I didn’t really expect any points against a team allegedly chasing a place in next season’s Champions League, so a one nil defeat shouldn’t have caused me too much distress. However, neither did I expect an insipid, spineless display from a set of players who appeared to have their eyes on a beach in some millionaire’s playground rather than securing the Premier League status of the club. This display was as bad as anything we have seen this season and I don’t say that lightly because there are many that have been pretty awful. Moreover, it wasn’t because of the quality of the opposition; Aston Villa were not much better. It was a miserable way to spend a Bank Holiday afternoon.

The trouncing at the hands of Manchester United had its expected effect on the attendance. The club claimed that there were 21,000 there. I don’t believe them. There were acres of empty seats all over the ground. This display probably means there will be even fewer at the next home game. The only evidence of passion came at the final whistle when, for some reason, there was a melee involving both teams. It would have been preferable to have seen some of this fervour during the game.

For the record, the guilty men were Jaaskelainen; Rickets, Cahill, Knight, Robinson; Chung-Yong Lee, Muamba, Cohen, Wilshire; Davies and Elmander.
 
I don’t intend describing in any detail a game that, from a Bolton viewpoint, was largely featureless. Much has been made, not least by me, of the brave new world expected following the appointment of Owen Coyle. I should have remembered that the title of Huxley’s novel was meant to be ironic. There was no evidence of any change of style, indeed there was no evidence of any style. The one decent attempt we made on goal was typical of the Megson era; free kick by Robinson, chested down by Davies, good shot by Cohen, good save by Friedel. That was in the first ten minutes. Apart from a brief flurry following the introduction of Klasnic and Weiss, a flurry that came to nothing, that was it so far as meaningful Wanderers attacks are concerned.

Villa’s goal came from a fine curled shot by Ashley Young who was untroubled by any defensive challenge. I seem to be the only commentator that believes that Jaaskelainen ought to have saved it. The MotD man claimed the keeper was ‘at full stretch’. The ball came across him from right to left but he tried to save with his right hand. If he had gone with his left he could have reached it.

Not that I’m picking particularly on Jussi. Apart from Zat Knight, there wasn’t a single player that played anywhere near his potential. Sam Ricketts and Kevin Davies vied for the wooden spoon for the worst performance. I have praised the former for his efforts at centre back and, to be fair, he was the only Bolton man that got anywhere near keeping pace with the Villa speed merchants. Apart from his pace, the quality I like about Ricketts is his ability to use both feet but here he couldn’t use either of them. He played as if they were tied together. As for Davies, apart from the chance he provided for Cohen, he was again largely ineffective. On the few occasions when a passing movement showed signs of blossoming, it invariably broke down when the ball reached the captain. Even his customary hard work was not in evidence and its no wonder that Elmander, without breaking any pots himself, was surprised when he was the one to make way for Klasnic.

My man of the moment, Muamba, did a few creditable things but his errors were so graphically awful that they overwrote anything of merit. At times, he was back to his impression of Pinocchio with the strings cut. Another favourite, Chung-Yong Lee, was a pale shadow of the player that thrilled the crowd in his early games. His decline under Owen Coyle has been particularly spectacular. Gary Cahill looked a long way from catching the eye of Capello. At the moment, if the England manager is looking for a Bolton centre back to go to South Africa, it should be Zat Knight, the one man in a white shirt that earned his wage..

For the rest, Wilshire promised more than most but achieved little, Robinson as I anticipated was often out of his depth against the pace of Young and Downing and Cohen, his early shot apart, gave his usual ineffective performance. The substitutions woke up the crowd but none of the introductions produced anything of note.

The substitutes that weren’t used were all defenders, two full backs, one centre back, and the neglected Al Habsi, a goalkeeper. One player that might have made a difference, Mark Davies, was absent, as was Ricardo Garner, whose pace would have been handy at either end of the field. The workings of OC’s mind are proving as difficult to follow as his Glasgow accented interviews.

I haven’t completely lost faith, most of the players he has at his disposal were bought to do a different job than the one he is asking then to do. But the lack of effort was unpardonable and I would hope he gave them all a severe rollicking after this shambles. It appeared initially that OC could get the best out his charges but he isn’t doing that with Chung, Davies, Klasnic or Taylor.

It was fortunate that other results went in our favour but we still need some points if we are to survive. Also we’ve scored just seven goals in the last twelve games, including the goal fest against a poor Wigan side. Against Villa it wasn’t even that we weren’t making the most of created chances as Cohen’s opportunity apart, I can’t remember a single chance. If we can’t score goals we won’t even beat Portsmouth. Other teams in the relegation goal are fighting, we aren’t. It’s not good enough and Owen Coyle has much to do if he is to retain the goodwill generated by his appointment.