The immediate aftermath of Stuart Holden's injury was, unsurprisingly, focused on him. When was he going to be back? How would this affect his contract? Why did he have such bad luck with injuries? But after that dust had settled, the question became: who is going to step up in the midfield? Holden was such an engine, he created most of the Bolton plays, and even scored a few goals himself. Whoever was going to step up had some big boots to fill. While the team never really discovered the perfect combination this season, Mark Davies certainly played a huge role in making up for Stu's absence.

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Bulgaria is known for many things: Beautiful mountain ranges, Black Sea resorts, Mafia-related corruption, and Olympic weight-lifting teams. Footballers have become more significant, our own left-winger among them. Shockingly, at age 33, fighting in a relegation battle, a player never known for his work ethic has managed to put together perhaps his best individual season.

Martin Petrov has started thirty-four matches this season, all of them on the left wing. He has scored six goals in all competitions. That is not a great return, but considering our squad, it is downright prolific. Petrov also has nine assists, a good sign from a winger, especially one who puts in as many crosses as Petrov does. Pair that with his propensity for long range rockets and you have a real threat going forward.

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The scoreline didn't favor Bolton Wanderers and it certainly flattered Spurs. Bolton Wanderers were looking to be on the ascendency as Nigel Reo-Coker equalized in the second half before two quick-fire Spurs goals put the match out of reach. Because there really is no point measuring any of the players after the 70th minute, we'll base our Man of the Match decision on the parts of the game that actually mattered.

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I know, it is disorienting. There you are, lager in hand, ready to cheer, visions of Chris Eagles dancing in your head, but no match. No way to express yourself. I feel your pain, dear Wanderers supporter. The mighty Bolton Wanderers are on vacation in Dubai. Due to FA Cup scheduling, there is no game this weekend. But do not fear, there are ways, even Bolton related ways, to get your fill of the footy.

Rochdale hosts Exeter City today at normal kickoff time (3 PM in England). Rochdale is not far from Bolton, in fact, I once took the train there for an absolutely crap night out. Bolton youngster Temitope Obadeyi recently competed a loan spell at Rochdale, where he played six matches and scored one goal.

Sheffield United have a home match today against Leyton Orient. I lived in Sheffield for a while, and the Blades hold a warm place in my heart. Another Bolton youngster, Michael O'Halloran, is on the bench today for United, and the young loanee has already made four appearances from the subs bench, so he is likely to get in there.

Rhys Bennett, a 20-year-old Central defender, is on-loan to Falkirk, up in Scotland. H eha smade 25 appearances for the club and is likely to feature today.

So there you have it. Withdrawal is difficult, I know. But look at the bright side, other football is available. If you are especially desperate, I hear two clubs that kick around either side of Stanley park are playing each other as well.

These last few months with limited exposure to Sturart Holden and his legendary hair have been rough on all of us, bleak even. Fear not though, as Monday everyone's favourite Texan-Scot (perhaps the only Texan-Scot) returned to Bolton. The club tweeted this picture of him at the time and today have published this interview with the charismatic midfielder.

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Bolton Wanderers were under siege through most of the first half yesterday. Wolverhampton had a lot of possession, and created several chances, although if we are honest none of them were really great chances.

Despite this territorial advantage, the defense looked much more organized than it has in most matches this season. This may sound strange, as Marcos Alonso was getting absolutely dominated by Michael Kightly, but I am looking at the way that was handled. When Kightly got past Alonso, Tim Ream came out and covered him, and Alonso dropped into the center of defense. This showed good communication and organization in the backline, and I think Ream deserves a lot of credit for that. He is forming a nice partnership with David Wheater and working well with the fullbacks.

Adam Bogdan had another very good game, and is quickly developing into one of the better goalkeepers in the Premier League. He still only 24, a baby in keeper years, and has made less than thirty career starts.

All that said, my pick for Man of the Match is Martin Petrov. He was definitely in the mood right from the opening kickoff, rampaging down the left side and putting in a great shift on the attacking and defending ends. He had several good-looking shots on goal and also put in a lot of very useful crosses. If Bolton are going to stay up this season, we will need more performances like this from the Bulgarian winger.

In days of yore, when the Mighty Bolton Wanderers pillaged and plundered the great cities of Europe (I'm looking at you, Lisbon!), they club had a reputation (sometimes fairly, sometimes not) of having an old squad. The narrative was that Bolton employed a group of big-name 35-year-olds, and that Big Sam had somehow massaged one more grand performance out of each of them.

Unfortunately, when Gary Megson inherited most of Allardyce's roster, he was not able to achieve the same results. Of course, this was not surprising, as a massage from the Ginger Mourinho would probably leave a boulder crying out in agony. Megson continued the Allardyce method of bringing in older (and not quite as big-named) players, but that backfired. He bought some younger players as well, not having any clue what to do with them. Bolton barely avoided relegation, and finally, mercifully, Megson was shown the door. Enter Owen Coyle, who took an aging squad with a bloated wage bill and made it younger and cheaper.

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My name is Dennis and I have recently been added to the roster here at Lion of Vienna Suite. Just in time for FA Cup weekend.

Given that timing, I thought it would be apropos to tell the story of my first FA Cup run as a Bolton Wanderers supporter. It began in 1999. I arrived in Lancashire at just about the same time Big Sam did. I went to Uni in Bolton, and when I arrived I was not a follower of the beautiful game. When Wanderers defeated Cardiff in front of 6,000 loyal fans in mid-December, I only knew it the next day through the headlines of the Bolton Evening News (Horror Crash Terror!).

In mid-January we beat Grimsby in the 4^th round, and some Icelandic guy was scoring a lot of goals, so I finally started to take notice. My first visit to the Reebok soon followed. The last weekend of January we dismissed Cambridge United away from home. It was at this point I bought my first Bolton shirt.

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