Bolton v. Manchester City

Hello again! I'm a mere 2 tests and 5 and a half hours away from the end of my week from hell (we're talking 3-different-physics-tests hell)! I have just been a bag of stress this week, and my brain is basically fried, so excuse me if this post isn't very coherent. Anyway what better way to end a week of complete and utter stress than to speak of the fortunes of the mighty Bolton Wanderers? Just kidding, in case you haven't been following the fate of the Trotters recently, let me just sum it up for you: I'm pretty sure I've grown a few gray hairs from it. I'm 17.

It's getting down to crunch time for Megson and his merry (and by merry I mean disheartened) band of footballers, who have only taken 1 point from the last 5 games. This weekend we invite Manchester City the 20 miles up the M61 to our humble Reebok. The Wanderers will still be reeling from the rather unlucky loss to Wolverhampton, while Manchester City must be positively soaring after their win over top team Chelsea.

Quite honestly I really don't rate our chances at all. I watched parts of the City-Chelsea game and City looked good. They outplayed a team who, lest we forget (how could we?), have beaten us twice by a score of 4-0 this season alone. Granted City and their dodgy messiah have spent roughly the GDP of Burundi amalgamating their squad, they should be bloody good.

An inescapable fact, one which bodes well for those of the Wandering persuasion, is that City have been inconsistent this season. They've managed wins over the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal (twice actually), but have been the Draw Kings of the Premiership, including against Hull, Burnley, and Birmingham. That being said, they've only lost once this season. It will almost certainly be a game with goals, considering they've scored 26 goals in 14 games and Bolton still haven't managed a clean sheet this season (the only team in the top flight with that distinction).

Another consolation is that we will have our trusted skipper, Kevin Davies, back after his 1 game suspension. Bolton clearly missed his leadership on the pitch. I certainly missed him as well, it'll be good to have him back.

Even Phil Gartside, Megson's BFF, is beginning to doubt him and worry about the club. He hinted that if Bolton don't come away from the next 5 games, Megson may find himself without a job. There is no doubt that the club is going into crisis mode, there is no doubt things are bad. Bolton sit 19th place with only 2 more points than Portsmouth, who have already been condemned to the Championship by most pundits. On paper Bolton actually have a quite good squad (oh shut up, i can hear your laughter!) which makes it all the more disappointing. We are a solid mid-table team, or at least we should be. Hopefully all this failure and general depression is enough to make our darling Wanderers snap out of it.

Now some bloggy business to take care of. I will be leaving for England on Sunday. While there I will have very limited access to the internet, postings will be sparse. I should be able to chug out a match report by Saturday evening (Texas time), but after that I have no promises. If Megson gets sacked though I promise you I will go to the dodgy pub in the village with free Wi-Fi to write about it! See you match report time.