Premier League Preview 2011-12: Bolton Wanderers

Best title odds: 6000/1 - Coral
Best odds on a top 10 finish: 9/4 - Bet365
Last season: 14th
Manager: Owen Coyle

Good news:

This will be Bolton’s 11th consecutive season in the top flight and nobody ever talks about Wanderers as relegation candidates anymore. Jussi Jasskelainen is still going strong between the sticks after 13 years, and Kevin Davies has only missed one league game in three seasons.  A net debt of £93m sounds dreadful, but there are still five Premier League sides who can top that.

Bad news:

Can a team riddled with debt who haven’t finished higher than 13th for four seasons really expect to keep Gary Cahill if a serious bid comes in? Daniel Sturridge was a revelation on loan from Chelsea, but it’s a mixed blessing when arguably your best player belongs to somebody else. They tend to want them back eventually. The loss of Johan Elmander for nothing is another significant blow.

Remember when:

Kevin Davies didn’t give away so many free-kicks? Probably not, because he has committed more fouls than any other player in the league in seven of the last eight seasons. In 2010-11 he beat his own record with 123.

Verdict:

The 5-0 defeat in the semi-final of the FA Cup seemed to hit Coyle’s team hard. They lost the final five games of last season and slid right down the table. It indicates that Bolton are in for a tough campaign this time round. Without Sturridge and Elmander, goals will be hard to come by. And it’s not as if the defence offers up too many clean sheets, even with Cahill. They have enough top flight experience to stay up, but they’ll be looking over their shoulders.

Prediction: 14th