Promoted Teams

[Wiggy]

I cant see either Norwich or Swansea going down this season and with QPR getting Mark Hughes,I cant see them going down either.It would be the first time ever in the Premiership if all 3 teams stayed up.

[largehat]

I disagree, I can see Swansea being in the mix, and without major investment, QPR too. Lets see how QPR look at the end of the window.

[azreal88]

It would be the first time ever in the Premiership if all 3 teams stayed up.

Since the last time.  When it was us, Blackburn and Fulham.

[Quiroga]

I cant see either Norwich or Swansea going down this season and with QPR getting Mark Hughes,I cant see them going down either.It would be the first time ever in the Premiership if all 3 teams stayed up.

From a Bolton fan that is a shocking mistake to make

[Manny]

Blackpool were 10th this time last year and still went down.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/norwich-city/9016817/Norwich-City-staying-grounded-after-Paul-Lamberts-side-see-off-West-Brom-at-The-Hawthorns.html

There may be a shock or two still to come.

[Squidgy]

Things are still very tight point wise at the bottom.

A bad run and a few freak results could see any number of teams dragged into it.

[Chris Rabz]

The three promoted teams doing so well (relatively) is one of the reasons we are in the mess we are in. I know we only have ourselves to blame really, but results like losing at home to Norwich and away at Swansea are the kind of thing that had they been reversed so could our league positions.

But while they are looking pretty safe right now we are still halfway really and collapses can be swift and dramatic in the second half of the season. If we are going to get any form back it will be against the teams around us, so by law of averages they will drop as we rise - IF we rise.

[Manny]

If you take a look at the league, we have won 5 games. QPR have only won 4, Swansea have won 6 and Norwich have won 7.

Something they have all done is draw games. Ignore QPR but Norwich have drawn 7 and Swansea have drawn 8. If we could grind out a few draws instead of falling apart when we concede a goal, we'd probably be 4 or 5 points above the bottom three.

[Martinbwfc]

Say what you want, but there isn't a cat in hells chance we will finish above Swansea or Norwich!!!!!.

[Paul Comstive]

Swansea look far too good to go down.  It's a bit lazy to compare them with Blackpool IMO.

Blackpool were 100% gung-ho and simply tried to outscore their opponents.  Swansea are a lot more solid than that and most importantly know how to keep the ball.  Did you see how they has Arsenal's players running around chasing the ball in the way Arsenal normally do to the likes of us?


They've got an outstanding goalkeeper and a solid defence too.

Norwich could well get sucked into it though and QPR, unless they bring in some real quaiity in Jan, will be there or thereabouts.

[largehat]

Swansea are a team full of championship players. They have pace and play to their strengths. That Graham up front is decent.  They've only got one away win and it took them until January  Far from 'too good to go down' on my opinion.

[bwfc_wilson]

Norwich and Swansea are playing superbly at the moment. I think with Norwich it's a combination of a superb manager, committed players and the fact that all those players are only just talking the premiership for the first time. I think they could end up getting found out once the Premier League teams work out how to play them. We shall see if that happens and if they can re-invent themselves so to speak. It's a similar situation with Swansea but their defence is just different class and it has been for years now since Martinez took over there. I think both will stay up as they have too many points now to be considered as a realistic side to go down.

As you all said, if we could have drawn a few games and picked up another result along the way we would be comfortably above the relegation zone

[Paul Comstive]

Swansea are a team full of championship players. They have pace and play to their strengths. That Graham up front is decent.  They've only got one away win and it took them until January  Far from 'too good to go down' on my opinion.

Did you watch them against Arsenal?  They didn't just beat them, they outplayed them.  They had more posession.  Not many teams outpass Arsenal.

True, their away record is poor, but their home record is outstanding.  They play with the thought that if the opposition hasn't got the ball they cannot score against you.  I wish we took a leaf out of their book sometimes instead of just "getting rid".

[largehat]

Yes I saw the Arsenal game and they were very impressive. I thought Blackpool were fantastic at times last season too. It will take a bad run of fixtures/results to damage their confidence if they are to go down of course.

Not that I want them to go down, lovely people down there and they try to play football the right way. I'd rather see the inbreds or the cockneys go down.

[xmiles]

Truthfully both Swansea and Norwich are playing much better than us and on present form don't deserve to go down. I am hoping that Hughes can't turn it round at QPR but it looks like he has been given cash to spend so he may succeed.

