Players In?

I thought I’d take a break from watching the Olympics and look at some of the news surrounding BWFC from the past couple of days as various sources are saying we’ve landed or about to land a deal to sign Carlos Sanchez on a free and Benik Afobe on loan.

Subject to paper work (which with our luck will probably take an age) we’ve all but agreed terms with Sanchez.  It’s taken so long apparently because of the number of people claiming to represent the 26 year old.  Sky Sports are calling him the ideal replacement for NRC, however, I myself know very little about him, if someone could fill me in (either on here or via twitter), I’d appreciate it.

“The midfielder is set to sign a three-year contract with the Lancashire outfit, but the Colombian's desire to play in the Premier League could be reflected by the inclusion of certain clauses.” Sky Sports

It’s that last bit that worries me.  It suggests that if we don’t succeed in getting promotion this year, his contract would end, and he could leave on a free, a kind of reverse relegation clause.  Essentially we could pay him a year’s wages and he leaves for free next summer.

After meticulous web based research (OK 5 minutes on YouTube) Afobe looks a good player, and God knows we could do with a goal scorer at the moment.  After all only two goals from open play in four matches…we won't get far in the Championship on stats like that.

Defense is a major worry at the moment, what with all of our CB out, it looks as if we’re going to have to play with a patched up back four tomorrow night.  Ricketts and Alonso in the middle, Riley and Mears in full back positions.  I won’t be surprised if we see some of our younger defenders given a chance to fill these roles.

Crewe 1 - Bolton 1

Another day, another preseason friendly...another draw.
When BWFC first announced today's lineup my heart immediately sank.  No Ream, Mills, N'Gog, Eagles and a bench full of young hopefuls looking to break into the main team.  It's a little disconcerting how with just a few injuries, how thin our squad really looks.  It really hit home when Marc Iles twitted the very same thing. Indeed, was my reply, where are the goals going to come from?

From Mavies, or so I thought.

Defense was also a worry, with Knight as our only CB, we had Ricketts covering for the absent Ream/Mills, with Alonso playing LB.  No wonder then at just 10 minutes in Crewe where one up.  Just a few minutes later and Knight pulls up, Crewe should really be two up, and our squad is now seriously lacking in center backs.
It took an on form Petrov and a harsh penalty to put Bolton back on level terms.  Petrov seemed to shine today, a floodlight to that of his team mates flickering candles.
I was a little surprised when SKD came off and Pratley was playing the lone striker for around 20 minutes, before Eaves was finally brought on at around the 87 minute mark.  Just why Pratley of all people/midfielders was up front for that amount of time (and on his own) is beyond this simple layman's mind.  I just hope this isn't part of OC game plan for the season and just down to the lack of players available today.

So another draw.  What troubles me, more than the winning or losing, is the lack of goals we are scoring.  We seem to create an abundance of chances from all over the pitch and through set pieces, yet seem to be converting very few.  Will this change once N'Gog and Sordell are available again?  Is it just a case of needing more game time, if so, how much more?
We also seems to be conceding goals all to easily and often against the run of play (so what's new there?).  Is this due to players switching off, the BWFC tradition of backing off when really we should be getting stuck in?  Maybe our wingers need to get back quicker and help out the full backs, especially Petrov on the left as both Alonso and Ricketts like to attack and can struggle getting back at times.

Are we heading for another difficult season, or will we be able to solve these preseason niggles and worries before the start of the season in August?

Falkirk FC v BWFC Preview

Hello again folks.  Unlike BWFC, at least the weather seems to be improving lately.  I haven't really had the motivation to write anything at all over the past few days, mainly because there wasn't really anything to write about.  But as we have another game today, I thought I best try and write a brief spiel before tonight's game.

So what have I missed?  Well not much.  Michael Owen isn't coming to Bolton Wanderers.  OC is on the lookout for another striker, though.  This can only be a good thing, with our lack of converted chances recently (and with Sordell and N'Gog not available) it is becoming more evident that we need to strengthen our attack.

Apparently today is the day when OC will decide whether or not to take on Cisse. 

As well as being on the lookout for another striker, OC is also looking for another midfielder.  Hopefully Cisse can impress tonight.  He's on a free and the money saved could be used on a potential forward player.  However loan options do exist, and there's no point on wasting wages on a mediocre player, so here's hoping Cisse can step up to the plate.

