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DATE: Sunday
23rd October 2005
MATCH PREVIEW BY: Dale Brookes So here we are ready to take on
Bolton, hopefully we can continue where we left off after that
fantastic victory at home to Arsenal last weekend. It’s a game I believe
we can win if we show the never say die spirit and attitude that was shown
against the Gunners. I really hope Robson sticks with the same eleven
because that team battled tremendously and surely it has to be given a
second chance? Steve Watson as I said in my last match report was
outstanding in midfield and in my view that is his best position so it
will be interesting to see if he keeps his place there especially if
Zoltan Gera is fit to return. So prediction time
then and I have a funny feeling we will repeat what we did last time around
at the Reebok Stadium and come home with a 1-1 draw. Now I’ll certainly
settle for that. COME ON YOU BAGGIES!!! ALBION
BOLTON WANDERERS
THIS SEASON
Bolton
currently lie in 7th place in the Premiership with 14 points
from nine games. They have reached the second round of the UEFA Cup after
beating Lokomotiv Plovdiv over two legs in the 1st round. Kevin Nolan is the club's leading scorer with three
league and cup goals. Sam Allardyce's men have lost their last two league
games, 2-1 away at Wigan Athletic and 5-1 away at Chelsea. LAST SEASON Finished 6th in
the Barclays Premiership. Knocked out of the FA Cup in the quarter finals by
Arsenal and
beaten in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup by Tottenham Hotspur. Kevin
Davies and El Hadji Diouf finished the season as Bolton's top goalscorers
with nine league and cup goals each. THE MANAGER Born in Dudley in
1954, Sam Allardyce began his playing career at Bolton Wanderers, signing
apprentice forms for them in 1969 before signing professional for them in
1971. He made his league debut for the club in 1973 and would spend
another seven years there, making over 200 appearances before moving to
Sunderland in 1980 for a fee of £150,000. His spell at Roker Park was
short lived, lasting just one full season before he moved onto Millwall.
After two years in London Sam then had short spells at Tampa Bay Rowdies,
Coventry City and Huddersfield Town before returning 'home' to Bolton. He
made just 14 appearances during his second spell at Burnden Park before
moving onto Lancashire rivals Preston North End where he would spend three
years. His next move
would see him enter coaching for the first time, moving to West Brom in
1989 as player/reserve team coach under Brian Talbot. He would make just
one appearance for the club before he lost his job, along with Talbot in
January 1991 following the Woking debacle. After leaving The Hawthorns Sam
finished his playing career with a second spell at Preston for whom he was
also a coach.
His first
managerial job came with
Limerick,
in the Irish league where he spent a year before taking
his first manager's job in England, at Blackpool in 1994. Despite taking
the Tangerines into the play-offs in 1996 Sam lost his job and was
replaced by Gary Megson. A short spell as youth coach at
Sunderland followed before in January 1997 he took over at Notts County
following the dismissal of Steve Thompson. Already bottom of the league
when he took over Sam could not prevent County from suffering relegation but
the following season he was to lead them back up into the Second Division as
champions.
His work at County did not go unnoticed and in October 1999 he resigned his
job at Meadow Lane to take over at Bolton.
In his first
season at Bolton he led the team to the play-off semi-finals where they were
beaten by Ipswich Town. The 2000/01 season saw Wanderers once again in the
play-offs, this time they saw off the challenge of Albion in the semi-finals
before beating Preston at the Millennium Stadium to earn a place in the
Premiership. Since attaining Premiership
status for the club Sam has continually defied the critics, Bolton are now
firmly established in the Premiership, finishing in their highest ever
Premiership position of 6th in 2005 thus meaning UEFA Cup qualification.
SQUAD LIST (Squad numbers in brackets)
Goalkeepers:
Ian Walker (12) Defenders: Midfielders: Strikers: ONES
TO WATCH
El Hadji Diouf - A pacy striker who can also
play as a wide man, is excellent in the air as
well as being good on the floor.
Jay-Jay Okocha - Always likely to pick a pass,
the playmaker seems to have
x-ray vision at times. Has also got a thunderous shot on him,
particularly dangerous outside the box. Jared Borgetti
- Is excellent at getting into goalscoring positions
as well as being strong and able to hold the ball up. Has a real eye for
goal when the ball is at his feet. THE GROUND After spending 102 years at
Burnden Park Bolton moved to the brand new Reebok Stadium in 1997. The stadium currently has a capacity of 28,723. The record attendance for the
ground was set in December 2003 when 28,353 attended Wanderers'
Premiership game against Leicester City. A number of photos of the ground
can be found
here
The following two seasons saw
30 goals scored in the four meetings between the two clubs. In 1889/90 the
Baggies won their home game 6-3, Tom Pearson hit three goals for Albion
and so became the first ever player to score a hat-trick in a league game
for the club. The return game at Wanderers' Pike's Lane ground saw Albion
go down 7-0, the result remains Bolton's best ever victory over Albion.
