Gary Megson gives you some old news...

Today, our esteemed leader has told the former BEN that the boo-boys don't bother him as he has never been popular at T'Reebok with the fans. This has come as a complete suprise to the Towers as he has never said this kind of thing about the fans before. Oh, no, wait a minute....

Maybe it would be better for the GSO to give a different kind of slant to the fact that Bolton fans don't like him as calling them names seems to just infuriate them more. Instead of coming across all Malcolm Tucker, maybe he should look at someone like Josh Lyman and understand that you have to be savvy to make people like you, not an arse. Maybe some good humour, not dourness. And less arseness.

And so to this weekend's massacre game at T'Reebok. Lawro has put it down as a 2–0 loss, but that is pretty much a no brainer. So we give you our five predictions for the game:

1. The GSO to big up the opposition, especially as they are a big four club, mentioning that they have world class players. (Wait, tick that box already)

2. For once, chants of "Megson Out" to outnumber the chants concerning Benitez's part time job clearing tables down the nearest Tapas bar.

3. Sean Davis to get booked.

4. Liverpool to win 3–0

5. The GSO to talk about gaining positives from the game in post match interview as Sammy Lee walks past with a wry smile on his face.

We're nearly there folks. Only the Portsmouth game to go.

A Prodigal Son?

It is all over the press today that the GSO is looking at bringing former captain Kevin 'Nobby the Pie Eater' Nolan back to T'Reebok, probably on a season long loan. How would fans react to this.

Some, think the MEN, will greet it with excitement. Some think it will be a backwards step. We believe that it is neither one nor the other. For a long time Nolan rested on his laurels in a midfield that had Gary Speed and Ivan Campo doing the work and the culture beside him and the goals of Nicolas Anelka shielded the lack of midfield guile when those players moved on. Once that outlet had gone it showed what most fans had known for a while, that he had lost it.

So why should he be welcomed back? Well, it would be difficult to see where he would fit into the midfield, whether the GSO uses 4-5-1, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. Davis, Little Davies and Muamba should have the central positions sown up, with one of them playing on the right if need be and Matty Taylor on the left. But Kevin Nolan is no Michael Ricketts, he hasn't lost it to that extent. Many people couldn't understand why Jermaine Jenas was picked ahead of him for the England squad not so long ago. (OK, we do know. Spurs play in London) But Bolton haven't the aquad to be choosy, the player loves the club, even if he is unfit he's better than the squad on the bench and he wouldn't need time bedding in. Plus he wouldn't have the millstone of being captain hanging round his neck. Okocha had problems suiting his game to being captain and the same problems seemed to beset Nolan. SuperKevinDavies has thrived in this position. We at the Towers give this a cautious yes. It just depends on what ambition the player has.

No really, oú ést, Ricardo Vaz Té?

Back in July we originally asked this question, surmising that if our Portuguese forward could remember to keep his feet when on goal, if he was fit he could be a ten goal a season striker. However, the GSO does not seem to think that this is the case.

On the back of a torpid 1–0 win over Tranmere, it has been reported that Bolton's 3rd best striker is likely to be offloaded, either to Gaziantepspor of Turkey (no, me either), or Koln of Cologne. This after saying that he did not have any striking options and putting young Danny Ward on the bench. Another case of saying one thing and doing another? Well, very likely, although it has been reported that Achille Emana is being looked at. This is a midfielder by the way and according to his Wikipedia article he is a midfielder of dubious scoring potential. This may just be an anonymous editor at Wikipedia having some last minute fun before he is banished from editing though.

Am I sick and tired of being promised a striker 7 days before the transfer window finishes and then not getting one. Well, the name Leroy Lita still makes me narcoleptic. Is this the second time that the GSO will be saying that Bolton will be doing one thing this season and then changing the rules. Very likely. Was he on a no win mission at Prenton Park last night. Absolutely. Did he win any fans over with his 4-5-1 formation against an out of form League One side. C'mon, pass over those happy pills. For the first time this season, X Towers shouts "MEGSON OUT". And we bet that The Fat Spanish Waiter over at Stanley Park will be in his hot seat a long time after Mr Megson has been banished from our collective memories.

Tony Kelly, I know you're employed by the club but FFS!!!!

As you are no doubt aware, Tony Kelly is the fan's liasion officer at Bolton Wanderers and is also the 34th greatest player to don a Bolton shirt. However, this was voted for in 2005 and if there was a vote today, it is doubtful if he would now make the top 100. Not because it is now 15 years since he put that shirt on, but because he puts out the most monumental rubbish in his Bolton News column. (I'd say worse, but this is a family show)

Under the banner headline, Wanderers Will Bounce Back he quoth,regarding the start to the season:

"....getting on the manager’s back won’t help the situation"

He then goes on to argue the complete opposite, stating that a siege mentality can galvanise the players. Does anybody at the paper actually copy read this gubbins.

Further down the article he states that:

"It’s no use getting on the manager’s back, though. Once they cross that white line it’s down to the players"

Herein it shows that Tony, fans liasion officer notwithstanding, has no idea of how the fans feel or, if he does, he is not showing it until the GSO goes. It will be interesting to see what he says then. Maybe it would be better if the club's voice kept shtumm for a couple of weeks.