Tonight's game is against Falkirk FC

After our wasted opportunities at goal cost use the game at Hamilton, maybe it's either time for BWFC to:

a) Work on our headers, as that's where most of of chances came from, glancing headers just wide, or just over.

b) To stop with the wing play and play the ball into the box down the middle (see point a).

c) Or maybe today is the time to try a 442.

I know I've banged on about preferring to play 451, but clearly this isn't working.  SKD just isn't able to pull off the lone striker role.  If N'Gog isn't available again tonight (just what is going on there?) then maybe play a 442 with young Eaves could partner the skipper up front.  But what do I know?  And preseason isn't about results, but it would be nice to celebrate a goal.

Hamilton v BWFC preview

After some confusion over the starting 11, here they are:

Bogdan

Riley     Mills     Ream     Alonso

CYL     Patley   Andrews     Vela     Petrov

SKD

So Riley starts at right back and Vela in midfield.  A good chance for both youngsters to show that they are capable of playing full time in the Championship.

Hamilton Academical are a division above our last opponents Ayr United, and should be more of a test, but with five in midfield, we should be looking to control the game.  If Andrews drops back a little to help out the back four and hold up the ball, Vela and Pratley should have some space to roam and string a few dangerous passes together.

Speaking of Pratley, I know he's not everyone's cup of Earl Grey, but I think it's important he gets a good run out at preseason.  With Holden not yet available, and if we play five in midfield regularly, there's going to have to be some rotation within the squad, especially with the Championship season being slightly longer.  And while he wasn't the greatest player in the EPL, maybe Pratley will find his form in the Championship.

With SKD as a lone striker, we have to hope he has regained his form after his dip at the end of last season. With his excellent ability to hold up the ball and wait for support, I imagine he should be able to link quite well with Vela, who should be eager to get in the box and bag himself a few goals.

Bolton fans will find themselves in the 'Spice of Life' stand today:

I, however, am sat on my arse at home reading various twitter feeds, and reading the live updates on bwfc.co.uk

We Need to Talk About Mavies

Recently everybody seems to be talking about M. Davies. So Wakey Wanderers thought we'd join in.

As you can see, Mavies loves the Wakey Wanderer

So whether it's Mavies being injured, a rumour started on twitter and re-twitted by confused fans, or that he's the potential interest of a few EPL clubs, Mavies seems to be in the spotlight this week.
I've been reading quite a few fan's views on the potential selling of MD. Some say that they wouldn't mind seeing him leave (along with N'Gog). I'm not one of those fans. I quite like MD, and I think keeping him would be in the best interest of the club. First: Stu Holden isn't back in the squad yet (and with no return date?) so Mavies is still a starting player, just one of a decent midfield. Second: whilst not the best performer in every game, he does have flashes of brilliance, and he's only getting better. Keep him at Bolton and let him develop, better and more consistent performances for Bolton, and when he does get better, we can ask for a higher transfer fee for when he does eventually move on.  Win win.

Well I'm off to keep an eye on both the Bolton preseason and the friendly between Team GB and Brazil.

Ayr United 1 - BWFC 1

BWFC: Bogdan, Mears, Mills, Knight, Alonso, Chung-Yong, Andrews, M Davies, Petrov, K Davies, Eagles


BWFC Subs: Lynch, Riley, Alonso, Ream, Cisse, Vela, Pratley, Wylde, O'Halloran, Eaves, Blakeman


Last week I blogged about the possibility of OC playing five midfielders with a lone striker.  Yesterday before the opening match with Ayr I predicted OC would go with a 442....he played 5 midfielders (albeit in a 4411).  Here was the starting team:

