Bolton Dare to Dream — Part Nine: Building A Challenge

To prepare the team for a season in which we hope to challenge in the league and cups, we’re going to need money and upgrades on our players. That, of course, means that some players will have to be sold, and this first one is a big sale indeed.

It’s sad that we have to say farewell to Okocha, and we won’t forget all he’s done for us, but he wasn’t scoring goals, plain and simple. I really hope he can tear it up in Germany, as he deserves.

There’s also some news from Division Two, from our old friends the Bluebirds, which I really should have mentioned earlier — they only went and fucking won the league!

Cardiff City FC are heading up to Division One, and having just signed Sunderland’s Marcus Stewart, they look good. Some of our old favourites are still there — Scott Young, Jason Bowen, Robert Earnshaw, and Rhys Weston, who wants to leave. Hmm. That’s got me thinking.

A bid of £825k is accepted, as is a five year contract on hot prospect terms and £1,300 p/w. Wanderers, another ex-Bluebird is inbound.

Isaac Nkubi is rightfully voted Player of the Year, and the board give me £12m in TV rights that means we have a great warchest of £19.25m. The signing of Weston, who’s actually rated as a better centre-back and is cheaper, means that Li Tie won’t be joining the club this summer, as I cancel the deal.

But elsewhere, things are going very well indeed.

The Diego Tristan one was a partial joke that I won’t be pursuing, but Ronaldo and Hill are on the way, while Bologna are proving obstinate over Anas Skalidis. The team is looking stacked for this season.

We make £2.5m back as Ricardo Gardner leaves for Charlton.

After some thought, I decide to transfer list Teddy Lucic as well — he had a pretty rubbish season and there are better (and younger) options available. Although, having spoken about younger options… look, don’t judge me, but he’s free.

He wants £41,000 a week. My eyes water. But it’s only a one-year deal! Think of Batigol strutting his stuff in attack. Him and Nkubi and Ricketts? Fuck me.

We bid farewell to Jay Jay Okocha. You were so nice, we named you twice… but now it’s time for Germany to see what you can do once again.

Oh no, Batigol. You’ve got competition.

I triggered Wazza’s release clause again (£4.6m), and this time he seems willing to leave. He’s younger, slightly cheaper in terms of wage, and ready to tear it up. How can I not sign him?

The Batistuta transfer is accepted but the DWP delay it, but if it fails, Rooney’s coming anyway.

Nicky Southall leaves for Plymouth after we accept a bid of £325k, but that’s OK — his replacement is already here!

And Wanderers — here he is. Our new striker.

Just 17, and ready to set things alight. It’s going to be tricky balancing him, Nkubi, and Ricketts, but I’ll do my best.

The team is looking pretty stacked, if I do say so myself. There’s a high number of strikers, but I envisage several of those, like Ronaldo, Eldar, and Jonas Lunden, to be deployed in midfield instead. Up front, my main options will be Nkubi, Wazza, and Michael Ricketts.

My massive warchest, still sitting at almost £20m, is begging to be used, but all my bids are being rejected. Walsall make a cheeky £3m bid for Mike Duff, which I take one look at before promptly rejecting. There are quite a few clubs after him, but I tell the press he’s not for sale, and that should hopefully put them off.

Scanning around the player search, I notice that none other than Simone Inzaghi is on the transfer list at Lazio for £5.75m, and can’t resist submitting a bid. No idea how I’d fit him in, but I’m sure we can manage. It is Inzaghi, after all.

Right. Time for pre-season to begin, as we face Watford at Vicarage Road. It’ll be a chance for the new boys to show what they can do, with Evans, Hill, Weston, Inamoto, Ronaldo, and Rooney all making appearances.

I’m pleased to report that Cristiano Ronaldo can Do The Business. He scores after just 10 minutes and is a general nuisance to the Bolton defence with some very nice linkup play. Rooney also goes close but can’t get on the scoresheet, while Evans makes some fine saves. I change almost the entire team around at half time and we grab two more, Tonton and Michael Ricketts grabbing the goals. It’s a great way to start things off. The only downside is an injury to Jermaine Johnson, but he should be fine.

He’ll be fit again in ten days. No worries, Wanderers fans. And in the aftermath of that…

He has no interest in negotiating, but I offer him all we have anyway just for lols.

It’s a quick turnaround to our next friendly as we welcome German side Lubeck to the Reebok. I give starting positions to most of the subs from last week, with Jeff Smith and Jamie Victory coming into the starting team.

Ah, this one’s not so good. We play well in both halves, Justin Walker getting the first goal after 31 minutes from the rebound of a Ricketts header, but two late goals from Lubeck see them take a surprise win. Ronaldo performed well again and must have won about three free kicks on his own, as his brilliant runs drew fouls from the Lubeck defenders. He’s going to be a player, that one.

Hold on, I’m just getting a message from… Lazio?!

Ah.

Right, this one’s not going through. A wage of £44k a week, plus a £1m signing on fee, is kind of above my pay grade at the moment, and besides, we have three world-class strikers and plenty more in reserve. Sorry Simone, but you’re staying put.

