Bolton v. Chelsea OR Oh, It’s You Again
By: Matilda |
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Yes Kevin dear, you are number 1.
Hello again, it seems as though I’ve been posting a lot lately, to match the Trotter’s busy schedule. Chelsea will be paying us a visit this Saturday, a mere 72 hours after we saw them last. And trust me, I haven’t missed them. Here’s a link to the BBC’s preview of the match. They’re not overly optimistic for Bolton’s plight.
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News Round Up
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First, and most importantly, there is some sad news for the Wanderers World. Our dear Jussi is retiring from his international career. His Finnish team failed to make South Africa 2010, and Jaaskelainen announced his retirement earlier today. He was first capped in 1998, and has earned 55 since. Jussi, pure class as ever, came out with this statement:
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Chelsea 4-0 Bolton
By: Matilda | 1 Comment
I haven’t been able to find highlights but I did find a video of all four goals. The emotionally unstable amongst us may not want to watch it as it’s pretty depressing. As my father said the only positive thing to take away from that match is the fact that we can’t do any worse on Saturday. Now I must say I didn’t really expect a win, I don’t think any Wanderer did, but 4-0? Really? We’re better than that.
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Carling Cup Exit
By: Matilda | 1 Comment
I was unable to watch the game today because I had to write a history essay (though the game probably would have been just as painful). I’ve just been reading some reports (as of now no video is out) and things don’t look good do they? Even Gary Megson called us crap and he barely ever does that (even though we quite often are crap). A few preliminary thoughts (I’ll do a better report later):
Are Kevin Davies and Jussi Jaaskelainen two of the four suffering from swine flu? Ali Al Habsi started in goal and was never replaced, unless Jussi picked up something in training that I’m unaware of I can’t really think of another reason why he didn’t start. Super Kev wasn’t even on the bench. Any fool knows how important he is to Bolton. Megson waved away his absence with talk of stitches, but if I know Kevin Davies, he would let a couple (well five to be exact) of facial stitches stop him from playing against such quality of opposition. My guess is that both are/were sick and are saving up their energy for the game against Chelsea that actually matters this weekend.
Are Bolton slipping back into their Jekyll and Hyde skin again? After a fairly consistent October it appears that Bolton have crashed an burned again. Is this a sign that they’ll go back to their on/off playing last season that infuriated me so?
It seems that two of Bolton’s most promising players were left staring at their laces their whole game. Why on earth would the Ginger One leave Lee Chung-Yong and Tamir Cohen, both quality goal makers, on the bench at half time? Are they sick as well or his he resting them? Or is he just mad?
That’s about all I have for now. A lot of questions. In case you couldn’t tell I am feeling downcast about this game. Hopefully the highlights will give me something to smile about when I watch them. Report to come later. Also best of luck to Hilario who is undergoing tests after he was taken off for a concussion caused by a Matt Taylor ball from close range. I hope its not anything too serious.
Category: Team NewsSwine Has Struck
By: Matilda | Add Comments
Reports have come out that 4 players at the club have contracted the dreaded swine. However Megson refuses to reveal who the players in question are. Now of course I’m not worried about them dropping dead or anything, but the swine flu is still the flu, and can be quite debilitating if you want to, say, chase up and down after a ball for 90 minutes. I can only hope that the four players are Adam Bogdan Danny Shittu, Danny Ward, and Ricardo Vaz Te. So a note to all Wanderers: take plenty of vitamins and try to avoid contact with your teammates/anyone in the human race/pigs. Also try to infect a few Chelsea players tomorrow night, so they’re sick for the game on Saturday! To our mystery four: get better soon, loves!
Category: Team NewsBolton 3-2 Everton
By: Matilda | Add Comments
So far I haven’t been able to find full highlights unfortunately, though I have found a video of all the goals (you’ll have to watch an advert about toothbrushes, but it’s worth it). I will admit, I did not see the match, nor have I been able to watch full highlights (I was playing rugby), so this report will be a bit of an amalgamation of tidbits I stole form other reports.
First things first though, it was (as I’m sure you’ve heard) Megson’s 2nd anniversary at our fine football club. And I think he proved his point. A month ago most Bolton fans (including myself at one point) were calling for Megson’s head. We couldn’t take the depressing, negative football anymore. It was becoming a truly sad thing to watch a game. Football is, despite its grandeur, merely a game played for entertainment, and Bolton weren’t entertaining. However, the Wanderers hit a turning point (I pinpoint it at the Tottenham game, though obviously it’s not a definite point). They started playing well and I was as surprised as anyone. So just after his second anniversary, I will once again endorse Megson. He’s made some terrific signings (see Matt Taylor, Gary Cahill, Tamir Cohen, Lee Chung-Yong) While, for a very long time, Bolton didn’t look good under him, things are definitely looking up. I’m not sure whether this is just a momentary rise in form in response to the major criticism of fans (expressed by their boos and absence at games), but hopefully this is here to stay. And if it is, so is Megson. I will try and write a longer post about why exactly I think we should keep Megson, but don’t expect it too soon.
