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Bolton Wanderers: Loyalty

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SKD apparently didn’t have Jussi’s mobile number.

Morning to you, at least at the time of writing. You find me in a not inconsiderable amount of pain. I played my second game of 5-a-side last night since coming out of a self imposed eight year retirement and have managed to do the back of my leg and my right achilles. This follows on from an ongoing injury to my left achilles, caused by my first run in nine years a couple of months ago. I think I`ll give up on this getting fit lark and go back to drinking.

There is still a paucity of stories around, hence the two days wait between posts. As I`ve said before, we could just regurgitate everything that comes out, but we like to give you some analysis on those stories that matter. Personally, I don`t think that SKD`s views on whether or not England will make it into the semi-finals of the Euros is worth discussing but do think that his now fortnightly views on our relegation are.

A lot happened last season that we couldn`t change but we know we didn`t amass enough points or win enough games and that`s what cost us. We had opportunities but they passed us by, and we seemed to be saying that from a few games in. It was a case of making the same mistakes. But hopefully as players we`ll learn from the experience and put it right for the fans who supported us.

Yes. Well. Tell us something we don`t know. A lot happened last season that they couldn`t change is the favoured mantra coming out of the club, ducking the issues of those things that could have been changed. The mistakes that he speaks of weren`t learned from, and that caused the problems throughout the season. As for whether or not they will learn from the experience, you would hope so, otherwise we will be going through the same experience again. But, if they were aware of the problems of their own making from the beginning of the season, why was nothing do to try and rectify those mistakes. And if the mistakes weren`t learnt from last season when they had so long to do so, how do we have a guarantee that they will be learnt from this season?

Oh, my head hurts. He continues:

I have spoken about loyalty a lot recently and I think with Stuart and Chungy being out injured for so long, they have been our player of the year for two of the last three years and hopefully they`ll want to prove a point. You never know, but I think they`ve both got the sort of personality to come back and knuckle down. You look at Mark Davies, who got a lot of games under his belt last season, and think that he could really turn into a great player. Chungy and Stuart are the same. I just hope they can come back and have a good pre-season.

I think we all feel that LCY, Holden and Mavies will flourish in the Championship, where players of their talent (yes, even Mavies) should be able to take command of games against lesser talents. Naturally, they will all have to hit the ground running, as we saw last year what a poor start can do to players confidence. As for loyalty. I take it he didn`t have a word with Jussi then?



Speaking of loyalty, it appears that a testimonial for Bibi is definitely on the cards, with a legends game being mooted as a preamble to the actual match. Personally, I`d like to see the team of 2001 re appear (with the notable exception of Michael Ricketts, who wouldn`t get a good reception even if he was seen rescuing a small girl and her puppy from the tracks of Horwich Parkway just prior to the game). For one, it would be good to see them all and for two it would show the players who took us down just how you can survive with a modicum of talent and a lot of heart. I dare say that they would all still be able to give a current team a game.

To the tranche of initial games announced by Sky Sports for the Championship season and, with the heated nature of the Burnley/Bolton game sure to get people watching the TV, they have decided to go for Cardiff v Huddersfield and then Leeds v Wolves for their first games of the season before Forest come to T`Reebok in a live game the following Friday. Cardiff/Huddersfield? Leeds/Wolves?

The glamour.

Leeds have also been chosen to be shown again before October is out, whilst there are plenty of teams who haven`t been chosen at all, Burnley themselves for instance. You can see the point in that Leeds are the best supported team in the league, but it is disappointing that a game that sounds like it has everything hasn`t been chosen to be shown. Still, at least that means that those of us who haven`t had our shots don`t have to look at Turf Moor and its, how shall we say, inhabitants. As for whether or not the BBC will show it, I can find no news on whether the Beeb have any rights for live games as they appeared to have pared their Football League coverage down. So, that will be that.

And with the breaking news that the BBC have found out that we are signing Keith Andrews, a fortnight behind everyone else, we will see you again later in the week. Don`t forget, Media Hound AlParklar will be starting next week.

I`ve bought champagne.

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