The trouble with recovery from relegation is usually exacerbated by the rumour mill. Some players are definitely gone (Ivan Klasnic among them). Some players are definitely staying (Samuel Ricketts has placed his marker down). But many players (usually the relegated club's best players) live in the ether for weeks, if not months. Neither here nor gone, they leave uncertainty and doubt in the minds of the manager and the supporters. Gretar Steinsson appears to be falling into this vortex.

The Icelandic international has been a solid player for Bolton Wanderers. He has had spectacular moments, as well as a few mishaps he'd rather forget. His massive wages (Funny how Gary Megson claimed he had cut the wage bill) and now-finished contract always made him a strong candidate to depart. The club have offered him a new deal, at reduced wages, which he appears likely to reject, though he has apparently not done so just yet. I always rated him, but his inconsistency under Coyle has seem him fall just short of claiming the right back shirt on a permanent basis. Bolton have three other right backs under contract, so we can afford to let him go, and wish him the best of luck.

That's right, no one deserves Man of the Match. We conceded 77 goals this campaign, 4 in the last 2 matches, 3 of them from a winning position. What players stepped up defensively? None. What players stepped up in the midfield? None. What players stepped up in attack? None.

Some people are going to blame the referee. And yes, the first Stoke City goal should not have stood, it was an obvious foul. But Stoke had no shortage of chances. And look at Bolton's goals in the last two matches. A penalty, an own goal, an attempted clearance that literally went in off Mark Davies' arse, and a mis-hit cross. The players did nothing to show that they deserved anything but relegation.

Some people are going to blame Owen Coyle. And there is no question he has made mistakes throughout the season. But he didn't tell our central defenders to passively watch opponents run on goal. He didn't tell our forwards to slice their shots into row Z. He didn't tell our midfielders to not bother closing down opposing players fifteen yards from goal. In fact, I think most supporters would agree, the last few games, when we had myriad opportunities to secure our safety, Coyle played the best 14 players available, the exact same players anyone in the terraces would have played. No, this one is on the players.

So, you know what I did Sunday night. I drank the Lion of Vienna Suite Man of the Match champagne. Every last drop of it. Because I am a fan. And I will continue to be a fan, no matter what division the Mighty Bolton Wanderers play in. The fans may be the only representatives of Bolton that came out of this season looking good. So each and every one of you should raise your own glass of champagne, or Boddington's, or orange juice, and drink a toast to yourselves, and your support of the Whites. We'll be back, and stronger than ever!

It all comes down to this. The 38th and final match of the season. Beat our opponents, then look to the scoreboard. It's a forgotten experience for many Wanderers supporters. The last time we went into the final weekend with our Premier League status in doubt was 2003. We've been through a lot since then. And yet, nothing has changed.

Stoke City have 44 points from 37 matches. In some years,they might still be mathematically threatened by relegation. But not this season. They sit in fourteenth place, unlikely to move up and unable to move down. It is the definition of the phrase "nothing to play for." In fact several pundits have used the expression "They're already on the beach" when discussing Stoke City and Bolton's chances of staying up. One win in their last eleven matches may confirm this opinion. Bolton teams of the past would have smelled blood and crushed the Potters. The current iteration of the Mighty Wanderers has not shown such a killer instinct. Keep reading to find out what the team will look like tomorrow, and what chance they have.

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Bulgaria is known for many things: Beautiful mountain ranges, Black Sea resorts, Mafia-related corruption, and Olympic weight-lifting teams. Footballers have become more significant, our own left-winger among them. Shockingly, at age 33, fighting in a relegation battle, a player never known for his work ethic has managed to put together perhaps his best individual season.

Martin Petrov has started thirty-four matches this season, all of them on the left wing. He has scored six goals in all competitions. That is not a great return, but considering our squad, it is downright prolific. Petrov also has nine assists, a good sign from a winger, especially one who puts in as many crosses as Petrov does. Pair that with his propensity for long range rockets and you have a real threat going forward.

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Bolton Wanderers have conceded 73 goals this season. That is really all there is to say.

There was a wonderful moment before the match when Fabrice Muamba was introduced to the crowd. It was emotional. it was inspiring. We miss him.

Bolton Wanderers have conceded 73 goals this season. That is more than two a game.

