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Pawel Olkowski has made a welcome return to the international fold – with a little help from his friends!
The Polish defender will end a three-year exile by linking up with his country next week for their forthcoming Nations League games against Portugal and Italy.
Brought back into the fold by new boss Jerzy Brzęczek, Olkowski will have a chance to add to his 13 caps, with both games being played on home soil.
But that he has made such a swift return following his move to English football in the summer from FC Koln is a victory for Phil Parkinson and the support network Wanderers have offered the defender.
“The lads who have been here a while, like David Wheater and Ben Alnwick, have been great helping out and getting him settled in,” Parkinson told The Bolton News.
“That’s really important and I know Pawel has had plenty of support in his early days at the club.
“Also behind the scenes, people like Simon Marland and Nick Horne do a lot of work helping players to settle into the area and working out the logistics for them. That’s key.
“Bolton are quite used to signing players from abroad in the past, so it’s important having people with the experience of helping them off the field as well.
“I’m really pleased for Pawel he got the call-up, though, he’s earned it. He’s been in the squad plenty of times before but to get called back in shows how well he’s done so far in his career in England. He’s enjoying his time here and he’s getting stronger each game.”
Olkowski was not a name well-known on these shores before he signed for Bolton but his CV does show he has played more than 60 games in the German top flight.
Parkinson is not completely surprised that he has made such a big impact since arriving at the club.
“The thing with Pawel is that he played in the Bundesliga and we spent quite a lot of the summer watching games from abroad on the system we have and that league is quite an easy one to relate to the English style of football,” he said.
“He played in some big games over there and I always felt he’d cope with the physical demands of the Championship.
“Any signing is a gamble, whether you pay £5million for someone or it’s a free transfer. There is always an element of risk.
“But we knew what we were getting with Pawel. He’s a quality player.”
Wanderers go to Stoke City tonight placed three places higher than their hosts in the table, with five more points in the bag.
Relegation from the Premier League has been hard to shake-off for the Potters and their new boss Gary Rowett and Parkinson believes the change of environment has been an eye-opener for some of their multi-million pound stars.
“It seems that way because results haven’t gone as anticipated with the quality of players they have got,” he said.
“I saw the game against Rotherham on Saturday and in fairness they played well, they were unlucky to be 2-0 down, came back to 2-2 and could have won it.
“They possess a lot of quality but equally when teams come down there is a huge weight of expectation on their shoulders and it isn’t easy. We have got to look to exploit that tomorrow.”
Wanderers emerged from a five-game winless streak on Saturday against Derby but go to the Bet365 Stadium as heavy underdogs, once again.
It is a position Parkinson is used to - and he feels his side can use the momentum gained by their weekend performance to their advantage against a team which has already been beaten on home turf by both Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic.
“Before the Derby game we said they’d been to Old Trafford and won, so what a great scalp that would be if we could win the game. I think it’s exactly the same at Stoke," he said.
“You go through their team and they have spent a hell of a lot of money with the players they bought in the summer, so what a great opportunity for us to go there and make another statement.”
Wanderers have no new injury worries but are unlikely to name new signing Lloyd Dyer in their squad until he has played another 90 minutes at development level.
Source
The Polish defender will end a three-year exile by linking up with his country next week for their forthcoming Nations League games against Portugal and Italy.
Brought back into the fold by new boss Jerzy Brzęczek, Olkowski will have a chance to add to his 13 caps, with both games being played on home soil.
But that he has made such a swift return following his move to English football in the summer from FC Koln is a victory for Phil Parkinson and the support network Wanderers have offered the defender.
“The lads who have been here a while, like David Wheater and Ben Alnwick, have been great helping out and getting him settled in,” Parkinson told The Bolton News.
“That’s really important and I know Pawel has had plenty of support in his early days at the club.
“Also behind the scenes, people like Simon Marland and Nick Horne do a lot of work helping players to settle into the area and working out the logistics for them. That’s key.
“Bolton are quite used to signing players from abroad in the past, so it’s important having people with the experience of helping them off the field as well.
“I’m really pleased for Pawel he got the call-up, though, he’s earned it. He’s been in the squad plenty of times before but to get called back in shows how well he’s done so far in his career in England. He’s enjoying his time here and he’s getting stronger each game.”
Olkowski was not a name well-known on these shores before he signed for Bolton but his CV does show he has played more than 60 games in the German top flight.
Parkinson is not completely surprised that he has made such a big impact since arriving at the club.
“The thing with Pawel is that he played in the Bundesliga and we spent quite a lot of the summer watching games from abroad on the system we have and that league is quite an easy one to relate to the English style of football,” he said.
“He played in some big games over there and I always felt he’d cope with the physical demands of the Championship.
“Any signing is a gamble, whether you pay £5million for someone or it’s a free transfer. There is always an element of risk.
“But we knew what we were getting with Pawel. He’s a quality player.”
Wanderers go to Stoke City tonight placed three places higher than their hosts in the table, with five more points in the bag.
Relegation from the Premier League has been hard to shake-off for the Potters and their new boss Gary Rowett and Parkinson believes the change of environment has been an eye-opener for some of their multi-million pound stars.
“It seems that way because results haven’t gone as anticipated with the quality of players they have got,” he said.
“I saw the game against Rotherham on Saturday and in fairness they played well, they were unlucky to be 2-0 down, came back to 2-2 and could have won it.
“They possess a lot of quality but equally when teams come down there is a huge weight of expectation on their shoulders and it isn’t easy. We have got to look to exploit that tomorrow.”
Wanderers emerged from a five-game winless streak on Saturday against Derby but go to the Bet365 Stadium as heavy underdogs, once again.
It is a position Parkinson is used to - and he feels his side can use the momentum gained by their weekend performance to their advantage against a team which has already been beaten on home turf by both Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic.
“Before the Derby game we said they’d been to Old Trafford and won, so what a great scalp that would be if we could win the game. I think it’s exactly the same at Stoke," he said.
“You go through their team and they have spent a hell of a lot of money with the players they bought in the summer, so what a great opportunity for us to go there and make another statement.”
Wanderers have no new injury worries but are unlikely to name new signing Lloyd Dyer in their squad until he has played another 90 minutes at development level.
Source