Thank Christ Robbie Fowler missed that penalty against the Boro last May. Little did he, or I, know at the time what a massive favour he was doing for our club. If Robbie had shown the slightest glimmer of his famed killer instinct, as on display last Saturday, we would now surely be deep in the relegation mire. You only have to look at Boro this season, their squad and their current league position to see my point.
It?s fair to say that a successful season for Manchester City F.C. would have been a good cup run and a spot in the UEFA cup. The simple fact of the matter is we neither have the squad nor the resources to take on a European campaign and maintain a healthy league position. It will require a long period of hard work from Pearce to get us into any kind of shape to take on additional European commitments and this could not have been more evident than at the Reebok on Saturday.
Bolton have been working hard over the past few years to get to where they are today. Under the guidance of big Sam they have taken massive steps in cementing their place in the Premier League and brought with it the trappings of European football. Fair play to em?. Also, on this evidence, I for one can?t understand why they get slaughtered for their style of play. I thought they played some good stuff, passed the ball well and professionally killed the game off in the second half.
In Stelios, they have a great little player who is good on the ball, pops up in the area in dangerous positions and can put a great ball in. In Campo they have a player of great technique, as you?d expect for a former Real Madrid employee, and a passing range far beyond that of anyone in the current City squad (and he?s not even a first team regular). Finally, in Nolan, they have a captain that drives the team forward, dominates the midfield and scores goals. We were comprehensively beaten by a team who were missing the likes of Diouf, Speed and Okhocha. And we have aspirations of playing in European competition?
We had 10 complete no shows on Saturday. Only Trev, who has proved me wrong so far this season, can come out this game with any credit. He provided our only option in the attacking third of the field and fully earned his yellow card. I don?t normally condone dirty tackles, but on this occasion at least Trev showed some fight and let the Bolton back four know they?ve been in a game.
Defensively, individually and as unit, we were poor. Jordan was worryingly exposed by Kevin ?Greased Lightening? Davies and Dunnie, probably still below par to be fair, was guilty of a howler for the second and killer goal.
In midfield it was a similar story if not worse. Barton seems to have England aspirations but on this show Nolan, let alone Lamps or Stevie G, will not be losing any sleep. He gave the ball away on regular occasions, failed to get close to his opposite number and stamp any authority on the game. Stevie Ireland, it?s safe to say, had a ?mare and probably his worst game in blue shirt. At most clubs, Ireland would have been blooded over a number of seasons and moulded from the raw talent he is today to a competent midfielder. However, as with a lot of the young talent at our place, they are thrown in at the deep end due to the lack of quality senior professionals and almost always sink under the weight of expectation from the blue hordes. Reira will take a while to adapt to the English game, so the jury is still out. That said, I think he lacks the pace to become a hit in the premier league, but we will see.
Finally, up front. Vas and Cole looked like two strangers and nothing they tried came off. Admittedly, they had little service, and when they did it was dire, but there is no excuse for their combined poor ball control. I was convinced Saturday was the first time either of em? had seen a football.
So, a thoroughly depressing day all round and a real wake up call bringing us all back to earth with an almighty thump. The derby result aside, we are on a terrible run and Psycho, as he stated, needs to get us back to basics and make us hard to beat. Hopefully, they?ll be a few new faces in by the end of the week, which will no doubt stoke up the European talk again if we can string a few results together. However, I really don?t think the squad is strong enough and to risk our Premiership status for the opportunity to play some bum Latvian side would be an act of total lunacy.
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