Tottenham Hotspur came out firing, and created a few chances early. Bolton didn't look bad though. The two clubs looked fairly even. Spurs scored eventually. It was a nice finish by Luka Modric. It never should have happened though. Sandro clearly handled the ball but the referee missed it. Spurs were up 1-0 at halftime.

Bolton Wanderers have conceded 73 goals this season. That's 20 more than were conceded in 2008-2009 under Gary Megson.

Bolton came out aggressive in the second half, creating several chances before finally equalizing through Nigel Reo-Coker. The Reebok was roaring. Bolton then really took control, as Spurs couldn't get the ball out of their own half. When they finally did, Bolton had left the back door wide open. Tottenham scored two goals in two minutes. If we're honest, noone was really surprised by this development.

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Here we go folks. Yesterday Mark gave you a round-up of results for all the teams in the relegation battle. Today I am going to give you all of the scenarios going forward, and more than a few predictions.

Bolton Wanderers are 18th at the moment, behind 17th-placed QPR on goal difference, but level on points at 34. We have a tough match against Spurs on Wednesday. Then West Bromwich Albion at home, which I think we can get three points from. We finish at Stoke City. I can easily see a draw there. Four points from the final 3 matches would put us on 38 for the season. Below the magical forty-point threshold, but possibly enough to stay up. What do the other clubs face on the run-in? Keep reading to find out.

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As I wrote in the preview, this was a weekend of opportunity for Bolton. The club have declined to take most of the opportunities they have been presented this season, would today be any different? You can find out below in my very cynical match report.

Bolton started out very well in the first half. Then they quickly pissed it all away. Bolton were well on top for the first twenty minutes, but only managed one goal. After they scored, Bolton's players decided to take a break and let their egos play for a while. They get ahead and think they are Barcelona. Of course Sunderland dominated the rest of the first half, eventually equalizing when Wanderers defenders tried to play the ball out of the back when outnumbered. Jack Colback played a nice ball, but possession was gifted to him before that.

Bolton came out in the second half and looked better for a minute or two. That was quickly halted by one of the stupidest challenges you will ever see from Kevin Davies, who has made a career of stupid challenges. He can put this one right on his mantle of idiocy though. James McClean scored from the resulting free kick. It all looked lost at that point. But our makeshift left back had something to add.

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Usually at this point in the season we know what we are getting from each club. The manager, the style, the squad, the strengths, the weaknesses, all of this should be well-known by April 28th. This is not the case with these two clubs, for a variety of reasons.

It's pretty easy to understand for Sunderland, as they hired a new manager midway through the season. They currently sit 11th in the table, on 44 points. Bolton, on the other hand, have just been fantastically inconsistent. The players are not entirely to blame for this, it has come from the top. Owen Coyle's tactics, personnel, and formation have all changed several times in the past nine months. As a result, Wanderers are 18th in the table, with 33 points from 34 matches.

So what will we see this Saturday at the Stadium of Light? Roker Report (SB Nation's Sunderland blog) spoke with us yesterday, and they said to expect a very tight, very organized Sunderland team. OK, they now have Martin O'Neill at the helm, so that is no surprise. But what can we expect from Bolton Wanderers?

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He has called this season his greatest challenge. But Owen Coyle, like most in his position as Premier League manager, is prone to hyperbole. Is it really his greatest challenge? On one hand, it's hard to say. On the other hand, Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch not too long ago. His illness was more serious, but he did join Chung-Yong Lee, Stuart Holden, Tyrone Mears, Sean Davis, and Ricardo Gardner on the list of players who missed a huge part of, if not essentially the entire, 2011-2012 season.

It wasn't long ago that Owen Coyle was the darling of England. Bolton were in the top half of the table, playing beautiful flowing football, attacking at will, and traveling to Wembley Stadium for an FA Cup semifinal.It wasn't long after that when Jonny Evans slid recklessly into Holden's knee. Our player of the year, the engine that made Bolton Wanderers go, was seriously injured. How seriously? It has been over a year, and he is still not playing. Maybe this was a harbinger of bad things to come for Owen Coyle and his club.

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Bolton started out a bit slow. Swansea City's high pressing, coupled with an unfamiliar formation, left Wanderers tentative. Well, who am I kidding? Bolton start almost every match tentatively. The Wanderers quickly found themselves behind after a Scott Sinclair goal at the five-minute mark. The winger cut inside of Gretar Steinnson, who forced him towards the middle but was a little too far behind. Unfortunately, no one from central midfield was there to close down, and the curling effort found the top corner.

