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Well, this week sees close of play at the Boleyn for another season as we get near to some well deserved r&r over the summer. However, there will be no easygoing end of term feel to this one as the Hammers fight for their very survival in what promises to be an emotional afternoon in the East End of London.

We have been decreed a 3pm kick off and welcome our opponents, Bolton Wanderers, down from the North West for their second successive trip to the smoke. Before I begin a rundown of their season so far, they do deserve credit for attaining a draw at Stamford Bridge last weekend which well and truly stuffed up Mourinho’s hopes of football dominance. Much as our win up at Wigan was the highlight of last weekend, I also got a warm glow in my soul with Match of the Day’s panning around the home support who went from their usual position of unshakable arrogance early on in the game, to suffering the deflating burst of bubble as they realised that they weren't going to be allowed to buy the league for the third year in a row.

Ok, niceties over, the facts about our opponents are that they currently sit 5th in the Premiership and will be hoping to stay there or thereabouts. They flirted with Champions League qualification but are now looking as though the second tier UEFA competition will be their destination, providing they don’t blow it.

They have achieved their league position with decent home form, having taken 31 points at the Reebok. This run has involved turning over the usual suspects (us, Fulham, Sheffield United, Watford) as well as beating mid table sides Newcastle and Portsmouth. The two notable scalps have been Arsenal (3-1 in November) and Liverpool (in September when the Reds were undergoing their usual slow start).

More to the point, on the road, they have achieved seven wins, again predominantly against strugglers such as Wigan and Watford and mid table sides including Citeh, Villa, and Blackburn and wins at Portsmouth and Newcastle saw them do the double over the two former Hammer’s bosses employed elsewhere in football’s top flight.

On a positive note (for us), they have lost away eight times and have also suffered some real batterings. The videos of the games against Man Yoo (4-1), T*tenham (4-1) and Middlesbrough (5-1) should all give a few clues as to how to get at them, particularly as all of those games took place in the current calendar year and Liverpool, Everton, Charlton, Arsenal and Reading have been unhappy visits for the Trotters.

The point at the Bridge last week came slightly against a run that had seen them win only once in their last five (at the JJB) though Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea can be classed as a difficult run in. They also played Reading during this period, a game that saw the elder statesmen of Bolton collapse at the end in no small part due to the incredible level of fitness demonstrated by Steve Coppell’s men.

The results prove that they can be got at and if you get it right against Bolton, it really can go right (proved by them enjoying a lofty league position but a negative goal difference). However, fifth place makes it clear that they are going to be a difficult side to beat and we will need to be much better than we were at the Reebok earlier in the season to achieve the desired result.


In charge will be the short, fat, offside Scouser, Sammy Lee, leading Bolton out for the first time at the Boleyn. He took over the position after last weekend’s resignation of Big Sam Allerdyce, who no doubt has already instructed his football agent son, Craig, to see which of Newcastle and Citeh has the largest potential transfer pot, strictly for skimming purposes.

Apart from noting that Bolton have followed the same approach as us of trying to save money on the name plate on the manager’s office, there is little that I can say about Lee’s as yet unproven managerial capability. The fans seem generally pleased about promoting from within and the continuity that brings, though they have conveniently forgotten Steve McLaren for the national side and Les Reed at Charlton are two examples of such a strategy not working out too well. Lee will not lack experience in his performance in front of the camera, where he has been on the rota for speaking to the BBC since Allerdyce’s post documentary absence, last year.

In goal will be the Finnish international, Jussi Jaaskelainen, who has been with the Trotters for nigh on a decade. He has been an excellent servant to the club and has been a top class shot stopper throughout his career. His current form is good enough that he has been rewarded with the Bolton Supporters Association Player of the Year for this campaign’s efforts.

Bolton currently top the Premiership’s injury list league, with seven first teamers currently unavailable for duty, though several may return at the weekend. The defence is missing Israeli international, Tal Ben-Haim who is ruled out with a knee injury for the forseeable and possibly, Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye who has suffered a foot injury but may recover in time to face us. Failing that, the candidates for a start begin with Richardo Gardener on the left side. The injury suffering full back is a fan’s favourite and put in a noteworthy performance at the Bridge last week.

