itk_FACT

I'm still worried about Keane. Come on boys, no injury time jitters please...

Nolan subbed. I could tell it was going to be him before Jack Dearden said because of the 'ironic' cheers. Has this really been his 'best performance of the season' as they've repeatedly said? Berbatov's been subbed too which I'm happy about.

Not many on here cared about poor performances in previous seasons as we were getting results. And an away draw is a decent result. Of the 5 British teams who played in the UEFA Cup on Thursday ours was the second best result. (The performance did sound abysmal though!) In terms of our dreadful defence, I think the club have seen that in previous season's we gambled on cheap inexperienced defenders from abroad, have had barely any defensive cover and got away with it. Diawara and Julio Cesar proved to be crap; Ben Haim & Laville were great. And we've had Pedersen, Charlton, Campo, J O'Brien playing out of position. This year I am again worried by the lack of quality and quantity, and the way things are going we'll be found out this season - if we haven't already. If Meite gets injured or when he gets suspended, who's going to play centre-back? Cid has started badly but we need him to adjust ASAP and I hope we see him in the League Cup and UEFA games getting some kind of form and confidence back.

we can win this...

I think I'd settle for a draw right now. YAY!!!!!!!

the media are entirely responsible for causing this widespread panic. wait a couple of weeks and buy some of their shares.

'our best defender' - this'll be the signing condemned as utterly naff by most on here a few weeks ago. things are not going well, but i'm still content to ride out the storm. i still expect a c.12th place finish and a decent cup run. we normally score; today was the first game in 23 we hadn't. once we protect the defence more we'll be fine. archie knox may have been here a fortnight but the players haven't. yes, ok, the international week has affected every premiership club. but i see today as an off-day and all teams experience a handful of these each season.

I spend a lot of time and money supporting Bolton and our players come first. I look out for how the likes of Jussi & Anelka get on first and foremost in international football. As for England, I weigh up how many players in the team I can tolerate before I bother to watch or support. Call me unpatriotic (and you'd be right) but why should I support the likes of Wayne Rooney or Gary Neville for instance just because they were born on the same piece of land as me, when I could happily spend 90 minutes at a United game screaming abuse at them. Yes, partly because they're primadonnas, but largely beacuse they're utter twhats.

Jaaskelainen O'Brien, O'Brien, Meite, Samuel Andranik, Teymourian, O'Brien El Hadji, Anelka, Diouf Subs - Al Habsi, Diop, Riquelme, Ronaldinho, O'Brien

Faye's a monster, he's intimidating and can head and kick the ball 70 yards. However he's no a world-beater - he played in central defence in our drubbings at Anfield, Riverside, Old Trafford and White Hart Lane earlier this year. Diop has a little more quality and finesse for me. But let's face it, we've already signed 6 midfielders this summer. Fingers crossed though...

That quote would have been one of Big Sam's methods to try to improve Hunt's game - by boosting his confidence and raising his self-belief. It's closely related to the 'encouragement' tactic fans of other clubs use.

I've been away for a week and cannot believe the sea change in posts from high optimism to utter despair. I had lower expectations of us this season (c.13th place and a decent cup run) but still expect us to achieve these. Here are some postives: * Scored in each game * Lee quick to change things & today replaced the 2 most ineffective players early; showed no sign of worry in post-match interviews * All sorts of attacking options at our disposal * Still not spent 'big money' on signings so we must have something in reserve for the rest of August & January * There's 35 games to go and we're 1 point from safety Remember there are a lot of new players. Not all of them will pay off but most will need time to gel. As for Cid, weren't you miserable lot quick to dismiss Meite as useless early last season? We've conceded too many goals but 2 were unfortunate deflections plus there was a goal that shouldn't have stood and a dodgy penalty thanks to today's rookie ref. Don't panic!

don't you mean: which pub in town is showing coverage of these hotel pranksters?

he was one of those players whose only opportunities were in low-key cup ties, but he seemed to impress wherever he went on loan. making figures up, i'd imagine a fifth of his potential transfer fee would equate to about 6 weeks' wages for anelka, so it'd be no major disappointment to me if there wasn't a sell-on clause. to answer your question - dunno. good luck this season & i'm looking forward to reading holloway's book.

i think it's too early to judge, but in the 3 and a bit games he played at the end of the season we conceded 10 goals.

thrashed, as usual! david lee being the best player again though i don't think he passed it all night. still, how can you expect our luminaries to compete with masters such as, er, neill rimmer and simon farnworth!!

23/04/83 Bolton 2 Cambridge 0 in the old Division 2. Our last win at that level for almost a decade. Dave Hoggan scored both!

is there now anything to read into allardyce bringing on cesar for his only appearance in the final minute of his last game in charge? why is the transfer of cesar implicated anyway? surely after the panorama show any subsequent bwfc transfer should have been whiter-than-white. in retrospect the israeli's should have paid us to take kaku!

Ah yes, we should go for a pint one day George. I can recall... Ronald KOEMAN, Matt HOLLAND, Robbie FOWLER, Chris MAKIN, Tommy ENGLISH, David CROSS Peter REID, Craig MOORE, Craig SHAKESPEARE, Mike JEFFREY, ?? ARCHER, Mark SERTORI

Shot in the buttocks I believe. Or in a buttock, more plausibly. We probably sent a scout to Gresty Rd to watch Varney. Luke, not Reg.

I agree with both of these comments!

Playing against Tevez on Saturday could be just what Hunt needs. His distribution is so poor that the Reading midfield barely bothered to close him down on Saturday. But where it matters - in the penalty area - he put in a couple of important blocks. He is good at defending. Being on the back foot and having a constant threat in his part of the pitch should keep him disciplined and cut down on his forays into the opposition's half. I'm more worried about left back!!!

this guy has been our best defender for the past couple of years. he's occasionally rash in picking up yellow cards but rarely makes mistakes. give him a new contract, let's have some stability in the side.

2. Crystal Palace, when Nolan bundled in the only goal and the linesman ajudged it had crossed the line. I think it was a Saturday lunchtime Sky game.