One Game, Three Points..

Or back to back wins, if you want to look at it like that. Bolton beat west Ham 2-1 away yesterday with Kevin Davies scoring after 10 minutes with a powerful header and then Jack Wilshere scoring his first goal for Bolton (and maybe his first league goal, not sure) after good work from Davies allowed Tamir Cohen to set him up for a volley. Cohen was later sent off for two yellow cards, the second of which was a silly booking and you’d think Owen Coyle would have made sure he knew it. That allowed West Ham back into the game. Diamanti scored a fine goal for them with two minutes left and both sides hit the woodwork in injury time. Overall though a good performance from the Wanderers and signs of progress continue under Owen Coyle. Bolton are now 13th, five points clear of the relegation zone.

the goals are
here.

Two games, three points..

OK, I was rather busy in the week and couldn’t get an update ready, so I’m catching up.

On Wednesday night Bolton played at Spurs in the FA Cup replay and were soundly beaten 4-0 with two goals being scored by Pavyluchenko and scoring two own goals themselves. Not a good night at the office. Yesterday however league football resumed and Bolton had a better result beating Wolverhampton 1-0 with Zat Knight scoring his first goal for Wanderers, scoring from close in after great work by Lee. The result pulled Bolton out of the bottom 3, in fact all the way up to 15th, although they are still only two points above the relegation zone.

Blackburn Blizzard Baffles Bolton

Wintry conditions today as Bolton took on Blackburn Rovers in a midday kickoff at Ewood Park. Bolton did not play well even taking the conditions into account and Rovers came out comfortable 3-0 winners with goals from Kalinic, Roberts and Givet. Bolton created a couple of decent chances but now haven’t scored for four leagues games. They next play against Spurs in the cup replay at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night.

More Bore Draw

Another 0-0 last night, Away against Wigan. Pretty much the only thing worth commenting on about the game was the terrible state of the DW Stadium’s pitch. It didn’t help the game at all given both teams have the current ethos of playing the ball on the floor. Still, it seems to me you have to give Bolton some credit in that they have managed to keep another clean sheet; they didn’t do that for 19 games this season until the management changeover but they do seem to be able to do it with regularity now. I suppose now they’ve just got to get the other end of the pitch figured out...

Long Ball Bolton?

Bolton played a superb cup tie against Spurs this afternoon at The Reebok. Wanderers played much better football than they have been in the habit of - Owen Coyle’s influence already maybe - and had the majority of play in the first half. They created several chances and scored a wonderful goal, a long passing move leading to Elmander playing a 1-2 with Lee and crossing for Davies to score.
In the second half Spurs were dominant, and Bolton rode their luck. Spurs hit the bar twice before Defoe equalised and Jaaskelainen saved a penalty from Huddlestone after Ricketts handballed in the area. But overall, I’d say a draw was a pretty fair result.
The replay is due to be a week on Wednesday (Feb 24th), which means the game against Blackburn which was moved to Monday 22nd (presumably for ESPN) will now likely be moved back to Saturday 20th.
Fulham will host whoever wins in the quarter finals.


The goal and penalty save can be seen
here.

Defeat at City

Bolton lost 2-0 away at The City Of Manchester Stadium last night. A first half penalty scored by Tevez and a second half volley by Adebayor were the goals but the game was actually a story of two young player’s debuts - Jack Wilshere played well for Bolton but Adam Johnson, signed from Middlesbrough for £7 million took the Man of the Match award for his performance on the wing for City.

Despite the defeat Bolton played well enough and made several chances, as well as having two decent calls for penalties of their own. I don’t think anyone expected Bolton to get much out of the two games agains Arsenal and this game but once the cup game against Spurs is out of the way, the Wanderers have a string of games in which they might expect to pick up points. However the most immediate problem is finding a solution for the loss of Cahill. With Andy O’Brien also not available, Bolton played last night with three full backs in defence - Gretar Steinsson and Paul Robinson in their traditional roles, while Sam Ricketts deputised in the middle.

Cahill Out For The Season?

It has emerged that the reason Gary Cahill missed the game with Fulham at the weekend was that he was victim to a serious blood clot in his arm on Friday, which led to him being hospitalised. This is a condition which is generally treated with medication rather than surgery but has a rather long recovery time. It is possible Cahill may not be fit to play again this season. There could not be worse news for Wanderers as Cahill is not only Bolton’s best defender, he is also currently the club’s leading goalscorer...

Bore Draw

Bolton drew 0-0 at the Reebok on Saturday against Fulham. It was quite surprising to see Fulham (who admittedly were short on strikers) come and effectively play for a 0-0. They didn’t actually manage a shot on target in the whole 90 minutes. Mind you, if they came for a 0-0 they succeeded. They shouldn’t have though - in the last 10 minutes Johan Elmander missed a gilt edged chance and Kevin Davies put the ball in the net, only to see his header ruled out for an offence that only referee Mark Clattenburg saw. And even after many TV replays and analysis by several sets of commentators and pundits, still nobody other than Mark Clattenburg has seen.



Loss At Liverpool

Bolton lost 2-0 away at Liverpool yesterday, a somewhat unlucky result as it happens. Both Liverpool’s goals took deflections which left Jaaskelainen unable to save them, the second of such degree that it’s been recorded as a kevin Davies own goal. Highlight for Bolton fans was probably Lee’s run from the half way line into the penalty area, however his shot was blocked on the line. After a pretty awful set of fixtures in January, Bolton have a much more reasonable February. A chance for Owen Coyle to show if he’s made the right decision and I suppose for Bolton to see if they have too...

Wilshire Arrives On Loan

Bolton have signed Jack Wilshire on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season. While still only 17, Wilshire is regarded as one of the most promising young midfielders in the country and, given Arsenal will have loaned him on the expectation he will gain significant Premiership experience, we are likely to get to see if the hype is justified. Between Wilshire and Weiss, Bolton suddenly have a pool of significant young talent available.

Given Owen Coyle was negotiating for the loan of Wilshire while he was at Burnley and Bolton have now ‘stolen’ the deal out from under them, it seems likely this will be another reason for Burnley fans to get upset.