Cod Almighty | Article

by Simon Wilson

18 August 2005

Ginger is credited with many qualities that assist with the body's well-being. Arthritis, circulation, nausea, motion sickness, migraines, the digestive system, even genital parasites – all are claimed to be treatable by the magic root. Sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself here. 

You see, when Paul Bolland signed for Town, amid all the puzzled "who?"s among Town fans, the first thing I remembered about him was that he spent time at Bradford. That he was flame-haired. (Bradford are, incidentally, a club with a fine reputation as a major advancer of carrot-topped footballers: Bolland, Stuart McCall, Wayne Jacobs.) Oh, and the bloke sat a few seats down from me called him "Bollard". Generally you know what you're getting with a Duracell - a bit of bite - and they tend to be quite useful - unless they're Mike Hooper or Perry Groves.

Which was clearly the thinking of one of Sven-Goran Eriksson's potential replacements, Sam Allardyce, when he gave the Bantams £75,000 to take Bolland to Notts County in 1999: "He's the best young tackling midfielder in the country." Bolland fitted in, bringing the necessary steel to the middle of the park, although seeming to lack the dynamism expected of a modern-day midfielder. Allardyce eventually left, and Bolland fell out of favour under his successor, Jocky Scott, his career losing momentum as a result.

But he was reinstated to the team (when fit) by subsequent managers Gary Brazil and Bill Dearden, and many County fans came to see him as their most consistent if not best player of the past two seasons. New 'Pies manager Gudjon Thordarsson clearly didn't share that view, neglecting to offer Bolland a new contract in summer 2005. Russell Slade promptly swooped for the 25-year-old.

If Bolland can live up to this reputation and bring half of that to the Town midfield, he could be the springboard for the team, bringing qualities to strengthen the team's health and well-being. And County's loss will most certainly be the Mariners' gain.