We are well underway with the new premier league campaign and it looks like BWFC started well against new promoted QPR however Bolton has had a hard run of games so far with the likes of the dream team Manchester City (who we just lost out to), the newly established Liverpool, the champions Manchester United. Shockingly we also lost a home match against newly promoted Norwich which was likely due to a lack of confidence from the previous matches. Next Bolton will be playing away at Arsenal which will be a match to watch as Arsenal are suffering a misfortune of their own.
Why are BWFC like this?
Well, I believe this is because we are playing with half of our old squad and half a new squad compared to last year who have yet to gel as Bolton Wanderers did just after January 2011. The key people we are missing are:
- Johan Elmander (top scorer) – contract ran out
- Daniel Sturridge (clinical finisher) – was only with us on loan for half a season from Chelsea
- Stuart Holden (confident midfielder) – got a major injury ruling him out of football for 5 months.
- Chung yong lee (playmaker) – Injured throughout most of the season
- Sam ricketts (solid flexible defender) – has been injured for a while.
So, manager Owen Coyle has a big task on his hands this season. He has done a considerable amount of work in the transfer market by getting a few new players who are some kind of replacement player for these players such as Tuncay Sanli, Chris Eagles, Nigel Reo Coker, Tyrone Mears, David Ngog and Gael Kakuta. He has managed to save money here and there with these players as they aren’t the most prolific or expensive of players but I think Owen Coyle is very good at getting the best out of newly transfered/loaned players like he did with Jack Wilshire and Daniel Sturridge. However the players that were key last season are out so it’s up to the new signings to make the difference this season.
So far these new signings have played well individually however as they have yet to gel like last seasons Bolton Wanderers. Recently, BWFC played in an away carling cup fixture against Aston Villa of which they had won the match. I never saw the highlights of that match but I saw the squad line ups and Bolton were pretty much playing with their new signings. For BWFC to have won that match must mean they are going on somewhat the right direction now.
Owen Coyle, needs to do what businesses would call a SWOT analysis on the team and do the maths to figure out the winning formula. I personally believe we are lacking in the midfield area and the sooner Stuart Holden gets fit, the better!
Come on you whites!
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