Bolton Wanderers in the 2000s

[Deleted member 101472]

Just glanced at the championship table and noticed Bolton in the relegation zone. Then found out that they were relegated to league 1 a few years back.

Started thinking about some of the players they used to have, and put together this team which is all players they signed within an 8 year time span (not sure about the GK)



I might be wrong but I think they were all Sam Allardyce signings. He’s not a glamouros manager, Bolton have never been a glamorous club and the capacity at the stadium is less than 30,000. Their best achievement in that time was a league cup final, which they lost.

So just why did some of those players join Bolton? Who was the middle man getting some of those transfers done? And given Allardyce previous for what we will call “dodgy dealings” is there a chance something similarly dodgy was ocurring here?

Any input would be great.

 

[adexkola]

Remember them being a thorn in Wenger's Arsenal sides.

 

[DJ Jeff]

Just glanced at the championship table and noticed Bolton in the relegation zone. Then found out that they were relegated to league 1 a few years back.

Started thinking about some of the players they used to have, and put together this team which is all players they signed within an 8 year time span (not sure about the GK)



I might be wrong but I think they were all Sam Allardyce signings. He’s not a glamouros manager, Bolton have never been a glamorous club and the capacity at the stadium is less than 30,000. Their best achievement in that time was a league cup final, which they lost.

So just why did some of those players join Bolton? Who was the middle man getting some of those transfers done? And given Allardyce previous for what we will call “dodgy dealings” is their a chance something similarly dodgy was ocurring here?

Any input would be great.

Honestly they were a good side. Very functional, very Sam, yeah sure. But they were good, and they used to always take points off Arsenal. Stelios was a good little player.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Honestly they were a good side. Very functional, very Sam, yeah sure. But they were good, and they used to always take points off Arsenal. Stelios was a good little player.

They were a good side. A few of those signings came at some point between the seasons where Bolton finished 16th and 17th. Just wondering what the pull was.

 

[T00lsh3d]

They were a good side. A few of those signings came at some point between the seasons where Bolton finished 16th and 17th. Just wondering what the pull was.

I always thought it was that when a couple of fading stars/semi stars had gone there it acted like a pull of it’s own, eg, “well Hierro’s gone to Bolton, if I’m gonna try the English league what about there”.
God knows if there’s anything in it....looking back it was probably something shadier

 

[NotoriousISSY]

They beat us at OT two seasons in a row in the early 00s.

Okocha was always a standout player.

 

[Ribble Valley Red]

Money was the pull. Massively overpaying for very average players (sound familiar?! ) while they couldn't raise anywhere near enough revenue. I read Jay Spearing was on ~£40k p/w while they were in the Championship. Their fans fickle who left in droves when the team were sliding.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Money was the pull. Massively overpaying for very average players (sound familiar?! ) while they couldn't raise anywhere near enough revenue. I read Jay Spearing was on ~£40k p/w while they were in the Championship. Their fans fickle who left in droves when the team were sliding.

Where was the money coming from?

 

[Kag]

Allardyce is out of fashion now (quite rightly) but the job he did at Bolton should never be underestimated. He was well ahead of the curve re. sports science and player performance, too.

 

[Chipper]

I'd say money was the pull too, but I don't think they were overpaying for average players. They had 4 top 8 finishes on the bounce which was good, and they did so because they had good players.

A lot of the players would have been on more than they would have been on if they'd have been playing in mainland Europe because of the wealth of the Premier League, but they wouldn't have had a higher wage bill than the teams above them, of that I'm quite confident. I'll look that up in the likes of the deloitte money league in a bit to confirm.

They often took a chance on players that other teams didn't necessarily fancy for one reason or another too. Either they might have been considered awkward or too old/declining and at that time it paid off for them.

 

[Moonwalker]

Just glanced at the championship table and noticed Bolton in the relegation zone. Then found out that they were relegated to league 1 a few years back.

Started thinking about some of the players they used to have, and put together this team which is all players they signed within an 8 year time span (not sure about the GK)



I might be wrong but I think they were all Sam Allardyce signings. He’s not a glamouros manager, Bolton have never been a glamorous club and the capacity at the stadium is less than 30,000. Their best achievement in that time was a league cup final, which they lost.

So just why did some of those players join Bolton? Who was the middle man getting some of those transfers done? And given Allardyce previous for what we will call “dodgy dealings” is there a chance something similarly dodgy was ocurring here?

Any input would be great.

They joined for the same reason anyone joins a top league club, to earn money. Of course this 'lineup' never actually took the field, and you always had Nicky Hunt, Kevin Davies, Michael Ricketts and the rest, playing along these 'stars'. The renowned footballers on the list were mostly way past their expiry date when they joined.

