Once the preserve of Vernon Kay , they were memorably hard to beat in the old days at the Reebok. Sam Allardyce led the club to their best spell in recent years after the turn of the century, using the new-fanged idea of analysing data with the help of Prozone to give his team a tactical edge.
In , Okocha was interviewed by the Telegraph , where he reflected on his time at Bolton after the club were relegated from the top flight;.
But all our efforts have been thrown away. It feels like all that work was wasted. They currently sit bottom of League One, with the trapdoor looming ever closer. After relegation in , successive finishes showed an obvious downward trend.
Life in League One is tough enough at the best of times, but the Wanderers owed nearly creditors for various debts accrued over the previous decade. The players strike caused a five-point deduction, suspended for 18 months, for failing to fulfil fixtures against Brentford last season and Doncaster this term. They also had to deal with a point deduction for going into administration, further deepening their woes as they headed into League One for a second spell.
Bolton fielded an academy team for a loss at Wycombe in August, and they were spanked against Tranmere , Ipswich , and Gillingham respectively in a month to forget. The tie against relegation-threatened MK Dons straight after will be pivotal. People of a certain age will remember the team and the manager, who made it work against all odds on a shoestring budget.
