A historic season at Reebok Stadium saw Bolton Wanderers tie their all-time record league finish and reach a first European Final. So things were on the up for Trebor Mahtal as he usurped Big Sam Allardyce’s achievements within two seasons.
Those successes saw Bolton begin Mahtal’s third season with £162m in the bank and a £98m transfer kitty. Mahtal knew he needed to put that money to work to strengthen his side, which began with breaking the club record’s transfer twice in a few weeks. First, he paid £30m for 19-year-old wonderkid model citizen Gareth Bale from Tottenham then Inter £30m rising to £40m for midfielder Jonathan de Guzmán, whose attributes look ludicrous. They were joined by centre back Lukas Sinkiewicz for £10.5m from Leverkusen and, on deadline day, midfielder Ílkay Gündogan for £10.5m from Bayern.
Mahtal also changed the Bolton approach, switching to a 4-2-3-1 to accommodate de Guzmán, give Nicolas Anelka space up front, and evolve from targeting long balls at the declining Kevin Davies.
Season 3 At Bolton
The bookies have extended Bolton’s odds to 150/1, predicting them to finish 9th. Holders Chelsea remain 9/5 favourites followed by Liverpool, Man UFC and Arsenal at 2/1, 4/1 and 7/1.
The new approach worked nicely as Bale got a debut assist in a 2-0 win at home to Derby. He then scored one and laid on the opener for Anelka in a 3-0 win at Blackburn and scored the only goal at Watford. The winning start ended as Nolan nicked a draw at Portsmouth, before Bolton had to play all of the fancied top seven. They made a statement as Anelka’s brace downed Man UFC 2-0 after Tevez was sent off but threw the momentum away with a 2-0 loss at Arsenal before 34-year-old goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen inspired 1-0 wins over early leaders Man City and at Tottenham.
The Sky Sports cameras were in town in early November as 2nd-place Liverpool visited 4th-place Bolton. Wanderers started brightly as straight from the kickoff, winger Ricardo Vaz Té whipped in a cross for Bale to head home at the back post. That was the only notable moment of the first half but they were at it again in the second half as Nolan teed up Vaz Té to double the lead. They hit the woodwork three times from corners before that man Jussi saved Riise’s penalty.
The defensive solidity continued with 0-0s at home to Villa and Everton, a 2-0 win over Fulham and 1-0 wins over Newcastle, Birmingham and Chelsea. Davies and Vaz Té’s late strikes edged a 2-0 win at home to Watford before Anelka’s double inspired a 2-0 at bottom side Sunderland – which saw them keep 11 consecutive clean sheets before finally conceding in a 1-1 with Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.
Bolton’s Champions League Debut
Bolton’s first taste of the Champions League saw them arguably get an easier set of fixtures than in last season’s UEFA Cup. They began with a 2-0 win at a strong Wolfsburg side with goals by Nicky Hunt and Bale before dominating Red Star but only winning 1-0 and Anelka and Pablo Piatti earned a 2-0 success over Rangers. Jussi made it four consecutive clean sheets in a 0-0 at home to Inter before they finally conceded in a 2-2 at Marseille and a 1-1 at PSG then two more draws with Villarreal and Liverpool saw them finish 9th and miss out on automatic qualification on goal difference.
The Trotters eased past Benfica 6-3 led by two Anelka braces before edging into the quarter finals 2-1 against Werder Bremen. But they cruelly lost on penalties to Chelsea after 0-0 and 2-2 draws.
Flying High in the Premier League
A 17-game unbeaten streak ended with a narrow 3-2 loss at Old Trafford before also losing at Anfield. But a 0-0 at home to Newcastle left them three points back from leaders Chelsea with five games remaining. The title fight could boil down to Bolton’s trip to Chelsea, who also still had to face Man UFC and Arsenal.
Game 1 – Birmingham (15th, away): Bolton began the run in well as Garry Bocaly, Piatti and de Guzmán helped them to an easy 3-0 win. Chelsea won 1-0 at West Ham with an own goal.
Game 2 – Chelsea (1st, away): A huge title decider started with a dire opening 45 minutes. Chelsea bossed it after the break but, yet again, Jussi held firm to deny them. And that saw the goalkeeper surpass opposite number Petr Cech’s league record of 24 clean sheets in a season.
Game 3 – Sunderland (20th, home): An easier game followed and so did another clean sheet as Bolton racked up 23 shots to three. But they only made one count as Anelka converted a penalty on 23 minutes. Chelsea beat Man UFC 3-1 to stay three points clear, but Bolton’s win confirmed at least 2nd place and their best-ever league finish.
Game 4 – Middlesbrough (9th, away): Bolton also edged past Middlesbrough 2-1 with Vaz Té scoring the decisive goal. But Chelsea won 3-0 at Portsmouth to virtually seal the title.
Game 5 – Reading (12th, away): Going into the final day, Chelsea had a three-point lead and a nine better goal difference. Bolton did their bit as Anelka and a Vaz Té double secured a 3-1 win. And Arsenal helped out as Van Persie’s goal downed Chelsea 1-0. And that meant Bolton missed out on their maiden title on goal difference.
Bolton tied Chelsea on 89 points after 27 wins, eight draws and just three defeats, which was two fewer than Chelsea. They only conceded 17 goals all season, which was easily the best in the league, and scored 60 goals – so it was clear they needed to work on their attacking threat. That said, Anelka won the golden boot with 22 goals, Vaz Té scored 11 and Bale led the league with 11 assists.
That defensive strength led to Jääskeläinen being crowned the World’s Best Goalkeeper. In 47 matches in the calendar year, Jussi only conceded 25 goals and kept 30 clean sheets to win the award ahead of Casillas and Cech, and he later won the league’s golden glove. But he wasn’t the only one winning accolades as Piatti claimed the European Golden Boy then the PFA Young Player of the Year. In other news, Hunt made his England debut and scored in an 11-0 romp of Faroe Islands. While the Bolton board agreed to expand Reebok Stadium to a new capacity of 35,903 in the summer then, just a few months later, randomly decided to build a new stadium instead!
Anelka topped Bolton’s scoring chart with 30 in 51, but he was ably supported by Vaz Té, who’s showing great progression, bagging 16 in 47. Behind them was a big dropoff to Piatti and Bale (6) and Davies (5) while de Guzmán led the way with 12 assists but, again, there was a big dropoff to Vaz Té (7) and Hunt and Kevin Nolan (6). Arguably the star man again was Jussi, who only conceded 27 goals and kept 33 clean sheets in 51 games, including a new record 26 in the Premier League.
Bolton had gone so close to winning the Premier League and, with the right additions and a little squad reshaping, Mahtal was pretty sure they could go one better.
But could they usurp Chelsea in Mahtal’s 4th season? Join us next Wednesday to find out!
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