Gudni v Knife. Knife loses, goes crying to its mummy. Plus Robbo at Leeds.
Afternoon all. Another lunchtime effort, shunted in between all this working malarkey. I swear, as soon as that book deal comes through I’m getting the hell out of here.
Mrs X had better finish it soon.
A strange twenty four hours in the life of the Bolton Wanderers fan. It isn’t every day where your former captain, currently a lawyer, takes down a knife wielding assailant in the middle of Reykjavik and gets stabbed in the leg twice for his trouble. And yet, as I’m sure you’ll be aware, that is exactly what happened to Gudni Bergsson on Monday, proving that he could probably still do a job in our back four.
The whole thing isn’t really a laughing matter and could have turned out to be a great deal more serious than it turned out. Gudni was released from hospital quite quickly, his colleague, who was the initial target, is recuperating and the offender has been taken into custody. A knife has been recovered, bent out of shape no doubt during the attempt to get through Gudni’s leg.
I could go on about how the team needs the same sort of commitment that Gudni showed on Monday but I have decreed this a ‘non get at Pratley’ day. There will doubtless be plenty more opportunities to do just that between now and May 13th. Or not, hopefully.
About the same time as we published yesterday, Paul Robinson finally signed on loan for Leeds United and their love him or hate him (but usually hate him) manager Neil Warnock. Robbo was immediately made to feel at home by being stuck on the bench for the Yorkshire derby at Hull City. Bolton have a good record for sending unwanted defenders to Leeds, a sort of graveyard place where you never come back from. Both AOB and Michalik ended up there and never came back and there is the feeling that the same will happen to Robbo.
At the time of the loan, OC said:
‘The move keeps him match sharp and Leeds will benefit from his considerable top-flight experience‘
and, no doubt, his ability to blame a linesman for everything from forty yards. Mad Man Warnock added:
‘I’ve been looking to see if I can get one or two leaders in.’
He then shouted something about tractors before kicking numerous water bottles around the room, then taking his pet Unicorn for a walk. I’ll bet.
At the end of the day it’s a good move for Robbo, but an even better one for us as it means we won’t have to worry about him coming off the bench for a month. And there is the feeling/hope that the move will be made permanent at the end of the season with Warnock saying that the loan deal gave them a chance to look at him for next season.
Warnock obviously believing that promotion is out.
Elsewhere, the predicament at Glasgow Rangers means that Gregg Wylde has become available after leaving the Scottish club yesterday. As a free agent he can go where he wants, but I’m not sure if he would be available to sign, having already been registered by Rangers before the Scottish transfer window closed. If he is then he may be worth a punt as he appears to be quick and skillful, but we said the same thing about a number of players who have turned out to be anything but. Plus, with taking a free from Rangers, his wages may have to be bumped up. OC is an admirer, but whether that is a reflection on a players ability has not yet been proved or disproved and disproved is currently ahead on points.
One player that he may have got right is Marcos Alonso, who played the full ninety minutes for the reserves against Citeh reserves last night. Our condolences go to him and his family on the death of his grandfather, the original Marcos Alonso.
The reserves lost 3-1, not a bad score considering Carlos Tevez was playing for Citeh, which gave us the not inconsiderable mismatch of the captains. For Citeh, Carlos Tevez. For Bolton, serial underachiever and Nando’s spokesman, Tope Obadeyi.
Right, that’s made me hungry. I’m off for a Coke and a smile. See you tomorrow.