WanderingRed7

  Must Win Game? In the return to League action, Bolton Wanderers take on Port Vale at Vale Park this Saturday at 3:00pm. Bolton have not loss to Port Vale, in any competition, since December 2020 in a 9 goal thriller at Bolton, however Port Vale have scored first in 5/6 of the last games between the two clubs. Port Vale currently sit fourth in League One with 17 points, however their results make for very interesting reading: they lost on the opening day 7-0 away at Barnsley and since then haven't won a game by more than one goal.  On Tuesday night, Bolton played against Manchester United u21s in the EFL Trophy, playing a very strong team, and came home 8-1 winners (pain). Youth team players like Matheson, Khumbeni and Inwood all made appearances the first 2 scored, with Matheson also registering an assist. It was a great performance but the lack of rotation, ahead of a big game, is very interesting and possibly a mistake from Ian Evatt. Have the young players forced themselves ba

Another Red Card!   Bolton Wanderers took on Peterborough United, in  what was sure to be a very interesting fixture, both sides finished in the playoffs last season and will be targeting the same, if not more, this season. The game can't be completely analysed because of the red card to Bolton player, Gethin Jones, it is safe to say that it was a red card and really quite a nasty incident - you can view the tackle  here Statistical review Of course, the red card will have disrupted most of the statistics from the game and therefore I will take the majority of stats from the first half. The game was fairly even, with the possession stats completely even (50% each) and the total shots ranking in Peterborough's favour (6 for Bolton and 10 for Peterborough). Both teams only created 1 big chance, in the entire game, and they were both scored by Jonson Clarke-Harris and Victor Adeboyejo.  Clarke-Harris was particularly impressive for Peterborough: playing the full game, scoring 1, p

  Three points dropped Reading, despite playing in the Championship last season, were a team that Bolton need to be beating if they want to win the league, or even get promoted. However, they came out of this game with no points and some key players missing for the upcoming games. It is not a good situation for the Wanderers.  Statistical  review It was not the usual dominant performance from Bolton, possession-wise, and this is probably part of the reason why they lost the game; Bolton only had 51% possession at the end of the game, resulting in the ball stalling in the middle of the pitch for the majority of the game. For 44% of the match, the ball was in the middle third of the pitch and 28% in both of the other thirds - a very even game. Reading also had a lot more shots (18) than Bolton (10), having 7 on target (2 more than Bolton). The most interesting statistic for me is the total shots taken in an outside of the box for both teams: Bolton had 9 shots from inside the box and onl

  Football is back  The international break is over and Bolton return to action against Reading, away from home at the Select Car Leasing stadium. The afternoon kick-off on Saturday will pose an interesting test for Bolton because they were a Championship side last season but they had big financial problems and the squad has had mass overturn, with 12 players leaving on a permanent transfer and 13 players in on a permanent transfer. It's unclear how they will perform but they haven't had the best form so far.  Bolton team news Bolton go into this game with only one of their players definitely ruled out of the game, George Johnston - unfortunately the centre back will miss most of the season with his current injury. Coleman (gk) may also miss this game with the injury he picked up in the cup but his current fitness is unknown, however he may not be named on the bench even if he is fit. This means that Nathan Baxter will keep his place as the first choice goalkeeper, his performa

  Why Ian Evatt WILL be a Premier League manager This in-depth piece is a full analysis on Ian Evatt's managerial style, techniques and the challenges that he has faced along the way. This is in partnership with The Fanzone Podcast, who are a Bolton Wanderers fan podcast for the people, view their website  here .  Ian Evatt was a good footballer who played in all four professional divisions of English football, including the Premier League with Derby County and Blackpool. His last playing season was in the 17/18 League Two season with Chesterfield FC, he played a key part in that season, captaining the team stepping in as the caretaker manager for the end of the season. Unfortunately, they did get relegated but this was the start of Ian Evatt's managerial career. AFC Barrow Evatt was only out of work for one month before AFC Barrow came calling for his services, in the 17/18 Barrow avoided relegation to the national league north by just 1 point. AFC Barrow was also struggling f

  2 PENS 1 RED Bolton Wanderers vs Derby County promised to be a good battle with the current form of both sides and both targeting playoffs, at a minimum. The game saw 1 red card, for the Derby goalkeeper after a handball, and 2 penalties that were both fair to allow but Bolton came out on top in the end after a good performance before and after the opposition's red card.  Statistical overview  The stats show that Bolton dominated the game and it was amazing that they didn't score first, the total game saw Bolton control 71% of possession and take 7 more shots. However, the red card make the full 90 stats less representable of the gap between the teams - the first half (the red was in the second) still highlight how much Bolton dominated the game. They had 69% possession and 5 more shots, creating 1 big chance (the penalty) which was converted by Dion Charles.  To be completely honest, I was underwhelmed by Derby County and I did expect more from them. Despite this, they did a