While we're having our sometime daily pop at the former BEN and the GSO, I personally could not care less that he sympathises with the Australian cricket team. Somehow, SOMEHOW, he has tried to draw parallels between T'Wanderers result at Hull with Australia losing the ashes. Here we pick this argument apart:
1. The Australians respect their cricketers and feel that they have a good leader.
2. The Australians are regular winners and, indeed, have won this summer.
3. All 11 Australian cricketers who take the field are talented individuals who know their job.
4. Australia's captain is magnaminous in defeat and never, NEVER, calls his teams abilities into question.
5. When things are going wrong, Ponting has the ability to change his tactics.

To paraphrase Henry II, "Who will rid me of this turbulent manager".

Expect Fat Mike to score tonight. No need to watch.

Those Monday newspaper comments and average ratings...

The Currant have nothing, nowt, nada to say about Bolton, which must say something.

"A dismal game saw Bolton create the best chances but fail to take them" The Mirror

"Bolton created the best chances but failed to take them and the ‘Megson Out’ chants have started already" The Star

"No one needs to tell Gary Megson what his team lack..." The Torygraph (although surely someone should have told him in June, just to make sure that he was looking at the same sheet...?)

"Bolton Wanderers, though, should have taken at least a point" The Times

"For the next 15 minutes City ripped their opponents apart" T'Guardian

And so to the averages by all the weekend reporters

Jussi 6.3
Ricketts 6.04
Cahill 6.42
Knight 5.38
Stefan Dennis 5.09
Muamba 6.8
Davis 6.18
Mark Davies 6.24
Taylor 6.67
SuperKev 6.18
Elmander 5.98
JLS 5.13
Ward 5.13
Lee 6.04

Man of the Match therefore is the sometimes pilloried Fabrice Muamba, although to be fair the one paper that allows fans to vote (The Tory) has him at an average of six with six other players ahead of him. The worst player was Stefan Dennis, but that was only a matter of time. Don't It Make You Feel Good.

I'm now off to hide behind a pillow to listen to the Tranmere commentary. Until later, fellow masochists....

Those Sunday Newspaper comments....

"Bolton were slightly the better, which isn't saying much as passes went astray, long balls were punted aimlessly downfield and shots failed to find the target." Independent on Sunday

"...one or more of Johan Elmander, Kevin Davies, Matthew Taylor and Sam Ricketts should not have given the City goalkeeper a chance to make a save" Observer

"Bolton were comfortably on top during the first half, but didn’t make it count Sunday Times

"Hull showed that even they have greater options than Bolton by throwing on Altidore" Sunday Telegraph

"The failure to score meant Bolton's winless run has stretched to eight games and gaffer Megson is working hard to bring in a striker to solve their goalscoring problems" Screws

"...they paid for their profligacy when Algerian signing Ghilas smashed home Altidore's clever flick-on" Sunday People

"Hull got a few monkeys off the back as they registered their first points of the season, but where do Bolton go from here?" Sunday Nazi

"Hull had been second best until Altidore's introduction, with Bolton dominating possession and having the better chances" Sunday Express


AND...

"Sections of the travelling support turned on their manager before the final whistle as chants of ‘We want Megson out’ rang around the ground, but if the fans want anyone to blame for Wanderers’ latest setback then they should look no further than their strikers." The former BEN. No tapping into the current mood much.

Hull City v Bolton Wanderers......our five predictions.

1. Suntan Phil saying that he had a great career at Bolton but there is no friendship in the 90 minutes on the pitch.

2. Stefan Dennis and Sam Ricketts to start again, as God knows the GSO always learns from his mistakes. Mark Davies to start in the middle of midfield though.

3. Johan Elmander to do some "tireless" running although all through balls will be in the air and not to him.

4. Hull to win 2-0

5. The GSO to have another go at the players, saying he cannot understand why they don't stick to his game plan (the one where they pack the defence and don't let in any goals). Cue vitriolic witch hunt on message boards and his home address to be published.

Finger out time...but maybe too late.

Reports today suggest that the man to soothe all the fans needs would be a Mr J Beckford of Leeds United. £2.5 milion may be enough to prise Leeds' leading scorer away from the ground by the Sheffield-Leeds railway line. We at the Towers give this an X rating of 5. Proven League One goalscorer he may be, as 50 goals in 87 games is not to be sniffed at down there, but there is a whole lot of difference two divisons higher. And if Fabian Delph went for £6 million, is £2.5 enough? Cautious, yet not optimistic. In any sense.

Or how about David Nugent in exchange for Danny the Shit and the Badger? Well, with the whole squad being described as "not exactly really top drawer", does this mean that Nugent will be a marquee signing that we have been waiting for? Well, he has got a very good goals per game ratio at international level. X rating of 3. Although we do expect the lesser of the not top drawer squad to be on their way soon.

