A mixed set of results for me - 26/03/2003

On Tuesday night my old club Bolton Wanderers served up a great game against Spurs, the last minute penalty earnt them three well deserved points. Last night our reserves played at Villa Park, and although there was a great improvement on the previous game, will still went down 4-2 with a young and inexperienced team.

Looking at my old club, who I have a lot of respect for, it’s been a tough season for them. Although they’ve definitely improved as both a team and a squad, the results haven’t followed suit. Saying that, their form over the last five games or so has been excellent – and they nearly did us a big favour by turning over Man Utd. However, in conceding last minute goals they must have lost atleast ten points or so this season – ten points that would by now have all but guaranteed survival. The Man Utd game was another example, with a late Solskjaer goal snatching the points at the death.

Looking at the table, I think it’s not been unfair to wave goodbye to West Brom and Sunderland, but who’s going to be the third team to join them? A few games ago you’d put your house on either West Ham or Bolton, but now it’s not so clear. The table still suggests that it’s one of these two, but when you consider the form of both these clubs – they have to have a great chance of catching those teams above them. Birmingham aren’t in a great position – but they’re still picking up points! That’s leaves the Leeds looking over their shoulders. They’re not in any sort of form at present and you can bet that confidence is low at Elland Road. Going to Anfield was a tough baptism for Peter Reid, but with a mix of testing and winnable games to come, it’s not going to get any easier.

It’s a welcome to Newcastle for Darren Ambrose – another young player off the Ipswich Town conveyor belt. We’ve a very competitive squad when it comes to the midfield, but at 19 years old, he’s one for the future. His goals record, something like one in every three games is tremendous for a player of his position, and although it’s a different game in the Premiership, he’s got plenty of time to develop and some great players to play alongside. I know there was talk of him returning on loan to Ipswich, but now that’s not happening, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the bench sometime.

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