EPL Talk » Bolton Wanderers

EPL Great Escapes

Tom Mallows — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:45:01 +0000

It’s that time of year again, where nerves are shredded, nails are bitten and the relegation trapdoor gets ever closer.

But for those fans of teams at the bottom of the EPL there is hope.

I had a dig round the archives and have found some examples of teams who looked dead and buried, but somehow found Premier League salvation.

Feel free to add your examples – I would be interested to hear your experiences of ‘great escapes’.

But for now here is a few I found (in no particular order!):

Everton 1993-94
A 3-0 defeat to Leeds the previous week had plunged Everton into the drop zone and Mike Walker’s men went into the last game of the season at home to Wimbledon knowing that even a win might not be good enough.
Things got worse for the Toffees when the Crazy Gang went 2-0 up after just 20 minutes. Everton battled their way back to level terms through a Graham Stuart penalty and a Barry Horne stunner, but with nine minutes of the season to go they were still down.
Salvation arrived however in the shape of former Chelsea man Stuart, who sidefooted home his second of the game to save the Blues and condemn Sheffield United, who were losing at Chelsea, to the drop.

Oldham 1992-93
Joe Royle’s Oldham had to win three games in seven days and hope either Crystal Palace or Sheffield United lost their last two fixtures in order to stay up. The problem was that the first of those three games was away to Aston Villa, who had to win to keep their title challenge alive. Oldham stunned Ron Atkinson’s men by grabbing the only goal which handed Man United the title and gave them hope of survival.
When a resurgent Sheff United won at Everton on the Tuesday, the survival battle was down to two – Oldham or Palace. A day later Royle’s men beat Liverpool 3-2 at Boundary Park, while Palace drew 0-0 at Manchester City – setting up a last day scrap. If Oldham won and Palace lost, Oldham were safe and Palace were down. On the final day Palace lost 3-0 away at Arsenal meaning a win for Oldham over Southampton would see them safe. It would become an early Premier League classic which swung either way but one that Oldham eventually triumphed 4-3 – despite Matt Le Tissier grabbing a hat-trick. Oldham were back from the brink while Palace were down and stunned.

West Brom 2004/05
The Baggies defied the odds in 2005 by becoming the first-ever Premier League side to be bottom at Christmas and avoid the drop.
An excellent performance and point at Old Trafford in the penultimate week of the season set up a last day decider where three out of four sides could go down. Even then The Baggies knew a win might not be enough and began the final day in the relegation zone. They claimed a 2-0 win over Portsmouth at The Hawthorns thanks to goals from Geoff Horsfield and on-loan Kieran Richardson. Elsewhere Charlton’s late 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace relegated The Eagles and defeats for Norwich and Southampton also condemned them to the drop.

West Ham 2006/07
In a season dogged by controversy West Ham somehow avoided the drop thanks to a last day win at over Man United at Old Trafford. But that isn’t the only story. The controversial signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano the previous August broke Premier League rules over third party ownership yet the Hammers avoided a points deduction. With Alan Pardew’s men staring relegation in the face Tevez proved the inspiration for a late surge of form which dragged them to safety and relegated Sheffield United, who lost 2-1 at home to Wigan on the last day. The Blades later sued The Hammers, claiming the illegal signing of Tevez was the main reason they stayed up at their expense. The claim was later settled out of court with West Ham agreeing to pay compensation.

Coventry 1996/97
Going into the last game of the 1996/97 season, Coventry were sitting in the final relegation spot of the Premiership and travelled to Spurs needing to win. Goals from Dion Dublin and Paul Williams gave The Sky Blues a 2-0 lead before Paul McVeigh’s effort on the stroke of half-time reduced the deficit. The hero of the day though was veteran ‘keeper Steve Ogrizovic who made some fantastic late saves as Coventry held on for the win which kept them up and relegated Sunderland

Everton (again) 1997/98
Everton once again found themselves needing a result on the last day against Coventry to keep them up. Needing to better Bolton’s result against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge them Toffees made the perfect start when Gareth Farrelly half-volleyed home from 25 yards. Dion Dublin’s late header made it a nervy finish at Goodison but two late goals for Chelsea condemned Bolton and kept Everton up on goal difference.

