On Chelsea's drab draw and life beyond the football field......

There are two things that every football fan will die for at the end of an EPL season: an extremely close fight for the title; and an equally scrappy, entertaining struggle at the bottom for deciding the three relegation contenders. While I am happy to say that the relegation battle threatens to get ever-too interesting in the coming weekends, I am afraid that the title race is already over, with Manchester United having got a firm stranglehold on the title after Chelsea's drab, 1-1 draw with Wigan at Stamford Bridge.....Hats off to Manchester United though (and this should count for something coming from a person who is anti ManU from the bottom of his heart) for the way they have played all season, the Rooney-Ronaldo-Tevez trio at the front combined with a menacing looking midfield (Giggs, Scholes, Hargreaves, Carrick) and a solid defence makes them deserved champions if they go on to win it.
With the premiership saturday gone and no champions league or IPL to fall back onto in the mid-week I happened to stumble on a roadside bookstall and ended up picking a copy of Khaled Hosseini's (The Kite Runner) second literary work 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'. I would say it was one of my finest purchases with regards to books for a long long time, a wonderful novel dealing with the lives of two women, set on the backdrop of a war ravaged Afghanistan under the Taliban regime......

Bolton 1-0 West Ham....The battle is ON!!

Innumerous attempts at the goal, umpteen corners, two close goals disallowed for offside; it almost seemed like it was not going to be Bolton's day until Kevin Davies slotted home from close range from a Matt Taylor corner. Playing at home for the second last time in the season, Bolton desperately needed the win to keep any hopes of staving off relegation alive.....
What this win has given them now is a chance to leapfrog Birmingham to the 17th spot, provided results go their way on the next weekend! Alongside this result, it was Fulhams win from the 19th spot and Birminghams draw on the 17th that left the relegation battle wide open. The teams involved start right from the 16th placed Reading (32), Birmingham (31), Bolton (29), Fulham (27), the list concluding with the already relegated Derby.
The real concern for Bolton though is the apparent dearth of goal scorers, with the matchwinner of yesterdays game, Davies being sidelined for the coming two games owing to his 10th yellow of the season. Diouf looks scrappy, Nolan not having played enough due to his injury, its gonna be the young striker Raziak and the old warhorses Campo and McCann to take the onus for goalscoring!!
Meanwhile, the action hots up at the other end of the season tonight as Chelsea take on Wigan and Manchester United host a spirited and rebellious Arsenal team coming on the back of their Champions league exit at the hands of Liverpool.

Aston Villa 4-0 Bolton!! Already relegated?

When a club is going through tough times, it needs the men who matter to sit up, take notice and act in order to save it the blushes. As a Wanderers fan, I would take this opportunity to list down the men who matter for the club and what they were doing when Bolton, on the evening of 5th of April, took on a brilliant Villa side and was mauled 4-0.
Sam Allardyce:- Former Manager and messaih, we would have loved to have him in the Bolton box and not at ESPN studios where he was busy analysing their loss.Alas!
Nikolas Anelka:- The man of the season for Bolton, the savior for most part of the campaign, his transfer to Chelsea couldnt have come at more wrong a time.
Kevin Nolan:- The captain and the young leader, you would want the impact players to be present at this ever crucial time and injuries to him as well as to Ivan Campo have hit the campaign hard.
With the scenario looking as bleak as this, it wasnt a surprise that Bolton couldnt even manage a point away at Villa, though the margin of the loss did come as a shocker. With this kind of a line-up and form, I dont think theres a need for the fans to even turn up at the Reebok, as relegation seems to be a foregone conclusion.
What I feel was the only takeaway from the weekend was the fact that both Fulham and Birmingham lost, thus keeping Bolton firmly rooted at No.18 and still 4 points away from safety, no more no less as compared to last week. Ironic as it may seem, the only way for Bolton to stay up seems to be 3 other teams deciding on getting relegated.
What Bolton needs though is the likes of Nolan, Jaaskalainnen and Campo to come back quickly and take charge of the situation to rally the youngsters around them. And this needs to happen in quick time, coz every weekend from now on has the potential to decide the final outcome!!

The Road Ahead......

1. Aston Villa (A) 5th April :- An absolutely crucial game, maybe a six-pointer given both the importance of starting to win and the kind of opposition that waits ahead (Messrs Tottenham Hotspurs and Chelsea included). Failure to pick up anything less than 3 solid points at Villa Park will hit the campaign real hard. Given Aston Villas standing at No. 8 its going to take a real good game to get past them.
2. West Ham United (H) :- One of the easier games on view, need to make the best of it in view of the imposing opposition waiting ahead. Once again, West Ham's standing in the table (No. 10) makes them a not-so-easy opposition to deal with.
3. Middlesborough (A) :- Another of the mid of the table oppositions, Boro placed at 35 pts are unlikely to be drawn into the relegation strife bottom of the table. Bolton though positively need to pick up points from these three encounters to stand any chance!
4. Spurs (A) :- Spurs, an age-old nemesis for Bolton, should again prove to be quite tough given the stars in their kitty. They may have hugely underperformed yet again, being only at the 11th spot, but they have the ability to beat any team on their day.
5. Sunderland (H) :- A game with another of the relegation rivals, this game should be a virtual 6 pointer. One of the easier targets, given Sunderland's weak and inexperienced line-up, notwithstanding Keane's amazing rise as a manager. This game should decide the fate once and for all!!
6. Chelsea (A) :- The toughest of the lot, if they have to ensure their safety, they gotta do it before this game. Leaving it so late and against such a rival would mean a momentous task which seems quite improbable given the current form.....

Six Decisive Weekends!!

As I sit comfortably and gaze at the laptop screen showing the EPL Tables for the '08 season, I realise that my team, a certain 'Bolton Wanderers Football Club' is looking straight down the barrel and would be playing in what maybe its last six premiership games for a long long time to come.

Having completed my two-year stint with the Goa Inst of Mgmt and looking forward to a two month long break I would have been pleased to be personally present at Bolton to cheer the teams cause for a fight to stay up. Sadly enough, my father seems to be in no mood to sponsor my sojourn and so the 'pen' seems to be the only weapon I have to back my team. I wish to take this opportunity to start blogging, and in the process, take you through the last six EPL games which would ultimately decide Bolton's fate. It would also be interesting watching if the stars of Man United falter and in the process hand the title to a Chelsea or an Arsenal!!

The pessimism amidst the fans after the last game against Arsenal is understandable as the ease with which Bolton blew a 2-0 lead at half-time to register a 2-3 loss at full time was typical of a side facing the 'drop'. The fans still haven't lost hope and would be praying that the team rises up to the occasion in the next few games and goes to safety on the table. What we badly need at this moment are talismanic performances from the senior pros like Nolan, Campo, Diouf and the others......

Taking a look at the task ahead, our opponents are:-

1. Aston Villa (Away) 5th April
2. West Ham (Home) 12th April
3. Middles borough (Away) 19th April
4. Tottenham (Away) 26th April
5. Sunderland (Home) 3rd May
6. Chelsea (Away) 11th May
An analysis of the opponents, the magnitude of each game and the potential rivals in the relegation battle soon to come........