It`s Time for Harsanyi

The boos are back. Firstly for the substitution of Danny Guthrie and then at the end of a match which was so poor that Bolton Wanderers face prosecution under the Trades Description Act for advertising it as a game of Premier League football.

The goalless draw against fellow strugglers, Fulham was dispiriting but that`s nothing new at the Reebok. Games against Middlesbrough and Watford last season were just as bad, and in the previous campaign a nil-nil draw with Blackburn left supporters watching in slack-jawed horror at its sheer awfulness.

The difference this time, is that Bolton are emerging as favourites for that third relegation spot. If Gary Megson persists with the same personnel and formation then the club are dead in the water. So where to from here?

Anelka was always going to leave, and a side that had come to rely on his goals was always going to struggle, yet accusations that the club should have lined up a replacement are unrealistic. That would have meant speaking to players outside of the transfer window and risk charges of tapping up. One hopes that Megson had a list of players that he was interested in, but it`s a foolhardy club who makes its targets known. Add to that, it`s a sellers market, with ludicrous prices being asked for mediocre or unproven performers.

There is always plenty of last minute activity in the transfer window, so there is still hope, but realism suggests that the Whites won`t be recruiting anyone capable of notching up a significant goal tally. That leaves the notion that someone already in place can step up to the plate. Heidar Helguson only resumed training a fortnight ago after a long term injury and won`t be match sharp for months. The same goes for Ricardo Vaz Te. Temitope Obadeyi has been prolific for the England under-nineteens, but at his current stage of development he`d get eaten alive by Premier League defenders. There is one other player, who has been quietly going about his business, more or less unnoticed, who might do a job. That man is Zoltan Harsanyi.

The twenty-year old Slovakian arrived on trial at Bolton in January 2007 and was signed to a three-year deal in the summer. He`s big and strong and won`t be bullied by defenders, and whilst not startlingly quick, he`s not snail pace slow either. However, the thing that marks him out as a potential goal-threat is his movement off the ball. It`s a quality that all goal-scorers have, the ability to find space and exploit it, either to score or create opportunities for others to do so. For a side like Bolton, who are desperately poor at getting behind opposition defences he could make a crucial difference. Harsanyi hasn`t scored that many at reserve level, but that`s only because of a lack of service. On occasions when he`s been presented with a chance it`s been taken.

Let`s not raise expectations too much here. The claim is not that he`s a ready made replacement for Anelka (who is?) The idea is that the Whites dispense with using Kevin Davies as a lone front-man and play someone alongside him who can take advantage of his knockdowns. That would mean reverting to a 4-4-2 formation, but as the present one won`t keep Bolton in the Premier League, what`s to lose. It`s time for Megson to take a chance. It`s time for Harsanyi.