Fulham 2007/08
Fulham looked destined for the drop after a 3-1 defeat to Sunderland at the start of April. With three out of their four remaining games away from home, and the home clash being against Liverpool, the writing was on the wall – especially as Roy Hodgson’s men hadn’t won away from Craven Cottage since September 2006.
But three away wins, at Reading, Man City and Portsmouth on the final day, completed a miraculous escape, sending Reading and Birmingham down instead.

Bolton Wanderers Push For Two Tier Premiership

Paul Bestall — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:20:38 +0000

Well interesting news has appeared this morning as Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside’s has put forward a proposal to increase the Premiership to two leagues of 18 teams with 14 clubs from the Championship and Rangers and Celtic. The proposal is to be put before the Premier League at their meeting this Thursday and it raises some interesting points. Gartside cites a wider audience with the addition of Scottish clubs, fresher players as 4 games a season would be cut from the league campaign and the old chestnut of benefiting the England national side. You know, the reason that the Premiership was set up for in the first place. The amount of International trophies that England have won since 1992 is simply staggering isn’t it?

Firstly, the addition of Rangers and Celtic to the Premier League has long been mooted as a situation of when rather than how but to get there they need the permission of the Scottish FA, The Football League, The Premier League and the biggest obstacle, UEFA. Now UEFA, when they’re not attacking the Premier League in thinly veiled xenophobic attacks, claim that no club should be able to play in a league outside their own country. That would be fine if the precedent wasn’t already in place.

With Platini being a Frenchmen, you’d think he’d know that his arguement is flawed, or can he not remember where Monaco is? What about Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Colwyn Bay, Newport County and Methyr Tydfil, all members of the English pyramid system but all Welsh clubs. Technically, Barcelona, Espanyol and Valencia play in the Spanish League but are based in Catalonia and Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao represent the Basque region. UEFA may push the point but they’re argument is already flawed by the teams mentioned above.

To get the motion passed, 14 clubs need to vote in agreement on the proposal, which is where I think the issue may fall down. Can we honestly see The Premierships big four, plus Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City voting for less money? Whilst the games would reduce, so would the money, but then again, for teams that drop out of the Premiership or face the real possibility of relegation, would you rather get £30 million a year than the current two year parachute payments of £11.5 million that clubs currently get.

The other worrying issue is how would the remaining 14 places be decided? Would it be a straight situation of the top 14 sides out of the Championship? What if some of the larger sides miss out due to league position when the cut off is made. If it happened tomorrow there would be some famous names missing out again, but then again what about Leicester City and Leeds United?

When the Premier League began, way back in the 1992-1993 season, Notts County and Luton Town, both missed out due to relegation but had resigned their memberships from the Football League in 1991 when the plan was concluded. Ironically, neither has ever returned to the top tier since, Luton Town in fact have just been relegated out of the Football League, due to a draconian points deduction that didn’t penalise the perpetrators, just the club.

What would happen if clubs resigned their membership from the Football League, only to finish outside the 14 team cut off. Or worryingly, would the Premier League court the 14 biggest clubs not in the Premiership to make up the new league? What would happen to the Football League and the Football Conference? Why only have Rangers and Celtic, when you could argue Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen could therotically add more to the mix than Burnley?

That would be a worrying event, which could lead to a dangerous precedent. Why not simply block clubs from promotion if they weren’t “big” enough? If they didn’t sell enough merchandise or their viewing figures deemed not large enough. Would the Premier League finally become the monster that some people always feared it would and simply banish relegation from it and have caveats for promotion. When I first read about the proposal this morning, I was sure it would fail. Now, I’m not so sure, in football, nothing surprises me when money is involved.

Benitez and Mowbray’s Words Fail to Show Up on the Pitch

Johnathan Starling — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:22:59 +0000

You would think Rafa Benitez would have already learned his lesson. Instead Rafa is left to choke on more words, and a title dream lost.

