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Jem Karacan is ready to don his war paint in the name of Championship survival.
If the bookmakers hadn’t already written Wanderers off as relegation fodder before a ball was kicked this season, more boardroom instability plus the threat of EFL sanctions this week have pushed their odds out further.
But there is no sign of Phil Parkinson’s side chucking in the towel, quite the opposite, in fact.
Carabao Cup victory over Sheffield Wednesday showed a side of Wanderers hitherto unseen this season and – in the opinion of captain-for-the-night Karacan – the kind of spirit the team is going to need to get a result at the KCOM Stadium tonight.
“They have got a lot of talent, no question, a lot of Premier League class in there still,” he said of his opponents. “But no-one can match the fight we’ve got in this squad.
“That is what it’ll take to keep us in this division. We have to want it more than every team we face every week.”
It may still be early days in the campaign but Wanderers know from their last Championship incarnation the dangers of being cut adrift early on.
Defeat against Derby last weekend did place them in the bottom three and has been followed by a week in which the liquidation of Dean Holdsworth’s Sports Shield BWFC has thrown a third of the club’s shares on to the open market.
“There are a lot of things going against us off the pitch,” Karacan told The Bolton News. “We’ve all got social media, we all see what’s put about but we have to let that handle itself.
“The chairman and people who run the club are trying their hardest to keep it away from us and let us crack on.
“It is one of the toughest divisions out there. Derby spent £7million on a player last week and we’re in an embargo – it is how it is.
“We’ve got another tough one against Hull but we have to believe we’re good enough to go and get a result.”
Parkinson may have to watch his step after being ordered from the touchline on Tuesday night but Karacan is unconcerned with winning style points in Humberside.
“We need to show we’re good enough to be in this division,” he said.
“If we come to the end of the season and we’ve survived, I think we’ll have done brilliantly.
“There are a lot of things, a lot of people against us. Our main thing is to survive, however we do it – whether it’s horrible, or beautiful football – it doesn’t matter to me.
“We need every single person behind every single player. There’s 46 games and no-one is going to play well every week, we won’t win every week, but they have got to stand by us.”
Karacan got the captain’s armband against Sheffield Wednesday and has been given extra licence to push on in midfield by Parkinson to try and add to the goal he scored against the Owls.
The last time he celebrated was on the final day of last season – a half volley which helped sink Peterborough United and clinch promotion.
Now the 28-year-old is looking for more.
“The gaffer has said we need to be more of a threat and told me to push on, so it was nice to get on the end of that cross,” he said of his second-half header against the Owls.
“Since I came to the club he has been brilliant with me. I got the armband when I came on at Crewe and then before the Sheffield Wednesday game they said are you happy being captain and I was delighted.
“I was club captain at Reading a couple of years ago so I’m used to it. If I can help the boys and set a standard, I’ll do it.
“Bolton is a massive club so it’s a great honour for me to wear it.”
Source
If the bookmakers hadn’t already written Wanderers off as relegation fodder before a ball was kicked this season, more boardroom instability plus the threat of EFL sanctions this week have pushed their odds out further.
But there is no sign of Phil Parkinson’s side chucking in the towel, quite the opposite, in fact.
Carabao Cup victory over Sheffield Wednesday showed a side of Wanderers hitherto unseen this season and – in the opinion of captain-for-the-night Karacan – the kind of spirit the team is going to need to get a result at the KCOM Stadium tonight.
“They have got a lot of talent, no question, a lot of Premier League class in there still,” he said of his opponents. “But no-one can match the fight we’ve got in this squad.
“That is what it’ll take to keep us in this division. We have to want it more than every team we face every week.”
It may still be early days in the campaign but Wanderers know from their last Championship incarnation the dangers of being cut adrift early on.
Defeat against Derby last weekend did place them in the bottom three and has been followed by a week in which the liquidation of Dean Holdsworth’s Sports Shield BWFC has thrown a third of the club’s shares on to the open market.
“There are a lot of things going against us off the pitch,” Karacan told The Bolton News. “We’ve all got social media, we all see what’s put about but we have to let that handle itself.
“The chairman and people who run the club are trying their hardest to keep it away from us and let us crack on.
“It is one of the toughest divisions out there. Derby spent £7million on a player last week and we’re in an embargo – it is how it is.
“We’ve got another tough one against Hull but we have to believe we’re good enough to go and get a result.”
Parkinson may have to watch his step after being ordered from the touchline on Tuesday night but Karacan is unconcerned with winning style points in Humberside.
“We need to show we’re good enough to be in this division,” he said.
“If we come to the end of the season and we’ve survived, I think we’ll have done brilliantly.
“There are a lot of things, a lot of people against us. Our main thing is to survive, however we do it – whether it’s horrible, or beautiful football – it doesn’t matter to me.
“We need every single person behind every single player. There’s 46 games and no-one is going to play well every week, we won’t win every week, but they have got to stand by us.”
Karacan got the captain’s armband against Sheffield Wednesday and has been given extra licence to push on in midfield by Parkinson to try and add to the goal he scored against the Owls.
The last time he celebrated was on the final day of last season – a half volley which helped sink Peterborough United and clinch promotion.
Now the 28-year-old is looking for more.
“The gaffer has said we need to be more of a threat and told me to push on, so it was nice to get on the end of that cross,” he said of his second-half header against the Owls.
“Since I came to the club he has been brilliant with me. I got the armband when I came on at Crewe and then before the Sheffield Wednesday game they said are you happy being captain and I was delighted.
“I was club captain at Reading a couple of years ago so I’m used to it. If I can help the boys and set a standard, I’ll do it.
“Bolton is a massive club so it’s a great honour for me to wear it.”
Source