• Saturday, October 15, 2011
• Venue: The DW Stadium
• Attendance: 17,261
• Referee: Mike Dean

• Nigel Reo-Coker [4]
• Darren Pratley [23]
• Mohamed Diame [40]
• Franco Di Santo [45+1]
• David Ngog [45+3]
• Paul Robinson [63]
• Dedryck Boyata [67]
• Maynor Figueroa [71]
• Gary Caldwell [73]
• Kevin Davies (penalty miss) [73]
• Antolin Alcaraz [79]
• Martin Petrov [82]
• Chris Eagles [90+2]

Bolton Wanderers lifted themselves off the bottom with a deserved win away to Wigan. Loosing every Premier match since the first game of the season had left Bolton languishing at the bottom of the league. A two week break after the arduous defeats gave manager Owen Coyle a chance to imbue the squad with confidence and enthusiasm.

Reo-Coker and David Ngog ensured that The Wanderers were ahead at half-time — Diame’s super equaliser seemingly a minor setback in Owen Coyle’s plans. Chris Eagles ended a nail-biting second half in which Wigan fought to find another equaliser. The fans’ nerves could should have been settled with less than 20 minutes to go but Ali Al-Habsi saved his former team-mate’s effort from the penalty spot.

A drama-filled match which served as a morale booster for players and fans alike.

After Bolton’s victory Owen Coyle said;

“I thought we were terrific from the first whistle to the last. We scored three goals and, if the truth be told, we could have had five or six.

“It was never going to be easy – Wigan have a good squad and players like Di Santo, Rodallega and Moses have real quality. We had to make sure we played to our maximum and we did that.

“We trained very well over the last two weeks, coming off a difficult set of fixtures. We made the most of the international break, working at a high intensity in training and all I asked of the players before today’s game was to replicate that in the match.”

Full match reports can be found at BBC Sport, the official BWFC website or ESPN’s SoccerNet.

Meanwhile, Ivan Klasnic was probably pleased not to have been part of Croatia’s clash with Greece that saw riotous scenes amongst fans. Greece beat Croatia 2-0, however, Croatia still can still qualify for Euro 2012 and face Latvia on Tuesday.

Goalkeeper Adam Bogdan watched from the subs bench as Hungary beat Moldova 0-2 and unsigned Gabor Kirarly showed the Wanderer how to keep a clean sheet. Hungary take on Finland but neither nation will be at next year’s European Championship.

Wales beat Switzerland in Swansea last night, 2-0. Wales manager and former Wanderer Gary Speed spoke of “nail-biting” match against, “the best team we’ve played.”

Recently not only did Cahill play his part in two successive clean sheets for England he scored one of the three goals against Bulgaria. England will be looking for another clean sheet as that would guarantee them a place in the Euro 2012 finals.

Good luck to Gary and the rest of the England squad, even if some of them have added to Bolton’s current misery.

Ivan Klasnic (Croatia) and Adam Bogdan (Hungary) have also been called up for international duty for the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Duty calls for Under 21 international squad members too. Mark Connolly (Republic of Ireland), Gael Kakuta (France) and Dedryck Boyata (Belgium) are all in with a chance to represent their country for the U21 2013 European Championship qualifiers.

Finally former Wanderer Gary Speed, manager of Wales, will face Switzerland and Bulgaria in Group G of the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Good luck to Gary Speed and all six Bolton Wanderers players on their travels.

• Saturday, October 2, 2011
• Venue: The Reebok Stadium
• Attendance: 24,657
• Referee: Peter Walton

• Daniel Sturridge [2]
• David Ngog [10]
• Frank Lampard [15]
• Daniel Sturridge [25]
• Frank Lampard [27]
• Dedryck Boyata [46]
• Frank Lampard [59]
• David Luiz [61]
• John Terry [79]

Not so long ago Daniel Sturridge was helping Bolton Wanderers climb the league, his return to north left The Trotters firmly at the bottom.

While Bolton began the day at the bottom of the league any hopes of letting another club have a turn on the bottom rung soon evaporated as the former Wanderer took the visitors ahead after 90 seconds. With only 15 minutes on the clock Frank Lampard doubled the lead. The short history of the match repeated itself with the two goal scorers apparently taking turns to embarrass goalkeeper Bogdan to make the score a shameful 0-4 within half and hour.

After half-time Boyata took just 54 seconds to offer a glimmer of hope for Bolton. Optimism levels around the ground rose slightly but soon took a dive when Lampard completed a hat-trick just before an hour’s play. Beyond that Bolton did just enough to prevent their goal difference becoming a very negative teen.

Once again loosing was not altogether surprising but the margins that Bolton have lost by is a worrying factor that needs to be addressed.

Let’s stay optimistic though. Looking at the league after today’s match it is obvious that Bolton are struggling and look to be destined for The Championship. I am sure that Owen Coyle will not want to show his face at Turf Moor as the manager of the team he left Burnley for.

As the poet John Cooper Clarke once wrote:

I’ll tell you now and I’ll tell you firmly
I don’t never want to go to Burnley
What they do there don’t concern me
Why would anybody make the journey?

