other players who might need to leave to make way for others are Ricardo Vaz Te (surely the injury means he’ll be around until the summer), Tamir Cohen (no great loss) and Jlloyd Samuel (a more surprising rumour).

Liberian youngster David Gbemie has been shipped out to the mighty Burscough FC on loan, which I’m guessing means he won’t be making the move to the first time, like, ever. Similarly, Michael Burns has left for Carlisle to team up with a host of other former Wanderers.

Shaking it all abouts
Bolton have apparently sent ‘a delegation’ to Portugal to sign Sporting Lisbon striker midfielder Miguel Veloso for a club record £12 million. Would we have taken on Ariza Makukula’s wages if we were about to break the bank for another striker? I doubt it. Besides, Veloso didn’t seem too convinced by the delegation according to this.

Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards – once a rumoured target for Chelsea – doesn’t seem too happy by a prospective move to the Reebok either.

Another defender who has been linked with Bolton but is now likely to go elsewhere is Hearts’ Christophe Berra, who seems Sunderland bound.

Perhaps Turkish centre-half Gokhan Zan is more likely? But with five centre-halves already on the books – and a move for West Ham’s Calum Davenport already abandoned – surely Megson’s priorities will lie elsewhere, unless he can offload the Shittu. Ditto for Rangers’ Madjid Bougherra.

A midfielder would now seem to be the main priority, but talk of Wolves’ Michael Kightly has gone quiet, Axel Witsel of Standard Liege is surely too expensive at £8 million, it’s game over in the race for Bullard and Olivier Dacourt would rather play in the Italian second division with Parma, it would seem.

What do you think? Have your say below…

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The ins, outs and shaking it all abouts at Bolton Wanderers this January transfer window

Ins
Fans of any clubs managed by Gary Megson will know the ginger one is partial to hairy moments near the bottom, but it looks like he’s now decided to tidy up (Bolton’s uninspiring midfield, not his nether regions thank God) with a Brazilian.

Yes, in a move reminiscent of Rivaldo’s brief flirtation with a move to the Reebok five years ago, Megson has signed World Cup winner Denilson, albeit on a trial basis. Let’s hope Euxton is being treated to a few gems like this…

Perhaps a deal clincher for Denilson could be the prospect of playing alongside, er, Birmingham City’s Cameron Jerome.

A less sensational – but probably more pragmatic in the long term – addition to the Wanderers midfield, could be Wolves’ Michael Kightly.

Fans hoping for a replacement for Andy O’Brien may be disappointed should Calum Davenport arrive from West Ham, judging by this write up of his credentials.

Outs
After the ridiculous speculation about a move to Chelsea, a more realistic destination for Kevin Davies could be Hull City… a move made more likely given that Davies is one of the players rumoured to have upset Megson with his lack of effort recently.

Shaking it all abouts
They’ve been linked with both Ronaldos, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Buffon and now… an £8 million move for Kevin Nolan… yeah right!

Reports of a return to the Reebok for El-Hadji Diouf also appear to have been greatly exaggerated, because if Sunderland really do want to let him go – which they don’t according to this – then Blackburn would appear to be the frontrunners.

And it appears no amount of money will tempt West Brom to sell James Morrison. It appears their manager is a little upset with ours, although that by no means makes him unique.

Seen a Wanderers transfer rumour? Share it in the comment box below.

Have your say on who the Wanderers should sign this January here.

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What Manny Road has been reading (and thinking) about Bolton Wanderers over the weekend

- This open letter from the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Association to Phil Gartside in which they admit that interest in the organisation has waned (perhaps their willingness to jump in to bed with Gartside, a man widely disliked by many Bolton fans – not me incidentally – is part of their problem?).

- The latest transfer rumour linking us with goalkeeper Michael Jakobsen (surely a new keeper is the last thing we need?).

- Still, if we buy every player in January that we’ve been linked with over the last few weeks, we’ll have enough for whole new team… although Wolves’ Michael Kightly doesn’t look like he’ll be a part of it.

