Sammy Lee's Bolton Wanderers signings

I laughed when I read this, so decided to see what the actual facts were how I remembered them...

wanderlust wrote:...but even Lee made a few good 'uns in their day: Jlloyd, Blerim Dzemaili, Gavin McCann, Wilhelmsson, Andy O'Brien, Mikel Alonso, Helguson...although with the benefit of hindsight I'd have thought twice about Boggers

NOTE Blerim Dzemaili is actually officially a Sam Allardyce signing.

LITTLE did Sammy Lee know, but 10 years ago he was already approaching the mid-point of one of the shortest reigns of any Bolton Wanderers manager in the club’s history.
Few could have predicted how fast things would unravel after Eddie Davies and chairman Phil Gartside quickly chose to promote from within during the aftermath of Sam Allardyce’s shock resignation in April, 2007.
“You take a key man out of a team but you replace him with someone who is even better. That’s where I am at,” insisted Gartside.



“I have known Sammy a long time. He is a good coach with great contacts. If you look at his credentials to what Sam’s were when he joined they are better.
“It is a better job today and I am not sure you would have given it to Sam Allardyce now. Sammy has a reputation beyond where Sam was in terms of his international playing career.”
Gartside had a point. Lee had played at the very top level for Liverpool and England, and had earned a reputation as one of the country’s top coaches at Anfield and the Reebok.
But there was seldom a time in the Liverpudlian’s disastrous 171-day tenure where the former chairman’s confidence looked anything other than misplaced. The rush to install a new man and stop people talking about Allardyce’s exit may have led to the chaos which would ensue over the following months.
Though Lee was unfortunate to see an established backroom set-up ripped up as key staff looked to join Allardyce, who had moved quickly on to Newcastle United, his eagerness to set himself apart from the previous boss also had also accelerated his downfall.
Direct tactics which had twice got Wanderers into Europe may have had their critics but Lee’s insistence on an overhaul in one single summer left the Whites looking disjointed, and his 12 summer signings out of place.
Lee did not spend big – Icelandic striker Heidar Helgusson his most costly signing at £2.3million – but it was his relationship with existing players like Gary Speed, Stelios, Kevin Nolan and El-Hadji Diouf which lost him the support of the dressing room he had once banked on as a coach.
A solitary league win at Reading and an unconvincing victory in the UEFA Cup against Macedonia’s FK Rabotnicki did little to convince owner Davies the club’s Premier League future could be saved.
Lee remained defiant and said he would not quit - but a a 1-0 home defeat against Chelsea proved the last straw.
He was replaced by an altogether different character in Gary Megson, whose work in the following transfer window helped steady the ship. Relegation was avoided by a slender margin, and only mathematically assured on the final weekend of the season.
Lee later returned to work in Wanderers’ academy and has rebuilt his coaching reputation with the likes of Southampton and Crystal Palace but has never been offered a return to first team management.
Here, we look at the players who came to the club after the end of Allardyce's reign and what happened to them after they left Wanderers.


JLLOYD SAMUEL – Lee’s first permanent signing. Having made close to 200 appearances for Aston Villa, plenty was expected of the left-back who had once made it on to the fringes of the England squad.
He featured regularly for two seasons under Gary Megson and played in both legs of the UEFA Cup win over Atletico Madrid. But after a particularly nasty 4-0 defeat against Manchester United he was jettisoned by Owen Coyle and loaned out to Cardiff in the final year of his contract.
His next move was an eyebrow-raiser. The defender spent four years in Iran with Esterghal and Pakyan before returning – thus far unsuccessfully - to try and find an English club.
The Cheshire-based defender has also maintained business interests in fashion and mobile phones.

BLERIM DZEMAILI – Not ‘strictly’ a Lee signing, as Sam Allardyce had lined the move up the previous season. But the Swiss midfielder will go down as a great missed opportunity at Bolton.
He arrived at the club with a ruptured cruciate ligament and played just once in the 2007/08 campaign, as a sub at Sheffield United in the FA Cup.
Not to Megson’s taste as a midfielder, the playmaker was loaned out to Torino, who eventually made the deal permanent for around £1.3million.
Since then he has earned a string of moves worth £11m, won 55 caps for his country, two Copa Italia with Napoli and a league and cup double with Galatasaray.
At 31, he has just signed a deal with Montreal Impact to play in MLS.

