Bolton Wanderers vs Manchester City match preview

Thank you to BURT for his preview.

August 21st 2001 4pm K.O.

The Yonners v Manchester City

One of the oldest Lancashire derby fixtures still in existence and there will be no hiding place in this one.

The Yonners started with the same scoreline as City by pasting QPR four nil at Loftus Road. In Owen Coyle they have one of the sharpest up and coming managers in the game and it is certain that he will brief his team well with regard to the opposition. In less than two years Coyle has gradually changed The Yonners from “Kick em and hoof it!” merchants into a disciplined, tidy outfit who play a much more pleasing on the eye and constructive side.

Kevin Davies is still the target man up front and he should pose a genuine threat to City’s quality defensive unit of Vinny and Lescott. The man that will most likely be given the duty of loading the bullets for Davies may well be former City wide man Martin Petrov who no doubt will feel that he has a little point to prove after he left City with a few terse little comments last year.

At the other end of the park, Gary Cahill will probably be having a restless night on Saturday thinking about which players he will be facing from Tevez, Kun, Silva, Balotelli, Dzeko, Yaya, Johnson and Jimmy Milner. I for one do not envy him if City quickly slip into top gear early in the contest!

The Breezeblock Stadium is not the friendliest ground that City will travel to this season. For anyone that has been there, it’s a strange all to do place, being situated smack in the middle of a shopping estate on the boundary of Horwich. It’s quite open to the elements around there and even in summer, the cold winds whirl inside the ground. I must confess that I am very familiar with the Yonners fans because I spent quite a number of years living and working in Bolton. I still have family and friends in the area but the majority can be a very bitter bunch of folk at times. A very good trait they possess is a healthy loathing hatred for our neighbours the filthy devilworshipping rags but unfortunately that is tempered by the fact that they tend to be very inverted and also hate Manchester in general.

I remember a few years ago when I was sat having a few beers in my local watching City play Wolves in a not too important game and when Wolves scored, the inbreds nearly took the roof off with their cheering. The same event occurred when we played Bury who the Yonners are supposed to detest intensely. You’d have thought there were hundreds of Shakers fans in the boozer when they scored but there was actually not a single one. The message that I am trying to explain is that their fans will be up for this one and they’ll be banging those stupid drums next to the City end and trying to whip up a frenzy because this is one of their biggest if not THE biggest homes games of the season.

To all you Blues attending, sing your hearts out for the lads and you’ll quieten down no problem.

Back to the job in hand. This is exactly the type of game that Bobby The Manc has took some criticism for since his tenure. Some folk rightly or wrongly have the oppionion that we should steamroller our way through. A big key will be how he sets City up. Nige, Yaya and Gaz Baz will I suggest be starters in midfield with of course our maestro Dave Silva orchestrating. It will be significant for City to square up to the Yonners physically and therefore Dzeko may well be deployed a little deeper to hassle and get stuck in a little more than usual. If that is the case, we need an additional output like Tevez to assist him but it appears he won’t start and therefore Kun may get the starting place he deserves after his nice thirty minute devastating cameo debut against Swansea last Monday evening. Having said that, Bobby may want to risk Mario for his pace and trickery. A nice conundrum to have whichever way it pans out.

I personally am not one for stats and this fixture has always been a tricky one for City. We played them off the park there last season and I will be disappointed if we do not do so again given the tools that we now possess in our not too inconsiderable armoury. This is THE season that we have been waiting for in donkeys years. A strong squad packed with talent and a team spirit that appears to be growing stronger by the week. Dismiss the Yonners at your peril but get behind the lads and this must win game should be ours if we apply ourselves as a team and as an aggressively loud bunch of away fans.

The Beehive battle cruiser has always been the away fans pub but anyone that fancies a few snifters early in the afternoon should mooch into Bolton town centre as they have a few nice ales to be supped in very old establishments like The Ol Man & Scythe and The Swan just off Bradshawgate. There’s also a nice couple of Italian and Spanish tapas bars for a pre-match scoff, washed down with Peroni or San Miguel mmmmmmmmm!

Up and at em Blues and a 3-0 victory accompanied with style and swagger should set us on our way to that league title that we all crave.

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