Bolton Preview

We would venture that even the tactically inept Gerrard will struggle to repeat the League Cup debacles under O'Leary and Lambert against lower league northern opposition but that shouldn't distract from the glaring issue surrounding Villa at the University of Bolton Stadium.

The under pressure, unpopular and increasingly untenable boss Gerrard remains in post and so it is his line up that plays tonight - a line up created by his own misdeeds.

12 months ago Dean Smith had used a similar fixture against Barrow to blood youngsters, now however Gerrard’s penchant for 29-30 year olds means no such excitement or future planning is possible.

We have no youth left at the club.

Let that sink in.

The club with one of, if not the best academy facilities in England, not only sacks a highly successful coach to appoint a Gerrard crony but then sends all the youth product packing leaving Villa with an aged, under par second string for fixtures such as this.

Building for the future? Building for failure more like.

We can assume in will come Robin Olsen for his first appearance of the season and only second start in twenty two squad appearances. His first having been less than inspiring.

Equally we expect that Ludwig Augustinsson, effectively Matt Targett’s replacement - who led the side at Barrow in 2021-22, will come in for his first appearance for the club after his unexpected transfer in on a loan deal.

The lack of cover for Matty Cash means veteran 37 year old winger Ashley Young will probably play in his place.

Calum Chambers will probably finally get a start under Gerrard but the poor lad must be wondering what on earth he has done to be confined to appearances in such a fixture given the malaise that has affected the defence since Gerrard’s arrival.

With Kortney Hause gone - yet another Gerrard own goal that will only hurt us in the long run - there is no time or opportunity to experiment so Mings or Konsa have to play again.

Josh Feeney and Ben Chrisene, 17 and 18, could have been given the chance to play but we seriously doubt anti-youth Gerrard will so so. However another youngster, Tim Iroegbunam, should appear in a squad for the first time this season. If he doesn’t, well we might as well shut the academy now.

Other players ostracised by Gerrard may get a look in, such as Morgan Sanson and Marvelous Nakamba but really what’s the point if they’re just going to be discarded, again.

Cameron Archer who hit a hat-trick at this stage last season is literally being pushed out the door by Gerrard so such is the self inflicted paucity of playing options that the forward line will require (delete as applicable) Leon Bailey / Emiliano Buendía / Ollie Watkins / Danny Ings to be played.

Oh and of course Philippe Coutinho will play. Because. Gerrard.

We see and hear a great deal from fans about x, y and z player having not got a, b and c abilities and therefore we need to invest in better players. Aside from the fact that a lot of the Football Manager-esque analysis of players is unrealistic nonsense, few would suggest that any team, any club, anywhere could not improve certain parts of their team and squad with investment.

This though is where reality kicks in. We are a rich club. But we are constrained like all other post Manchester City clubs by FFP. Our ceiling is shopping in a certain market - certainly not the one some fans heads are in. But where Gerrard is shopping is another level entirely.

Augustinsson, Olsen, even Coutinho are not the sort of players a forward thinking, upwardly mobile club would be recruiting. Neither are they a material improvement on the existing squad, indeed with all due respect they are downgrades on players deemed surplus to requirements by Gerrard and his entourage.

What we are saying then is this: We will beat Bolton because, you know, they are League One, and we are still Premier League but we will do so without any semblance of youth and a series of players who in truth would never have made a Dean Smith squad. (As an aside one of the more disturbing results of the gaslighting perpetrated by Gerrard’s regime is that a section of fans are buying into, and echoing, the theory that the form of Anwar El Ghazi, Bertrand Traore and the top flight saving contribution of Trezeguet didn’t really happen. Chuck in a Grealish quote too [see news 20 August 2022] and you literally have Gerrard’s bullshit bingo parroted by useful idiots).

The club is in a mess of Gerrard’s making.

We will be straining every sinew to support the lads in Bolton, even those we are deeply surprised to see in claret and blue, but we do so knowing there is no upside to this game, just a stay of execution for a manager that should already be history.