Bolton Wanderers - end-of-season report
Monday, 02 Jun 2008 19:16
Bolton Wanderers - fan's 2007/08 end-of-season report
Good, bad or just the same old, same old? What the fans made of the 2007/08 season.
Of the (at times scattered) faces at the Reebok Stadium this season, most were long. A dreadful start followed by a poor middle and a just-good-enough finish saw Bolton scrap their way out of the drop zone and ensure Premier League survival in time to contribute to the end-of-season party pooping at Stamford Bridge.
Following Big Sam's ill-fated flight to St James' Park, Sammy Lee was promoted from the backroom in the hope of stabilising the club. But the gamble backfired and Lee seemingly struggled to assert his authority - dropping Kevin Nolan and falling out with his own lieutenant, Gary Speed, in the process.
After just six months and with Bolton languishing near the foot of the table with just one win, Lee's reign was over.
Gary Megson's arrival was greeted like a wet Wednesday in Westhoughton by many Wanderers fans, but his team produced a series of fighting performances that helped them to beat the drop despite a serious shortage of top-class talent - especially after the January departure of Le Sulk to Chelsea.
It will be a crucial summer for Megson and Bolton if they are to avoid another season of basement battling.
Grade: D
High Point
Wanderers' Uefa Cup exploits against the likes of Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich were a much-needed distraction from the weekly slog in the league.
That's not to say they didn't have their moments. A 1-0 victory against eventual champions Manchester United made them one of the few sides to beat the Red Devils - and with a clean sheet too.
However, for a team that at times seemed dead and buried, the high point must be El-Hadji Diouf's goal against Sunderland, which set the Trotters' on the road to a victory that secured their top flight status.
Low Point
For much of the season, Bolton looked like a team suffering from the hangover of Big Sam's heady party punch of top-eight finishes and the odd cup final.
Disastrous results during Sammy Lee's tenure looked to have relegated the club within ten games but the real low point for Bolton - a 4-0 mauling from Aston Villa - actually turned out to be their salvation.
That defeat shook Wanderers to their senses and rather than putting a nail in their Premier League coffin, it served as the tonic to survival as Bolton closed out the season with wins against Middlesbrough, West Ham and Sunderland, plus draws with Tottenham and Chelsea.
The manager
Oh ye of little faith... Chairman Phil Gartside got a more than a few "you don't know what you're doing" chants when he handed the reins to former Norwich and Leicester boss Gary Megson but "the ginger Mourinho" rallied the troops and managed to save the day in the nick of time.
However, it certainly wasn't pretty and with the desperate scrap for survival over, can he take the club forward and spare fans the ordeal of another relegation battle?
If early results don't go his way next term, Megson could face a survival battle of his own.
Fan's Player of the Year
- Kevin Davies -
He scored just three goals all season but battering ram striker Kevin Davies epitomised the never-say-die attitude of Megson's Wanderers.
Often deployed alone upfront, he worked tirelessly for the team and his knock-downs helped produce many of Bolton's 36 league goals.
He also followed Darren Fletcher's golden rule of if you're not going to score many goals at least score important ones - grabbing a crucial winner against West Ham in April that was a big step towards safety.
Needs for Next Season
With a small squad already reduced by the departure of cult heroes Ivan Campo and Stelios Giannakopoulos - and with El-Hadji Diouf seemingly determined to follow them into the Reebok departure lounge - Bolton undoubtedly need to splash the cash.
Depending on how much of Anelka's £15 million transfer fee he gets to play with, Gary Megson may have to wheel and deal as best he can.
A long-overdue replacement for Anelka will be top of the shopping list, with former Tottenham striker Freddie Kanoute, Valencia's 6ft 7in giant Nikola Zigic and Swedish veteran Johan Elmander all rumoured to be pencilled in.
Andy Jowett