You can cherry pick a premier league era best eleven that would look impressive for most clubs that stayed long enough in the league. Try one with Middlesbrough. That one would include Mendieta, Ziege, Ince, Ravanelli, Juninho, Viduka, Zenden, Hasselbaink etc.

 

[Chipper]

A lot of the players would have been on more than they would have been on if they'd have been playing in mainland Europe because of the wealth of the Premier League, but they wouldn't have had a higher wage bill than the teams above them, of that I'm quite confident. I'll look that up in the likes of the deloitte money league in a bit to confirm.

Quoting myself is probably bad form, but feck it.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/f...pending-from-the-200001-season-to-201112.html

03/04 - 11th in net transfer spending, 18th in wages, finished 8th
04/05 - 8th in transfer spend, 16th in wages, finished 6th
05/06 - 16th in transfer spend, 14th in wages, finished 8th
06/07 - 9th in transfers, 16th in wages, finished 7th

So they were consistently punching above their weight at that time.

 

[FujiVice]

You can cherry pick a premier league era best eleven that would look impressive for most clubs that stayed long enough in the league. Try one with Middlesbrough. That one would include Mendieta, Ziege, Ince, Ravanelli, Juninho, Viduka, Zenden, Hasselbaink etc.

How about Sunderland? In 2010 they had a side including Craig Gordon, Phil Bardsley, Kieran Richardson, Michael Turner, John Mensah, Bolo Zenden, Steed Malbranque, Jordan Henderson, Danny Welbeck, Asamoah Gyan, Stephane Sessegnon and Darren Bent! In the same squad, mind you. And now they're in League 1. Amazing downfall.

 

[Guy Incognito]

They kicked on in 2003-04 after two relegation scraps. Okocha was an inspired signing.

 

[broccoli]

Some of those players were very far from their best shape and just went to try to pick themselves up on a lowly english club (Hierro/Jardel for instance who was deep with drug issues).

 

[Deleted member 101472]

In an interview with FourFourTwo in 2005, when asked what attracts these stars to Bolton, Allardyce said: “Me, initially. It might sound big-headed, but I’m the salesman”

There we have it

 

[Pexbo]

Okocha aside they were all in their twilight weren’t they? It’s one thing to have the odd player like that coming into a top side and to feel the benefit for that but having 5 or 6 of them isn’t great.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Okocha aside they were all in their twilight weren’t they? It’s one thing to have the odd player like that coming into a top side and to feel the benefit for that but having 5 or 6 of them isn’t great.

Players usually think about money in their twilight, but Bolton were never in the top 15 for wages in any of the years these players were with them. So evidently money wasn’t the pull, trophies weren’t the pull, the town of Bolton most definitely wasn’t a pull and it was as English a manager and coaching staff as it gets.

So was Sam that good a salesman? Or were these players getting some kind of bonus not recorded in their wages?

 

[Yorkeontop]

Back when Reebok was popping.

 

[nikineil]

Remember them being a thorn in Wenger's Arsenal sides.

And ours to be fair, at the Reebok

 

[Moonwalker]

Players usually think about money in their twilight, but Bolton were never in the top 15 for wages in any of the years these players were with them. So evidently money wasn’t the pull, trophies weren’t the pull, the town of Bolton most definitely wasn’t a pull and it was as English a manager and coaching staff as it gets.

So was Sam that good a salesman? Or were these players getting some kind of bonus not recorded in their wages?

That's a silly piece of reasoning. For money to be the pull, all you need is for the wages offered at Bolton to be higher than the money offered to them elsewhere (on the continent), not for Bolton to be a financial powerhouse within their own league.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

That's a silly piece of reasoning. For money to be the pull, all you need is for the wages offered at Bolton to be higher than the money offered to them elsewhere (on the continent), not for Bolton to be a financial powerhouse within their own league.

I doubt other clubs with more prestige wouldn’t have been able to offer similar wages.

 

[JSArsenal]

Hated them.

Another team who set out to break legs everytime they stepped out onto the pitch against Arsenal and the referees did nothing about it time and time again.

 

[DJ Jeff]

They were a good side. A few of those signings came at some point between the seasons where Bolton finished 16th and 17th. Just wondering what the pull was.

Sam and money I'd say. Sam also got Michel Salgado at Blackburn. He had a penchant for the old stars it seems. Pretty sure he'd always go for the likes of Lampard etc when they got old too.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Sam and money I'd say. Sam also got Michel Salgado at Blackburn. He had a penchant for the old stars it seems. Pretty sure he'd always go for the likes of Lampard etc when they got old too.

