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My memory tells me that Bolton conceded far more penalties than they were given, and that cost them a number of points over the course of the season. So, I went through all of the game logs from last season and looked at all the penalties that Bolton conceded and were granted. I then looked to see if each penalty given had a direct effect on the outcome of the match, and how many points were gained or lost by Bolton as a result.
For example, in the New Year's Day match against Leeds, the penalty conceded by Tyrone Mears resulted in a 0-1 loss for Bolton, costing Wanderers the one point they would have received for the draw. However, penalties did not always change the outcome of the match, like the penalty that Keith Andrews scored in Bolton's 3-1 victory over. Bolton would have won this match even without the penalty.
Using this methodology the cumulative data below is arrived at.
|
Penalties Conceded |
Penalties Converted |
Penalties Not Converted |
Points Lost |
|
11 |
10 |
1 |
9 |
Bolton
|
Penalties Won |
Penalties Converted |
Penalties Not Converted |
Points Gained |
|
11 |
9 |
2 |
7 |
So, it turns out that Bolton ended up losing a cumulative two points last season as a result of penalties, two points that would have seen them in the Championship playoffs, which is significant. However, I was surprised that Bolton won the same number of penalties as they conceded. My memory told me that they were often on the short side of most penalty decisions. So, from that standpoint seeing that Bolton only lost two points over the course of last season was surprising.
One other thing that surprised me as I was looking over the data is how many different Bolton players were responsible for conceding penalties.
|
Player |
Penalties Conceded |
|
Marcos Alonso |
1 |
|
Keith Andrews |
1 |
|
Danny Butterfield |
1 |
|
Zat Knight |
2 |
|
Tyrone Mears |
2 |
|
Matt Mills |
1 |
|
Darren Pratley |
1 |
|
Tim Ream |
1 |
|
Stephen Warnock |
1 |
Again, in my memory, I have vision of our new oversized, clumsy skipper, Zat Knight, conceding more than two penalties last year. I was also surprised that there were not one or two obvious repeat offenders.
So, after two matches this year, Bolton have lost two points as a result of penalties. However, as fans we can just about rest assured that Wanderers will eventually get some calls and results that will go their way as a result of a spot kick. We just have to hope that over the course of the ceiling the points lost don't cost Bolton any places in the standings.