Last week’s makeshift defence featured Slovakian man mountain, Lubomir Michalik, who was recalled from his loan spell at Leeds, where he gained rave reviews. He has put in two decent performances and marked his first starting appearance at Chelsea by scoring the opener. Frenchman, Abdoulaye Meite, should join him in M&M duo the middle and we may be treated to Ivan Campo, in the shape of a man who downs family sized bags of M&M’s for breakfast, covering on the right if Nicky Hunt has not recovered from a calf injury.

The midfield line up is slightly difficult to predict as they have suffered several injuries in this area in recent weeks, meaning that there were a couple of squad players lining up last weekend but they have a few coming back at the weekend. In respect of a formation, Bolton tend to favour a 4-3-3 formation with a two wide attacking players who also cover defensive duties, so you could call it a 4-5-1 and they also played 4-1-3-2 at Chelsea at times. However the digits pan out, they tend to feature a holding midfielder, possibly Iranian international, Andranik Teimourian, who at 5ft 4in is a relative small man but one who boasts a fair old burst of speed.

Two more recognisable names are the versatile veteran Gary Speed and the club captain, Kevin Nolan. The latter was being touted for the national team last season by the fans but has been in relatively poor form in the current campaign. His shooting boots have seemed to have deserted him this year, as his tally of 5 underlines and his current shape resembles a man well acquainted with a Greggs bakery menu.

The depleted midfield last week featured wideman, David Thompson, who has not had much of a chance in the first team since his arrival, though has been involved in recent weeks. He has worked hard to get back into shape and is capable of passing the ball but is a little overeager at the moment, leading to frequent silly yellow cards. Israeli midfielder, Idan Tal also got a run out last weekend but has struggled to cope with the physical side of the English hence, meaning his first team opportunities have been limited.

One of those that may return from injury to face us is Stelios Giannakopoulos. The diminutive, diving Greek has not recaptured the form of year’s gone by over this campaign but has shown a few glimpses of talent in recent outings.

Up front, they are still struggling to get the best out of £8m summer signing, Nicolas Anelka. Despite his obvious quality of touch, finish and ability to take those all important one on one chances, he is pony in the air and therefore his game is not a natural fit at Bolton. There is a need to alter the teams strategy to really benefit from Le Sulk’s talents and his goal tally of eleven in the Premiership this season (several of which he has had to create himself from scratch) suggests that it is an avenue worth pursuing.

The ever popular with the opposition, El-Hadji Diouf continues to impress the Bolton fans with his committed and passionate performances. The player whose list of past misdemeanours makes Joey Barton appear to be the owner of a halo has weighed in with five finishes this campaign, but is not guaranteed to be involved if he has not recovered from a hamstring injury in time.

The third option is with Kevin Davies, who, unlike Anelka, is very much a player that is in the Bolton mould. A physical centre forward type who leads the line and has contributed eight this season, including a well deserved one against Chelsea last week. He is also an advocate of defend from the front, tending to make a nuisance of himself with defenders whenever they have possession. Bolton also have lacklustre Portugese striker, Richardo Vaz Te as an option.


We all know where we stand and just how important this game is. The total of 38 points has been mentioned continuously by numerous football dignitaries as the magic marker that will see us safe and one more victory will take us there. I’m personally not completely convinced by this and am only too aware of the West Ham way of doing things that saw us relegated with 42 points but then knowing us, it is equally plausible that we get the 38 points to stay up not by beating Bolton but by doing the double on Man Yoo.

Sticking to this week, I firmly believe that we can do it. Bolton can be a difficult side to beat and they will want to ensure European football next season. No doubt Sammy Lee will be keen to start his new role with a win and he may well have a couple of aces up his sleeve to give his side the element of surprise.

However, positives are running through our team like a shoplifter clutching a video recorder under his arm and starting at the back, we have a solid base to build on. It’s not just the fact that we’ve kept two clean sheets that is impressive, but consider that England’s number one has had hardly anything to do in the last two games and you’ll see how resolute we have been of late. I’d hope that the back four have spent the last week working on defending set pieces over and over on the training complex and that they have been warned about the dangers of giving away silly free kicks.

Around the ground, I’m certain that the players will be backed to the max and I’m sure that it will be yet another croaky, throaty Sunday morning for me, post match. The fact that Bolton will be bringing their usual away following of around 27 fans will mean that the ground will be as partisan as possible, which will be to our advantage.

I’m going to plump for a 2-0 win with the roof coming off at the end of the game as we emerge from the bottom three blinking into the sunshine (if Liverpool and Middlesbrough do the business, of course).

Enjoy the game.

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