Onto the actual game. From what I’ve seen and heard it was a pretty good and pretty even game. Everton did not look very good in the first half at all, however I’m sure David Moyes (who I have a great deal of respect for) gave the players a stern talking to at the half. It seems that Everton are unlucky to come away with nothing and deserved at least a point. If this is the case, then I do feel bad for them. I want every Lancs team (Liverpool is in the old Lancashire lines) to do well. Everton were at a disadvantage not only because they were coming off a comprehensive beating by Benefica, but also because they have an incredibly long injury list (I believe its up to 11 now). Today they have to play Tottenham in the Carling Cup which makes 3 games in 5 days. As a fellow blogger Adam pointed out (his blog is highly recommended by the way) a Big Four team would not have such a congestion of fixtures, as surely (insert name of Big Four manager here, especially Sir Alex) would pitch a fit and the FA would come groveling, begging his forgiveness.
All five of the goals looked. Louis Saha’s run before his goal was a bit Ronaldo-esque, and his strike was pure skill. Gary Cahill once again proved his usefulness in the air, getting high to nod in a Matty Taylor freekick. However my dear Gary was also the one who failed to mark Saha, leading to the goal. This is the one large mistake I’ve seen him commit this season, but, as Rio Ferdinand is so nicely proving to us, even the best make mistakes (in Rio’s case many, many mistakes).
Overall it was another encouraging performance, despite the fact that we remain the only team in the Premiership who haven’t maintained a clean sheet this season (I believe we’ve had 3 clean sheets in the past 20 games, a pathetic statistic). Once again (I think I say this every post) our back four needs to get their shit together and start functioning as a unit. This should be Megson’s first priority, we’ve worked out our attacking issues but defense is just as important and ours’ has some large issues to work out.
That’s all for now, but I will be back in the near future with many Chelsea related posts. Also I’ll be writing for the England World Cup Blog (which is affiliated with The Offside) in the very near future so be sure to drop by and check it out!
Category: Team NewsCarling Cup: Trip to Stamford Bridge
By: Matilda | Add Comments
A mere three days after our match against the Toffees, our lovely Wanderers will be wandering their way down to Stamford Bridge. I;m not particularly relishing the prospect as the Carling Cup is the only silverware we even have a slight chance of winning, since most clubs treat it like a joke. I really don’t want to go out to Chelsea. However it should prove good practice for our next match against them which is only three days after our first match with them. I’ll, time permitting, do a preview for both, however the second one will probably be a lot shorter.
So, of course, here’s the link to the lengthy, semi-meaningless statistics provided by the lovely BBC. They did, however, fail to include a very encouraging statistic. 11 out of Bolton’s 14 league goals have been off set pieces, and 9 out of Chelsea’s 11 conceded goals this season have been off set pieces. Chelsea’s defense has been pretty poor this season, a great quote from The Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast says it all:
“They’ve changed to a rubbish defense system, where Carvalho doesn’t mark anyone, Cech runs out and flaps and John Terry kicks things.”
Bolton have also seen a rise from their intolerable form at the beginning of the season, to attacking, flowing football which everyone lauds so highly (of course they don’t laud Bolton. No one lauds Bolton.) Matty Taylor’s free kicks have been spot on with a variety of Trotters kindly directing them into the net. Sam Ricketts who I so recently criticized rather harshly performed wonderfully in the Everton game, wreaking havoc along the right flank (he probably read it and felt the need to prove me wrong, you know how spiteful the Welsh are.*)
While Chelsea will have been bolstered by their 5-0 demolition of Blackburn, it shouldn’t be forgotten that they recently lost to Aston Villa and Wigan. We should also keep in mind that Chelsea are in 4 competitions, of which the Carling Cup is the least important. I would be rather surprised if they fielded a full strength side, after all they need their top players to store up energy for the big clash against… well us again this weekend.
Overall I definitely think Bolton have a shot of at least taking it into extra time. If we’re going to beat them at all it will probably be on Wednesday and not Saturday. I just really hope we make Chelsea look a little foolish, as my English teacher is a Chelsea fan and it would be amazing to make fun of him a bit. Keep an eye out for the multitude of posts I’ll be doing soon (Everton report, 1st Chelsea game report, 2nd Chelsea game preview, it never ends does it?) Til then my dears!
