Ever since returning from his achilles injury, Sam Ricketts has been largely immense for Bolton. Although his preferred position is right back, he has taken the left side by force. He grabbed Paul Robinson's starting spot and never let go. Short of a few shaky moments, Ricketts has been solid at the back.

Ricketts has been rewarded for his performances for Bolton with a call into the Wales side for the first time since February of 2011, before he sustained his long-term injury. The Wales squad is comprised of current Welsh regulars of Gary Speed's side and is picked by new Wales manager Chris Coleman and Speed's former assistants Osian Roberts and Raymond Verheijen.

Gary Speed's testimonial match will be played against Costa Rica at the Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff on February 29.

Continue reading this post »

Owen Coyle on the team's performance:

"The object of the exercise was to make sure we're in the draw for the quarter-final. Overall it was a very good performance from start to finish, but equally there are bits and pieces you - as a manager - think you could do better. At times we could have passed and moved it better, and that would have culminated in more chances. We scored two good goals and could have added a few more into the bargain."

Hit the jump for more

Continue reading this post »

2-0 against Millwall was a good result, it could have been better but it was good. Hopefully one that will jump start Bolton's season once again. Bolton once again find themselves one game from Wembley Stadium, two from retribution, and three from FA Cup glory.

Bolton will play Stevenage or Tottenham Hotspur away, pending the results of the replay. Their match finished 0-0 earlier today and the two teams will return to White Hart Lane to see who advances.

Hit the jump for the full draw.

Continue reading this post »

Maybe I am overreacting a little bit. The return of the 4-5-1 formation, and fabulous Fabrice Muamba in the middle, made me a happy man regardless of the result. However, when we play 4-5-1 with Muamba on for 90 minutes, good results seem to follow.

There were several Wanderers who played well. Ryo Miyaichi, obviously, is at the head of the queue. He scored just 3 minutes with a sublime finish, and looked threatening every time he touched the ball, particularly in the first half. It's probably not surprising that he fell off int he second half, Ryo has only played a few matches all season, and just doesn't have the fitness yet to last 90 minutes. If anything, Owen Coyle could have taken him off earlier. That said, if he can start putting in performances like the first half today for entire matches, we have got us a good one. Who else was in the running for Man of the Match? You'll have to keep reading to find out.

Continue reading this post »

Bolton came out flying in the first half of this match. Ryo Miyaichi scored his first goal for the club within three minutes, and the away side dominated position in the first half hour. Ryo got on the end of a quickly taken free kick, sprinting past his man rather easily and finishing with a superb curling effort. He was a threat all through the first half, every time he got on the ball you could feel the excitement. Muamba had a very good chance to make it two, but he put it into the stands with his left foot.

The second half was more of a back-and-forth affair, but only Wanderers were able to take adantage before the rains came. David Ngog scored a nice goal from outside the box. The goal was created by Fabrice Muamba, who closed down two Millwall defenders and forced the Lions to give possession away in a bad area. Tuncay Sanli originally picked up the ball, then dropped it off to Ngog, who did the rest. Millwall really went for it the final fifteen minutes, and all credit to them for that. By that point, a soaked pitch and tired legs made things very difficult. Tim Ream was very solid as well, which would make me very worried if my name were Zat Knight.

Continue reading this post »

Millwall v. Bolton Wanderers Location: The Den, London Date: February 18, 2012 Time: 7am PST, 10am EST, 3pm GMT Home Form: L-L-W-D-D Away Form: W-W-D-L-L

Millwall subs: Forde, Craig, Bouazza, Henry, N'Guessan, Mason, Wright

Bolton subs: Jaaskelainen, Robinson, Eagles, Knight, Klasnic, Pratley, Boyata

They are Millwall, from the New Den, no one likes them and they don't care.

The mighty men in white are in London for the fifth round of the FA Cup and are once again (we can't even count how many times) looking to kick start their season and make it to the big show. Bolton have not faced Millwall in the FA Cup for 57 years but the last two times the teams met in the competition, Bolton took the win. While a statistic that's 57 years old might not do us much actual good on the day, here's one for you: Chris Eagles has four goals in his last five FA Cup appearances.

Continue reading this post »