Bolton ended the season in 14th place, matching their finish of the previous year under Owen Coyle. They stayed in the top ten for most of the season until the final stages of the season, when a five-game losing streak in the run in saw them drop to 14th. Having secured Premier League survival last season, Coyle went about the task of improving his side in the summer, with Martin Petrov joining from Manchester City. Robbie Blake and Marcos Alonso also came on board in the summer. The Scot retained the same group of players, with a defensive block composed of Gary Cahill and Zat Knight in central defence and Paul Robinson and Gretar Steinsson as full backs. Sam Ricketts also featured in defence until injury curtailed his season in the second phase of the season. In midfield, Coyle stuck with Muamba in the ball winner role throughout the season, Holden in the playmaker role and Lee, Taylor and Petrov competing for the wide roles. Elmander and Kevin Davies were partnered in the attack as Coyle played a positive 4-4-2 until the second phase of the season. The Trotters remained rather solid at home throughout the campaign, losing only once to Liverpool in the first phase. By Christmas time, the Trotters were where they wanted to be in the top half of the table on the back of their solid home form. Coyle brought in reinforcements in the shape of Danny Sturridge on loan from Chelsea and David Wheater from Middlesbrough. Sturridge hit the ground running, with three goals in his first three starts which prompted a reshape in the attack, with Elmander shifting to the right side, often at the expense of Lee. Bolton were hit by a spate of injuries before Easter with Holden, Mark Davies and Ricketts seeing their seasons effectively ended by injury and Knight missing for two months. It didn’t awfully affect their form as they kept making good ground in the table and reached the semi final of the FA Cup. Sadly, the Trotters simply didn’t turn up at Wembley against Stoke and were dispatched by the Potters by 5-0. This proved a hammer blow for them and they lost five out of their last six games in the league after that, which left a bitter taste to what could have been a much better season.
