Err - wait just a minute young man...

People who know posting have already established that won't happen.

mark davies will get us 10 goals by dancing around in the penalty area, falling over his laces and letting petrov score the penalty

He hasn't got 5 in a season yet! He should get a decent number in this league he has the talent...

Yup. Ngog and davies is probably the partnership I'd back to get the least. Wonder which coyle will pick!

I agree with this. But the most interesting thing for me is, where on earth did Allardyce get these class players from?

Real Madrid, Olympiakos, Liverpool, Newcastle, PSG, Dortmund, Marseille etc, etc.

I wouldn't put these teams in the same standing as bolton, i'd say they were above us. It could be said that Alladyce "bought up" so to speak.

Surely not Real Madrid

Your just being plain sill now!!

Goalscoring seems to be a concern to people on here. I'm not sure it should be. As has been pointed out, we found goals last year, and we haven't lost too many players who operate in the final third. Sure, NRC chipped in with a few. And top scorer Klasnic, of course. But Sordell has scored goals at this level, and we still have Ngog, Davies, and the less tested but highly rated Eaves.

Add Petrov, Holden, Chungy and (whisper it) Pratley and Eagles, who I all think can get goals in the Championship, and there's a fair bit of threat. Plus, you can always count on your centre backs to chip in with a couple from corners. Can't you?

My concern was defence. But I'm starting to think that Mills and, yes, the re-signing of the experienced Knight mean we don't look too bad in that department either. Mears or Ricketts on the right; Alonso or Ricketts on the left; Mills, Ream, Wheater, Knight or (ahem) Ricketts in the middle. I don't think that's too bad. Surely a good set-up for the second tier?

Midfield... well, we have plenty of Championship level-players. We very cunningly bought them last year, when they thought they were making the step up to the Premier League. Chuckle. But more seriously, we have genuine width (Petrov, Wylde, Chung), and players capable of grabbing goals (Pratley (yes, Darren Pratley), Eagles, Holden) and, in Andrews, we've hopefully bought a bit of bite. It would be good to strengthen a little here, but with the Sanchez rumours it seems Coyle knows this.

Anyway, that's my optimistic take on things. I shall edit this post in October, so that it reflects reality.

Fair points OE but it's not just the defence: we could have Maldini, Passarella, Beckenbauer and Cafu along the back, but if there's not enough cover from midfield they'll get attacked more than they should.

Whether we go 4-4-2 or (humour me) 4-2-3-1, the central two both need to work hard and out their foot in - arguably even more so in this league. I'm encouraged that Coyle apparently hasn't 'settled' for Andrews as replacement for token tackler NRC and seems to be targeting other scuttlers like Romeu and the Colombian. Maybe, whisper it, he's learning.

We could do with two players.

A new version of Ivan Campo. Someone who can tackle and link up midfield with the front line. Too many times last season we were guilty of giving away possession from winning it back, we were good at winning it back but the point is we didn't keep it.

and

A new version of Stelios/Diouf. Someone who once they get the ball up front, isn't going to try something stupid and give away possession whether it be a bad shot from a daft angle (Eagles) or take one too many touches (N'Gog) or miss-control the ball (Davies).



All the front players and midfielders are gonna thrive off having the ball in the opposing third but we've not had that consistently in the Premiership last season and that for me was the big difference last year. We got away with it the season before because of Sturridge's pace but once that was gone and we were chasing the game we really didn't offer much.

Ah yes, because the next Ivan Campo will not only be quivering with excitement at the thought of joining Bolton Wanderers, but will almost certainly be available for the next-to-nothing we have to spend.

I should've left the Paul Warhurst name in there but I thought people would've been smart enough to get the gist of what I was going on about even if I did name drop Campo in there.

Bit hard, Spongey. Mar was only suggesting archetypes.

Oh Sam Ricketts,
Should play in nets,
Oh Sam Ricketts should play in nets,
He's being picked to play everywhere fecking eeeeelse,
Oh Sam Ricketts should play in nets.



Admittedly the fourth line doesn't scan too well, but you are the musician!

Apologies: a slight over-reaction from me. It's interesting how posting anonymously on an internet forum can turn one into a c*nt without one even realising it.

...and all too frequently with full realisation. Not you, Sponge, which is why it seemed somewhat out of character...

Now of course everyone but Sponge is upset...

Only if they're either too precious to be on a forum or fully aware that their posts belly up to the bellicose. I think you're safe on both counts, Monty.

Why thanks! My limited ability has led me to be called many things; this is one of the kinder.

Joe McKee has his say in the B(E)N:

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wa ... y_for_Joe/?

I'm a c*nt in real life too, so I've nowt to lose.