GAVIN MCCANN – The less said about the circumstances which led to McCann coming to Bolton, the better, as they were still subject to civil legal proceedings some eight years later.
That murky business aside, the player himself ended up being somewhat of an unsung hero at Wanderers. A one-cap England international, the former Sunderland and Everton midfielder scored a valuable goal at Middlesbrough to help trigger the great escape from relegation in his first season. He also netted a winner at Red Star Belgrade and got Wanderers’ goal in a 1-1 draw at home to Sporting Lisbon.
Sadly, a knee injury meant he never got an opportunity under Owen Coyle and he was forced to retire in 2011.
After setting up a football academy in his native Lytham, McCann came back into coaching with the Wanderers Under-15s – and is a familiar face around Lostock to this day.

DANNY GUTHRIE – Had a successful-enough spell on loan from Liverpool on which he earned a £2.5million move to Newcastle United.
Has since carved out a solid career with Reading, Fulham and Blackburn Rovers but now on the lookout for a new club after his release at Ewood Park.

GERALD CID – The French defender, signed on a free transfer from Bordeaux, was another parting gift from Allardyce. His Bosman move had been announced the previous February and the 23-year-old said on his arrival he was realising a “childhood dream” to play in the Premier League.
Needless to say, it quickly turned into a nightmare for all concerned.
Despite a decent pre-season, Cid looked ill-at-ease in English football and made just 14 appearances. He shone briefly in the famous 2-2 UEFA Cup draw against Bayern Munich but saw his contract terminated after just 18 months and launched a scathing attack on the club in the French press after his departure.
He spent two seasons with Nice before announcing his retirement at the age of just 27.

ZOLTAN HARSANYI – Big Slovakian striker whose biggest claim to fame had been an audacious penalty scored against England’s Joe Hart in an Under-21 game.
Signed on a free from Senec, he never made a senior appearance at Bolton but spent three years knocking around the reserve team.
He returned to Slovakia and then moved into Hungarian football, where he currently plays for Nyíregyháza.

CHRISTIAN WILHELMSSON – Pedigree Sweden international who should have been the jewel in the crown but ended up being a huge disappointment in Wanderers colours.
Signed at great cost on loan from Nantes, the rapid winger played just 13 times and was quickly sent packing by Lee’s successor Gary Megson.
Although he played at three European Championships and one World Cup for his country his club career tailed off with spells in Spain, Saudi Arabia and the US before returning to play in Sweden. Wilhelmsson retired at Mjallby in 2015.

DANIEL BRAATEN – Norwegian international striker signed for £450,000 from Rosenborg who also failed to settle into the English game.
Braaten scored against Reading in Lee’s only league win as manager but disappeared after the arrival of Megson and was eventually used as a makeweight in the deal to sign Johan Elmander from Toulouse.
He was a big hit in France, making more than 150 appearances before moving to Denmark and then back to Norway, where he still plays for Brann.

ANDY O’BRIEN – Centre-back who had gained plenty of experience at Bradford, Portsmouth and Newcastle United – and proved to be a very consistent presence, winning The Bolton News’ player of the season.
The Republic of Ireland international made 90 appearances in all for the Whites and was gave a helping hand to the young career of Gary Cahill before moving on to Leeds United and then Vancouver Whitecaps.
O’Brien remains in Canada and is working within Liverpool’s scouting network.

MIKEL ALONSO – Midfielder, brother of Liverpool legend Xabi, who failed to endear himself to Lee’s successor Gary Megson after arriving on loan from Real Sociedad.
He will be remembered for featuring in the 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich but made just 12 appearances and returned to Spain. After an unsuccessful trial with Olympiakos he played for Tenerife and Charlton Athletic before spending the last three years at Real Union in

HEIDAR HELGUSON – Wanderers splashed out £2.3million to sign the Icelandic striker from Fulham but he managed just six starts in two seasons before being loaned out to QPR.
A knee injury was blamed for his lack of game time at Bolton but he got a career revival at Loftus Road and went on to play well into his thirties with Watford and Cardiff.

