As The Chemical Brothers once said, ‘Here We Go’. Six games to save a season. Six games to, possibly, save a club. Six games for a bunch of individuals who, to be fair, have been about as rank as they can possibly be this season with the exception of the few bright results that every team gets at some time in the season. Unless they’re Derby.
Make no mistake, relegation will tear this side apart and while some may say that is a good thing considering who some of the players are, I’d much rather that this team break up in the Premier League than the Championship. Breaking up in the higher division would mean the lesser players would go (of which there are a few). Breaking up in the lower division would prune about four or five players, disregarding those at the end of their contracts.
Swansea have an away record so bad only QPR, Blackburn, Wolves and…err… Bolton can match it. The last team to come to T’Reebok with a bad away record strolled away with three easy points. Brendan Rogers team are a passing team. So are we, if the manager is to be believed. Time to show it.
Vital Quotes:
‘Doomed. We’re all doomed‘. Dad’s Army’s Private Frazer. How did that get in here?
‘It’s up to us to reach our maximum and ensure Bolton Wanderers are a Barclays Premier League club next season.’ St Owen with the all important plug for the league sponsor. That commission better be something special.
‘They’re an exciting team. They love having possession of the ball and they’ve been a tremendous addition to the Barclays Premier League. They performed out of their skin against Blackburn, so there’s no doubt we’re aware of the threats they have.‘ That second, all important, plug for the league sponsor. Younger managers would do well to listen and learn.
‘Owen Coyle has done a brilliant job there and we’ll need to be at our best and fight to get the result we want.’ Myopia strikes Brendan Rogers’ press conference.
‘Owen Coyle isn`t going to find a strike partnership now, but for me, you tell Kevin Davies ‘go on, take the responsibility and lead the team out of trouble. If you are in a scrap, as Bolton are, he`s one you`d want in your corner. The others need to chip in with goals but if you look at the squad, he`s the one I`d say could bail you out of trouble and get you on a run of results.’ Robbie Blake’s (much) younger brother Nathan tells St Owen to stick with SKD. Although I’d much rather have him in front of goal than the corner. He won’t score goals from there.
Bolton Wanderers Team News:
Nothing new from the Newcastle game and two weeks rest and some Dubai sun are sure to do the trick…….. But, out of cloud cuckoo land, still no news on Gregg Wylde’s FIFA clearance as Sepp Blatter uses the paperwork as a cloth to mop up a nasty bourbon spillage after one of Jack Warner’s parties.
Player to watch: SKD
All joking aside, is SKD the man you’d want in your corner? Of the five main strikers he is certainly the man who has come to the fore in recent weeks compared to Klasnic (Can’t be arsed), N’Gog (Banjo. Barn Door), Sordell (Bolton’s answer to Claude Rains) and Tuncay (on his way back to Germany asap). That the club captain loves Bolton and the club cannot be denied. Whether he has the legs for it over the course of ninety minutes is another matter. As a leader he may be the one to drag everyone else along. Everyone else needs to want to be dragged in the first place though.
Swansea City Team News:
Alan Tate has a calf injury and will be out for a fortnight. Other than that, I dunno.
Player to watch: Gylfi Sigurðsson
Fourteen games and seven goals for the latest Icelandic striker to play in the Premier League. Together with Danny Graham’s ten goals, that is seventeen between them this season, a record that compares more than favourably with Bolton’s five strikers. Hit the ground running since his loan move from Hoffenheim and hasn’t really stopped. Swansea may be bobbins away, but they still score goals.
Match Facts & Stats
Bolton and Swansea have already played each other twice this year, the Swans winning at The Liberty over a Darren Pratley uninspired Bolton when they even managed to score our only goal. Some modicum of revenge was found in Bolton’s victory in the fourth round of the cup in January (Pratley scoring against his former club) but Swansea made ten changes to that team. Still. A wins a win.
Overall in the league, this will be the thirtieth meeting between us since the first game at Burnden Park in 1933 but is only the second meeting in any version of the top flight.
Overall, it’s ten apiece in the league, Swansea having scored four more goals in that time. At Burnden/T’Reebok it extends to 7-1 to the home side, Swansea’s sole victory coming in a 4-1 second division victory in 1980.
Bolton’s top scorer in the league is John Byrom with four scored over fourteen months in 1972 and 1973. In the Premier League it is Danny Graham with that own goal back in October.
Let’s make sure that that doesn’t remain the case come 17:00 tomorrow.
Ref Watch:
FA Cup Final referee Phyllis Dowd will be our official for tomorrow. But look out for one of his assistants as it’s only Gray and Keys baiting know nothing Sian Massey.
Match Prediction:
A clean sheet and three points to rise us to the heady heights of…..seventeenth. I’d take that at the end of the season.
Next Fixtures:
Two away games to follow. A chance to pull Villa further towards the basement on Tuesday before a visit to treading water Sunderland next Saturday.