Bolton Wanderers v Aston Villa (Preview and Prediction)
When you’re down on your luck, struggling for form and confidence then one of the last things you need is a trip to the Reebok Stadium. And that’s exactly what faces Aston Villa on Saturday as Martin O’Neill takes his side to Bolton as he looks for a first win in 11 games.
Gary Megson and Bolton are a combination that should fit perfectly together. Like former Bolton hero Sam Allardyce, Megson has that tough hardworking gritty approach to football management and accepts nothing less than 100% from his side. However, despite being relatively comfortable on 37 points and in all probability safe from the drop with another win or two, many of the Bolton supporters haven’t taken to the former West Bromwich Albion manager. They dislike his style of football and many actively dislike him. Things finally reached boiling point in January this year when Megson lost his cool after a 2-2 draw with Bolton and said “The supporters at this club have made their feelings known about myself from day one. I’ve had to cope with it for a long time and I don’t like it. It’s pathetic. The reaction to myself is absolutely astounding. The players are having to cope with it and it makes it difficult. When they are slaughtering me it makes the players angry”.
What’s remarkable about the treatment dished out to Megson is that the club looked doomed to relegation before he took control at the Reebok in October 2007. Just like his Villa counterpart Martin O’Neill, Megson was also heavily criticised for naming a second string side for a UEFA Cup game in March last year. Bolton left seven first team players at home and crashed 1-0 at Sporting Lisbon to end their interest in the competition.
Megson will be hoping for a similar performance from his side from that displayed in an impressive 4-1 victory against Middlesbrough in the Premiership a few weeks ago.
The optimism that surrounded Villa Park for much of this season has been replaced with a resignation that this could be a difficult summer coming up for O’Neill. News this week has centred around central defender Martin Laursen, and there is still no clear indication of his future in football as he attempts to come back from yet another injury blow. His absence has been cruelly missed in recent weeks with the Villa defence looking capable of conceding goals in every match. Villa in fact have conceded a staggering 20 goals in their previous eight games and Everton’s Joleon Lescott has become the latest player linked to a move to Villa Park in the summer.
Few people who watched the Villa v West Ham last week could quite believe that Villa didn’t leave the pitch with all three points. A mixture of poor finishing and poor late defending meant that once again, Villa were frustrated. Despite O’Neill repeating this week that Villa cannot and will not compete financially with the top four clubs, he will know more than anybody that the squad needs bolstering this summer. Anything less than that and Villa will not progress any further.
Gabriel Agbonlahor is winning his battle to be fit for tomorrow’s game and O’Neill has hinted this week about the possibility of playing Agbonlahor, Carew and Heskey in the same side next season.
It will be a tough place to visit for Villa. Bolton have shown several times this season that they are a strong physical side and will battle for something out of matches that look lost (coming from 4-0 behind to score three late goals at Chelsea is a recent example of their fighting spirit).
However, I think despite some recent defensive lapses, Villa are capable of unsettling Bolton with the pace of Agbonlahor and Young. I think they may just snatch a much needed victory but it will be close.
My Prediction: Bolton 1 Aston Villa 2
