Belhadj v Petrov

In the fight to get hold of a cheap winger, Premier League clubs would appear to be fighting over each other to get hold of a victim of the fire sale at Portsmouth, or one of the pre-oil victims at The Council House. So, cor blimey, which one would we prefer?

Now, I’m not going to go over yesterday’s article as if I repeat it bad man may come and say nasty words about me again and make me cwy. Suffice to say, in a nutshell I think Petrov is a quality player just injury prone and too expensive wages wise. We’ve already been down that road and we know what manager we ended up with at the end.

So, Belhadji. While he will cost money he will undoubtedly cost a lot less than the £4.4million that Pompey paid for him. His wages wouldn’t be that much of a problem as, apparently, we can afford Petrov’s £45,000 per week and Belhadji would be on a great deal less than that. He’s pacy, as is Petrov, and has a decent cross, as does Petrov. Apparently he can play left wing or left wing back but the nod is, like Petrov, defence isn’t his thing. On his side is that he is two years younger than the Bulgarian and will have just played in a World Cup, albeit probably getting a spanking and flying home after a fortnight. Against him is that he has a scoring record that makes Mario Jardel’s period at Bolton look like the best of times.

But will he come to Bolton? Well, he may enhance his chances with a good World Cup, but he plays for Algeria so you can pretty much rule that out. No casual xenophobia here. What could make it difficult is Avram Grant’s move to West Ham but as he won’t have any say in signings under the porn barons it is unsure if he will go there. Other clubs in Europe would also be after him and he hasn’t got any need to stay in the UK and of the clubs that are reportedly interested in him, Werder Bremen can offer him Champions League football.

Is he worth it? Of course he is. However, if you take into account his inability to stay at a club longer than two seasons, the fact that larger clubs may be in for him and the fact that he is about to get beamed around the world it would take something special for him to come to Bolton. But isn’t that what our manager is supposed to be?

In precis, I would prefer him to Petrov.

Until tomorrow, it’s nearly time to stock up on the half price Magners.