ADAM BOGDAN – Recruited as a teenager from Hungarian club Vasas, the flame-haired keeper had been recommended by goalkeeping coach Fred Barber.
He did not feature for Wanderers until 2010 but eventually succeeded Jussi Jaaskelainen as the number one choice under Owen Coyle.
Although the Whites were relegated, his form earned him player of the season in 2012 and continued into the Championship. A fine display against Liverpool in the FA Cup caught the eye of the Anfield scouts and led to a Bosman move in 2015.
Bogdan spent some of last season on loan at Wigan but remains on the books at Anfield.
After retiring, he bought a boat in his home town of Hafnarfjordur and became a full-time fisherman.

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So Wanderlust "good 'uns"

Jlloyd - yes
Blerim Dzemaili- not signed by Lee and never even played a full game for Bolton - so that can only be a NO.
Gavin McCann - yes
Wilhelmsson - Gerald Cid played more times than Wilhelmsson and he was proper shit - an emphatic NO!!!
Andy O'Brien - yes - the best of the bunch by a distance,
Mikel Alonso - again played less games for us than Cid - another resounding NO
Helguson - injured and made only six starts for us - got to be another NO

...Bogdan - the one he doesn't now rate - Bolton player of the season in 2012 - would have to be a yes!

So I make that three out of the eight I (and the stats) agree with him on and five I don't.

Anybody else got any views on Lee's signings?

Not obsessed at all.

Bogdan still playing in Hungary so your copy and paste skills failed you this time Sluffy. The article is from 2017 as well so hardly up to date.

Norpig wrote:Not obsessed at all.

Bogdan still playing in Hungary so your copy and paste skills failed you this time Sluffy. The article is from 2017 as well so hardly up to date.

I know the article is from 2017.

If a simple Google search for 'Sammy Lee Bolton transfers', had returned no result I wouldn't have even bothered doing an article for the site.

As for being obsessed, yes I am. I'm obsessed with truth and honestly - always have been, always will.

As I say I laughed out loud - really I did, when Wanderlust named players who I recalled being dismal failures here as 'Good 'uns' - I knew Dzemaili was an Allardyce signing and never played a league game for us but I wondered if the likes of Alonso, Wilhelmsson actually had a better time at Bolton than I thought, maybe I had judged them too harshly at the time?

I did a quick google search for my own interest and amusement and immediately found the article and confirmed that my memory of them was indeed correct.

I could have left it there of course but I thought instead I'd copy and paste and post it up for all to have a read of - did you not find it interesting at all?

I gave credit to Wanderlust to giving me the inspiration to look for this in the first place and similarly a bit of ridicule that in his opinion players who managed to get picked for fewer games than the notoriously useless Gerald Cid were in his opinion 'Good' 'uns'.

Now whilst you are here do you think those players and Helguson too, who all played less games than the benchmark of Gerald Cid - who only played 14 games himself, were 'Good 'uns' for Bolton like Wanderlust does?

Because I certainly don't.

Its your constant obsession with trying to get one over on Lusty that drives me mad. If anyone else makes a comment we might get one of your ehs? but with Lusty you just go into overdrive and feel you have to prove him wrong.

As for the players i might not agree with Lusty but i don't feel the need to go about it the way you do.

Norpig wrote:Its your constant obsession with trying to get one over on Lusty that drives me mad. If anyone else makes a comment we might get one of your ehs? but with Lusty you just go into overdrive and feel you have to prove him wrong.

As for the players i might not agree with Lusty but i don't feel the need to go about it the way you do.

You and one or two others on here have long since made your minds up about me and how you view the way I post on here.

That's fair enough, you judge me how you like - and quite frankly it doesn't bother me but fwiw you've got me wrong.

Wanderlust is the obsessive on here, he's the one with issues.

I'm a decent person and like to help people when I can but it seems me factually correcting Wanderlust's statements from the early days of the site wasn't taken in the manner of being helpful but more as 'challenging him'?

