WAKEY! WAKEY!

It's terribly quiet on here recently and with it being an international weekend, it's probably going to be more like a morgue for the next few days. So, this is my attempt to drum up a bit of business. Feel free to fall asleep reading (it's long and a bit boring) or vent your spleen in disgust (you're all more than capable) but at the very least, as Mrs. Merton would have said, 'Let's Have a Heated Debate'....


Realistically, if we're to be play-off contenders this season, here is how I expect to see the W L D columns read for the season.

23 Home Games: Win 14, Lose 3, Draw 6
While I fully expect us to acquire 3 points in the majority of our home games, I see us losing about 3 games at The Reebok to some of the clubs favored for automatic promotion. In addition, I image we'll see a handful of draws against the other play-off contenders or teams sniffing around the top 10.

23 Away Games: Win 6, Lose 8, Draw 9
Generally, we should be happy with a point away from home in most games, although realistically, if we're aiming for a top 6 spot, we should probably be grabbing all 3 points against the weaker teams in the league who are expected to finish in and around the bottom third/quarter. Likewise, I wouldn't expect to get much on the road against the automatic promotion candidates or play-off contenders.

Broadly speaking, that's how I expect to see our results stack up during the course of the season.


So, based on that, here's what I think about our results to date:

Burnley 1 v 1 Bolton (Away)
Any away point is a good point, especially in a local derby on the first day of the season. Not a bad result.

Bolton 1 v 1 Reading (Home)
Relegated from the Premier League last season and one of the favorites for automatic promotion, a home point against Reading certainly isn't bad either.

Forest 3 v 0 Bolton (Away)
An away loss to big spenders and favorites for one of the top spots. A disappointing scoreline but not exactly a disaster to come away empty handed.

Bolton 0 - 1 QPR (Home)
A home loss to newly relegated, big spending, promotion favorites QPR. If we were to lose only one game at home this season it was likely to be against them. An expected result.

Blackburn 4 v 1 Bolton (Away)
An away point against bitter local rivals Blackburn would have been a fine result. I fully expect Blackburn to be one of the 4 or 5 teams hunting for the last play-off places at the end of the season but this result was definitely a surprise. A point dropped.

In summary, despite the Blackburn result, I'm not entirely surprised by our current position based on our early fixtures. Nor am I overly concerned. Yet.


Which brings me to predicting that we'll acquire 7 points from our September fixtures:

Bolton v Leeds (Home)
Leeds are another of the teams I'd expect to be battling for one of the last play-off spots, probably finishing somewhere between 6th and 10th place.
1 point.

Bolton v Derby (Home)
I don't expect Derby to be pushing for the top places so nothing but a win will do in this home fixture.
3 points

Brighton v Bolton (Away)
Brighton are likely to be up there in the play-off spots again. Can't see us getting anything here.
0 points

Bolton v Yeovil (Home)
If we don't win this at home I'd put everything up for sale.
3 points.


Phew, that's it. Your go...