A nice little encapsulation of the problems facing the GSO can be found at sports blog under the title "Embattled Manager of the Week: Gary Megson". Although proving that there just aren't enough blogs about T'Wanderers (they quote Vital Football, Wanderers Way and The Wanderer (err...where are we?....what do you mean no one reads this?), this does what it says on the tin. Although we don't agree that the GSO will be gone after Portsmouth away. Sooner, surely?

The "hang on a minute" moment for today comes from the Bolton News, with the GSO apparently challenging Super Kev and Matty Taylor to get back into the goals, starting at Phil Brown's place on Saturday. Neither has hit the target since April (both the GSO and the former BEN forgetting that Elmander hasn't hit the target since January, but he must be off limits), but the GSO "sees no rationale for the pair's dip in form but has backed them both to come good" Well, I'm sure that they are both very glad about his backing. Maybe his tactics are the rationale? Just a thought.

Fat Mike watch. He's still fat. Expect him to still be fat on Tuesday.

Swine Flu...it's a pig....

So, anyway, you may have noticed that nothing has come out of the Towers in the past fortnight. This is due to me living in Tower Hamlets and catching the swine flu in the local Tescos, which is the only place that myself and Mrs. X mingle with the locals. Cue much needed crawling to the bathroom, but you don't want to know the details of that.

SO, no great suprise then when the GSO decided to play all five of his new signings on Saturday, even though defence, where three of them played, wasn't actually the problem last season. Cue much teeth gnashing over at 606 (also see here and here and a great many posts besides). It would appear that after one game 99% of the fans would want shot of Mr Megson, leading many to believe hope that when Norwich had sacked Bryan Gunn, our manager would drop to what many people believe is his natural level. Mr Deary over at Manny Road has pointed out that the press may have their knives out for him (that's the GSO not Mr Deary) as there is no one else in the division to point and laugh at. If this is the case, then it may not be too long before the managerial swing door banishes another Wanderers manager to the dole queue, as God knows the board hardly ever listen to the fans otherwise we wouldn't have that kit. However, the wishful thinking of some that Owen Coyle may be tempted down the road may prove to be just too fanciful.

Mr McCormick over at Vital Football points out that Bolton have come behind only the once since the GSO came along. He also points to the interviews that Megson has given to the Bolton News over the past few days. Starting off with the fact that the GSO believes that Bolton have only themselves to blame, it does make you wonder why Mr Megson has not got a Phd in the bleeding obvious. I can't help feeling that I've heard all this before. The playing of the Badger on the right made everyone, not least possibly the Badger himself, scratch their heads. The dropping of last season's ever present left back and the damn sight better than Sam Ricketts usual right back was a second cranium puzzler. However, the GSO says that they were unlucky to be dropped, and mentions that the defence leaked 54 goals last season and for that reason Robinson and Ricketts started. Now, I'm no long time football watcher (no.....hang on) but surely a central defence where he couldn't decide whether or not to play Danny the Shit or AOB was the real problem. Or is that just me?
And finally from the GSO, a complete bandwagon jumping exercise concerning Freddie Sears goal for the Palace at Bristol City on Saturday. Yes, we all know that Bolton have suffered a couple of times at the hands of over the line disallowed goals, but this idea that the GSO is keen to use technology when he has virtually dismantled what BSA left behind is shum mishtake shurely? He does admit, however, that he is not the fount(sic) of all knowledge. Which is something we can all agree on.

Now, I know that Vital Football have also started a Michael Rickett's watch, taking advantage, dare we say, of our indisposal while we talked to the porcelain telephone. Talking to the Wirral Globe, Fat Mike says that:

" I'm pleased to have joined Tranmere. The lure of playing for John Barnes, who was an idol of mine, and the style of football he wants to play were big factors in me coming here"

Translation, no one else wanted me and they have a Greggs near the ground.

Bolton Wanderers 0 - 1 Sunderland

Or....How The Press Saw Bolton's Performance On Saturday. (Clue....it doesn't end well), plus the average ratings from the papers.

"The clearly rejuvenated Bent looked every inch an international-class striker as he and Jones ripped Bolton's defence to shreds in a one-sided first half." The Currant

"the Wearsiders were hanging on towards the end as Gary Megson’s battling Bolton launched a fierce second-half fight-back" The Mirror

"While Sunderland were at it from the first bell, Bolton started sluggishly." The Nazi

We would tell you what The Times thought but apparently only Sunderland were on the pitch.

"Sunderland were aided mightily by an abject Bolton performance that extinguished any pre-season optimism." The Observer

"Jaaskelainen's excellence provided a rare bright spot for Megson but there were precious few other crumbs of comfort." The Screws

"a hugely disappointing Bolton display" The former BEN

Kind of makes bad reading no? And the averages don't get any better.

Jaaskelainen 6.83
Ricketts 4.91
Cahill 6.16
Knight 5.03
Stefandennis 5.27
The Badger 4.69
Davis 5.43
Muamba 5.21
Taylor 5.20
Elmander 4.84
Super Kev 5.82
Lee 5.03
Ward 4.50

So, Bolton's man of the match was Jussi (what...you're suprised), and the worst performer was The Badger, although he did have the excuse of being played out of position. Or should that be he had the excuse of being played.