*DISCLAIMER: The Welsh are a lovely people and in no way spiteful. It was a joke.
Category: Team NewsVerdict on Meriem
By: Matilda | 1 Comment
Megson should be making a decision on the wonderfully named Camel Meriem soon. Meriem (or should I call him Camel?) arrived earlier this week (apparently in a “neat and tidy” condition) and the Ginger One said that he would decide near the end of the week what to do. Although I haven’t been able to do much research on Meriem I do know he’s 29, a Frenchman, and his first name’s is Camel. I will look around more later. He’s an attacking midfielder, and Megson is after him to replace Sean Davis, who unfortunately just underwent knee surgery. Quite honestly I hope we take him on, if only because I’m sure he will spark a bounty of amazing songs. I will write a little update post when Megson announces his decision, and I’ll try and find a few highlights videos if possible.
Bolton v. Everton
By: Matilda | 2 Comments
So yes I realise I’ve been a horrible horrible blogger recently. And I apologise profusely for letting you down. I play for a rugby club in my spare time, which does not leave much time for the lengthy research and writing that this blog requires, but don’t dismay! My rugby season will probably be over after this weekend (I can almost hear your sighs of relief, it’s touching), so I’ll be posting much more regularly. I’m not sure when/if I’ll get the chance to do a report (I’m going to the women’s national tournament in Boston, wish us luck!), so let’s hope this is a brilliant preview to make up for it! Now on to football.
This weekend provides us with 3 more northwest derbies (there are 7 northwest teams in the Prem). Everton are making the daunting (and I say that with my tongue firmly implanted in my cheek) 40 mile trip to the Reebok. This is a bit of a clash of the has-beens (and I hope Everton fans will forgive me for saying that). Both Bolton and Everton used to be amongst the most respected teams in the league, granted Everton much more recently than Bolton, and both had a horrifying start to the season. However both have also picked up their broken form and mended it a bit, though Everton more so than Bolton. Everton’s last six league result have been DDWWWL, while Bolton have LDWDWL.
Bolton have a nightmare run of fixtures this October (Tottenham, Manchest United, Everton, Chelsea twice, Aston Villa), and Everton at home just may be a golden chance to pick up points. Everton’s last game against newly promoted Wolves was not an overly inspiring performance, although it picked up quite a bit in the second half. Despite the Toffees lack of convincing attacks, if you’ve watched Bolton at all this season (and yes I am among the unfortunate few who have), you know Bolton have one of the least convincing back four in the league. Though it looks fairly good on paper (Jlloyd Samuel, Gary Cahill, Zat Knight, and Sam Ricketts) it is absolutely horrorshow on the pitch. They don’t mark the man, and if they are there’s three of them on one player leaving the goal completely open. Granted half of them (Knight and Ricketts) have only been with Bolton for 10 games, but still you would think that they could learn to play together in that time period. You’d be wrong.
On a similar note, can anyone see any reason at all to start Ricketts ahead of Gretar Steinsson? Steinsson was one of the most reliable players last season, had a great work rate, and made a lot of chances with his lovely long balls. Ricketts has been wholly unconvincing to me, making at least 2 or 3 mistakes that even I couldn’t make every game (and trust me when I say I am complete rubbish at football. Probably worse than ‘Arry’s missus).
This is definitely one of those games that could go either way. And by either way I mean Bolton will either lose or draw. I very much doubt that Bolton will come away with the three points we very much need, however it’s pretty possible we could sneak a draw out.
UPDATE: Here the link to the BBC I promised. Be sure to pop on over for a collection of semi-pertinent statistics.
Category: PreviewsNaughty Naughty Chris!
By: Matilda | Add Comments
Chris Evans, Megson’s assistant manager, has been accused of tapping up Mark Connolly. The 17-year-old Irishman (or Irishboy) was in the Wolves academy (which Evans ran for 17 years before joining Megson in 2007) and signed for the Trotters on deadline day for £1m. Wolves have now issued a statement claiming that “unapproved communication” happened. Bolton acknowledged the claims made by Wolves, but had no comment. The FA has not taken any action yet on the matter. Personally I haven’t been able to find an article on the matter other than the bare bones BBC article, so I don’t really have an informed opinion, but the silence on Bolton’s part does seem rather condemning doesn’t it?
UPDATE: OK with a minimal amount of looking I have found other articles on the event (I was just being lazy before) but they didn’t really provide me with any new information. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see
Category: Team News
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