Season Preview: Bolton Wanderers

How did you fare last season?
Alright, I guess. I mean, you've probably seen the league table right? I'm imagining your lot were watching it rather eagerly at the close of last season. All in all, we were busy not vanishing off the face of the Premier League and plugging gaps and making sure we stayed up. We managed it without really thrilling a soul. Including a decent percentage of the Wanderers throng.
A silly question to ask a Bolton Wanderers fan. Each season is met with equal amounts of dread and hope. You can easily convince yourself that you could have another season of scalps and a European finish... but equally plausible is that we'll find ourselves being dragged toward the relegation zone and politely saying hello to all those Newcastle fans we sneered at last season. Effectively, anything could happen and only a fool would assume anything.
Lee Chung Yong, once the visa has cleared and the ink has dried on a contract, should make a few fans giddy. He looks like an exciting prospect who isn't afraid of running and running and running at players. This is something we've been craving for a while. Elsewhere, Sam Ricketts has been raising a few hopeful eyebrows. As ever though, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and we'll have to see how well they do in the sharp end of 90mins.
We've had a squad smaller than a flea's nutsack of late, so strengthening is something we need to do all over the shop because a few key injuries and we'll be looking at recruiting players from Bolton Lads' Club Under 9's.

Many fans are crying out for a creative midfielder and another striker but as we all know, these players don't exist. Not for cheap anyway.
Temitope Obadeyi has been getting a few column inches and had a run-out. Hopefully, he'll do something for us when chucked in.
Meggo has had many critics, despite doing a very reasonable job. That said, many sections of the faithful have been looking at their season tickets and wondering if they're really getting value for money in entertainment terms. This year, we need something to get people excited again, even if it's a run in the League Cup or something. We're not fussy fans. Something more than simple survival is what we
ask. If that doesn't happen then fan pressure could well see Meggo leaving the club in one way or another.
Most will invariably want to beat Man Urinals. Everyone wants to beat those idiots though don't they? The sensible answer, in all honesty, is all the teams that are likely to be occupying the bottom six. Beat those and you're safe. Failing that, a crushing victory over Blackburn, Burnley and Wigan will do, because they're nearby. Oh, and Wolves. We despise Wolves.
Tough call. It's hard to bet against ManUre because they're so very good at winning the league. Chelsea are in with a decent shout if they keep their ship in order. Liverpool look a bit weaker this season, so it's hard to see them mounting a decent challenge. Arsenal, again, don't appear to be ruthless enough to do it over the season.
Obviously, it would be hilarious if Man City went down, with their insane amounts of money... but that's unlikely isn't it? As for relegation fodder, again, it's incredibly tough to call this year. I hope Wolves are roundly embarrassed and sent packing. Burnley too, despite the fact former Bolton striker Owen Coyle is their manager.
I don't think Hull will have such a glorious start this year like last season, and will suffer from second season syndrome. If you stay up, it'll be a close run thing again. Personally, I'd like to see you survive, just so we can all enjoy Sunbed's (that'd be the nickname we used to have for Browny when he was a Wanderer) excellent selection of leather pimp jackets again.

Mof Gimmers writes for The Wanderer

Click here to read what Mof said at the end of last season about how Bolton got in in 2008/09