prem preview: bolton wanderers - newcastle united
 
what: premier league
who: bolton wanderers (7th epl 2006-07) v newcastle united (13th epl 2006-07)
when: saturday, 11th august, 2007, kick-off 15:00 local (bst)
where: reebok stadium, bolton

the clash of big sam and little sam 

the 2007-08 premier league season kicks off with an intriguing and potentially explosive match between bolton and newcastle united. for both teams, this encounter could define the rest of their season and both managers will have done their utmost to get their players in shape and ready for the kick off.

the beginning of a new era

plenty has changed over the summer in both clubs, with new managers, new players, and at newcastle, a new chairman and board. sam allardyce, bolton manager for eight years, has left the club which he led to a carling cup final and european qualification. the move came as a shock to some people, who saw allardyce (nicknamed ‘big sam’) and bolton inextricably linked. 

not only had he been the manager for eight years, he was a player at bolton for eleven years. allardyce hinted that the reason he left the club was because of a lack of silverware during his time, saying after he left, “when i work again, it will only be at a club where i believe i can win something."

while there was speculation that he left bolton specifically for newcastle, both allardyce and the man who brought him in, former chairman freddy shepherd, say that it was only after the resignation of the newcastle manager, glenn roeder, that allardyce was approached. roeder managed to keep newcastle away from the relegation zone, but his position became untenable after just one win from his last ten games, leaving newcastle in 13th position.

allardyce will be expected not only to improve their league position, but bring exciting football back to a team that has not threatened for the title since the heady days of bobby robson and kevin keegan.

after the departure of allardyce, bolton immediately named his assistant sammy lee (nicknamed ‘little sam’) in the role of caretaker manager. lee, a former player at liverpool, will be in his first management role after years as an assistant, although he is also an england u-21 coach. he will be expected to continue the good work of allardyce, who managed to get bolton into the top eight for the past four years. lee though will not rest on the laurels of the departed manager and will attempt to bring to the team his own brand of football. 

a fresh start

both teams have had a surprisingly similar off-season, with an initial clearance of players followed by an influx of new players. bolton have lost one of their star performers of last season in tal ben-haim, who has gone to the bright lights of chelsea. lee wasted no time when he took over and released five underperforming players, including former manchester united winger quinton fortune and long-serving henrik pedersen. he then brought in no less then eleven players to fit into his new bolton team. of those signings, the key players will be mikel alonso, christian wilhelmsson and jlloyd samuel. alonso has been brought into the squad on loan from real sociedad and is expected to deliver pace and skill on the wing. wilhelmsson has been signed on a season-long loan from french club nantes and is expected to be a key signing for lee. samuel is likely to take over the defensive duties of ben haim, and will need to fulfil the potential that saw him regarded as one of the brightest english prospects just a few years ago at his former club aston villa.

with a european campaign along with the regular premier league and cup campaigns, bolton’s squad will be severely tested. these signings have ensured that bolton have sufficient depth to cover all but the worst injury crisis. the only weak link remains the full-back positions, with lee needing to provide more competition at left- and right-back. with the transfer deadline looming, he will have to act quickly to secure signings.

allardyce acted as soon as he took over as newcastle manager, jettisoning most of the much-maligned newcastle defence. titus bramble, craig moore and olivier bernard were all punted as allardyce looked to rebuild a defence which seemed to haemorrhage goals at crucial parts of the season. if anyone needed a bigger sign of intent, it was soon to come as allardyce sold off club captain scott parker to west ham for £7 million. he moved rapidly to snare the signing of middlesbrough striker mark viduka on a free transfer and joey barton on a £5.8 million move from manchester city. he has also shored up the defence somewhat by capturing david rozenhal from paris st germain, former lyon captain claudio cacapa and villarreal left-back jose sanchez enrique, as well as signing manchester united midfielder/striker alan smith. like lee, allardyce could still add to his squad before the close of the transfer window but it seems unlikely that any players will be added to the squad before the match.

pre-season guide

both teams had shocking ends to last season, and newcastle have perhaps been more impressive in their pre-season. bolton took part in the peace cup pre-season competition in south korea, drawing with seongnam ihwa, defeating mexican side club deportivo guadalajara and spanish side racing santander before losing to french side lyon and being knocked out. back home, bolton suffered a heavy defeat to hibernian before getting back on track with wins against tranmere, espanyol and colchester united.