All was not lost though. Just a few minutes later, Mark Davies played a perfectly waited through-ball down the left wing. Martin Petrov ran on to it and cut the ball back across the box. Arriving at the perfect time was Chris Eagles, who finished very nicely, leveling the match at 1-1. Swansea dominated possession for the rest of the first half, but Bolton probably created the better chances. It was very entertaining, although frayed nerves combined with events elsewhere probably prevented most Bolton supporters from finding much joy. To find out about the second half, follow us along the jump.

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Wolves are down, I think all agree on this. Eight points from safety with four to go. That leaves us two from the five of Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers, Wigan Athletic, and Aston Villa.

Wigan are five points clear with four to play, and seem to be hitting form at just the right time. They have been escape artists for several seasons running.

Aston Villa are six points clear with five to play, but stuck in a massive downward spiral. They have a poor manager, and most of their veteran players are either injured or disinterested.

Blackburn, Bolton and QPR are typical of teams in their position; some talent, some injuries, a lot of inconsistency, and an unclear future. Of the three, I like our man Owen Coyle the best. Steve Kean has been a dead-man walking at Ewood Park for a while now, and it seems to finally be catching up to the players. Mark Hughes used to be a very good manager, but his ego seems to have outgrown his pedigree.

So, get your wizard hats on Wanderers faithful. Who is going down? And be sure to scroll down to the comments section and tell us why!

Over the last month we have asked you, our faithful readers, to show your tactical acumen in two polls concerning Bolton's formation and personnel for the rest of the season's relegation battle. Hundreds of you have responded, and now it's time to see what you said, and if you know what you are talking about.

Our first poll asked what formation you preferred our club to line up in. Formation plays a big part in establishing a squad's personality, and Owen Coyle was very insistent that our club's personality revolved around the 4-4-2. But this poll was taken at a time when the 4-4-2 had betrayed us, and Owen was under a bit of pressure because of it. How many of you voted for 4-4-2? Keep reading to find out.

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I know, it is disorienting. There you are, lager in hand, ready to cheer, visions of Chris Eagles dancing in your head, but no match. No way to express yourself. I feel your pain, dear Wanderers supporter. The mighty Bolton Wanderers are on vacation in Dubai. Due to FA Cup scheduling, there is no game this weekend. But do not fear, there are ways, even Bolton related ways, to get your fill of the footy.

Rochdale hosts Exeter City today at normal kickoff time (3 PM in England). Rochdale is not far from Bolton, in fact, I once took the train there for an absolutely crap night out. Bolton youngster Temitope Obadeyi recently competed a loan spell at Rochdale, where he played six matches and scored one goal.

Sheffield United have a home match today against Leyton Orient. I lived in Sheffield for a while, and the Blades hold a warm place in my heart. Another Bolton youngster, Michael O'Halloran, is on the bench today for United, and the young loanee has already made four appearances from the subs bench, so he is likely to get in there.

Rhys Bennett, a 20-year-old Central defender, is on-loan to Falkirk, up in Scotland. H eha smade 25 appearances for the club and is likely to feature today.

So there you have it. Withdrawal is difficult, I know. But look at the bright side, other football is available. If you are especially desperate, I hear two clubs that kick around either side of Stanley park are playing each other as well.

Wanderers were shut out twice in a span of three days over the Easter holiday. Overall. the club have scored 36 goals in 32 matches. Six clubs have scored less, so that is not dire, but it is close. Bolton have to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net. Past-performance would seem to indicate that Ivan Klasnic is the man for the job, but he is not really suited for the 4-2-3-1 formation Bolton need to play to have any hope of defending competently.

Current form seems to show a mini-revival for club captain Kevin Davies, who is certainly suited to being a lone frontman.

Youth, fitness, and work-rate point towards David Ngog as the man for the job. Tuncay Sanli and Marvin Sordell seem unlikely to play much of a role over the next few weeks, but they are there. So tell us, faithful Wanderers supporters, who do you think is the man (or men) to score the goals to keep us in the caviar and champagne of the Barclays Premier League for at least 1 more season? It's this week's featured poll!

