Waving the White Flag

What a difference a week makes in football. A deserved win against Manchester United that still has those little charmers at Old Trafford snivelling, an abject performance against Aris Salonica and a feeble defeat against Liverpool.

That Bolton didn`t stand a hope of getting anything out Sunday`s game was clear once the team was announced. Midfield consisted of past it Ivan Campo, inappropriately named Gary Speed and Gavin McCan`t, a trio that could create nothing and do it slowly. They posed a dilemma for Liverpool. How could the men in red keep a straight face?

A defence that had started to gel was broken up by injuries and suspensions, leaving an unwelcome return for Jlloyd Samuel. That he started at right back shows how desperate Bolton were. The attack was pretty much irrelevant as it wasn`t often that they had the ball, although Nicolas Anelka will probably be reminded of that miss for the rest of his life, and there may be a reference to it on his tombstone even after that.

Liverpool were soon ahead thanks to some rotten defending and increased their lead due to poor goalkeeping. A clumsy foul led to a penalty for the third although the defending wasn`t bad for the fourth. No, it was non-existent. In truth, the home side could have doubled their tally, but they got bored and started to mess about instead.

Most teams lose at Anfield, but not many roll over the way that Bolton did. The next seven days sees a trip to Belgrade that the club could do without and then a game at home to the Wigan skip rats. Fail to win that and the Wanderers may as well prepare for the fizzy pop league.