For some reason he could not say 'Thanks Sluffy, I'd made a mistake there' or some such, like most people would - me included, I make mistakes too - instead it was often completely ignored or he started to avoid the point and deflect away from it so not to acknowledge he'd made a simple mistake or error.

Ok, this is the internet, no big deal but over time and certainly when Anderson bought the club my simple attempts to question what he said - (I remember asking him constantly as to what assets he thought Anderson has sold off because I wasn't aware of any we had that wasn't already 'mortgaged' to someone else already?) were beginning to be met with abuse.

It clearly started to become personal with him not to be seen to be wrong.

He claimed he knew all about accounts but the more this went on the more sure that I became certain he was faking it, or telling lies in parts at least.

Again no big deal - only the internet of course - but his perceived 'expertise' about business and accounts, fuelled on here the hatred towards Anderson that many already had.

I am professionally qualified in certain specialisations to know that the widely held views on Anderson were not always correct in legal terms and said so.

I received dogs abuse for doing so but that's what I do - I told people the truth, the facts of the matter - up to them then if they want to check them out or just go along with the crowd.

Wanderlust was at the forefront of dishing out the abuse.

Yet again, so what - only the internet - but it began to amuse me to put Wanderlust on the spot with facts I know he couldn't answer - such as where the £168m he claimed Anderson had took from the club had come from because it simply had never existed in the first place!

He didn't like this and has become more obsessed over me as time as gone on.

You know full well that Wanderlust told WandersWays via his Hoppy510 account that he voted FOR Brexit - so you know he has lied consistently on here denying he did.

Yet again, it is only the internet but even for the internet doesn't it seem very odd for the rage he displays on here about Brexit knowing full well he admitted to voting for it???

I know he's your mate on here and you stick up for him and all that, that's your choice but I don't understand why you and others perceive me to be the one with issues when you must know that not only that he openly lies on here but must also realise by now that he clearly doesn't want to be wrong about anything either - even to the likes of Bob, Okocha and Troy who have all questioned him on what he's said on several other threads.

This is the internet, it's all meaningless, just a way of having a bit of fun isn't it?

Wanderlust seems to seek on here some sort of validation for himself, presumably he's looking for something missing in his real life?

He clearly wants to be seen to be knowledgeable about many things and take the lead on issues such as hatred of Anderson, Brexit and the Tory Party in particular.

I've tried to help him in the past by better informing his narrative on these and other topics with actual facts but I seem to have got under his skin a long time ago by doing this and he's clearly been obsessed with me ever since.

If Wanderlust wants to behave as he does then I'll amuse myself by laughing at him - that's all I do.

As for this thread, I simply thought I'd look up a few players playing records whilst they were at Bolton as I certainly didn't regard them as good players, stumbled by accident on a newspaper article and posted it up for others to see.

I note by you avoiding to fully answer my question as to how good you though several of the players were that you too agree with my view!  Why not just say that Wanderlust got some/most/all of it wrong in your view, do you not want to be disloyal to him or something perhaps?

It's the internet, we are on social media, it shouldn't be taken seriously.

Unfortunately many people do.

I think you probably judge me as one who does?

I'm not, I couldn't give a fig about Wanderlust, I just take the piss out of him.

I said many times that this matter is easy to end, if he stopped talking utter bollocks there would be nothing to laugh at him about would there?

Simple.

Norpig wrote:Its your constant obsession with trying to get one over on Lusty that drives me mad. If anyone else makes a comment we might get one of your ehs? but with Lusty you just go into overdrive and feel you have to prove him wrong.

As for the players i might not agree with Lusty but i don't feel the need to go about it the way you do.

It's interesting that he started a separate thread as it disguises the fact that Bonce was asking which players we would take now if they were in their prime.

The fact that some of the signings were past it, injured or just beginning their careers when they were with us is irrelevant which is why I had no qualms about listing them as they in their prime they were a lot better than what we have - a point conveniently missed for the purposes of having yet another dig.

