Ifs and buts
Wanderers rue injury-stricken season
John Cleese said in the movie Clockwise “It’s not the despair, I can stand the despair. It’s the hope …” and so it was at the Reebok on Wednesday night when we lost a game I expected us to lose against a better team, but not without a ten minute period where we equalised and looked the better team. Without this period, we would have just been beaten by a better team, but that period allowed our hopes to rise before they were dashed, crushed and finally destroyed.
The Whites obviously got too far forward against a pacey team, and were punished for it. I don’t even really blame Coyle for going 4-4-2 instead of 4-5-1 again, because injuries have left us very short in midfield, it’s goals that are going to get us out of this mess, and we have used that formation for the last two games with some modest success.
It’s not the formation I would pick, though, as I see that we need more fluidity between defence and attack rather than 3 distinct lines of players. Then again, the players that Coyle is choosing probably aren’t the players that he would pick if he had the choice. In an alternate and injury-free universe the Bolton Wanderers teamsheet would, I think, look like this
Goalkeeper – Adam Bogdan; though he has been guilty of some absolute howlers, he’s also made some great saves, and his distribution is a lot better than Jussi’s.
Right back – Gretar Steinsson; his season has been decimated by personal, injury and health problems but his do-or-die attitude has been sorely missed.
Centrebacks – Tim Ream and David Wheater; these two complement each other very well (the clogger and the passer) and with more support from the rest of the team could be a strong defensive unit
Left back – Sam Ricketts; a contender for player of the season though he missed most of the first half through injury, Ricketts has brought some much needed defensive capability to our left side.
Midfield trio – Stuart Holden, Fabrice Muamba, Mark Davies; Stuart Holden and Fabrice Muamba struck up a great understanding last season and I would have liked to see how it would have progressed, despite Holden’s replacement Nigel Reo-Coker being my player of the season for his attitude and commitment. The solidity offered by this combination would give Mark Davies the freedom to constantly look forward and not track back as much (which he is frankly rubbish at anyway)
Right wing – Chung-Yong Lee; how different would our season have been with last seasons player of the year racing down the wing? Answer; it would have been much better. A special thanks to Tom Miller of Newport County for breaking Lee’s leg in a meaningless friendly (co-incidentally “friendly” appears to be a term that is meaningless to Miller).
Left wing – Martin Petrov; much as I deride his inability to track back and he is losing his pace, his crossing and deadball ability mean he should be a first choice. I would probably make a habit of substituting him after an hour and replacing with Chris Eagles, or Miyachi.
Striker – David Ngog; a tricky one this as Ngog has not set the world alight but he has the potential and it does seem to take him a while to get into games. He’s usually substituted just as he looks dangerous, and, to be honest, I would probably do that too with the battering impact of the impact substitute that Kevin Davies would be.
You may say I’m a dreamer, and that my dreams are modest when I could be dreaming of a frontline of Messi, Ibrahimovic and Eto’o donning the white shirts of the Wanderers (but never Ronaldo) but this isn’t a dream. It’s an illustration of an alternate universe where Bolton’s season has not been derailed by a series of terrible injuries. I am using it to provide a context, but no excuses, about where Bolton are this season in this universe.
But if you subscribe to the theory of the multiplicity of alternate universes then you understand that just as there is an alternate universe where Bolton sit top of the league with the financial backing of an oil-rich magnate, where Burnden Park was expanded rather than knocked down, where Gary Megson is a good manager and a noble person, that there is a universe out there where Bolton beat West Brom this coming weekend, and ultimately stay in the Premier League. I just hope that that universe is this one.