Sep 2009

Another Win

The new Wanderers seem to be getting a bit of luck into the bargain. Bolton beat Biringham 2-1 away at the weekend. Tamir Cohen opened the scoring early for Wanderers but Kevin Phillips (on as a sub) equalised for Birmingham with 6 minutes to go. Although that appeared to be enough for a share of the points, Matt Taylor crashed a free kick against the post and Chung-Yong Lee was fastest to react and kept a very cool head to score the winner.

Goals are
here.

Sean Davies Out For The Season?

Newspaper reports suggest Sean Davies has had surgery on a knee injury he sustained playing against Liverpool and may not play again this season. Bad luck for him but possibly good luck for commentators.

Salvaging A Win!

Bit of a thriller at the Reebok on Tuesday evening as Bolton beat West Ham 3-1 after extra time in the third round of the Carling Cup. In front of a small but pretty enthusiastic crowd The Wanderers played 4-4-2 and looked much better for it. Gardner played on one wing and Taylor on the other supporting Kevin Davies and Ivan Klasnic, who had a decent game despite missing an absolute sitter in the first half.

West Ham open the scoring in the second half when - and I hate to pick on people but it has to be said - Matt Taylor made a complete hash of clearing a corner and I Lunga was able to tap in at the back post. 5 minutes before time up Kevin Davies headed in an equaliser before Gary Cahill fired in a 20 yarder early in injury time and Johan Elmander, on as a sub, scored from close range after being fed the ball by star of the night Chung-Yong Lee, who looks like he might be quite a player.

To be totally fair, West Ham had some good chances too - Diamanti hit a shot off the bar in injury time when it was 2-1 and they could in fact have been 2-0 up in the first 5 minutes but for a couple of smart saves by Jaaskelainen.

Nevertheless a good win, a good performance (more importantly) and a much more positive atmosphere led to a pretty entertaining night for the 7,000 or so Bolton fans who turned up.

Salvaging A Draw

Another home game at the Reebok this weekend and, frankly, another underwhelming performance. Bolton drew 1-1 with Stoke city. Dave Kitson opened the scoring for Stoke and it took until the 90th minute, when Sam Ricketts was brought down for a penalty, before Bolton grabbed an equaliser. Bolton's first half performance was awful - probably worse than the opening game against Sunderland - and the crowd at the Reebok (which barely managed 20,000 for the game, including the Stoke fans) was loud in expressing it's dissatisfaction. After half time Ricardo Gardner and Ivan Klasknic came on and Bolton were much more energetic but the quality still wasn't there.
Credit though to the Stoke fans, who are the best bunch of away fans in ages I've heard at the Reebok in terms of their support for their team.

Back With A Win

Blimey, seems like a long time since the last game doesn't it? Anyway, the Premier League restarted yesterday and Bolton recorded a win - their first in 11 games I think, if you count the end of last season. However it was against Portsmouth, who were the only team in the division also on zero points. Tamir Cohen scored early for Wanderers with Kaboul equalising on the half hour for the home side. A soft penalty on 40 minutes allowed Matt Taylor to restore the lead against his old side. Former Wanderer Tal Ben Haim brought down Kevin Davies but he did make contact with the ball first. I'm sure referee Chris Foy will say it was a tackle from behind (and it was) and therefore this is irrelevant but it did seem very harsh.
In the second half Boateng brought Portsmouth back into the game but Gary Cahill was able to win a game of head-tennis in the area late on to squeeze the ball past David James. So a fortunate win perhaps, but possibly deserved on a very good first half display by Wanderers, although the second half was much more even.
Bad luck on Pompey but you don't turn down points when they come your way.

Klasnic In

So Ivan Klasnic did arrive but only on a season’s loan. I haven’t heard of an ‘option to buy’ but I assume it’d be open to negotiation. Anyway, he’s a Croatian international striker with a decent record (11 goals in something like 35 appearances) and at least it’ll give us some choice up front and maybe bring some freshness to the team’s tactics.