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.