- Joey O’Brien fretting over his international future (shouldn’t he worry about getting in the Wanderers team first?).

- Gary Megson revealing that last season’s 4-0 battering at Villa Park was caused by ‘issues issues that I won’t go into, but from that point onwards it was obvious that there were a lot of things around the club that needed to change, which indeed they did during the summer’ (why doesn’t he tell us what these issues were? Surely demonstrating ways in which he has been a strong manager would improve his reputation with the fans. Who’s he trying to protect?).

- Mixu Paatelainen emerging as the latest former Wanderer (and former Bruce Rioch protege) – alongside Phil Brown and Owen Coyle – with the kind of managerial pedigree that might make him a leading candidate for the Bolton job if and when Megson goes (I still think it will happen sooner or later, we’re only three points off the relegation zone after all).

- And finally… the award for the most ridiculous Bolton Wanderers story of the year goes to the Sunday Mirror, who claim Kevin Davies is off to Chelsea in January (he’s good, but he’s not that good).

Have your say in the comment box below…

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What Manny Road was reading (and thinking) about Bolton Wanderers yesterday…

- An England squad that included Wolves (yes, that’s Wolves of the Championship) defender Michael Mancienne, who is on loan from Chelsea because he can’t get a game there (what does Gary Cahill have to do to get a call-up, other than playing consistently well in the Premier League every week?).

- This prediction that, like his predecessors Sam Allardyce and Sammy Lee, Gary Megson’s last game in charge of Bolton could come against Chelsea (roll on December 6th!).

- This addition to the list of Megsonisms from The Bolton News, in which the Wanderers manager claims we ‘gave everything we got’ against Liverpool (if anyone can explain what that means please do so in the comments section below… still, didn’t stop The Bolton News using it as their headline). And yet another ill-judged Megson quote, this time from The People.

- Evidence that the stewading at the Reebok Stadium is just as bad as it was when I was at Upton Park earlier this season.

- Nicky Hunt enjoying himself at Birmingham City.

- More reports linking us with Swansea’s Ferrie Bodde, who scored again at the weekend. We’re also being linked with Deportivo La Coruna midfielder Julian de Guzman.

- And finally… this article suggesting Rob Styles is available for after-dinner speaking (although I can’t actually find the site they’re talking about… incidentally, the Styles out of the Premier League petition still needs your signature).

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Was it a cross or a shot? Who cares…

Gretar Steinsson’s spectacular strike against Stoke City on the opening day of the Premier League season becomes the first entrant in to Manny Road’s Bolton Wanderers Desert Island Goals section, which will celebrate the best Bolton Wanderers goals throughout the season.

He may not have meant it, but frankly who cares. It was the most spectacular goal from a Bolton Wanderers full-back since Jimmy Phillips’ 25-yard screamer against Wolves at Burnden Park, circa 1995 (someone did mention a couple of Henrik Pederson’s goals, but I still struggle to come to terms with the fact he ever played as a full-back).

Let’s hope there’ll be another Desert Island Goal to add to the collection after today’s game against Newcastle.

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Only Chelsea and Manchester United are better than Bolton Wanderers

No, your eyes do not deceive you. Only Manchester United and Chelsea are better than Bolton Wanderers… when it comes to being hated.

It’s official… well, it was in the Daily Mirror anyway. The Wanderers actually finished seventh in the poll, but four of the teams above them – Burnley, Millall, Wolves and England’s most hated club Leeds United – are not in the Premier League, and therefore may as well not exist.

Big Sam Allardyce made Bolton in to a top seven Premier League side by transforming the club from ‘plucky Bolton’ in to ‘big, horrible, nasty, will probably spit in your face (thanks Dioufy) and shag your wife Bolton’. And it’s great to see that that legacy has not been squandered, even if the real world Premier League position has slipped a little.

In the same poll Bury were voted the tenth most-liked club. I know where I’d rather be.

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