And now for something completely different. The reserve intake has come through this year, and my assistant manager has drawn my eye to a centre-back called Shane McCarthy, who has very decent attributes for a 15-year old. Readers of Bluebirds to Glory will remember Paul Harper, the 18-year old centre-back who lit up England and Europe. I think we’re seeing something of him in this kid.

I move quickly to snap him up on a three year deal. Let’s see how he develops in the reserves, and I’ll put him on the loan list for good measure.

One thing I’m now doing while scouting is checking for minimum fee release clauses — after all, it helped us snag Rooney — and look who I’ve found. Edu, now at Leeds, has a cheeky £5.75m clause in his contract, and I activate it quickly.

I also chuck £3.4m at Hibs’ Grant Brebner, someone who I used as an impact sub during a Hibs playthrough. He had a great season last year, scoring 13 goals and contributing eight assists in 29 games, so I reckon I can use him as a rotation option.

Oh. Now I have a dilemma.

Y’know what? Screw it. It’s Batigol. He may be prohibitively expensive and may not see much time on the pitch, but he’s only here for a season. I’ve never managed him before, he’s entering the twilight of his career — I want him in the Bolton shirt.

I may have told him he was indispensable. Ah well, he’s only on a one-year contract, so any big kickoffs can be easily rectified. For now, bask in the glory of having Gabriel bloody Batistuta in our forward line. Our wage budget is in shambles, but we’ve got cash in the bank and the board like me, so I’m sure they’ll bail me out if it gets to it.

Edu, by the way, also wanted indispensable status and refused to negotiate when I told him we didn’t have room for that. Hopefully Brebner is more tractable.

As a news report about Cristiano Doni crosses my inbox, I idly check the squad he’s in. Fuck, they’re good. Pelozzi, Samuel, Cafu, Totti, they’ve just signed Ayala and Rivaldo as well… hang on, is that Daniele De Rossi listed for loan?!

I mean, he’s only 20 and still developing, but it’s a surprise. Yes, of course, I’m putting a loan offer in, what do you take me for?

Ah, he rejected it. Damn. But in slightly lower-key news, Grant Brebner agrees to join, and will slot straight into the list of backup midfielders. Welcome to Bolton!

But there’s only one way to truly test this team before the start of the season. We’re heading into the cauldron of flame, the footballing capital of the world. We know it, we love it, we won a Premier League title with it — we’re heading back to Ninian Park.

I’m not going to run the seconds out — the Bluebirds deserve only the best, and they’ll get it. Rhys Weston returns to his previous team, and Gabriel Batistuta makes his first start for the club, alongside Isaac Nkubi.

At the start of the game, I scan the list of Cardiff players, looking for familiar names, and am taken aback by who’s starting at left-wing back. Yes, that really is Julian Gray, who I signed in my very first season at Cardiff from Crystal Palace — at first on loan, before forking out a transfer fee. In this instance, he spent a successful season on loan at Leyton Orient before Cardiff signed him, and in the very first minute, he breezes through our defence and crosses for Marcus Stewart to head home. I’d be proud if I was still the Cardiff manager, but today, we’ll have to find a way to beat them.

They’re putting up a good fight, though. Nkubi sees an effort pushed just wide by keeper Gary Walsh, Jussi makes a fantastic save from a Scott Young header, and Brebner almost opens his account but his effort is stopped by Walsh. Then, in the 29th minute, he goes on a brilliant run towards the area, and passes to Nkubi. The Swede looks up, and passes to Tonton, who takes a touch, shoots… and scores! Not for the first time at Ninian Park, he’s on the scoresheet, but for the opposing side. To his credit, he doesn’t celebrate.

Cristiano Ronaldo, another ex-Bluebird to Glory veteran (though less successful) has a goal ruled out for offside three minutes later. Batistuta flashes an effort wide of the post, before a shot by Brebner is saved and goes out for a corner.

Tonton swings it in — someone’s up for the header! IT’S GABRIEL BATISTUTA!

GOALLLLLLLLLLLLL WANDERERS!!!! BATIGOL HAS SCORED ALREADY!

He’s off the mark in fine style, and suddenly all my doubts about forking out for him have melted away. We’ve got a legend on our hands, everybody, and he’s hungry for goals!

That second goal knocks the stuffing out of Cardiff. Batigol almost adds a second in the 55th minute before he’s subbed for Rooney — his legs can’t really handle more than 60 minutes on the field, but not to worry, as Nkubi can score as well, adding a third goal with four minutes left. He gives a thumbs-up to the Cardiff fans at full-time, acknowledging that he once wore their colours when I managed the Bluebirds. But today, it’s the Wanderers that are victorious.

That leads in very nicely to the first game of the Premier League season — an away game against West Bromwich Albion. I make only two changes from the Cardiff friendly, as Brebner, who picked up a training injury, is replaced by Ronaldo, and Andrielos comes in to replace Rhys Weston. Evans, Rooney, Eldar, Ginola, and Weston make up the bench. Let’s start the season off with a win!

