FAN VIEW: Chelsea 1 Wanderers 1
Wanderers fan John Oldham has his say on a difficult season which ended on a high at Stamford Bridge
HOW wonderful to be able to attend the final game confident of survival!
The build-up would have been of migraine-inducing proportions without the recent surge of success that defied the doom-mongers.
As it was, we were barely considered as potential party-poopers, the media focusing more on Wigan.
But an insipid Chelsea lacked the inspiration to outwit Bolton's now-excellent defence.
A point was ultimately fair. The real successes, though, were the Bolton fans, phenomenal in their unflagging support.
The players, especially the potential summer-leavers, paid them due homage.
However, the recent accumulation of points hides a truth lost on outsiders (such as the pundits on Match of the Day).
Those closer to the club know full well that 2008 Premiership survival is not actually due to club management.
Yesterday's game confirmed all the problems: ultra-defensive tactics; a squad bereft of pace and guile; no goalscorer; odd team and bench selections.
There is little point in cataloguing again the universally-acknowledged errors made since Big Sam left, errors that saw us tumble from consistent top-eight achievers to relegation fodder within a few months.
Credit is, of course, due for the relative financial stability and for the Allardyce years of unprecedented success.
However, to avoid frittering away the hard-earned progress of those innovative eight years, the way forward is for those who run the club to be humble enough to acknowledge the mistakes they have made, and be prepared to learn from them.
In particular, there must be greater transparency and accountability, more care for our reputation at home and abroad, improved communication with and respect for the fans, and an ambition more in keeping with a top-eight side in terms of tactics, appointments and signings.
Otherwise, unrest, will grow, attendances will plummet, and our reputation and pulling-power will be eroded still further.
The fans, who are the lifeblood of any club, deserve to be informed about finances (including Sky TV money), to have questions answered about the involvement of agents, to be able to arrive at cup games certain that the team selected will honour the name of Bolton Wanderers.
Above all, we must aspire to sign classy internationals not Championship rejects, recruit staff with proven track records who can attract, motivate, and accurately assess players' strengths, improve them, make them fitter, and organise a system around their strengths, not vice-versa.
Bolton Wanderers FC must act bravely and positively this summer.
9:27pm Sunday 11th May 2008
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