By Chris Wright

One player sure to be high on everybody's list, Zat Knight that is

A few players have hithered and thithered about since the turn of the year but, after a fairly dormant month on the transfer front and with only 385,589 precious seconds left until the January window SLAMS SHUT is closed carefully and contentiously by the relevant personnel, we impatient fools at Pies reckon it's high time to start making big things happen in our minds.

Highlights of the game. As usual, I will update them when some longer ones are available. UTD111′s NUFC Blog match report Post match interviews Alan Pardew extols the virtue of patience. Trotters gaffer Owen Coyle rues "self inflicted" defeat. Teams, match stats etc Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): Jussi Jaaskelainen (G), Dedryck Boyata, Zat Knight, Gary Cahill, [.

We're not fully one-third through the season, but it's a boring international break—and mostly a meaningless one at that!—so why not open the floor to a good honest debate in our 2012 Third of Season Awards: Readers Poll!

Please post your thoughts in the comments section, and also feel free to make up your own award and recipient.

Team news and manager quotes ahead of Arsenal's Carling Cup fourth-round clash at home to Bolton.

TEAM NEWS:

Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen could make his comeback from a two-month Achilles injury layoff. With one eye on Saturday's derby at Chelsea, manager Arsene Wenger is likely to rest the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Robin van Persie, and give starts to the fringe players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Francis Coquelin, Park Chu-Young and Emmanuel Frimpong.

A trip to a usually hostile Reebok Stadium probably isn't the ideal way to return from and international break, one which United headed into with great momentum, having put 8 past an abysmal Arsenal side and 3 past Spurs.

From the side that did so well last season, Bolton missed Elmander, Sturridge, Steinsson, Holden, Muamba and Lee, bringing in City loanee Boyata as an uncomfortable right back, Klasnic/Tuncay/N'Gog as poor replacements for Elmander and Sturridge, both of whom left Bolton without a penny coming in, and Eagles, Reo Coker and Mark Davies filling in for injured or unfit players in the midfield.

Michael Steele/Getty Images(Bleacher Report)Bolton Wanderers play host to Manchester City in less than 24 hours and with it comes a lot of speculation. Both clubs completed 4-0 beatings of freshly promoted teams last weekend.
Along with that both teams started the year off at the top of the table for the first time in years.

Reo-Coker not putting a foot wrong

The preseason started and ended with a murmur. Just like the 1-0 loss to FC Tampa Bay right at the beginning, Bolton lost 1-0 to Levante UD at the Reebok. An uninteresting game that saw the only goal come from Iborra after he tapped in a Ruben free kick that banged off the crossbar.

Aston Villa are taking 24 players to Hong Kong to compete in the Barclays Asia Trophy and the travelling party are en route right now. As the strength and depth of the squad is a hot topic at the moment, I thought it might be interesting to compare this pre-season tournament squad with the squads from the last couple of seasons.

Jamie Watson beats Marcos Alonso down the flank as Bolton took on Orlando.

In the aftermath of Bolton beating Orlando City 3-1 last night, we've had a quick word with Orlando City forward Jamie Watson. Jamie started the match for the Lions and provided a number of good runs and opportunities to give the Wanderers a challenge.

Yes, out of the 30 photos from training in Orlando, I chose this one.

It's no secret that this hasn't been exactly the most exciting summer for the Bolton Wanderers, and any news is at least vaguely interesting. I mean, I read an interview with the kitman earlier today. I know exactly how many ankle socks they brought to America.

Pre-season training starts today, and I am sure that you, much like me, are overjoyed as this brings us one step closer to the regular season. I imagine that the players and coaching staff are even more excited to get back to it, if only because they can share the wild stories of their summer holidays with the rest of the class.

Pre-season training starts today, and I am sure that you, much like me, are overjoyed as this brings us one step closer to the regular season. I imagine that the players and coaching staff are even more excited to get back to it, if only because they can share the wild stories of their summer holidays with the rest of the class.

Owen Coyle had said that the transfers would come and here's one. Bolton Wanderers first official signing of the 2011 summer transfer season, as reported earlier, is Darren Pratley. The former Swansea midfielder has moved to the Reebok on a free after declining an extension with the newly promoted Swans.

Owen Coyle had said that the transfers would come and here's one. Bolton Wanderers first official signing of the 2011 summer transfer season, as reported earlier, is Darren Pratley. The former Swansea midfielder has moved to the Reebok on a free after declining an extension with the newly promoted Swans.

The Bolton News has come out with info that Zat Knight's good friend Shaun Wright-Phillips wants to come to good old Bolton Wanderers Football Club. With him, SWP would bring a load of questions centering around his cost, ability, and how well he would fit into the team.
It's no secret that Shaun Wright-Phillips' wage demands are, to say the least, high.

This picture is so full of win, we almost can't stand it. Saddos? Pay attention. REAL men feel pain and give hugs. 'Kay? Image: Getty Images/Daylife

Morning team! With a magnificent week of football ahead, it is vital that you are fully conversant with the events in the major European leagues over the weekend.

Danny Sturridge is featured in the Independent in one of the most open interviews he has ever given. When you think of Danny Sturridge you immediately think of him being arrogant because of the image he has been portrayed as in the past. Sturridge is keen to make a point that away from football, he wants to remain as grounded as possible.

What a match! Even from a neutral's perspective, this was an exciting one. While neither team showed much on the defending side of things, the fast paced attacks coming from both ends made it difficult to blink. To me matches like this are better than watching Barcelona completely outclass some poor team.

What was an already thin back line has just been stretched even thinner. With Zat Knight's injury and David Wheater filling in for him, Bolton are back to having no center backs on the bench. Then, on Wednesday against Wigan, the Wanderers lost another.

Blame the pitch at the DW Stadium, the pies, or whatever else you want, the fact is that this is nowhere near our ideal back four.

What was an already thin back line has just been stretched even thinner. With Zat Knight's injury and David Wheater filling in for him, Bolton are back to having no center backs on the bench. Then, on Wednesday against Wigan, the Wanderers lost another.

Blame the pitch at the DW Stadium, the pies, or whatever else you want, the fact is that this is nowhere near our ideal back four.

Wigan away. What an unsavory meat pie of a fixture. This match, no matter when or where, is hardly ever an exciting prospect. Still, to advance to the 5th round of the FA Cup, it has to be played. The home result was a very predictable 0-0 back on January 29 meaning that the trip away was winner-take-all.

This has to be one of my least favourite fixtures of the season. Games against Wigan, especially away, never end well. We put in poor performances and get poor results (well not ALWAYS). But here we are again, playing Wigan for the fourth time this season. Our three previous meeting with Wigan this season have all been unsatisfying draws.

What we thought was the start of a resurgence after the Wolves results was quickly snuffed out by Niko Kranjcar's stunner of a strike to end the Tottenham match. Still, new signing Daniel Sturridge has started like multiple houses on fire with two goals in his first two matches. The young Chelsea lad has provided a creative spark to the offense.

There's no doubt that the addition of Daniel Sturridge has given the team a jolt. He's scored two goals in two games, earning three points with one of them. He's attracted the praise of his new teammates, Taylor saying, "Sturridge has done very well. He gives us something different. He's very confident and wants to get on the ball and play.

The transfer window finally kick started this week Aston Villa made sure it wouldn't be a dull one, but what does the less glamorised move of David Wheater from Boro to Bolton mean for the next 11 days of the market? Having signed for an initial £2.3m, Wheater steps into a defence that is predominantly English, with Zat Knight and Gary Cahill established at Trotters rear, in front of the eternally youthful Jaaskelainen.