Full match reports are available from the BBC and the official Bolton Wanderers website.

The news soon broke after he tweeted:

“Floored, devastated, gutted, just a few words I can think of. I will continue to fight and I’m ready for another tough journey…..”

Bolton’s manager Owen Coyle spoke of Stuart’s unfortunate predicament saying:

“It is a big, big blow for Stuart, because he has worked so hard after he sustained the injury, but obviously the most important aspect is to ensure Stuart’s well being and that’s what we are focused on.

“He went for the procedure and it was picked up that the cartilage was damaged and needed to be repaired, which has now happened, and we will now support Stuart as he begins his recovery.”

Stuart, a keen Twitter user, also shared a photo of himself with fans when his younger brother Euan (currently with Stockport County) visited him in hospital.

You can follow Stuart Holden on Twitter along with BWFC24.

• Saturday, September 24, 2011
• Venue: The Emirates Stadium
• Attendance: 59,727
• Referee: Mark Clattenburg

• Robin van Persie [46]
• David Wheater [54]
• Gretar Steinsson [58]
• Robin van Persie [71]
• Alex Song [89]

Bolton Wanderers fail to make a good impression at The Emirates.

Full match reports are available from the BBC and the official Bolton Wanderers website.

League Cup, Third Round

Major changes for BWFC did the trick

• Sunday, September 20, 2011
• Venue: Villa Park
• Attendance: 22,261
• Referee: Darren Deadman

• Gary Cahill [39]
• Chris Eagles [54]
• Gael Kakuta [77]
• Barry Bannan [86]

Bolton Wanderers book their place into the fourth round of the League Cup with a pleasing win away from home.

Summer signings Chris Eagles and Gael Kakuta scored in the second half of the match which saw nine changes in the starting 11 which lost against Norwich City. A clean sheet for Adam Bogdan and a full 90 minutes for Stuart Holden could only add to the positivity felt by the club and fans alike.

Full match reports are available from the BBC and the official Bolton Wanderers website.

• Saturday, September 17, 2011
• Venue: The Reebok
• Attendance: 21,223
• Referee: Howard Webb

• Jussi Jaaskelainen [9]
• Anthony Pilkington [37]
• Bradley Johnson [42]
• Ivan Klasnic [45+2]
• Nigel Reo-Coker [53]
• Martin Petrov (Pen) [64]
• Paul Robinson [80]
• Grant Holt [90+3]

Home to Premier League newcomers Norwich may have been thought as an easy three-pointer for Bolton, but such results should not be taken for granted.

Norwich scored two goals from set pieces towards the end of the first half but Bolton’s misery was compounded when Howard Webb showed Ivan Klasnic the red card for Marc Tierney’s overacting to what was more of a nod of the head than a headbutt. Some might argue that the red card was justified because of intent but a consistent referee would have at least booked (if not red-carded) Leon Barnett after poleaxing Klasnic in the head with his arse earlier in the game.

With Petrov scoring from the spot, after a Barnett fouled David N’gog. Newcomer N’gog almost got Bolton’s equaliser in the last few seconds of the match but his close range headed attempt was parried by Ruddy for The Trotter’s last corner.

This was Bolton’s third defeat in a row — their emphatic win at Loftus Road seems so very long ago.

Full match reports are available from the BBC and the official Bolton Wanderers website.

• Saturday, September 10, 2011
• Venue: The Reebok
• Attendance: 25,944
• Referee: Andre Marriner

• Javier Hernandez [5]
• Kevin Davies [13]
• Mark Davies [13]
• Wayne Rooney [20]
• Wayne Rooney [25]
• Javier Hernandez [58]
• Wayne Rooney [68]

Another home defeat for Bolton Wanderers — is the season over already for The Trotters? Let’s try to remain optimistic.

While Bolton drift towards the bottom of the Premier League remember that their first few fixtures have been against some of the most consistent clubs in England. Winning on the first day of the season against QPR was not entirely surprising, but neither is loosing to Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United. Loosing, so far, is not the main problem — it is the 11 goals in 3 matches that ought to be ringing alarm bells all around The Reebok. Something needs to be altered so The Wanderers can at least keep a clean sheet when Norwich City travel north new weekend.

So defenders, “Where are you? Where are you? Come on! Let’s be ‘avin’ you!”

Full match reports are available from the BBC and the official Bolton Wanderers website.

• Saturday, August 27, 2011
• Venue: Anfield
• Attendance: 44,725
• Referee: Lee Probert

• Jordan Henderson[15]
• Gretar Steinsson [44]
• Ivan Klasnic [49]
• Martin Skrtel[52]
• Charlie Adam [53]
• Ivan Klasnic [90+2]

Bolton Wanderers fail to impress their travelling fans. Not even a late Ivan Klasnic goal could console fans after Liverpool took the three points with apparent ease to take them to the top of The Premier League. Bolton’s performance was a prime example of too little, too late.

Full match reports are available from the BBC and the official Bolton Wanderers website.