ALL of a sudden it has become fashionable to criticise the kind of football that has taken Bolton to fourth place in the table.

Graeme Souness, of all people, started it by accusing them of an "in your face" style after his expensive Newcastle side had met the first defeat of his reign in his first game against a side above them in table.

He also alleged they use long ball tactics and it's true Bolton like to employ the powerful asset of Kevin Davies's ability to win high balls.

Souness got it wrong. Perhaps he was sore that he'd lost to the manager of a smaller club who had been offered the Toon job before him and turned it down.

But Sam Allardyce, a master statistician, has the figures to show that Bolton hit 350 passes in the game and no more long balls than Newcastle.

You can't argue with him and it's more than likely that more stats will come out when he holds his weekly Press conference tomorrow.

But Souness started a bandwagon rolling and pundits who don't see Bolton on a regular basis are jumping on board.

To use that dreadful word, at least in this connotation, it has become "sexy" to knock Bolton and the club are anxious to stop it because mud sticks, whether or not it is justified.

Sky's Chris Kamara and Newcastle's Alan Shearer have used the dreaded word "Wimbledon."

Others jumped on the long ball line after Sunday's draw at Middlesbrough, which was rich considering the Boro goal came from a punt upfield by keeper Mark Schwarzer.

The facts of the matter are simple. Bolton do use the long ball but who doesn't?

And with quality players in the side like Jay-Jay Okocha, Gary Speed, Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro why on earth would they want to play the long ball all the time?

The time was that when the Bolton team coach drove through the gates for an away game, managers, players, fans and the local media could rub their hands and say: "Here come three points."

That doesn't happen any more and they don't like it, especially managers who have spent a fortune on players, when they get turned over by one who hasn't.

I won't mention the manager's name because it came up in an off-the-record conversation but one free-spending Premiership boss got earache from his chairman because of what Bolton were achieving on a shoestring.

Bolton make no apologies for playing to their strengths. That means working hard and cutting down space to stop the opposition playing. Perhaps some managers and players would do better to wonder if they could work harder.

Bolton attack as a team and defend as a team and if that poses a problem for vastly-paid opponents then it's up to them to solve it. Sam Allardyce's players aren't fancy-pants posers. They are blokes who will roll up their sleeves and do a job.

Answer me this. Which Bolton player completed the most tackles in the Premiership last season? This isn't a Sam stat, it's a Barclaycard stat and the answer isn't a defender but striker Kevin Davies.

He epitomises the reason why Bolton are fourth. And it's time pundits gave them due credit rather than taking cheap shots.

Soccer is dubbed the beautiful game and it's good when it is. But beautiful football doesn't necessarily win things. Winning football does and that's what Sam Allardyce is all about.

Do you agree? Are Bolton not being given the credit they deserve? Have your say.

Tweet