Before Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City, Rafa reacted to Arsene Wenger’s comments that Manchester United were untouchable. “I can only talk of my team but I don’t think they are untouchable. In football now every game is tough so anything can happen. We have reduced the gap very well and want to reduce it more. It will be difficult but if we’re in the same position going to Old Trafford maybe that could be important”, came the words of Rafa Benitez. Now the gap is seven and even winning at Old Trafford guarantees nothing for Rafa.

Why Rafa took the bait on what was such an innocent comment from Wenger defies belief. Instead of focusing on what Rafa was going to do without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres in the lineup to get three points at home against a Manchester City side that had not done much away from Eastlands this year, or even worrying about signing a new contract, Rafa decides that his vendetta against Sir Alex Ferguson is just that more important.

With Real Madrid hitting a bit of form, Liverpool have a bigger fight on their hands in the round of sixteen of the Champions League than even I expected a month ago. Should Liverpool not advance out of the Champions League, will their season truly be over with before March tenth?

Rafa may have finally admitted that the title race has slipped away from Liverpool, but it’s too late for that. He may have seen these tricks work when he managed at Valencia, but Rafa can’t fool the man who let’s the football do the talking first…then the man.

One person I never expected to come out with an almighty rant would be Tony Mowbray. The manager who’s side has been rooted at the bottom for a good portion of this season decides that before West Brom’s visit to Fulham to take a swipe at, of all things, Match of the Day. Not the show itself, just those ’sofa pundits’ on it.

“I’ve got the world telling me I’m doing this wrong and that wrong, and playing the wrong formation. But I will stay single-minded and focused on what I believe in.

‘If the experts sitting on the sofas were good enough, they would all be doing this job themselves. Even when you get teams winning 10 games on the bounce, there are still people telling you that you are not doing something right.”

Mowbray’s West Brom then proceeded to see Fulham tear them apart in a match where 2-0 was too kind a scoreline. When that happens, those sofa pundits look like absolute geniuses. In the Championship, you can get away with single-minded tactics and thinking. In the Premier League, single-minded tactics and thinking see you relegated and begging for your job.

While I’m on the subject Mowbray, shouldn’t you be taking a little responsibility for how pathetic your teams have played? Shouldn’t you be putting the pressure on the players in private to up their standard instead of lashing out on pundits who are paid to do so (and seemingly doing a better job at pointing fingers than you are)?

There are winnable games in West Brom’s future, and now it’s the time for Tony Mowbray to show that he can adapt and be flexible. Single-minded football has been a losing proposition for West Brom so far, and sitting at the bottom of the table is not the time to be stubborn with what brought you up in the first place.

Other Stories
While not a Premier League story, credit has to go Joe Prodomo for keeping Weymouth from losing by 10 or more goals.

So Bolton Wanderers are denying rumors that Gary Megson will be sacked at the end of the season and replaced by Owen Coyle, Burnley manager. Okay I was alright up until the name Owen Coyle appeared. So Bolton want to replace a guy who currently is guiding Bolton into a mid-table finish with a guy who, while has Burnley in the playoff fight, has been proven nothing more than a cup specialist. Good going there Bolton management.

The last thing Everton needed was to see Mikel Arteta injured on Sunday.

Claudio Ranieri admitted that he fell asleep while watching Chelsea play Aston Villa ahead of Juve’s Champions League clash.

And Richard Scudamore has rejected the idea of a salary cap in the Premier League. All together now…WHAT A SHOCK!

Stoke City Benefit From The Chest of Johnson

Johnathan Starling — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:51:19 +0000

Stoke City or Portsmouth Fans Didn't See Much Football Today

For seventy minutes at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke City and Portsmouth football clubs were getting very close to contending for my ‘worst match ever watched’ title. The last twenty minutes redeemed it.

When it’s all said and done we will remember one thing from today’s match between Stoke City and Portsmouth, the penalty that should have never been given.

Just minutes after the incidental one-two Niko Kranjcar played with David Nugent to put Portsmouth ahead, Michael Jones calls a ridiculous penalty on Glen Johnson. Sol Campbell’s flick on put Johnson just out of position, but when he went to control the hand was never used, only the chest. The eyes deceived Jones and Stoke City were level, for all the wrong reasons.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear, this game deserved to end level. However in the events leading up to the goal, Portsmouth were edging their way into the ascendancy. Pompey were the ones who looked like they were going to steal three points. Only Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United have gotten the max at the loud and vocal Britannia.

