Friday Night O'Meara: Tim Ream

So where else to start than the (at the time of writing) imminent departure of United States' International defender Tim Ream to divisional rivals Queens Park Rangers for a reported fee of £1.7m which could rise to £2m dependent on various clauses.

Now I know I am not Ream's biggest fan but I am going to explain in relatively fair terms why this is fantastic news for Bolton Wanderers and how it can really allow us to push on and surpass the low expectations of many for Bolton this season.

Firstly, Ream is not a central defender, he is a left sided defender. Ream is quite simply not cut out to play centrally in this country at any level. The defender lacks the natural ability in terms of strength and also the edge to his game to compete with individual forwards who can frequently be seen attempting to bully Ream and getting some success in doing so.

The weakness do not stop there for Ream centrally, his positional awareness is particularly exposed in this area of the field and the amount of times the American can lose a man is terrifying. This is even before we begin to debate his ability in the air, which we won't but it is shite.As for a left sided defender, Ream was much more comfertable however I attribute this with the reduced responsibilty of the role. Ream's pace allowed him to compete with most wingers in the Championship and his tendency to stay on his feet rather than dive in which we had seen previously in both Marcos Alonso and Stephen Warnock was particularly effective.

The move out wide also allowed Ream to display his ability on the ball which is certainly at a superior level to most Championship defenders. Ream has it in his Arsenal to pick a pass and has the option of striding into central areas which has been a very effective platform for Bolton Wanderers to start their somewhat infrequent attacks. I would imagine it is this aspect of Ream's play that has attracted interest from both Queens Park Rangers and Fulham who remain interested.

For QPR and the Cottagers (which will always be funny) they are more likely to be in an ascending position durings games and the less pressure on the sides respective defences would allow the degree of risk associated with Tim Ream the defender to profit from Ream the creator and he really can be an edge for a better side.

For Bolton Wanderers, this is fantastic business, we need far more security in defence and for how good you may believe Ream to be it must be remembered his is left-back and we cannot justify having a valuable asset in a position that realistically effects the game the least.

Ream's departure gives the added responsibility to Dean Moxey and personally I am quite comfortable with that and I am quietly confident of a strong season for the former Crystal Palace man. With the cash injection, I would not expect a flurry of cash-based transfers but at the same time I disagree with the notion that Neil Lennon 'won't see a penny of it.' As he has done throughout his short time as Bolton manager, I would expect Lennon to focus on short-term goals and we will see a flurry of loan activity as we did when our beloved Chung-Yong Lee departed to Palace.

Who will we get? I have no idea, Lennon has quite an artistic hand when it comes to the transfer market and as he has already done this window, do not be surprised if he looks overseas, he is a popular man over the continent with his successful Celtic sides.Personally I would love to see Barry Bannan back in a Wanderers shirt and if that option is available we should definitely go for it.

The Artist Formally Known As ...

Prince was fantastic wasn't he? Particulary if you think about that time between his loan and him taking the feild against one of the leagues fancied sides in Derby County. Prince dominated his surroundings with a line-up which included so many stars with in particulary Johnnie Russell being kept in the dark.Like many I am hoping for much more the big centre half and I am not the only one who was reminded of a young Abdoulaye Faye in the position.