When Bolton paid a club record fee of £8.2 million for the Swedish striker Johan Elmander, a few eyebrows were raised. Yet, the former Toulouse striker had been one of the most consistent players in the French league during his time for the Téfécé and had built a reputation as a creative deep lying centre […]

There are green shoots of recovery around the Reebok Stadium, after several winters of discontent under Gary Megson. With Owen Coyle's arrival, suddenly Bolton Wanderers are playing football again and trying to win games, rather than bore teams to death and hoof it skywards. Megson's long ball banality has no place in modern football and […]

In a strange yet understandable move, Hull City Chairman Adam Pearson has removed Phil Brown from his position as manager at the struggling side. It strikes me as strange as Brown has been moved on after an impressive, if limited, performance against Arsenal on Saturday. Removal after the dismal showing against Everton the week previously […]

Watching the entertaining match Tuesday night between Bolton and Hull City, the thought crossed my mind that being the manager of Bolton Wanderers was the least desirable job in the entire Premier League. Little did I know that less than 24 hours later Gary Megson would be sacked as the gaffer. The only Premier League […]

Well you've got to hand it to him, Gary Megson must have the thickest skin in professional football. I've seen him barracked by his own fans at 4 different clubs over the years and that's some going, even in the fickle world of the football supporter. At a Nottingham Forest game, I saw fans come […]

The two big stories this weekend not related to Manchester United's getting the first leg of the quadruple would have to be events that transpired at the Riverside and at the Emirates Stadium. We'll start with Liverpool because after such a great result midweek against Real Madrid, their loss at the Riverside defied belief. And […]

The question I am posing is looking purely at what the UEFA Cup means to clubs from the English Premier League. Judging by recent participants and how they have fared, it appears to feature very low on most Premiership clubs’ list of priorities. Before the profile of the European Cup was sufficiently raised and rebranded […]

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 […]

It took a little time, but the Champions League Final is heading to Wembley Stadium. It took a little extra time, and a vote by parliament to exempt tax rules on players who would play in the final, for Wembley to get the final that will be played in 2011. What it also means is […]

If there is one story that I want to just be over and never have to hear about again, the Carlos Tevez saga with West Ham United and Sheffield United would be that story. When I first read that the FA and the Premier League were going to reopen the case against West Ham and […]

Who'll be the first manager of the new season to get sacked?
( polls)

The Independent newspaper has publicly acknowledged that it got its facts wrong in a story about the future of Bolton manager Gary Megson, which was originally published on April 8, 2008. The newspaper originally wrote that the club was "planning an overhaul in its management structure and was set to appoint a coach to work […]