Bogdan

Mears    Knight    Mills    Ricketts

CYL    Andrews    Mavies    Petrov

Eagles

SKD

Now the rumors were that a French club are after signing N'Gog, and N'Gog wasn't featured because of this.  OC later said that he simply wasn't featured due to picking up a slight knock to the back, but watch this space.
Early in the game Mears and CYL were able to link up well, which is great news, it is good to see CYL playing again and that he has a good partnership with Mears.  While on the left side Petrov and Ricketts saw very little of the ball.
Weirdly in the second half it was the left of the field that saw the most play, with Alonso and Wylde providing most of the attacking play.
Bolton created a lot of chances from set plays with Mills and CYL coming close with headers.  It was the home side however that had the best chance to open the scoring (isn't that always the way with Bolton, we can be so controlling, only to concede first).  Mills seemed quite comfortable at the back, apart from the short header back to Bogdan that almost gave Ayr the opening goal.  I was surprised to see Knight start ahead of Ream, but by all accounts he did OK and Ream featured for the second half anyway.
Wakey Wanderer said that Riley and Alonso may feature and they did. Alonso opening the scoring, see his goal here.
A few minutes later Bodgan was replaced by Jay Lynch, who was only on for approximately 2 minutes when out of the blue Ayr got a goal back.


Not a bad result for the first game back after the summer break, and after all, preseason is about fitness, not results.  That being said, hopefully the performances of the players will improve game after game along with the fitness.

Preseason begins

Just a quick update before tonight's opening preseason game against Ayr United.
Bolton have signed Andrew Lonergan from Leeds United.  A GK with good experience, and should be good competition for the number one spot.  I do think Bogdan will still be our main GK for a while yet, but it's good to know we have an experienced backup just in case.

Photo from bwfc.co.uk

Kevin Davies has been speaking about preseason and how he is impressed with the work rate of the squad so far and that although he recognizes the Championship will be hard work, the squad has a good mix of youth and experience. 

Mears has been speaking to bwfc.co.uk and is looking forward to the tour of Scotland.  Hopefully he should feature tonight and we should get an idea of who will be filling the role of full back, both left and right (Mears and Ricketts would be my first choices).

Elsewhere I did read a rumor that BWFC turned down a bid for N'Gog from a certain French club.  As we only currently have three first team strikers, it wouldn't be a good move off loading one.  In fact it might be a good move in trying to recruit another striker, or at least calling in a favor and loaning one.

Tonight I think we'll see a 442, featuring SKD and maybe new signings Mills and Andrews.  I wonder if we'll see Riley, Alonso or even on trial Cisse?  I'll be keeping track via BWFCs text feed and through Marc Iles on twitter.

Just how do you pronounce N'Gog?

OK, so preseason starts this Wednesday, with the White's mini tour of Scotland.  One player, however, will be having a different preseason altogether.  Marvin Sordell's preseason will be spent with the Olympic GB football team.

Picture taken from the official BWFC facebook page.

While a great opportunity for MS, the GB squad isn't BWFC.  Preseason is the time when OC can see which players gel together, what positions and formations are strongest for the players we currently have.  How is OC going to know how to use MS without seeing him play with the rest of BWFC?  Marvin is going to have to show the UK and OC his form through the few Olympic matches GB play in.  Assuming he's played, and I don't see why he shouldn't be given a chance, his U21 England record is very good.

So what options are we left with for preseason?  N'Gog and SKD.  Both have a good amount of footballing experience and should shine in the Championship (touch wood).  But what's the best way to play them?  SKD in a holding position just behind N'Gog?  Or maybe N'Gog playing the lone striker with five in midfield?  I've mentioned before that I would prefer a lone striker, however, that striker needs to be on form and dangerous, able to hold up the ball and get in the box ready to receive any crosses floated in.  Does N'Gog fill that role?  The dream scenario would be that N'Gog and Sordell are the dream partnership, and both reach double figures this season (and win us the title).

Either way I'm looking forward to preseason and the Olympic football, here's hoping Sordell can really shine and bring that confidence into the BWFC squad.

So any thoughts on what formation you think would suit us best?  Who would you have up front?  Feel free to leave your comments.

dREAMs and KNIGHTmares

Last time I went over the midfield, today its the turn of the defence.
Zat Knight has signed a new two year deal. With the addition of Mills, that means we know have four centre backs (Wheater, Ream, Mills and Knight). Once Wheater is fit again expect to see good competition for starting places. However if Knight doesn't find his form (did he ever have it?) I imagine he'll be a regular on the bench, if I were him, I'd be asking myself why I bothered extending my contract.
With Steinsson now gone, its time for Mears to set up to being our first team right back. This just makes me wonder what role Ricketts will play. Will he be our number one left back again, ahead of Alonso (do we have another left back)? I quite rate Ricketts, however, I do think he struggles on the left, he lacks pace and can struggle to get back. It doesn't surprise me that most of the goals we conceded last year came in from the wings. One highlight from last year was definitely Ricketts right foot curler into the top corner against Wolves at home, more of the same please

Our potential back four:

Mears/Riley----Ream----Mills/Wheater----Ricketts/Alonso

Midfield Mayhem

So last Thursday, BWFC were back in training. I did ask (via twitter) which squad member put on the most holiday weight, but i have yet to have a reply.

