So far I haven't been able to find full highlights unfortunately, though I have found a video of all the goals (you'll have to watch an advert about toothbrushes, but it's worth it). I will admit, I did not see the match, nor have I been able to watch full highlights (I was playing rugby), so this report will be a bit of an amalgamation of tidbits I stole form other reports.
First things first though, it was (as I'm sure you've heard) Megson's 2nd anniversary at our fine football club. And I think he proved his point. A month ago most Bolton fans (including myself at one point) were calling for Megson's head. We couldn't take the depressing, negative football anymore. It was becoming a truly sad thing to watch a game. Football is, despite its grandeur, merely a game played for entertainment, and Bolton weren't entertaining. However, the Wanderers hit a turning point (I pinpoint it at the Tottenham game, though obviously it's not a definite point). They started playing well and I was as surprised as anyone. So just after his second anniversary, I will once again endorse Megson. He's made some terrific signings (see Matt Taylor, Gary Cahill, Tamir Cohen, Lee Chung-Yong) While, for a very long time, Bolton didn’t look good under him, things are definitely looking up. I’m not sure whether this is just a momentary rise in form in response to the major criticism of fans (expressed by their boos and absence at games), but hopefully this is here to stay. And if it is, so is Megson. I will try and write a longer post about why exactly I think we should keep Megson, but don’t expect it too soon.
Onto the actual game. From what I’ve seen and heard it was a pretty good and pretty even game. Everton did not look very good in the first half at all, however I’m sure David Moyes (who I have a great deal of respect for) gave the players a stern talking to at the half. It seems that Everton are unlucky to come away with nothing and deserved at least a point. If this is the case, then I do feel bad for them. I want every Lancs team (Liverpool is in the old Lancashire lines) to do well. Everton were at a disadvantage not only because they were coming off a comprehensive beating by Benefica, but also because they have an incredibly long injury list (I believe its up to 11 now). Today they have to play Tottenham in the Carling Cup which makes 3 games in 5 days. As a fellow blogger Adam pointed out (his blog is highly recommended by the way) a Big Four team would not have such a congestion of fixtures, as surely (insert name of Big Four manager here, especially Sir Alex) would pitch a fit and the FA would come groveling, begging his forgiveness.
All five of the goals looked. Louis Saha’s run before his goal was a bit Ronaldo-esque, and his strike was pure skill. Gary Cahill once again proved his usefulness in the air, getting high to nod in a Matty Taylor freekick. However my dear Gary was also the one who failed to mark Saha, leading to the goal. This is the one large mistake I’ve seen him commit this season, but, as Rio Ferdinand is so nicely proving to us, even the best make mistakes (in Rio’s case many, many mistakes).
Overall it was another encouraging performance, despite the fact that we remain the only team in the Premiership who haven’t maintained a clean sheet this season (I believe we’ve had 3 clean sheets in the past 20 games, a pathetic statistic). Once again (I think I say this every post) our back four needs to get their shit together and start functioning as a unit. This should be Megson’s first priority, we’ve worked out our attacking issues but defense is just as important and ours’ has some large issues to work out.
That’s all for now, but I will be back in the near future with many Chelsea related posts. Also I’ll be writing for the England World Cup Blog (which is affiliated with The Offside) in the very near future so be sure to drop by and check it out!