Fabrice Muamba Retires From Football

Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba has announced his retirement (AP Photo)

This is a sad day for all fans of our game.  Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba has announced that he will have to retire from football.   Muamba collapsed on the pitch during an FA Cup match with Tottenham last season with cardiac arrest.   His heart did not beat on it's own for 78 minutes, but was successfully restarted at the London Chest Hospital.

Muamba has been seeking medical advice, but admitted earlier this year that he did not know if he would be able to play again.  According to the AP, Muamba traveled to Belgium this week to seek advice after consulting with doctors in England and elsewhere in Europe.  He was advised to retire from pro football.

Muamba had this to say about the news: ''While the news is devastating, I have much to be thankful for. I thank God that I am alive and I pay tribute once again to the members of the medical team who never gave up on me.''

Muamba played in 211 games in all competitions during his career, in which he played for Arsenal. Birmingham, and Bolton.  He scored six goals.  The Puddle wishes him well, and hopes he can still be a part of the game he loves so much!

Pray For Muamba

A couple of weeks back I had a death in the family that required some travel time. Things are settled now, so The Puddle is getting back in the scene.

Obviously the most important story in football right now is Fabrice Muamba's fight for life. The Bolton midfielder collapsed during an FA Cup match Tottenham of an apparent heart attack. I did catch this story while I was away but wasn't able to comment on it.

At the match, both sets of supporters recognized the trouble and both medical teams responded immediately. The match was abandoned and Muamba was taken to the London Chest Hospital. There it took doctors over two hours to get his heart restarted.

However, at a presser this morning the NHS and Bolton released an update on his condition and there is some reason for optimism. He's showing small signs of improvement, including moving his legs and arms, and having his heart beat without the aid of medication.

However, he remains in critical but stable condition. Hopefully all football fans will continue to keep him in their prayers and his recovery will continue.

EPL: Chelsea vs. Bolton

Chelsea celebrate David Luiz's opening goal. (AP Images)

Chelsea needs to win, period. Andre Villas Boas needs to win, period. A loss or even a draw at home against Bolton after the embarrassing Champions League performance in Italy might well have spelled the doom for the first year Chelsea skipper. Fortunately for him, it turned out that a visit from Bolton was just what the Blues needed.

Not that the first half was terribly impressive though. Chelsea started brightly in the opening minutes. Daniel Sturridge forced two saves from Adam Bogdan in the first five minutes. A little after that Frank Lampard made a great run into the box and seemed to be through on goal, but couldn't get his shot away.

After that the first half was all about half chances, and even calling them half chances might be on the generous side. Both Sturridge and Didier Drogba were active, but Bolton's defense held up well enough. For the Wanderer's part, their chances were few and far between. Darren Pratley went down on the edge of the area in the 42nd minute, but instead of a PK or free kick, he was given a yellow card for diving. Right before the stroke of half time Ryo Miyaichi sent a shot high, which was the sum of the Bolton offense.

Chelsea came out in a bit different spirit in the second half and set out to secure the three points. In the 48th minute, David Luiz took a nice solo strike from just inside the area and slammed it past Bogdan to make it 1-0. Luiz would have another good chance in the 55th minute, but saw his header hit the post following a corner kick.

The Blues added their second in the 61st minute, this time off the head of Didier Drogba. The Ivorian striker got a head to a Lampard corner kick and tucked it into the unprotected far post to make it 2-0. Super Frank Lampard added a goal for himself in the 79th minute by knocking home a Juan Mata cross to make the score 3-0. Bolton couldn't even manage to trouble Petr Cech, and 3-0 was the score at full time. It was a comfortable win for the Blues, and hopefully they can build on it.

EPL: Norwich vs Bolton

(Anthony Pilkington celebrates for Norwich--GETTY IMAGES)

I'll tell you one thing about my Premier League viewing habits. I catch Norwich every chance I get. They just get better and better every time I watch them. I really don't have a doubt in my mind that they and Swansea will stay up. Last weekend Bolton was the next team to be caught in the Canaries' web. Coming into the match Bolton had been playing a lot better and had come off the bottom of the table, but Norwich really was the better side in this encounter.

Norwich especially dominated the first half. They created chance after chance as Bolton's defense looked to be still in the locker room. Early chances were supplied by Zak Whitbread, who had a header sail just wide, and Grant Holt, who forced Bogdan into a save. Still they didn't get an especially troubling chance until the 24th minute when Andrew Surman collected a ball from Holt at about 4 yards out. Somehow, Surman clanged his shot off of the crossbar and it stayed 0-0.

It wasn't all roses in the first half for the Canaries though. They lost both of their starting center backs, including American Zak Whitbread to hamstring injuries. Bolton looked primed to take advantage. Martin Petrov hit a drive that was deflected just wide, and that was their best chance. The first half ended 0-0.

Poor finishing plagued Norwich again in the early minutes off the second half. This time it was Grant Holt who had the issues. He took a ball from Adam Drury and found himself unmarked in the box, but frustratingly watched his header go wide.

Norwich finally took the lead late. It was Andrew Surman who atoned for his terrible first half miss. In the 70th minute he got off a close range shot that was blocked by Bolton defender David Wheater. However, he stuck with it, got to the rebound, and smacked the ball into the back of the net to give the Canaries a much deserved 1-0 lead.

Bolton would get a couple of chances in the closing stages of the match, but couldn't convert. In the 79th minute Petrov came close again, but saw his volley saved. That was about all they could manage. Norwich sealed the 3 points in the 85th minute as Anthony Pilkington got a hold of another rebound, this one from a shot off of Russel Martin, and put it home to give Norwich the 2-0 win.