This match was a real stomach punch for the good guys. Bolton Wanderers played great for the first seventy minutes or so. They were very organized in defense and posed some threat going forward. Keeping the shape and being disciplined defensively are things that Bolton don't normally excel at, but for large parts of today's match, they did.

The first half was really a defensive duel, with a few half-chances, but both backlines holding firm for the most part. Adam Bogdan and Tim Krul had little to do except collect a few corners. Bogdan did punch one cross off of Samuel Ricketts' head, but it bounded out for a corner which Bogdan controlled without incident.

Bolton came out strong in the second half, with Chris Eagles and Darren Pratley both having decent chances. Eagles did great work in the box, but just couldn't place his shot and Krul saved easily. Martin Petrov, who may grab another Man of the Match award, put in a brilliant cross that Pratley was inches away from nudging into the net. keep reading to find out where it all went wrong.

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Bolton Wanderers v. Fulham Location: Reebok Stadium Date: Saturday 7 April 2012 Time: 3:00pm GMT/ 11:00am Records (W-D-L, +/-, Points, Place): Home: 9-2-19, -24, 29, 16th Form: L-L-L-W-W-W Away: 10-9-12, -3, 39, 10th Form: W-W-L-L-L-W

Bolton subs: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Gretar Stensson, Chris Eagles, Zatyiah Knight, Kevin Davies, IvanKlasnic, Marvin Sordell

Fulham subs: David Stockdale, Chris Baird, Steve Sidwell, , Dickson Etuhu, Danny Murphy, Orlando Sa

This weekend the boys from SW6 will make the journey north to face the Wanderers, and they will be looking for a repeated performance from their first meeting- a 2-0 drubbing at the Cottage-the Whites have been inconsistent of late. No one is surprised by this as Fulham usually play well in London and struggle on the road. They have only won twice on the road all year. (at Wigan, which is nothing to brag about and a London derby at Loftus Road) That's it. The Whites also manage to take points from top clubs, but conversely drop points to teams struggling to stay in the Premier League. In a seven day span in September they drew 1-1 with Blackburn and six days later drew 2-2 with Manchester City when Man City wasn't in the habit of dropping points. Who does that?

As far as tactics, Martin Jol will probably employ they same strategy he does every game. Fulham have a solid back four with Brede Hangeland, John Arne Riise, Stephen Kelly, and Aaron Hughes, which Jol leans on. He then pushes everyone else forward. The exception to this is Danny Murphy, who services as link between the middle and forward third not because of tactics, but because he is slow. This strategy works well, but leaves Fulham susceptible to counter attacks (see 0-5 December match against Manchester United).

The January loan signing of Pavel Pogrebnyak has been a significant upgrade up top over Bobby Zamora. Pogrebnyak is questionable this weekend after tweaking an ankle in the first half of last week's match against Norwich. The second half of the tandem known as "Cold War" is American Clint Dempsey. Dempsey has again been doing the heavy lifting for Fulham with 13 league goals this campaign. There is much speculation that Dempsey will seek to move to a larger club this summer. Tottenham is most often mentioned, but I think Dempsey is happy in West London and Fulham and Jol will do anything necessary to keep the American happy. If that means chartered flights back home to Texas for Dempsey and his family, so be it.

As far as a prediction, Bolton has been playing inspired football since that terrible event on St. Patrick's Day involving Fabrice Muamba. And given Fulham's dreadful form away from home I think Jol would be happy with a point. The Wanderers defense is still shocking so I can see an up and down match that will not disappoint. I say a goal for the American and a header from Hangeland on a set piece and a 2-2 draw that both Jol and Owen Coyle will laud in post match interviews. #COYW!

This will be a battle between two clubs who decided in January that they did not want Bobby Zamora, so we know there will be at least some footballing intelligence on display. In all seriousness, Fulham bring a talented and in-form frontline north to Lancashire this Saturday. The Cottagers sit tenth, smack dab in the middle of the table, on 39 points from 31 matches.

Many people might not remember this, but Fulham and Bolton were promoted together, over a decade ago. Blackburn were the third member of that promotion class, and none of the three have gone back down since. All have qualified for Europe on multiple occasions as well. It's really an impressive group. But in the last few seasons, it is Fulham that have jumped to the front of the pack. To find out what Bolton have to do to beat them, follow me...

