USA 1 Argentina 1

I didn't watch this whole match, only about 60% of it.  And it is only a friendly, which the US probably took far more seriously than their South American opponents.  But I thought the Americans were impressive.  They spent a lot of time defending, however they did a good job of it, their positioning was solid, some of the young players looked very capable, and whenever the US did put together an attack, there was really a sense of a legitimate threat.

Stuart Holden will be missed on both sides of the Atlantic, but the US actually looks better equipped than Bolton to cope in his absense.

Stuart Holden

The American midfielder has been Bolton's player of the season without a doubt, but now he is out for six months.  Just a terrible blow for the club as well as the player, who has had bad luck time and again in his young career.

I just hope that Holden can come back as good, or even better, than he has been this season.  At 25, he should be just entering the peak of his footballing powers.  The worst part is that it looks like he will miss the start of next season as well.  He his having surgery today, hopefully we will know more after that.  Just gutted with this news.

Manchester United 1 Bolton Wanderers 0

I hate Manchester United.  I usually don't traffic in that sort of emotion.  Honestly, I don't get into rivalries all that much.  I usually think it is just another team that we have to beat, but over the past 2 seasons I have really grown to hate Manchester United.  The smugness.  The sense of entitlement.  The xenophobia.  The blatant intimidation.  And worst of all, the lack of talent or ability.

When I see Alex Ferguson pointing at his watch and basically saying, "You cannot blow the whistle until my team wins," I just want to vomit.  And then, the worst part, THE INTIMIDATION WORKS!  The referees in England listen to him.  Inexplicably, illogically, the referees listen to him.

I am trying to articulate why I hate them, but who cares.  I just do.

I hate Manchester United.

FA Cup Quarterfinals

Wanders are going to Wembley for the first time since 2000!  I was attending Uni in Bolton at that time, living in Orlando Village at Thynne Street, right across the way from the Cattle Market and just down the road from a chicken slaughterhouse.

We lost to Aston Villa in the semi-final that year, but times have changed.  I know several Bolton fans would like to see us face Manchester United if we get to the final, in a replay of 1958.

I am just glad to see the club progressing.  In less than two years Owen Coyle has completely transformed Bolton Wanderers from a drab, unmotivated group under Gary Megson to an exciting, hard-working, high-scoring barrel of fun.

My hope is that the additional cup matches, plus the fact that we have already reached the magical 40 point mark in the league, will allow some of the fringe players an opportunity to show us what they've got.

Luis Suarez

It's the 40th minute of Liverpool v Manchester United, and the home side has just gone up 2-0.  Both goals have been scored by Dirk Kuyt, but both have been set up by Suarez.

The Suarez signing was widely mocked in England, with most pundits making a joke about him being a good goalkeeper (because of the handball on the goal line at the World Cup), then a reference to Afonso Alves (a South American striker who scored a lot of goals in Holland, the flopped in England), but really not knowing anything about Suarez himself.  If they had watched any of Uruguay's matches prior to the Quarterfinal against Ghana, they would know that Suarez was outstanding in every facet of the game.  He and Diego Forlan were the best strike-partnership at the World Cup.

I think Suarez will have one and a half or two fantastic seasons for Liverpool, and then, much like Fernando Torres, move on to a bigger club.

Bolton Wanderers 3 Aston Villa 2

What a match!  Another outstanding end-to-end affair at the Reebok.  Bolton didn't play as well as they are capable, in fact, Aston Villa will feel rather hard done by after this one, but you have to take advantage when you are on top.  That means finishing the chances you create.

In Ivan Klasnic and Daniel Sturridge the Wanderers have two top class finishers.  And Gary Cahill is not too shabby either.  Remember, in roughly 25 matches last season, before his shoulder problem, he scored seven goals.

Overall, there were some defensive blunders, and the finishing by Villa was not great, but both sides played very well in attack.  More importantly, this win puts Bolton on 40 points for the season, with nine matches to go.  I think mid-table was always the goal, and we should be able to push on after this, well clear of the relegation battle.  It is probably a little early for a return to European competition, and I think we will fall short of that, but an eighth place finish in Coyle's first full season, with a good portion of the squad (Wheater, Lee, Holden, Muamba, Davies, Alonso, Cahill) under 25, bodes very well for the future.

Newcastle United v Bolton Wanderers

It is a miracle of biblical proportions that this match finished 1-1.  Anyone who watched the action for any extended period of time would have expected a 5-5 goal-fest.  Johann Elmander was on the right wing again, a decision many people are questioning, but he ended up getting a Newcastle player sent off and actually had a pretty good match overall.

Once again though, all eyes were drawn to Daniel Sturridge.  This kid is an absolute beast.  Four goals in four for Bolton, and he does everything well.  Incredible skill on the ball, power, a good shot with both feet, creates chances for his teammates, and whenever he gets the ball I feel like the entire stadium comes to their feet, almost in expectation that something spectacular is going to happen.

FA Cup Fifth Round

Bolton Wanderers are traveling down to London to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.  And there had better be a winner, because neither of these clubs can afford a replay.