newcastle united started off their pre-season campaign with a 3-1 win over hartlepool united. they followed that with a draw against carlisle united before a 4-1 thumping of scottish side celtic. newcastle then had wins against italian sides juventus and sampdoria, with a 0-1 loss between them to hull city. 

form guide

bolton

sunday 13 may v aston villa (h) drew 2-2

saturday 5 may v west ham (a) lost 1-3

saturday 28 april v chelsea (a) drew 2-2

saturday 21 april v reading (h) lost 1-3

newcastle

sunday 13 may v watford (a) drew 1-1

saturday 5 may v blackburn (h) lost 0-2

monday 30 april v reading (a) lost 0-1

sunday 22 april v chelsea (h) drew 0-0

team news 

bolton

stelios giannakopoulos will miss this match and about a month of action after surgery on a hernia problem. bolton will also be without defender ricardo gardner, who is out with a hamstring problem and midfielder blerim dzemaili who is out with a long-term cruciate injury. there are concerns over nicky hunt (toe) and joey o’brien (hamstring), although neither has been ruled out.

first choice goalkeeper jussi jaaskelanien has been linked to an exit from the trotters. aston villa are rumoured to be gearing up a bid after losing out to sunderland for craig gordon. ricardo vaz te is also the subject of transfer rumours as the 20-year-old is linked to west bromwich albion. however both players are at bolton for the time being and barring any last minute bids, will be in contention to play against newcastle.

allardyce was well-known for a long-ball 4-3-3 formation, but there are indications that lee will change to a more traditional 4-4-2 formation, employing players like wilhelmsson and alonso on the wing to provide crosses and passes into anelka and diouf. 

newcastle

michael owen will miss the game with a thigh strain that he picked up in the pre-season. he is joined on the sidelines by new signing joey barton, who has broken a bone in his foot and is out for around six weeks.

shay given will also miss the game after he aggravated a groin injury in the pre-season friendly against sampdoria. this means that steve harper will start in goal for the first match, and allardyce may have to bring in another goalkeeper as reserve ‘keeper tim krul is on loan at falkirk. allardyce said, "he has gone to see a specialist in london because we want to make sure just how much damage has been done. at the moment we only expect him to be out for a couple of weeks, but we wont take any risks. if the situation has changed after he has seen the specialist, and he is going to be missing for longer than we first thought, we might have to bring another keeper into the squad because well be a bit short."

squads

bolton: (from)  jaaskelainen, walker, al habsi, sinclair, jameison, hunt, samuel, meite, cid, michalik, nolan, speed, campo, wilhelmsson, andranik, braaten, guthrie, alonso, mccann, tal, o’brien, diagne-faye, helgusson, davies, vaz te, diouf, harsanyi, anelka

newcastle: (from) harper, enrique, carr, rozenhal, cacapa, geremi, ramage, taylor, edgar, huntington, babayaro, emre, dyer, n’zogbia, solano, milner, butt, pattinson, milner, smith, carroll, martins, viduka, luque, ameobi

watch out for

bolton

nicolas anelka – the talented but temperamental striker, nicknamed ‘le sulk’, was a revelation last year for bolton after an £8 million move from fenerbache. he scored 11 premier league goals last season, helping bolton to a european spot. however, rumours of a move back to arsenal (fuelled in part by the player himself) have left some wondering if he will give his all for the club. while he claims that he has given his full support to new manager lee, the first competitive game of the season will see if he will flourish or whether it was only allardyce’s influence that soothed his troubled soul.

newcastle

obafemi martins – undoubtedly newcastle’s best striker last season. he led the goal scoring charts with 11 league goals and 17 goals in all competitions after a sluggish start. the £10 million buy was on his own for most of the season though, with injuries striking down both owen and ameobi. he will not have to carry the attack as much this season thanks to the buying of viduka and smith, plus the return from injury of owen, ameobi and luque. however, with more pressure for his place, will he be as successful? he has the class to succeed again, but the first few games of the season will show if he will.

prediction

2-1 win for bolton. bolton have not lost to newcastle at reebok stadium since 2001/02. newcastle’s defensive frailties still do not look fixed and it will take a while for allardyce’s new team to gel and fit together, despite impressive pre-season results. the signings of rozenhal, cacapa and enrique lack premiership experience and this will show in their first few games as they adapt to the faster pace. a more settled bolton outfit will steal this one, but expect it to be a close and tight affair. don’t be surprised to see a few yellow cards and a frosty relationship between little sam and big sam.

scott lowe