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Owen Coyle was feeling expansive recently. There was an article in the Bolton News, written by Marc Iles, in which Coyle updated us on the status of several injured players.

The headline is that Chung-Yong Lee might return before the end of the season. That said, I don't believe it will make any difference in our relegation battle. Not only will Lee not have played in a year, he will be recovering from an extremely serious injury, and he will be playing in a completely different team.

Last time he put on the famous white shirt of the Wanderers he was surrounded by the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Stuart Holden, Johan Elmander, Fabrice Muamba, and Kevin Davies. Either through injury, poor form, or departure, none of those players will be on the pitch when he returns. The same is true of Mr. Holden, if he does make it back before the end of the season. He is even farther away than Chungy, and any return would involve little more than a few symbolic minutes in the last match of the season.

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Bolton Wanderers were under siege through most of the first half yesterday. Wolverhampton had a lot of possession, and created several chances, although if we are honest none of them were really great chances.

Despite this territorial advantage, the defense looked much more organized than it has in most matches this season. This may sound strange, as Marcos Alonso was getting absolutely dominated by Michael Kightly, but I am looking at the way that was handled. When Kightly got past Alonso, Tim Ream came out and covered him, and Alonso dropped into the center of defense. This showed good communication and organization in the backline, and I think Ream deserves a lot of credit for that. He is forming a nice partnership with David Wheater and working well with the fullbacks.

Adam Bogdan had another very good game, and is quickly developing into one of the better goalkeepers in the Premier League. He still only 24, a baby in keeper years, and has made less than thirty career starts.

All that said, my pick for Man of the Match is Martin Petrov. He was definitely in the mood right from the opening kickoff, rampaging down the left side and putting in a great shift on the attacking and defending ends. He had several good-looking shots on goal and also put in a lot of very useful crosses. If Bolton are going to stay up this season, we will need more performances like this from the Bulgarian winger.

Tottenham Hotspur v. Bolton Wanderers Location: White Hart Lane Date: Tuesday 27th March 2012 Time: 7:30 pm GMT Records Spurs Form: LLLWDW Bolton Form: WLLLLD

Tottenham Subs: Brad Friedel, Younes Kaboul, Giovanni Dos Santos, Niko Kranjcar, Rose, Jake Livermore, Sandro

Bolton Subs: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Chris Eagles, Tuncay Sanli, Kevin Davies, David Ngog, Tim Ream, Josh Vela

This is going to be a strange game to play. Truth be told, I think both clubs could do without it. The traumatic events of last Saturday will be on everyone's mind, and it is hard to predict a result. It's easy to picture a very dour 0-0, or perhaps Bolton Wanderers' players not being able to focus and getting run off the park.

Last time, before the match had to be abandoned, both managers made several changes to their respective team sheets, but stayed with the core of the first team. I think that this time they are really going to ring in the changes. Even Harry Redknapp, Tottenham Hotspur manager for now, should mix it up a bit, and he is not known for rotating his squad. For Bolton, I think we could see seven or eight changes, and the only reason we won't see ten or eleven is that the players just aren't available. Who will be rested? Keep reading to find out...

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Both matches will, of course, take place at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool will take on the winner of the Everton Sunderland replay on Saturday, April 14th. Chelsea will play either Bolton Wanderers or Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, April 15th.

Bolton have obviously been unconcerned about the replay against Spurs, with captain Kevin Davies even suggesting the club may pull out of the FA Cup competition altogether. That said, Fabrice Muamba has shown some improvement in the hospital over the last 24 hours. He is breathing on his own, recognizing family members and friends, and able to speak, minimally, in both English and French.

Given this good news, it is likely that the two clubs and the FA will settle on a date for the replay at White Hart Lane, with Tuesday March 27th and Wednesday March 28th the likely dates. By then Spurs' players will have completed full cardiac testing, which they demanded after the events of Saturday.

Bolton's scheduled match against Aston Villa that was to have taken place tonight has been postponed. Blackburn have offered to postpone Saturday's relegation six-pointer at the Reebok; However, if Fabrice continues to make progress, that game is likely to be on.

It is strange time for Bolton Wanderers Football Club and their supporters, as we all still only care about the health of one of our own, but do know, in the back of our minds, that the Trotters must return to the pitch soon. The optimist in me likes to think that whenever we do, Fabrice will be sitting up in his hospital bed and cheering us on.