Relax, Regroup, Rebuild

The season finally drew to a close yesterday and now begins the time to look back at the season and pick the good moments from the bad. The defeat against Manchester City to make it five games lost on the bounce is certainly amongst the latter. Coyle remarked after the game that the players had been "running on empty" for the last few weeks, with a small squad this is hardly surprising and I'm sure that over the summer this is one of the areas that will be addressed. Perhaps most grateful of all for the break will be Chung-Yong Lee who will finally be able to put his feet up after more than a year of continuous football.

Despite having little left in the tank we provided an entertaining end to the season, the first half was fought evenly by both teams and but for the ball ricocheting of Joleon Lescott's face it would have ended level at half time. To cut a long and boring second half short, we ran completely out of gas, stuttered to a halt and broke down. Dzeko provided City with a second goal after some generous defending from the usual suspects at the back, Sturridge saw red late on, and there was a lap of 'appreciation' (interestingly no longer referred to as the lap of honour, I can't imagine why) that encapsulated the 'please can we just go home now' attitude that we've all been suffering for the last few weeks. As it turned out, this was the 'last chance to see' moment for the long serving Ricardo Gardner, after the semi-shock announcement that he would not be offered a new contract (but more on this later).

I was surprised to see that Elmander started the game, for some time we've known that he won't be featuring in the new look squad next season, so I found it hard to see what point there was in playing him. He was only ever going to receive a hostile reception (after all, boo's are heard louder than cheers) and this was the sort of game that I thought the youngster Vela might really benefit from getting some game time in, showing his face to the crowd and representing the youth-centric future that Coyle envisages for the club. To Elmander's credit, he went out in the manner that Bolton fans will (hopefully) remember him for; working tirelessly, selfless in a team effort and not being shy about throwing his weight around when the cause needed.

It's going to be an interesting summer, with the money that will come from the inevitable sale of Gary Cahill we will be able to invest in greater numbers for the squad, money might come in other areas too such as the sale of Ali Al-Habsi who has a taste for first team football and won't come back to sit on our bench any more. The wages freed up from Elmander will (according to Coyle) provide an opportunity to invest in younger players and the fact that Cohen has also been released (along with Samuel, Blake and Joey'O) mean that Bolton will probably become a hotspot of transfer gossip and rumours over the coming months.

During the match at the weekend I tried to count how many of that team I believed would feature for us next season, and the depressing answer was four; Jussi, Knight, Lee and Taylor. Of the team that we were able to field against the billionaires down the road, only four were (in my opinion) good enough to survive the summer... lets hope Eddie Davies has his cheque book ready. Coyle, surely will be relishing the opportunity to finally be able to put his own stamp on a team, bring in the players he wants and not have to work with the hand-me-downs from another manager (this is, after all, supposedly why he left Burnley... to pursue his aim of building a team of his own vision).

So, exciting times ahead. But with the excitement comes apprehension of knowing that we will be sailing in uncharted waters. The long standing bastions of 'Bolton Wanderers-ness' may be gone in as little as three months as players that have weathered every imaginable storm, every high and low now recognise that the end may soon be in sight for time as ever presents in this changing Bolton squad.

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It would be impossible to give the man of the match accolade to anyone other than Ricardo Gardner, an icon of Bolton Wanderers who now goes the way of Campo, Okocha, Djorkaeff, Hierro, Stelios and many other greats. I really thought he'd done enough to remain at the club for another year at least, but I suppose he now goes out on top (like van der Sar at United) and I can only wish him well and thank him for the great service and memories he has given every Bolton fan over the years.