Immediately, I can tell we’ve improved over the summer. There’s a buzz to this team, a motivation that wasn’t there before, even though only three of the starting 11 are new signings. Ronaldo is arguably having a massive impact, though: his energy in midfield has the Albion worried, and in the 24th minute, Tonton sends in a corner that the Portuguese volleys in to give us the lead — his first league goal for Bolton. Unfortunately, he’s forced off injured at the end of the half.

Fortunately, a well-marshalled defence is able to keep West Brom away from our goal, and it’s only a superhuman rearguard from Paul Robinson that keeps the score at 1–0, which is capped off by Sean Gregan’s sending off after picking up two yellow cards. It’s a great win to start the season, and already I predict that we’re going to perform much better than last year.

Ronaldo will only be out for 10 days, which is good news. The League Cup draw is held a couple of days afterwards, and we’re handed an away tie against Millwall, which I’m looking forward to. It could be a good chance to rotate the squad.

Before our next league game, it’s the international break, with Wayne Rooney scoring two goals in two games for England Under-21s, against Greece and Denmark, with Rhys Evans playing in goal. It couldn’t have come at a better time for him as well — Nkubi will miss our next game, against Newcastle, with a training injury, so Rooney lines up alongside Batigol.

Argh, that’s frustrating. We had the majority of shots and possession, and were going toe to toe with Newcastle, but a free-kick by Ronald Gomez goes in, after 53 minutes, completely against the run of play. Rooney struggles a little but there’s promise in his play, and Batigol goes close to scoring a few times. It’s a defeat, but not a demoralising one like it might have been last season. We can work with this.

Next up we face newly promoted Leicester at the Reebok, and I opt to keep the same side — my sole change being Jermaine Johnson replacing Brebner on the bench. Let’s see if we can grab another win.

This Leicester side has the rare distinction of featuring not one, not two, but three former Cardiff players, with Neil Alexander, Gareth Whalley, and Danny Gabbidon all featuring for the Foxes. Of course, Alexander keeps a clean sheet, Gabbidon gets an 8, and Whalley scores both Leicester goals. Frustration is mixed with pride.

Next up is our League Cup tie against Millwall, a perfect chance to rotate. Only Mike Duff retains his spot as both Rhys — Evans and Weston — and Jun-Ichi Inamoto make their debuts. Walker, Lunden and Eldar play in midfield, and Ricketts starts for the first time this season alongside Nkubi.

It seems the second team is almost on par with the first. I was worried about the team being rusty, but we have a great game. Eldar heads us into the lead after three minutes, and on his full debut, Rhys Weston has a flier, doubling the lead after 36 minutes and then winning a penalty, scored by Inamoto on his first Bolton appearance. Steve Brooker, who had a goal ruled out in the first half, pulls one back with just over twenty minutes to go, but throughout the game Ipswich are frustrated by a superb performance from Rhys Evans, who makes nine saves. If it weren’t for the fact we have Jussi, he’d be our starting keeper for sure, and I might give him a run in the league. But for now, I’m more than happy with a win that sees us through to the third round.

We’re back to league action now, away at Leeds United. I opt to keep some of the players from the cup game in — Evans retains his place in goal, with Rhys Weston partnering Jacek Bak in defence and Inamoto starting at DMC. Youri, Ronaldo and Tonton make up the midfield and Nkubi is paired with Batistuta up front.

Immediately, it all appears to have gone to shit. Harry Kewell opens the scoring for the home side after 12 minutes, and with their very next attack, they score again, Oliver Dacourt getting the goal this time. I’ve thrown Evans in at the deep end, and he’s getting hammered. Then, after 24 minutes, Inamoto limps off injured, so I replace him with Andrielos and put Bak at DMC.

From there, we fight back. Evans acquits himself with two excellent saves from corners, allowing us to get forward and attack. In the last minute of the half, Duff sends in a cross, Batistuta volleys it at goal… it’s saved by Nigel Martyn, but Nkubi’s followed it up! GOALLLLLLL WANDERERS!! ISAAC NKUBI LEVELS IT UP!

The goal catches Leeds by surprise, and we come out swinging in the second half. Bastituta forces two great saves out of Martyn, as does Youri, then Ronaldo after a great run and shot. From that effort, the ball loops out to Lee Bowyer, who attempts to chip it forward to Kewell. Mike Duff climbs highest and wins the header, directing it towards Tonton… but it’s past everyone! IT’S PAST MARTYN! MIKE DUFF SCORES! An absolute fluke, but we take it! 2–2!

I throw on Rooney and Eldar for Bastituta and Youri with 15 minutes to go. Evans makes a pair of crucial saves to keep things level, and Wazza sees an effort of his own saved. In the end, it’s a draw, our first of the season. I’ll take that.

Sure, we might be 17th in the league. Sure, Inamoto is out for a month with a twisted ankle. But we have games in hand on other teams, genuine talent in the side, and we’re still in the League Cup. The Wanderers are in with a chance for Europe this season!

→ Part Ten