Bolton Wanderers - A fan's view
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Good, bad or just the same old, same old. |  |
Thursday, 24, May 2007 06:03
Good, bad or just the same old, same old. What the fans made of the 2006/07 season.
On the surface of it, this season looks like another strong showing. Even after taking just three points from our last six games we still qualified for the Uefa Cup. Arsenal needed a replay and extra-time to bring their vastly-superior talent to bear and dispatch us from the FA Cup. Big Sam's annual big gamble, Nicolas Anelka, stayed, stayed (relatively) happy and stayed scoring.
But beneath the surface you wonder if the legs that have been thrashing madly to keep us gliding serenely to the upper reaches of the league are starting to cramp up. Big Sam has decided he can take us no further and whether anyone else can seems doubtful. You wonder, whatever promises owner Phil Gartside makes, whether the downgrading to Little Sam might be the start of a similar decline in the club's stature.
Last year's outstanding performers - Kevin Nolan and Stelios - has been as mundane as the former's BBC column. Tal Ben Haim, having had his head turned by his festive bit-part as a pawn in the Stamford Bridge power struggle, looks set to bid us farewell over the summer. And the guilty hope that we might evolve into a more attractive footballing side seems no nearer to coming true. If anything we are like that Guinness advert "devolving" back at a rapid rate with a reliance on set-pieces and Kevin Davies.
Grade: B
High Point
Playing a decisive part in the title race with a dogged 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, even if it did hand the title to the increasingly smug neighbours.
Low Point
Getting turned over 1-0 by a Reading side that reminded me of the early Premiership days .total commitment, wide-eyed enthusiasm, up-and-coming English manager, new stadium.
Fan's Player of the Year
- Jussi Jaaskelainen -
The big Finn kept goal with his usual mixture of composure and flamboyance. And this term everyone stopped harking on about him being an unsung/underrated player which perversely exaggerated how good he is in the process.
The big four now have relatively settled situations between the sticks which has allowed him to get on with being consistently excellent for us without being distracted by the batting eyelids directed his way from on high. At 32 he may start to lose some of his spring soon, but with only the mysterious, unseen Omani Ali Al Habsi and 1990s icon Ian Walker's trademark curtains to keep the shots out in his absence, it had better not be too soon.
Needs for Next Season
Little Sam needs to take a little of the pass-and-move magic from the Anfield bootroom and slip it into the players' tea.
Those two other Liverpool old boys, Diouf and Anelka, have to increase the flow of quality performances from their current drip feed levels and a return to form from former-midfield-dynamo-turned-clapped-out-has-been Kevin Nolan would be nice too.
But most importantly Phil Gartside must fulfil his promises, dust off the club chequebook and start waving it at some top-drawer talent.
Mike Henson
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