I know you're not alone in getting fed up with his obsession. Just count how many of his posts include a dig at me. Pathetic isn't it?

wanderlust wrote:

Norpig wrote:Its your constant obsession with trying to get one over on Lusty that drives me mad. If anyone else makes a comment we might get one of your ehs? but with Lusty you just go into overdrive and feel you have to prove him wrong.

As for the players i might not agree with Lusty but i don't feel the need to go about it the way you do.

It's interesting that he started a separate thread as it disguises the fact that Bonce was asking which players we would take now if they were in their prime.

The fact that some of the signings were past it, injured or just beginning their careers when they were with us is irrelevant which is why I had no qualms about listing them as they in their prime they were a lot better than what we have - a point conveniently missed for the purposes of having yet another dig.

I know you're not alone in getting fed up with his obsession. Just count how many of his posts include a dig at me. Pathetic isn't it?

Hahaha

Well if that was what Bonce was really asking then we take almost every player we've had over the years whilst we've been in the top two tiers - there must be hundreds if not thousands of them.

What's the point in even asking such a question?

You do make me laugh!

The only reason why we were able to sign players like Djorkaeff, Hierro, Okocha and all the rest was because they weren't at the best or had issues at their clubs at the time.

We had Alan Ball on trials with the club but rejected him and he went on to win the World Cup - he'd walk in the side in his prime yet never even played for us.

We signed Dietmar Hamann who played in the World Cup Final, yet never actually played a game for us either - he'd walk into the side in his prime too!

Absolutely pointless question from Bonce if you want to view it in that context as it would mean the vast majority of players from the Jimmy Armfield, Rioch/Todd and Allardyce/Lee/Megson/Coyle era's would walk into our side now based on their prime.

Even Bogdan, Bolton player of the year in his prime - who you discarded AFTER his performance dropped off later in his career...

You've already previously undermine your own argument ffs!!!

If you couldn't give a fig on wanderlust and his comments why would you write a post comprising 30 paragraphs on the subject?

The mind boggles.

I don't always agree with Lusty but I respect his intelligence, articulacy and opinions. He is educated and interesting, harmless unless provoked.

I sense no threat from him and no need to launch into diatribes to prove him and his views wrong.

We should be free to post our opinions, accept that they won't always align with others', and accept too that some people are better at expressing themselves in accurate, cogent, fluent English.

As Norpig says, it's the aggressive condescension that is the most irritating.

I try to ignore the worst perpetrators.

Feby wrote:If you couldn't give a fig on wanderlust and his comments why would you write a post comprising 30 paragraphs on the subject?

The mind boggles.

Because it amuses me to do so in just the same way it amuses you to post on here under this account.

Pubes.

Norpig wrote:Its your constant obsession with trying to get one over on Lusty that drives me mad. If anyone else makes a comment we might get one of your ehs? but with Lusty you just go into overdrive and feel you have to prove him wrong.

As for the players i might not agree with Lusty but i don't feel the need to go about it the way you do.

His obsession drives me mad as well. I'd be really surprised if there was even one person on this site who doesn't cringe at some of his childish/hateful responses to anything Lusty posts. (Well, maybe one). All these pages and pages of pure vitriol and personal insults pouring out of someone who claims he wants to get rid of childish bickering and return the site to how it used to be.

Hip Priest wrote:

Norpig wrote:Its your constant obsession with trying to get one over on Lusty that drives me mad. If anyone else makes a comment we might get one of your ehs? but with Lusty you just go into overdrive and feel you have to prove him wrong.

As for the players i might not agree with Lusty but i don't feel the need to go about it the way you do.

His obsession drives me mad as well. I'd be really surprised if there was even one person on this site who doesn't cringe at some of his childish/hateful responses to anything Lusty posts. (Well, maybe one). All these pages and pages of pure vitriol and personal insults pouring out of someone who claims he wants to get rid of childish bickering and return the site to how it used to be.

Hahaha...

My God it just gets funnier and funnier...

This coming from a man who shouted at me in CAPLOCKS on here once!!!

Mate, I'm not obsessed, I don't hate anyone and this is just the internet!!!

