I’ve been supporting Bolton Wanderers for a long time. Over all those years, I’ve awakened on the first day of the football season with a feeling of anticipation and excitement.

The familiar walk to the stadium, perhaps new players to view, and, maybe this season we would do something spectacular. This year it didn’t happen.  The dross of 2008/09, the uninspiring transfer activity, the mundanity of the manager’s pronouncements, and the negligible reference to the Wanderers in the media had all combined to dull my natural romantic optimism.

I really didn’t want to go to the game. When I met my daughter, Samantha, for the journey across the Pennines, I found that she felt the same. News of the closure of a stretch of the M61 did nothing to lighten our mood. If only I’d known that the day was going to get worse, and that the next ninety minutes would generate, not excitement and elation, but anger and frustration. The first intimation of this came when I saw the starting eleven, which included Gavin McCann on the wide right of midfield. I think more highly of McCann than most Wanderers fans; as a defensive midfield player he is neat and tidy, tackles well, and usually manages to pass to a white shirt. But a winger he ain’t.

Last season, Megson tried the same ploy with Joey O’Brien, Fabrice Muamba, Mark Davies, and possibly other central midfield players that I’ve forgotten. None of them sparkled in the role. There were several new players on display. Rather than being ‘marquee signings’ they were more like the two man tents on special offer at Halfords but, the debutants, at least initially, added a touch of interest. Four of them were included in the starting 4-4-2 line-up comprising Jussi; Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Robinson; McCann, Muamba, Sean Davis, Taylor; Kevin Davies, Elmander.

There were no strikers among the substitutes but the bench included Lee Chung-Yong, a South Korean winger, who arrived at the Reebok on Thursday. From a Bolton perspective, the game was awful. In the first half Sunderland cut through our defence time after time and only Jussi limited the score to one. The few attacking moves we attempted were sterile, passing was awry, and organisation and teamwork were non-existent. If anything, the performance was worse than the depths of last season and this with a back four featuring three of Megson’s summer purchases.

The goal, after a mere five minutes, was like so many we conceded in the past. A free kick from near the touchline, floated into the goal mouth where Darren Bent rose above Kevin Davies and placed a firm header past Jaaskelainen. Simple stuff, but seemingly too complex for our coaches to counter. Just before half time, Fulop saved a good header from Cahill following a corner. If that had gone in it would have been grossly unfair as we had been completely outplayed in the first period and might well have been three down by half time.

After the break, things improved marginally. Taylor wasted a chance and Elmander had a decent shot on the turn but neither opportunity came from a co-ordinated build up. Until the final fifteen minutes, Sunderland seemed the more likely team to score. By this point McCann was relieved from further suffering in his unaccustomed role as he was replaced by Lee Chung-Yong and for the first time the visitors defence looked vulnerable.

Elmander had a decent effort that flashed across the goal, Kevin Davies was too slow to take advantage of a delicate headed pass from Lee, and Sean Davis should have scored in the dying seconds. However, the late flurry was in vain and, in the end, we got our just deserts.

In general, the debutants showed little to commend. On this display, it’s hard to remember a worse Wanderers left back than Robinson. He was woeful. The other full back, Ricketts, was better but he was no better than Steinsson; indeed, he displayed similar attacking strengths and defensive frailty as the Icelander. Zat Knight wasn’t much better than Robinson and didn’t look like the commanding centre back we so badly need. His understanding with Cahill was non-existent. However, he must be a quick learner for he punted high balls in the direction of Kevin Davies as if he’d been with us since the early days of Allardyce.

Sean Davis looked like yet another central midfield player who is all right but nothing special. We already have a host of these. Presumably, he will find himself on the right wing before long.

The most interesting debutant by far was Lee. To say he is slight is inadequate. When I said he needed some time in the weights room, Samantha suggested that a few good meals should come first. I have doubts that his delicate physique can cope with the robust nature of the Premier League but, in the short time he was on the field, he showed speed and skill, and he didn’t shy away from the physical challenge.

He made one good run down the right wing, set up a chance for Davies and two or three times took up good positions that weren’t picked up by his team mates. And what memories are stirred by a Bolton right winger called Lee. As for the regulars, all were below par except for Jaaskelainen. Elmander and Kevin Davies didn’t gel as a pair and they received scant support from midfield. We were repeatedly second to the ball, couldn’t control it when we got it, and the number of constructive passes on the floor could be counted on one hand.

After his success with Young England, Muamba was back to lolloping around like an out of control bulldozer. Didn’t Megson notice that the youngster earned international plaudits when he played the defensive role in front of the back four. And that brings me to the main culprit. The individual players (with the exception of Robinson) are better than this. It’s the manager’s job to make the team add up to more than the sum of the parts. Clearly, Megson can’t do this. In all humility, I put a few questions to the manager:

1. Why play 4-4-2 if you don’t have the players to fit the system? Playing defensive midfield players in wide positions doesn’t work.
2. When a lack of ideas was so obvious in midfield, why not introduce the one player on the bench who might make a difference? He’s called Mark Davies in case you’ve forgotten.
3. You have a player called Riga who your web site lists as a striker. Why wasn’t he on the bench? Wouldn’t he have made a better substitute for Elmander than an untried reserve midfield player?
4. Why waste precious transfer money on players who are no better than the ones you already have?
5. Where was Ricardo Gardner?

I have many other questions but as I’m unlikely to get any answers, these will do.

Surely, the people in charge can see that Megson is draining the lifeblood from our club. Phil Garside has his faults, but I do believe that he has the interests of Bolton Wanderers at heart. He watches the games; he must see that the performances are awful. Furthermore, declining attendances reflect the apathy generated by the rubbish on the field. The club haven’t announced how many season tickets have been sold, which suggests that the number is less than last year, despite some hefty price reductions for children and old codgers like me. There were 22,247 at this game, but at least five thousand came from Sunderland. There were empty seats all round the ground.

Of course, not everyone is primarily concerned with how we play. Many think that results are paramount. Well, we have one win in our last twelve Premier League games and in ten of those we scored just one goal or less. The one game we won was against a team that suffered relegation a few weeks later. How bad does it have to get?

On a personal note, the day got better once I got home. After a good meal, a few glasses of wine and a couple of recorded editions of The Wire, my violent anti-Megson feelings had subsided a little and I slept well.