The cynic in me says there was something shady. I remember watching that video recording where he got busted, clearly wasn’t his first time at the rodeo.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/media/2006/sep/20/broadcasting.bbc2

Interesting.

 

[Hawks2008]

Not gonna lie, the only thing I remember about Bolton in the top flight is Owen Coyle.

 

[Moonwalker]

I doubt other clubs with more prestige wouldn’t have been able to offer similar wages.

I'm sure many clubs were able to, how many actually wanted them is another question. That these players chose Bolton over better financial offers is pure conjecture.

You have an atypical manager casting his glance to Europe, the rest is money, and you don't need much of it for washed up stars.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

They’re in big trouble at the moment. Staff are not getting paid some weeks.

 

[Josep Dowling]

Where was the money coming from?

Well that’s part of the problem they are in so much debt right now. The money wasn’t there and they kept spending like it was.

 

[Moriarty]

Hated them.

Another team who set out to break legs everytime they stepped out onto the pitch against Arsenal and the referees did nothing about it time and time again.

Me too, even more than Liverpool. Inherited that from my dad.

 

[Precaution]

Had no idea till now that Alex Iwobi is Jay Jay Okacha's nephew!

 

[Cheesy]

Obviously Big Sam's become a bit of a joke in recent years due to the way he bounces about from club to club and due to his style, even if he's quite effective, but I do think he genuinely did a very good job with Bolton, and that it can sometimes be forgotten that he did so well.

They were obviously dirty as feck at times but they had some exciting players and weren't always awful to watch. Between 03-07 they were remarkably consistent in getting into the top half and their decline pretty much started the moment he left.

I remember when Moyes came here one or two posters caught some flak for saying he'd done no better than Big Sam at Bolton, but in retrospect they were correct.

 

[JMack1234]

I remember this team and I always had a soft spot for them. A bunch of grizzly journeymen ending up in Bolton with seemingly the sole intention on irritating Arsene Wenger.

I know that Allardyce is not viewed as a relegation firefighter with a pint of carling and pukka pie. However you need to respect him for transforming that club for 8 years and giving Bolton fans the best period in their clubs history.

 

[Arruda]

Jardel career collapsed at that time, he had a mental breakdown after his divorce and cocaine trouble. The man had seven seasons with an average of 1 gpg, something you would have to wait for Ronaldo and Messi to see again in football, and yet it all stopped abruptly. He was shit at Bolton, and shit at every club he went after since (more than a dozen, progressively shittier until borderline amateur).

 

[SCP]

They were very astute on the transfer market tbh, but yeah Jardel was done when he signed for them.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Most of they quality players also had attitude problems or a bit lazy of stories were to be believed from what I remember.

 

[FootballHQ]

Just glanced at the championship table and noticed Bolton in the relegation zone. Then found out that they were relegated to league 1 a few years back.

Started thinking about some of the players they used to have, and put together this team which is all players they signed within an 8 year time span (not sure about the GK)



I might be wrong but I think they were all Sam Allardyce signings. He’s not a glamouros manager, Bolton have never been a glamorous club and the capacity at the stadium is less than 30,000. Their best achievement in that time was a league cup final, which they lost.

So just why did some of those players join Bolton? Who was the middle man getting some of those transfers done? And given Allardyce previous for what we will call “dodgy dealings” is there a chance something similarly dodgy was ocurring here?

Any input would be great.

A few of those hardly played, think Cesar played one game for them after an excellent career at Depor and Candela didn't play much either. Jardel was about 20 stone when he turned up.

El Hadji Diouf and Kevin Davies were key players for their style and they also had Gary Speed anchoring thier midfield after Hierro left.

They were just a club who took their top half finishes for granted and thought any manager could do that post Sam. Charlton are a near identical case as they were posting similar finishes in that era.

Bournemouth will probably be same when Howe leaves.

 

[FootballHQ]

They beat us at OT two seasons in a row in the early 00s.

Okocha was always a standout player.

Didn't Kevin Nolan score the winner two years running? Him and Murphy always used to score v Man. United in those days.

Edit: Michael Ricketts was also amazing for them one season and got an England cap. Was playing for Walsall five seasons later.

 

[FootballHQ]

They’re in big trouble at the moment. Staff are not getting paid some weeks.

Their benefactor from the premier league era was Eddie Davies (bit of a Jack Walker for them). He died a few weeks ago. Gartside was club chairman in those days and he passed away a few years ago.

Ultimately it's just another small town premier league club (even when they top 6 they weren't selling out) who massively overachieved, couldn't replace the manager who did that, got relegated and have hit financial trouble because of not getting back up. Blackburn and Charlton are exactly the same.