Bolton Wanderers F.C. in 2005-06
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by Bobo
For the first time in their history, Bolton Wanderers achieved a place in Europe, entering into the UEFA Cup. Now the Trotters have possibly the slimmest squad in the entire Premiership, consisting of only around 20 first-team players, but they appear to be doing the very best with the little they have got.
Their youth programme, however, is one of the most promising of any single team within the Premier League, consisting of players like Chris Howarth, James Sinclair, and the 19-year-old US-born Johann Smith, quite possibly one of the only soccer players capable of running 100 metres in under ten seconds.
Back to their European exploits, their first match, versus Lokomotiv Plovdiv, was one of my favourite matches of the whole season to have witnessed, partially because of the victory in Bolton's favour, but also because of the positive fashion in which they came out of the game, scoring twice in the last 20 minutes to overcome a half-time deficit.
Having put six past West Ham United, five past Charlton Athletic, and three against an Arsenal side who garnered only one point from six from their two games, Bolton have a decent record in putting goals past the mid-table teams.
Their top-scorers this season are Stylianos Giannakopoulos, with a total of nine goals from 29 starts, and Kevin Nolan, with nine from 35. The latter, having featured in every game for the club this season, has shown great strength and stamina in his doing so. The most interesting of statistics to ponder over being, that in the nine games where Nolan has scored, Bolton have failed to lose a single fixture, coming away with eight wins and a mere single draw.
Another player having taken part in every single minute of play this season is goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, a Finnish international who, thankfully, does not have the World Cup looming over his head. The Sinivalkoiset, currently coached by Brit Roy Hodgson, have never qualified for the World Cup, and having been in a group occupied by the undefeated Netherlands team, never looked like doing so.
Gone from the squad are players like Khalilou Fadiga, Jay-Jay Okocha, and Fabrice Fernandes, and in their place come promising goalkeeper Ian Walker, who could easily lead them to good things, the Omani Ali Al Habsi, one of the stars of the Asian team, and former Arab Goalkeeper of the Year, albeit yet to gain any appearances for the Bolton side. Soon it may be time for Habsi to shine, and with the lure of preseason friendlies to prove his worth, this may be something he can look for in the future.
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