Try using that brain and common sense you once told me you have and stop believing all this is real or serious.

It isn't...!!!

It's all just social media bollocks ffs!!!

Sluffy all that ranting above in reply to me is from things that happened years ago, let it go man!

Be honest as well, you just wish Lusty didn't post at all don't you? The whole point of a forum is for people to discuss things but as soon as he posts anything then you jump on it and harp back to Anderson or Brexit or some other subject you think you've been wronged on.

If you can't see that keeping this behaviour up is ruining YOUR forum then there's no hope for you or this place

Norpig wrote:Sluffy all that ranting above in reply to me is from things that happened years ago, let it go man!

Be honest as well, you just wish Lusty didn't post at all don't you? The whole point of a forum is for people to discuss things but as soon as he posts anything then you jump on it and harp back to Anderson or Brexit or some other subject you think you've been wronged on.

If you can't see that keeping this behaviour up is ruining YOUR forum then there's no hope for you or this place

Yes they happened years ago but they didn't end there.

Not at all!

They sowed the seeds with Wanderlust to all that happens now - clearly you can't see that.

I don't doubt Wanderlust's behaviour in real life is just how he present's himself on here, namely he doesn't seem to like to be shown to be wrong - not just by me - there's plenty of others on here he avoids when questioned or picked up about things.

I've nothing against the bloke, I don't even know him from Adam but if he wants to post bollocks on here then it being a forum - you know where "people discuss things" as you say - I'll laugh at them and post the facts.

I'll do that to anybody not just him.

He however has taken this personally because he has this issue about not wanting to be seen to be wrong and behaves how he does which includes telling deliberate lies which you know full well about.

I just take the piss out of him and remind him of the absolute whoppers he's said namely being a business consultant yet was a staggering £168m out about Anderson raping and pillaging the club and him telling us that he voted FOR Brexit yet spent every day since saying how bad it is for us (he's probably largely right about the last bit though - at least in the short to medium term).  It's nothing at all about me feeling wronged?  Where did you get that idea from?  I'm just laughing at his stupidity and lies - that's all.

As for not wanting Wanderlust to post on here - are you mad???

I'm the one that unbanned him for the new season, mainly because I felt sorry for him, I believe he has personal issues, I know he sees some of the posters on here to be his 'friends', and I think he needs/craves something from them to validate himself because he's missing something from his own real life.

He also makes me laugh.

A lot!!!

I know that's not his intention but he does.

I mean his latest - remember this is a grown man - is to post the single word 'pubes'!!!

Hahaha.

I assume he's trying to wind me up or something by doing so???

Can't you see how funny that is...?

Well perhaps you and Hip Priest can't, I don't know?

Nah mate, Wanderlust is the one with the issues - I did feel sorry for him at one time but that's worn thin over the years.

You and Hip Priest have got it firmly fixed in your mind that I'm the baddie on here - well I've explained myself in my post above and you've just judged that as me 'ranting'!

Well clearly whatever I say isn't going to change your point of view but fwiw I'm nothing at all like how you two wish to view me.

It's the internet, it isn't real life but some people - in fact too many people - seem to believe it is.

More fool them!

Sluffy, I have to agree with Norpig on the subject of Lusty. Your constant calling out of anything he posts isn't doing the forum any favours.

Whenever I visit the site, which I find myself doing less and less recently, it's nigh on impossible to avoid your berating of him and no one comes here to read that. To be honest, I can't see what he does to provoke you so much (maybe he's very subtle and clever about it?) but it is impossible to avoid your damning replies, especially the way you constantly call him out for having personal issues.

Maybe you should take a more laid back approach, let the site be what it is and not feel the need to correct peoples opinions that you disagree with. After all it's just a football forum with "Nuts" in the title and about 10 core members. It's your forum and you can of course choose to do what you like but I think you're smart enough to at least listen to your members (see above) who are clearly asking you to dial it down.

I would however like to ask that you to stop referring to Lusty as having personal or mental heath issues. That you feel sorry for him and that you think there is something missing in his life etc. It's none of your (or our) business to post to a public forum and wholly inappropriate.