Swansea 3-1 Bolton

I really don't understand how this team keeps doing it. One would think that the story line was played out at this point. Unfortunately for my poor little heart, it has not, and once again the Bolton Wanderers have disappointed today.The bad results were understandable, if disappointing, when we were playing the Big Five every weekend, but we always said we needed results from the first 3 games after. That started well enough, with a win over our closet rivals, but soon Bolton slipped again, and that win was followed by a loss first to Sunderland and today to Swansea.

The first half went relatively well for the Trotters, though uneventful. Swansea were generally the better side, though only marginally, though Bolton had the best chance of the half. David Ngog did an impressive turn and sent a searing volley that Michael Vorm had no choice but to tip it over the bar. The game seemed well within reach if the Trotters could come out of the gates in the second half. 

And one player did, but not exactly in a desirable way. Just after the restart, Ricardo Gardner got himself sent off after receiving his second yellow. They were both soft but fair yellows, and a man of Bibi's advanced age should know to be more careful. The Swans lost no time in taking advantage of their extra man and Joe Allen opened the scoring for the home side. Less than 10 minutes later Darren Pratley conceded a penalty in his first visit to the Liberty since signing for Bolton. Scott Sinclair stepped up, sent Jussi Jaaskelainen the wrong way, and easily converted. 

Bolton were gifted hope of a comeback when Danny Graham sent the ball into his own neet off a Chris Eagles cross, but the Trotters didn't ever really look like scoring another goal and were arguably luck to only concede 3 as Swansea hit the woodwork twice in the second half. Graham made up for his earlier gaffe by sealing the win in the third minute of stoppage time.

All in all, it was another miserable 90 minutes for Wanderers fans. I'm still not ready to call for Coyle's job, mainly as I don't see a realistically better replacement. It's worth remembering that there are 28 games left in the season, and only 7 points separate us from 8th place. Supporting the Bolton Wanderers is not an easy task right now, but it's also not yet time to enter full on panic mode. I leave you with words from Super John McGinlay.

"I think at this moment in time we need to support and to stick with the team and to back the team. When players are down the supporters have got to realize that they have a big part to play in it as well. We're all supporters, we all support the club, we all support the team and it's something that we've signed up to do for the rest of our lives. It should be true through thick and thin, not just when times are going well and when we get results."