How Portsmouth allowed Danny Pugh to get in that much space after Stoke went level is just beyond me. Even more so, how did James Beattie head that slow bouncing shot in? While I think Portsmouth were in the ascendancy in the build up to their first goal, they allowed one bad call to nearly give Stoke City another three points at home. Portsmouth in the end, were lucky to get a share of the spoils thanks to a poor Hermann Hreidarsson shot that ended up deflected in by Ryan Shawcross.

Michael Jones called an extremely soft game, one that a Premier League referee should not call. He left a card too many in his pocket, but didn’t leave the whistle down when he should have done so.

Other Thoughts From Today
I do feel sorry for Aston Villa. They deserved something from their game with Chelsea. If Arsenal wasn’t doing everything in their power to not climb into fourth, Aston Villa’s home form would be a worrying sight heading down the stretch.

For being unbeaten in twelve, would you want six of those to be draws? Would you want the last three to be nil draws? Then again when looking at the lineup, the only two names that struck fear were Andrei Arshavin and Robin Van Persie. Arshavin I feel was subbed off too soon (maybe over cautious by Wenger after what happened to Eduardo on Monday), Robin Van Persie was kept in check all afternoon.

Bolton will have a few weeks to breathe away from the relegation zone after getting two quick goals in the first half, putting West Ham away. West Ham though looked like they could have went a month without getting an equalizer.

So Manchester United have finally given up a goal in the league. However with Edwin Van der Sar not in goal, how soon will we grow old of hearing about ‘Van der Sar’s streak’ instead of the one Manchester United had for so long? Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick that proved the difference was simply sensational.

In This Year’s Relegation Battle, No One Is Safe

Dave Warner — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:30:50 +0000

The beauty of the Premier League is that there are always three distinct races within the table, and after 23 rounds of this Premier League season, none of those races are decided.

In the race for first place, only two points separate top-of-the-table Manchester United from Liverpool and Chelsea, while Aston Villa is only three points off the lead. Villa, however, is five points ahead of a struggling Arsenal side in the battle for the fourth place and the final Champions League bid. Only a late goal by Robin Van Persie at Goodison park kept Arsenal five points ahead of Everton for the UEFA Cu… *ahem* Europa League bid.

The real story, however, is the relegation battle, and it would appear this battle is currently being fought by everyone else in the league.

Only five points separates 11th place from 18th place, and the bottom eight clubs are within three points of each other. One win could lift any of the current cellar dwellers three places out of the drop zone, and a couple of losses could put anyone in bottom half of the table in jeopardy.

Even 1oth-place Hull City, the early season Cinderellas, are only 6 points clear and not out of the woods yet. Perhaps this is why Phil Brown made his team sit outside during halftime at Manchester City. He knows as well as anyone that a few more 4-0 halves could put his club right next to West Brom and Stoke City, Hull’s promotion partners, in the drop zone.

Manchester City, meanwhile, is only a point ahead of Hull, and it only took them three wins out of four to get there from 17th place. Plus, if West Ham is unable to find a buyer and goes into administration, 10 points will be deducted from their total, putting them only one point clear of the drop. So that’s as many as 13 clubs out of 2o in danger of being relegated this year.

The end result is that half this weekend’s matches are relegation six-pointers:

Middlesbrough v. Blackburn
Bolton v. Tottenham Hotspur
Fulham v. Portsmouth
Hull v. West Brom
Newcastle v. Sunderland

This probably won’t be the last time this season that we see five relegation six-pointers in one weekend. If Man City slips or if West Ham goes into administration, we could easily see six relegation six-pointers in one weekend.

So if you think you can pick which three clubs will fall back into the fizzy drink mixer at season’s end, chances are you’ll be wrong. This battle is as wide open as it’s ever been, and every goal and every victory will matter that much more. It does beg the question, though — would the Premier League still be as exciting if 13 clubs had a shot at the Champions League right now?