So we are left hoping that Wigan, Blackburn and Wolves all turn out to be worse than us. 

[exile in bolton]

Swansea looked a decent team when they played us,compact,organised comfortable on
the ball.They all worked hard for each other and their keeper played a blinder.The only down
side for them is that they don't score many goals,and I'm not sure how they would cope with
a number of injuries although I'm not familiar with their squad.I hope they stay up they are
good to watch that game on sunday was a cracker.

[Jimbo]

Swansea are a team full of championship players. They have pace and play to their strengths. That Graham up front is decent.  They've only got one away win and it took them until January  Far from 'too good to go down' on my opinion.

Disagree. Joe Allen is better than any midfielder we have at the club apart from perhaps Holden. He'll get a move to a top 6 club in the next 12 months.

Dyer and Sinclair are a little bit hit and miss but they're better than for example Eagles and Petrov.

Caulker, whilst only a loan, looks like a very solid defender and Williams next to him is doing a better job than any our current centre backs have managed.

Graham is getting goals up front, looks better than Ngog. Most of these players might have come from the Championship but they certainly don't look out of their depth in the Premier League.

Swansea play excellent football, I said before the Arsenal match I thought they'd go into it and outplay them, they have more pure footballers than Arsenal- who despite having some good attacking players- also have a lot of direct players and cloggers in the team now.

I agree with bwfcwilson that Norwich are more in that category of Championship side doing well but the fact they've got a class manager and so many points already should see them through this year, even if they suffer a second half dip.

QPR are awful, depends how they spend their money. Brining in Alex for example will make a massive difference. If they can also get another couple of big names then they might have too much too.

[Wiggy]

Truthfully both Swansea and Norwich are playing much better than us and on present form don't deserve to go down. I am hoping that Hughes can't turn it round at QPR but it looks like he has been given cash to spend so he may succeed.

So we are left hoping that Wigan, Blackburn and Wolves all turn out to be worse than us. 

I think it will be Wigan,Blackburn,and one other.At present saldy its looking like us.

[Thaitrotter]

I think it will be Wigan,Blackburn,and one other.At present saldy its looking like us.

I agree with Wiggy but usually one mid table team collapses , so fingers crossed

[LightningBolton]

I don't think Swansea will go down because, even though they play great football, first & foremost they know how to defend, especially at home (6 clean sheets in 11 at home & Arsenal were the first team to score more than once). The only question would be if they had a defensive injury crisis & lost a few in a row which might affect their confidence.

They could do with a striker but their midfield is top quality & have added Mceachran & Sigurdsson on loan, both of whom would get in our first team. Interestingly Leon Britton is the only player this year to have 100% pass completion in one game which was the first time ever in the premier league by someone who wasn't a defender. Guess who it was against!

Second half of the season always throws up surprises & there'll be at least one team who starts to struggle as they get found out, suffer injuries etc. so there's hope yet. However, I think it'll be between the 6 or 7 already at the bottom.

[azreal88]

I agree r.e. Swansea.  Their defence will keep them up.  But next season, without Caulker, they'll struggle.

[texan dave II]

Perhaps we could give them Pratley back
He looked good there last year but has not impressed much for Bolton
We could ask for a even swap
Pratley for Britton

[aarons2009]

Perhaps we could give them Pratley back
He looked good there last year but has not impressed much for Bolton
We could ask for a even swap
Pratley for Britton

Tie him up when swansea come to the reebok next week and throw him in the back of the coach with a note saying ''don't bother bringing him back for the league game''

[bwfc_wilson]

Jimbo, I just want to re-evaluate my point on Norwich's championship players. I don't think I was clear enough. I just meant, I think they have signed a lot of so-called championship standard players before they started this season as most them hadn't played much premier league football, but this season they are more than proving they are capable of being successful at this level. Although I do think a majority of their success is down to Paul Lambert. The guy is a seriously talented manager. Back-to-back promotions followed by them maintaining a mid-table Premier League position is very impressive. You only have to look at what a good manager did for us when Big Sam was in charge. The standard of our team has declined rapidly since then, and we have always been fighting hard to just about keep our heads above water and it looks like our time might be running out

[texan dave II]

I think it comes down to there keeper
He knocked Drogba the fcuk out