I Don't Want to Get Carried Away...

...But what a performance!  Bolton Wanderers really got it right today.  Anyone who has been paying attention knows that scoring is not our problem.  Only Chelsea, Arsenal, and the 2 Manchester clubs have more goals than Bolton.  The five goals was great, yes, but the defense was far more significant going forward.  The difference?  Fabrice Muamba and Nigel Reo-Coker working together as a pair of holding midfielders.  Reo-Coker handled the center of the pitch fairly well, with support from Mark Davies.  Mumba had one job; Protect Paul Robinson.  And he did it with aplomb.

Chris Eagles also seemed to get the message.  For all of his skill going forward, and he was impressive today, Bolton's problem is not scoring goals, it is keeping them out.  Protecting Robinson, who is clearly our weakest least, is critical.  Maybe in a few weeks, when Ricardo Gardner is back from suspension, when Marcos Alonso and San Ricketts are back from injury, this will no longer be an issue.  Robinson will be nowhere near the first team, and Bolton will be climbing up the table.  However, until we get those players back, Muamba would appear to have a very important job to do.

Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City

The team lists are out, and it is Ivan Klasnic partnering Kevin Davies up top.

Johann Elmander returns to central midfield, where he was so impressive last weekend.

Paul Robinson is back, and after two weeks on the sub's bench to avoid suspension, I am sure he will be overly anxious to kick somebody.  Will be a shocker if he doesn't get a yellow card in the opening fifteen minutes.

Stoke's back four looks to be lacking pace, the best way forward might be to get Lee Chung-yong or Martin Petrov in behind.  Stoke have Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant on either side.  I think we will see a lot of diagonal balls early (from both sides) to try to bring the wingers into the game.  That is where both clubs are strongest today.

Kickoff is less than a half hour away.  Wembley is rocking.  It is going to be epic.  Cummon Bolton!!!!!!

FA Cup Semi-finals

Some of you may have noticed that the headline for this post has an -s at the end.  Yes, it is plural.  There are actually two FA Cup matches this weekend.

Now, it is no surprise that the Manchester Derby has received more coverage, it is certainly more of a glamour tie than Stoke v Bolton.  However, I have watched some recent sports news from the UK today, and the first match got all the coverage.

Normally this type of thing doesn't bother me, but this match at Wembley is a big deal for Stoke and Bolton, and to not even get a mention on a 60 minute sports news program seems awfully disrespectful.

Bolton v Stoke City

Many people are blaming the referee for Ivan Klasnic's eventful yet brief appearance on Saturday, particularly his flurry of yellow cards and resulting dismissal.  But I really don't see that the referee did anything wrong.  Klasnic (pictured, left) probably should have been sent off for grabbing a Stoke player by the throat before his first yellow.  He was out of control and has only himself to blame.

But back to the football itself.  This was a great game to watch, open and attacking on both sides.  And Bolton were able to grab all three points at the end following Klasnic's superb finish.  I suspect this may be the Croatian hitman's best role, that of a super sub in the final half hour or so.  In all honesty, I would rather see Kevin Davies make way for Klasnic at about the 70 minute mark, but we are unlikely to see a Johann Elmander and Klasnic partnership anytime soon.

Don't be fooled...

At about this time last year Burnley beat Manchester United. I am just saying, I am sure the Blackpool supporters had a wonderful day out on Saturday, but don't be expecting any miracles.

As for Wigan, expect to see Ali Al-Habsi, an Omani goalkeeper on loan from Bolton, starting in goal sometime very soon. Either way they are going to struggle.

Wolves beat Stoke City by playing a good first half and getting a little luck. It was actually a pretty even match. Given that, I still expect Stoke to finish several spots ahead of Wolves.

West Brom are not going to get beat 6-0 every time out, but I predicted they would go down, and I have seen nothing to make me even reconsider that prediction.

Established in the Top Flight (Sunderland and Stoke City)

These two clubs have a lot of similarities. They both have good managers, they are both coming off solid mid-table finishes, and they have both spent (or are trying to spend) a good deal of money. In fact, Kenwyne Jones just made the switch from Sunderland to Stoke City for £8 million.

Both have solid defenses and a good selection of attacking talent. I doubt Darren Bent will match last season's goal output for Sunderland, but I think he will still be somewhere in the mid to high teens for the season. Stoke don't have one high volume scorer, but whichever two start from Jones, Dave Kitson, Tuncay, Mamady Sidibe, Ricardo Fuller, and James Beattie should reach double digits.

This Sunderland squad is actually pretty close to Steve Bruce's Wigan and Birmingham squads. He always puts a talented group of players together, they always finish pretty comfortably mid-table, analysts always expect them to push on into the top half, and they never do. 11th sounds about right for this club.

Tony Pullis has only been in the Premier League with Stoke City for a few seasons, but he has done a tremendous job bringing them stability. Some even believe they will break into the top ten this season. I am not ready to go that far, in fact I think they may struggle a little bit, especially considering their early season schedule. They start at Wolves, which has draw written all over it. Then they play Spurs and Chelsea back to back, followed by Aston Villa just as they are getting a new manager bump. If they only have one point from their first four matches some supporters might start to panic, but they will recover, so 14th sounds about right for me.

Stoke City v Bolton Wanderers

This one may not be pretty. Stoke seem to be following the Bolton model from the Sam Allardyce era, and they are trying to secure mid-tabe stability for the second season in a row. The Wanderers under Owen Coyle, on the other hand, are still looking pensively over their shoulders. They are 5 points clear of the relegation zone with 4 matches to play. I think most of those around the club are fairly confident of survival, but a result today would go a long way towards fortifying Bolton's position.

Coyle has named an unchanged squad from Tuesday's match against Chelsea, which means we will see a 5 man midfield, with Jack Wilshere the primary support for Kevin Davies. I am skeptical of this Sam Ricketts as a holding midfielder experiment Owen Coyle seems to be trying, but the performance overall was very good against Chelsea, and their is plenty of attacking potential on the bench in Ivan Klasnic, Johann Elmander, and Vladimir Weiss, so let's hope for the best.