The 1890/91 season saw another two high scoring games, both of them wins
for the Lancashire side. In the first game at Stoney Lane in November
Bolton triumphed 4-2 before winning the return game in March 7-1.
Albion's biggest win over Bolton came in December 1900,
Albion running out 7-2 winners at The Hawthorns, Dick Roberts grabbing a
hat-trick. Other big wins for Albion include 6-2 and 5-4, both achieved in
1962 and 5-2 in 1893.
Albion's last victory at Bolton came in December 2000
when a goal from Jason Roberts was enough to give the visitors a 1-0
victory.
Bolton have yet to beat Albion in the Premiership, three
of the last four meetings ending 1-1 whilst Albion picked up a 2-1 victory
at The Hawthorns in October 2004, Kanu and Zoltan Gera the Albion scorers.
LAST MEETING AT THE REEBOK STADIUM
Bolton Wanderers
1-1 Albion
Bolton Wanderers:
Poole, Hunt, Jaidi, N'Gotty, Gardner, Campo, Nolan, Okocha, Speed, Diouf,
Davies (Vaz Te 57). Subs
not used: Oakes (gk),
Pedersen, Hierro, Ben Haim Goalscorer:
Diouf
85
Albion:
Hoult, Scimeca, Purse, Clement, Robinson, Gera, Wallwork, Johnson,
Greening (Albrechtsen 82), Kanu (Earnshaw 66), Horsfield (Hulse 80).
Subs not used:
Kuszczak (gk), Koumas
Goalscorer: Gera 13
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Assistant Referees: Paul Canadine (South Yorkshire), Ceri Richards
(Carmarthenshire)
Half-Time:
Bolton Wanderers
0-1 Albion
Attendance: 25,205
Conditions: Heavy rain and
strong winds A
late effort from El Hadji Diouf rescued a point for Bolton and heaped more
misery on West Brom as they once again threw away a lead inside the final five
minutes. Zoltan Gera had given Robson’s men the perfect start when he
struck a neat right footed shot into the bottom corner of the net in the
12th minute. Former
Wigan man Horsfield could well have put the game beyond doubt even
before half-time but he somehow miscued his one on one effort with keeper
Jaaskelainen. That enabled Wanderers to push and push for an equaliser
which eventually arrived four minutes from the end thanks to Diouf who
sent the Baggies back to the
West Midlands with only a point when it could have been
all three.
CURRENT CONNECTIONS
Wanderers' manager and former player Sam Allardyce
spent 18 months at The Hawthorns as reserve team boss under Brian Talbot.
He also made a solitary appearance in Albion's first team.
Albion keeper Russell Hoult spent a short spell on loan
at Bolton in 1993 whilst at Leicester City.
Bolton's goalkeeping coach Fred Barber held the same
position at The Hawthorns until he was replaced last year by Joe
Corrigan.
PAST CONNECTIONS
Amongst the
players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Peter
Barnes, Len Cantello, Franz Carr, Barry Cowdrill, David Cross, Julian
Darby, Fabian DeFreitas, Andy Dibble, Carsten Fredgaard, Asa Hartford,
Tony Kelly, Harry Kinsell, Fred Shinton, Barry Siddall, Richard Sneekes,
Bob Taylor, John Thomas and Gavin Ward
Albion coach from 1979-81 Mick Brown also coached at
Bolton from 1989-92
ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS BOLTON WANDERERS LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST BOLTON WANDERERS
Tickets are no longer available from The Hawthorns but fans will be able to buy tickets from the Reebok Stadium ticket office until kick-off on Sunday. Albion have been allocated 1,779 tickets in the upper tier, priced £32 adults, £22 concessions and £16 concessions. |
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Both Albion and Bolton Wanderers were founder members of the
Football League and the first league meeting of the two club's came during
the competition's inaugral season in 1888/89. The first game between the
two sides came at Stoney Lane on Bonfire Night and ended with Bolton
recording a 5-1 victory, the legendary Billy Bassett scoring Albion's
solitary goal. The return game 12 days later in Lancashire saw Albion gain
some revenge by picking up a 2-1 victory.
