By Alan Duffy

Norwich City 2-0 Bolton Wanderers – Premier League – 4th February 2012

An injury-ravaged Norwich fought their away to their fifth home league win of the season on Saturday, a victory which condemned the visiting Trotters to another spell in the relegation zone.

The home had lost both centre halves, Daniel Ayala and Zak Whitbreak, to injury in the first-half but they still managed to boss the game at Carrow Road. Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson both went close for the Canaries in the first-half, while Andrew Surman saw his close-range effort come back of the crossbar when he really should have scored.

Bolton offered little in the way of a goal threat, with David Ngog coming closest to snatching the lead for the visitors. Eventually, the Canaries did make the breakthrough on 70 minutes, when Surman atoned for his previous bad miss after good work from Jackson. 15 minutes later, the Canaries were home and dry, when wideman Anthony Pilkington poked home after goalkeeper Adam Bogdan failed to hold on to a Russell Martin shot.

Norwich’s superb season continues, with the Premier League new-boys up to ninth in the table. Bolton, on the other hand, drop back into the relegation zone.

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Photos: PA

                          

By Alan Duffy

Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Arsenal – Premier League – 1st February 2012

Arsenal match reports are starting to write themselves – loads of possession, nice passing, loads of chances, no goals. More often than not you can even tag “concede late goal from set-piece” onto the end of that, although on this occasion, the Gunners did manage to go off-script and keep their sheet clean for the night.

On a right wintry evening at the Reebok, the visitors started quickly but just couldn’t convert any of the myriad chances they created, with Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Robin van Persie all spurning great chances. The Trotters could’ve opened the scoring themselves, however, with David Ngog almost scoring a Ngoal.

Dutch striker Van Persie conjured up a superb chip in the second-half, only for the ball to bounce onto the woodwork (he’d hit the post earlier as well), and that moment summed up Arsenal’s frustrating evening, an evening which leaves them in seventh place in the table, a long way from a Champions League spot.

Bolton, on the other hand, move two points clear of the drop-zone, as the early season gloom starts to lift.

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Photos: PA

                          

By Alan Duffy

Bolton Wanderers 3-1 Liverpool – Premier League – 21 January 2012

Starting without a genuine defensive midfielder was always going to leave the visiting Reds somewhat vulnerable at the Reebok. Still,with Steven Gerrard orchestrating things from midfield and Bolton ensconced in a relegation battle, Kenny Dalglish and co. must have been confident of a victory.

However, instead, a lacklustre Reds were overpowered by a tenacious and fleet-footed Bolton side, who cut through their flimsy midfield time and time again.

Mark Davies opened the scoring after just three minutes, strolling through Liverpool’s soft centre while Nigel Reo-Coker doubled the score for the home side on the half-hour mark.

Craig Bellamy, who spent the afternoon indugling in a spat with Reo-Coker, hauled his side back into the game before half-time, after a flick-on from Andy Carroll, but that strike was to give the visitors false hope.

Carroll once again struggled up front for a Reds side who were well and truly beaten when, with just five minutes of the second-half gone, defender Gretar Steinsson netted the third to seal the win for the Trotters.

A top-class defensive midfielder is surely a vital purchase for Dalglish before the end of the month. Owen Coyle, on the other hand, will just be delighted to see his side finally get themselves out of the bottom three.

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Photos: PA

                          

Manchester United 3-0 Bolton Wanderers – Premier League – 14th January 2012

Starting for the first time since his surprise emergence from retirement, Paul Scholes made it 18 Premier League seasons (out of 18)  in which he’s scored after netting the opener against Bolton, with the goal coming just before the break.

United had, not surprisingly, dominated the opening exchanges against a Bolton side shorn of Chelsea-bound Gary Cahill. Goalkeeper Adam Bogdan was doing his utmost to stem the red tide for the Trotters, even saving a Wayne Rooney spot-kick, awarded after Zat Knight had tripped Danny Welbeck. However, with half-time approaching, Rooney atoned for his miss, setting up Scholes who fired home United’s 50th league goal of the season, and the scorer’s first since August 2010.

After the break, the visitors battled hard to get back into the game, with former Liverpool man David Ngog coming close and Gretar Steinsson seeing his looping header cleared off the line. However, United eventually sealed the victory with late goals from Welbeck and Michael Carrick.

Despite the win, which puts United level on points with Man City, the Red Devils still look like a side not quite firing on all cylinders, while Owen Coyle’s Bolton, for all their effort, look desperately in need of a miracle. Or at least a few new players.

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Photos: PA

                          

We’re playing ‘catch up’ today after a bout of electro-gremlins rendered us down and out at the weekend so, for the two of you that haven’t seen it already and for the many that probably won’t mind seeing it again, here’s Macclesfield Town midfielder Arnaud Mendy scoring the goal of his career against Bolton on Saturday…

BOSHCAKES! That’s it. That’s the pinnacle. I’m afraid it’s all downhill from here Arnaud old chum.

                          

By Chris Wright

As I understand it, the salient bullet points are as follows: Chelsea want to buy Gary Cahill for £7 million; Bolton want to sell Gary Cahill for £7 million, Gary Cahill wants to join Chelsea; Gary Cahill’s agent asked for £120,000-a-week wages (presumably on the basis he scores more often than Fernando Torres); Chelsea aren’t stupid.

