2-1 to the super whites. A Screamer from Frandsen and an a superb free kick from Okocha. Ricketts for Boro (was there any surprise in that?) We stay up with 44 points, 4 more than last season. I'll write more later, when I get back from work.
Aye, he seems to pop up with them occasionally. The lad is deadly from 20+ yards, he's probably better at hitting it from distance than anyone else at Bolton (Okocha included)
As soon as I saw the clock hit 92, I thought to myself, Prenn must be getting plastered. Congrats to another season in the Premiership.
Thanks, I'm really hoping we can build on this. We have the basis of a great team and should be able to challenge for a European place next season.
LOL no really, since January 31st we've lost two games and have the form of a team in the top 10 of the Premiership. Why? Because Laville was brought into our defence and Okocha and Mendy started to settle in. Not to mention that the liability that was Michael Ricketts had left the club. Pedersen may not be up to much but he's a bit of a predator and he works his ass off, more than Ricketts did. Throughout this season our problem has been capitalising on superior posession and chances, we've been lacking a half decent striker. We've repeatedly lost or drawn games where we've completely hammered our opponents. Charlton, Leeds and Man Utd at home being prime examples. In fact when we lost 3-0 to Leeds at the Reebok we had an amazing 18 shots at goal. Shall we also look at the self destruct button which cost us 9 points during the season? Last minute goals nearly relegated us but if we'd kept our concentration those 9 points would have put us in 11th position. Laville was the reason that this stopped and he was also the reason for us conceeding just 5 goals in our last 12 games. If a team goes through a patch of good form then you can consider it temporary but in Bolton's case our good form has happened when there have been significant changes (Laville, Pedersen, Mendy and Okocha) to our team. Not to mention the masterstroke of moving Campo into midfield. There has been nothing to suggest that the current performances are anything more than this current team can achieve week in week out. As I said we're short of just a striker and a central defender now Bergsson's retired. I've heard of some big names being linked with Bolton including Morientes at Real Madrid. A half decent striker will have a field day at Bolton with the chances we make.
I agree that the lads are looking like a great outfit right now. I like the way Sam's got the structure worked out in a wacky unorthodox 4-3-2-1 lineup. But I'm not sure what happens if we do bring in another striker, do we go 4-4-2? But then would Campo (if we can get him) go back to fullback? Or would the striker just replace Pedersen as the loan pure target man? Also, lets not get ourselves carried away. Remember we were picked to finish 10th this season, ahead of Chelsea. Sure, once the new boys settled we were a mid-table side, but I'd be happy to see us 12th-14th. Just so long as we avoid this last-day bollocks next year!
I'm trying to avoid getting carried away but it's hard, there's so much potential in the team. The striker would replace Pedersen who is, to put it bluntly, crap. Pedersen's the reason we're were we are now, he can only score the easiest of easy chances and that's not good enough. He had two superb efforts against Southampton and managed to fluff both of them. He's a good lad but the fans could start getting on his back if he's still playing for us next season. He's the weakest link.