Bolton Wanderers: Hull Breach

Mention the word 'Hull' and it conjures up the back end of England. A sea port that takes you to cold places, a fishing industry that smells and the overall sense that this is one of the few places on this island that makes Burnley look good.

As for the club itself, other than the two seasons in the Premier League, they have been perennial underachievers, moving up and down the divisions over the years. Phil Brown took them to the promised land four years ago but, despite a strong start, almost got them relegated in the first year and managed it in the second, coming across as a figure of fun with his half time team talk on the pitch at Citeh. By the time relegation was confirmed, he had been replaced by Ian Dowie. Strangely, both men have been mentioned as possible replacements for Owen Coyle.

Sometimes, it is better the devil you know.

As for this season, it has been a pretty much carbon copy of ours, as they have won one, drawn one and lost one and find themselves one place below us on goals scored. They have only scored one goal, which is encouraging. But, by the same token, they have only let in one goal, which is not. They also lost in the League Cup in midweek to a team from League One. Spooky.

Although there are some who would deny it, the pressure is on Owen Coyle. The beginning of the season has been steady and unspectacular. At times, the team has performed poorly and at others, especially in last week's game against Forest, has played the kind of football that fans are demanding. A win or a draw away from home and people will generally be happy. A loss, and more kitchen cupboards will be coming bereft of knives.

'We made seven or eight chances in midweek, but when you lose a game you want to go out and win the next one.' (Which has rarely happened, but do continue) 'What we have to do is make sure that we continue the level of performance that we have shown in the previous Championship matches against Derby County and Nottingham Forest.' (This doesn't particularly make me feel any better.) 'It should have resulted in six points as opposed to four, but they were certainly two far better performances than the first one at Burnley.' (Aaahhhhnoshitsherlock) 'You have to be consistent in this league.' (He doesn't say whether that is consistently good or consistently bad.) 'We know we are capable of scoring goals but what we have to do is make sure that we are not giving away easy goals.' (Are we buying a whole new defence then?) 'That might sound daft given the quality of Nottingham Forest`s finishes, but within every goal there are avoidable moments.' (It doesn't sound daft as everybody knows it. To assume we don't is daft.) 'We will score goals but we also have to keep the backdoor shut. If you do that, it`s a great remedy for winning matches.' (Score goals. Don't concede goals. Why haven't we thought of this before? Someone alert the press.)

Hull's website doesn't give any details, but I have it on good authority that Nick 'Employment Tribunal' Barmby has finally retired.

Always nice to see a former Bolton player and not many come bigger than Abdi Faye. Always good in the air and a major threat at corners, although this is more of a 'getting in the way' threat rather than a scoring threat. Will always be in Bolton fans hearts for scoring twice in two seasons against the Arse, although his departure to Newcastle still leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

David N'Gog is still not ready for action after his forty five minutes for the reserves in midweek and Josh Vela, man of the match for the Crawley game (you bunch of wags) is also injured. Not that he would have got anywhere near the pitch tomorrow and don't let OC's press conference fool you that he would. Benik Afobe, who also came off on Tuesday, will probably be OK.

It is difficult to pick out which one of the motley crue to pick this weekend, but let's go for the best player so far this season. Two goals, an assist and a level of play that his colleagues are having an issue keeping up with, Eagles is certainly showing that he is, at least, a Championship level player. All that is good about this season, and there hasn't been a lot of it, has come mostly from Eagles, despite match sponsors having decided to give awards to SKD even before the game has started.

Bolton and Hull have played each other just forty times since the teams first met in Bolton's 1-0 win at Burnden Park in 1908. Most fixtures have taken place outside the top division, with Hull leading 8-4 in fixtures played at Anlaby Road, Boothferry Park and the KC Stadium.

Bolton's leading scorer in the fixture is John Byrom, with seven. As he played when both teams were in the old second division, he is also Bolton's leading second tier scorer in the fixture.

The last time that teams met, they drew 2-2 in a Premier League game between Christmas and New Year 2009. You will recall that glorious morning after when Megson was sacked.

Seems an awful long time ago now.

Christopher Sarginson is the latest in the line of referees we have never heard of and this will be his first Championship game this season. He took control of his one and only Hull game on New Year's Eve last season at Burnley, when they lost 1-0. Unsurpisingly, he has never taken control of a Bolton game.

Well, I did say 2-1 on Tuesday and, if I'd done it the other way, that would have covered my losses for the past season and a bit. Undaunted, I will go for a 2-1 Bolton win, as I just don't trust our defence.

An international break means that Bolton's next game will be a home fixture against Watford on September 15th.

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