Rather unsurprisingly considering his agent’s outrageously plucky request (there are even rumours that a £4 million signing-on fee is being chased), a deal is still a considerable distance away but it seems, by hook or by crook or by knocking about £60,000-a-week off his wage demands, Gary Cahill will be arriving at Stamford Bridge at some point this month.

From what I’ve been privy to, Cahill’s imminent signing has been greeted with a stout mix of ‘overpriced English averageness personified’ consternation and ‘exactly what Chelsea need’ pragmatism and I must admit I’m pitched somewhere in the middle, listing ever so slightly toward the latter.

Let’s talk cutter for a moment. £120,000 every seven days would put Cahill level with Ashley Cole on Abramovich’s list of weekly outgoings, behind only John Terry, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres. Indeed, even if Cahill shakes on the measly £70,000-a-week the club are believed to have offered him, that would still see him £10,000-a-week better off than Juan Mata – arguably Chelsea’s best player this season.

As for the fee. £7 million is still a fair old wodge for a player whose contract dwindles to nothing in six month’s time - that’s the ‘English premium’ at work – but it’s my personal belief that Chelsea will just about be getting their money’s worth (if that’s actually feasible in today’s game) on this one if they can successfully haggle those frankly ridiculous wage demands down.

As the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link, and when the weakest link is Zat Knight you know you’re staring down the barrel of an arduous plight.

Cahill may well have a pretty underwhelming season so far in an underwhelming defensive unit in an underwhelming side, but he’s shown in the past and on sporadic occasions this campaign that he is a proven, dependable, resiliant, organised and committed centre-half – not to mention his above-average scoring record.

He’s far less ‘agricultural’ than he gets credit for.

Assuming Terry is to remain a fixture, just compare Cahill’s attributes to that to Chelsea’s incumbent mob of senior deputy centre-halves: David Luiz (an uncontrollable clown), Alex (strong as a cart horse, mobile as a cart horse) and Ivanovic (far more convincing at right-back). It looks like a bit of a no-brainer to me, especially taking into account the scrutiny that the Blues’ worryingly porous backline has come under in recent weeks.

There are few if any better – and by ‘better’, I mean ‘more suited to the English game’ – centre-halves available for that kind of money in the world right now, and lord knows that’s exactly when Chelsea need a new one. Right. Sodding. Now.

What say you folks? Will Cahill prove to be the right man at the right time for Chelsea? Or is he just more overpriced English dross on the move?

                          

By Chris Wright

Spectacular…

Poor old Boggy. That is one huuuuge mother-lovin’ bounce.

GIF via 101GG

                          

Spectacularly wind-assisted if may have been, but Everton’s Tim Howard became the fourth ‘keeper in Premier League history to get his name on the scoresheet after punting home the opener against Bolton at Goodison last night from 102, count ‘em, 102 yards. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly the length of 102 yard of ales. Or 102 3-foot barracudas. Roughly.

Sadly however, Howard’s monster hoof counted for diddly as, thanks to goals from David Ngog and Chelsea-bound Gary Cahill, Bolton came from behind to haul themselves off the foot of the table and up to within one point of the dotted line of destiny.

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Photos: PA

                          

By Alan Duffy

With only days remaining until the January transfer window opens, club owners and managers are readying their chequebook and pens (real ones, mind, not the Blankety Blank variety), as they prepare to make those vital signings to bolster a title tilt or save themselves from a relegation dogfight.

With Thierry Henry headed for Arsenal on a loan deal, the Gunners’ west London rivals Chelsea are now preparing to bring Bolton and England centre-half Gary Cahill to Stamford Bridge. The former Villa defender came close to moving to either Arsenal or Tottenham last summer, only for the north Londoners to be put off by the ridiculously high price-tag put on the player, who was nearing the end of his contract with the Trotters. But now, Andre Villas-Boas, unhappy with the performances of wild-haired loony David Luiz and aware that John Terry is getting on a bit, wants to strengthen his defensive squad with Cahill.

A fee has been agreed between the two clubs already, although talks over personal terms continue as we speak.

So can the 26-year-old Cahill, who has endured a dreadful first half of the season with the Trotters, really help the Blues get their title ambitions back on track?

                          

Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Bolton Wanderers – Premier League – 19th December 2011

One wonders just how loud the roars of disapproval and nasty abuse will have to get at Ewood Park before the Venky’s finally decide to re-think their consistent support of manager Steve Kean.

The under-fire Scotsman endured another horrible night of abuse from his own fans and defeat for his own players against fellow-strugglers Bolton. The Trotters had come to Ewood looking to kickstart their dismal campaign which had seen them drop to bottom of the table. However, Bolton boss Owen Coyle would finally see his side move up the rankings (to be replaced by Blackburn) after first-half goals from Mark Davies and Nigel Reo-Coker proved to be enough to overcome the home side.

The revitalised Yakubu did manage to grab a second-half goal which gave Rovers hope of staging a comeback, but as the final whistle went, Kean was once again at the centre of a tornado of abuse. Indeed, a fan even threw his scarf and season ticket at Kean in protest.

Surely Kean must be wondering if it’s worth the abuse any more. And as for the Venky’s, well who knows what they are planning to do.

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Photos: PA