The 3 points are big for the Canaries after getting thumped against Sunderland last week, and moves them that much closer to safety. The loss came at a really bad time for Bolton, as it sees them not only fail to put any distance between them and the bottom of the pack, but drops them into the bottom three.

EPL: Bolton vs. Liverpool

For most Barclay's Premier League sides this season, a trip to Bolton has been just what the doctor ordered. Bolton has been mired in the bottom 3 for a good portion of the season and has been especially dismal at the Reebok. On top of that, they had just completed the sale of one of their best players in Gary Cahill. Unfortunately for Liverpool, they couldn't take advantage of these circumstances, as Wanderers pretty much outplayed them from the opening whistle.

The biggest problem the Reds had that day was a Swiss cheese defense. The Bolton attack just had their way with the Liverpool back line and Pepe Reina pretty much had no chance. In just the 4th minute of the match, Mark Davies made the sleeping Liverpool defenders look like traffic cones as he weaved his way in and hammered home the first goal of the match to make it 1-0.

Liverpool didn't respond either as Bolton continued to dictate the terms of the match. The Reds pretty much looked dazed. Jordan Henderson finally succeeded in working the Bolton 'keeper on 18 minutes, but they couldn't snatch any momentum at all. Finally in the 29th minute Nigel Reo-Coker found even more holes in the Liverpool defense and scored again for Bolton making it 2-0 to Wanderers.

After that Liverpool finally woke up a little bit, at least on offense. Craig Bellamy, who has been Liverpool's brightest spot in recent matches, forced another save out of Adam Bogdan in the 35th minute, In the very next minute long absent Andy Carroll sent in a nice ball to Bellamy which he just managed to squeeze by Bogdan into the net to make it 2-1 going into half time.

That's about all the Reds fans had to cheer about though as Bolton continued to hold proceedings in the second half. In minute 50 Gretar Steinsson scored a third for Bolton off of a corner to make it 3-1.

It didn't quite kill the game off. but it came close. Liverpool had a smattering of chances in the second half. Daniel Agger came closest in the 71st minute by cracking a shot off of the cross bar. Andy Carroll continued his dismal offensive output by missing at least two chances, and Bolton held on for the 3-1 win on what was arguably one of their finest hours of the season.

For Liverpool, it was obviously one of their worst.

GRETAR STEINSSON & CHRIS EAGLES CELEBRATE (PremierLeague.com)

Tim Ream Officially Joins Bolton

United States defender Tim Ream has finally completed his long anticipated move to Bolton Wanderers after securing his UK work permit last week. The fee was not disclosed on the 3.5 year deal.

Maybe Ream will be as good at gifting Bolton opponents goals as he was giving them to the Red Bulls opponents. Sorry, I kid, a little. All I ever hear about Ream is how wonderful his ability to distribute from the center back position is. That's fine I guess, but he sure seemed to give the ball up a lot, get torched by strikers on a semi regular basis, and have a tendency to make stupid tackles and concede PKs after he gets burned.

Obviously Tim is still young, and hopefully playing at the top level in the Barclay's Premier League will help him. I've been highly critical of him on this blog and in my Puddle tweets, but he's talented for sure and a great guy. Best of luck to him as he represents the USA overseas.

Unfortunately for Bolton, he's no Gary Cahill.

EPL: Bolton Vs. Arsenal

So can we finally say Arsenal is out of the title race? I think we can. The title has been United's to lose for a couple of weeks at least, and this result really does take Arsenal out. Chelsea has the only shot now, and that's an outside shot at best. They'll need to be perfect and get some help from United.

For the most part, this match was typical Arsenal, in more ways than one. They dominated possession, they got chances, but didn't take them. Plus, both Bolton goals came from corners, which blatantly exposed The Gunners' lack of commanding defenders.

From the opening of the match Walcott and Nasri were all over for Arsenal, buzzing around the Bolton D and creating chances. Fabregas took a couple of shots as well, but couldn't find the target. Bolton sat back, absorbed the pressure, and looked for their chances. They had a few real good ones. In the 14th, Wanderers countered with an extra man forward and looked good, but the chance was ended by the offside flag. They had another great chance off the break in the 24th, but sabotaged themselves by making one too many passes.

Things finally came full circle for Bolton in the 38th. They put a corner into the box and the Gunners just looked confused. Anyway, one shot was rebounded off Nasri, but Sturridge got a hold of it and put it in the back of the net, giving Bolton a 1-0 lead, which held up to the half.

Bolton had a chance to ice it right off the bat in the second half, and this time it was Wanderers who didn't take advantage of a gifted chance. In the 46th minute, Sturridge went down in the box, and a PK was awarded. This was one of the softest PKs I've seen given, but given it was. Then Davies lined up and took the penalty, and it was about the worst PK I've ever seen taken. Szczesny could have had a tea party in goal and still stopped it EASILY. Huge mistake for Bolton.

Just a minute later, Arsenal made them pay. Robin van Persie spotted up a shot from the top of the 18 and drilled it into the back of the net and tied the score at 1-1. Still Arsenal knew they needed all three points, and they pressed for it. However, Bolton got the last laugh as Tamir Cohen scored yet another goal off a corner in the 90th minute to give Bolton a 2-1 lead, which was the full time result.

Wenger looked utterly dejected after the match. Yet another monumental collapse by Arsenal. Maybe he should listen to outside advice for a change and get some commanding central defenders. He probably won't though. He'll just think he's misunderstood and that next year will be the year. Yeah right.