Bolton are quite shorthanded at the back for this one.  It is not just how many you lose that hurts you, but who you lose.  Sam Ricketts is Owen Coyle's most versatile defender, he can play anywhere along the back 4.  So when there have been injuries in defense, Ricketts has often been the man to pick up the slack.  But this time it is Ricketts who is hurt.  And that leaves Bolton without a recognized right back for tomorrow's match.

Champions League Star Peter Crouch?

The goal was really made by Aaron Lennon, and his run was so good that even he couldn't screw up the cross.  AC Milan really did not look a threat.  Zlatan Ibrahimovic created a few chances late, but for most of the match you would have thought Tottenham were the home team.

In my humble opinion, AC Milan are a spent force, and their current position perched atop Serie A only speaks further to the steep decline in the quality of that league.  It's hard to see anything but a fairly easy home win for Spurs in the second leg of this tie.

As for Tuesday's other match, Schalke have an away goal and Valencia are not known for traveling well, especially to Germany.  It's hard to see anything other than the German side advancing to the last 8.

David Wheater

I thought this deal was a bargain at twice the price for Bolton (I admit I was not alone), and approximately two appearances into his Wanderers career, it appears I was right.  Two games for Wheater, two clean sheets for Bolton.

To be fair, that is probably oversimplifying things.  He may be a more complementary partner though, for Zat Knight or Gary Cahill.  Cahill and Knight are both so big, it somewhat limits their mobility.  Don't get me wrong they both have good pace, and move pretty well for their size, but Wheater may be just a bit quicker.  I have yet to see any results from the scan on Zat Knight's knee, but I am hopeful that he will only miss a week or two.  Wheater is certainly an excellent replacement, but I will be happy when we have three healthy, classy central defenders on the roster.

The situation in defense aside, it was a fine performance against Everton, and hopefully it will herald a return to form for Bolton.

The Right Wing

Daniel Sturridge is a monster, he really has to start for Bolton Wanderers.  As I wrote in my last post, Owen Coye is not dropping Kevin Davies.  That is the pairing up top.  Against Tottenham, Johann Elmander started on the right side of midfield.  He worked hard, and he is certainly skillful, but this left us with no pace on the right wing.  And the fact that Matty Taylor and Paul Robinson were the combination on the left side meant we had no pace on either wing.  We are just not going to win many matches that way.

If it were up to me, Rodrigo Moreno and Lee Chung-yong would be the starting wingers.  It seems more likely that Lee and Martin Petrov will be Coyle's preferred pairing.

I am very interested in seeing the starting XI when Bolton play Everton on Sunday.  The more pace in the team, the better.

The Boys a bit special...

Daniel Sturridge debuted with a goal, giving Bolton a deserved win over Wolves at The Reebok.

What will be interesting to see is the starting XI for this weekend's away match against Tottenham.  A lot of Bolton supporters are calling on Owen Coyle to play Sturridge from the start.  The funny thing is they are split almost down the middle on who to drop to the bench from the current forwards, Johann Elmander or Kevin Davies.

The truth is that Coyle, much like Gary Megson, Sammy Lee, and Sam Allardye before him, will never drop Kevin Davies of his own accord.  That means the only way Sturridge starts is if Elmander drops to the bench.  Elmander has 10 goals this season, but has not been scoring a lot recently.

An Absolute Tonking

And to be honest, we were due.  We have an inconsistent goalkeeper, subpar fullbacks, a swashbuckling style, and a manager who has no qualms throwing on 4 forwards when we are behind in the second half.  It was inevitable that at some point we were going to concede 4 or 5.

I don't think there is a need to panic.  We are in a poor run of form right now, but the Chelsea match Monday was not as bad as the scoreline would indicate.  The loss away to Stoke is the only game this month where you could say Wanderers played terribly.

I think fitness issues and some injuries have contributed as well.  I would not be surprised if we beat Wigan in the FA Cup on Saturday and that starts a good run of form for us.  I still think we will end up mid-table.  And one of the hallmarks of a mid-table team is inconsistency.  So all the supporters who are freaking out just need to relax, drink a beer, and shut their pie-holes.

Transfer Speculation

Bolton have been linked with a few players over the past month or so.  There are really only two types of transfers in January; The Foregone Conclusion and The Complete Shock.

The Complete Shock is what happened to Sunderland last week, when Darren Bent suddenly and unexpectedly announced he was moving to Aston Villa.  Nobody had a clue it was happening until it was done.

I'm Back.

Good day loyal readers and Wanderers supporters.  I have spent the past couple weeks happily wandering the hills of Spain and Morocco, but now I am back, and ready to talk some football.  Bolton play Chelsea in a couple days, and that will no doubt be an interesting match;  However, I would like to spend today's posts addressing transfer speculation.  And believe me, about 95% of it is unfounded, unrealistic, unlikely to ever even be discussed, speculation.

First the confirmed signings;  Andy O'Brien went to Leeds.  I liked him, he was what they call an "honest" player, but he was barely up to premier league quality at his best, and he is well past that now.  I wish him luck.

Tope Obadeyi's loan deal with Shrewsbury Town expired.  He is back with Bolton after making nine starts for town and impressing no one.  He is still only 21, but he won't feature for the first team, and probably will be let go this coming summer.  We have had a few of these over the past few years, winger/forward types with a lot of pace and little else.  None of them have worked out.  It does not appear Tope will be the first.