Bolton in the Eye of the Beholder

Everyone in football knows what a brilliant job Sam Allardyce has done at Bolton Wanderers with extremely modest resources. They’re highly organised, motivated, committed and effective but unfortunately they don’t ‘do’ entertainment – except for those who are very easy to entertain.

And even the elegant presence of Nicolas Anelka and occasional flashes of past genius from Campo cannot disguise the fact that this is a side who are predominantly well-drilled (with Sam as chief driller), ultra-competitive (to put it mildly) and utterly ruthless – not to mention a mile or two at least from the beautiful game.

They routinely protest that they are much maligned, but they have players who can never justifiably claim to be more sinned against than sinning. Sam’s much loved Opta Index is liable to confirm that Kevin Davies is what the cynics have described as the ‘supreme fouling machine’ – and virtually every foul is contested. Diouf, the saliva king, has talent but so little class he seems to spit even when he speaks. And in the comprehensive defeat against Liverpool, Faye was so far into Graham Poll’s face when he protested a decision it was a miracle he escaped a red card.

It would be interesting to see what Bolton might achieve if they tried to play a little more and bully a little less. But please, don’t hold your breath.