I thought (along with most other football blogs) that now would be a good time to spend a few days going over our squad and see where our strenghts and weaknesses lie.

I thought I'd start with what I consider to be the strongest part of the team this year: midfield.
Petrov, Holden, Lee, Mavies, Eagles, Andrews, Wylde, Pratley....seriously if we don't boss midfield this season, I'll eat my hat (no not really).
We have quite a few options on how to field the team to. We could play 4 or 5 in MF depending on how controlling/attacking OC wishes to be. Personally I'd like to see a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Holden----Andrews.

Lee/Eagles----Mavies----Petrov/Wylde

Holden and Andrews could provide cover and control the game from midfield, and then push up to form a 4-3-3 when attacking. With pently of Midfielders in the squad, there should be losts of competition for starting places, and good cover for when tattics need changing, injuries etc.

Cons:
Inconsistency. A major factor in our awful last season. Eagles and Mavies both stand out here. I rate both players, especially Mavies, however, there were times last year when both players could be amazing for 5 minutes and for the other 85, both could be passengers.
Wingers not defending.  Most of the goals we conceded last season came about from crosses, or moves that started from the wings.  Both Eagles and Petrov lacked in getting back and helping out the full backs (admittedly Petrov was getting better at this throughout the latter half of last season).  But if we are to concede less goals this season, everyone is going to have to up their defensive game.
Holden and Lee. Are both as good as we remember, or are we remembering their short BWFC careers with rose tinted glasses? What about after a year without a game, will they be as fast, as good on the ball? I can only hope so.

New Kit, New League, New Blog

Welcome to the Wandering Blogger, a blog following the trials and tribulations of Bolton Wanderers Football Club. I'll provide you with my thoughts on matches, players and general BWFC news.

I had hoped to start this blog a few weeks back when news of our new kit was first announced, however, due to lack of time and general laziness on my part, the blog is now a week or two behind. So lets just have a quick review of preseason so far.

With the Adidas takeover of Reebok, it was inevitable  that our kit manufacturer would eventually change from the later to the former. Here's a look at the new kit with OC and new signing Matt Mills.

Photo taken from the Offical BWFC Facbook Page

Initially my first thoughts, from the promotional photos: meh. In the photo above, it looks a lot better than I first thought, and I assume even better in person, though I have yet to make the trip down to Bolton Central. I'm certainly not impressed with the price tag.  £45 for an adult shirt?! I cannot remember paying that much for my 2011-12 away shirt, and I even had my name on the back.  It always amazes that essentially we are paying to be walking billboards for whatever company sponsors your favourite club.  That's not to say I'm against buying football shirts, I own several, but shouldn't we get some kind of commission for the amount of advertising we do on our clubs behalf?

The new season approaches and with the fixtures being released last week we learned our first game is Burnley away (karma?). I'm actually quite looking forward to it, it'll be a proper local derby game, with both teams out to prove a point.  Hopefully Bolton can win the game in the same fashion as last season (QPR away) and set the tone for the rest of the season.

So how do we think this season will go? Well I'm expecting big things.  What with a younger squad and the return of Holden and CY Lee I think we have a good chance of a playoff finish.  I don't want to be too optimistic and say we'll be champions, the Championship shouldn't be overestimated (as everyone will no doubt keep reminding you) there's a lot of games and tough opposition, but at least there should be less of the 4 or 5 goal away defeats every other week.
One major downside to a season in the Championship is less TV coverage.  I can't say I'm looking forward to the 90 seconds of highlights on the BBC at around midnight after MOTD.

Ok, well one blog over and done with, please fell free to leave your views and feedback.  In the near future I hope to talk about our squad and pick my ideal team for the season.  Who do you think will be our top goal scorer, our MVP?