Solihull Moors have appointed Wealdstone boss Matt Taylor as the club's new head coach.

The 43-year-old, who has previously managed Walsall, Shrewsbury Town and Tottenham's Under-18 side, succeeds Andy Whing, who left the club earlier this week to take over at Barrow.

Taylor made more than 600 appearances as a midfielder, featuring in the Premier League for Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers, West Ham and Burnley, before spells in the EFL with Luton Town, Northampton Town and Swindon Town.

He leaves the Stones - who he joined in May - in the National League's final relegation place after five wins and 10 losses in 25 league matches. Solihull are seventh in the fifth tier, occupying the final play-off spot.

Wealdstone assistant manager Paul Hughes will take charge of the first team on an interim basis while the club appoints Taylor's successor.

"It's a great club with big plans and ambitions, on and off the pitch, and I am really looking forward to playing my part in that," Taylor told the Solihull website, external.

"I have been made to feel at home straight away and I am absolutely determined to repay the trust that has been placed in me by building a successful team playing good football to entertain the fans."

The club is keeping its backroom team with Richard Stearman stepping up to serve as Taylor's assistant.

"I'm absolutely delighted that we have been able to attract Matt to the club," chairman Darryl Eales added.

"We had many highly respected applicants, but Matt was the outstanding candidate for many reasons.

"He's intelligent, articulate, principled, knows the league and already has a good understanding of Moors, our ethos and our ambition allied to a real hunger and humility to continue to build on our strong foundations."

Huddersfield Town v Bolton Wanderers
Sky Bet League One
Saturday January 25th - 12:30 ko

AND THEN

Huddersfield Town v Birmingham City
Sky Bet League One
Tuesday January 28th - 20:00 ko
both at the John Smith's Stadium

This will be the third meeting between Town and Bolton this season and my third Bolton match thread, so I won't be putting much content in here. Maybe when we meet for the Play Offs I might.

So two games at the Toughsheet Reebok Stadium have yielded quite diferent performances and results. Luckily we won the most important one, beating the Trottskis 4-0 in the league back in September. Josh Koroma opened the scoring in the first half, with a near post header. He doubled the lead after half time from the penalty spot, before Ben Wiles and then Anthony Evans completed the rout.

An almost full strength Town side returned there in December for a Vertu Trophy game and delivered a much below par performance. Klaidi Lolos opened the scoring just before half time, with Aaron Collins scoring twice in the 83rd and 88th minutes to wrap the game up. Substitute, Josh Dacres-Cogley put through his own net in injury time to provide us with a consolation.

1. Birmingham retired Jude Bellingham's shirt number when he left, what was that number?
   
2. Frank Worthington scored a famous wonder goal for Bolton in 1979, who were the opponents?
   
3. Birmingham were the first English team to play in a European Final, the 1960 Fairs Cup, who beat them in that Final?
   
4. Who did Bolton beat in the first FA Cup Final to be played at Wembley in 1923?
   
5. Birmingham won the Associate Members Cup (EFL Trophy) in 1991, which future Town manager was their manager then?
   
6. With 72 caps, Ricardo Gardner is Bolton's most capped international, but for which country?
   
7. Lukas Jutkiewicz came on loan to Town in 2009 from which Premier League club?
   
8. Which French international became Bolton's record transfer fee when he was sold to Chelsea in 2008?
   
9. How many times have Birmingham reached the FA Cup Final?
   
10. A painting of Bolton's Burnden Park, titled Going To The Match sold for £1.9m in 1999, but who was the artist?
    

Sorry missed one
Friday
Newport 1-1 Swindon


Bradford 2-0 Walsall
MKDons 1-2 Wimbledons
Barrow 1-0 Grimsby
Cheltenham 2-3 Salford
Chesterfield 2-0 Port Vale
Colchester 3-1 Morecambe
Crewe 2-0 Accrington
Doncaster 2-1 Harrogate
Fleetwood 1-1 Carlisle
Notts C 0-1 Bromley
Tranmere 2-1 Gillingham

We fulfilled our commitment to youth by signing Kyle MacFadzean from Blackburn (when last heading up the tunnel). At only 37 he should nicely match our current age profile. He and Grimes will be able to croon Perry Como's greatest hits as the opposition centre forward speeds through on goal.

I can't imagine too many intricate passing moves out of defence ......... but it'll be someone for John Fleck to call grandad.

Barrow have appointed Solihull Moors boss Andy Whing as their new head coach on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

The 40-year-old replaces Stephen Clemence after the former Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City midfielder was sacked on Saturday.

The Bluebirds, who have paid undisclosed compensation to National League Solihull, are winless in their past five League Two matches and are eight points above the relegation zone.

Whing's first game in charge will be Saturday's home match against Grimsby Town.

The former Coventry City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Oxford United defender said it was a "fantastic opportunity" to manage in the EFL for the first time.

"As soon as I heard about the interest, I was really excited about it, and after meeting everyone today and having a real warm welcome, it just feels like I've got a bunch of really good people, which is brilliant," he told the club website, external.

Whing started his career in management with Banbury United and guided them to a first-ever promotion to the sixth tier in the 2021-22 season.

He took over at Solihull in June 2023 and saw his side beaten on penalties in the 2024 National League promotion final by Bromley as they looked to secure a place in the Football League for the first time.

There was more Wembley disappointment a week later in the form of a penalty shootout defeat by Gateshead in the FA Trophy final.

He leaves the Moors, who have placed Richard Stearman, Kevin Poole and Stephen Ward in temporary charge of the first team, in seventh place, although they have played four games more than eighth-placed Rochdale.

Clemence replaced Pete Wild at Holker Street last May after a brief spell in charge of fellow League Two side Gillingham last season.

He made a bright start with the Cumbrian side, leading them into the third round of the EFL Cup, where they lost to Chelsea, and they were third in the table after a 2-1 home win over Cheltenham on 5 October.

However, a run of just one win from their following 15 games has seen them fall to 17th and the 2-0 defeat at Swindon on Saturday proved to be Clemence's final match.

Manager Ian Evatt has left Bolton Wanderers following Tuesday's 2-1 defeat by Charlton Athletic.

The latest defeat has left them ninth in the League One table, three points away from the play-off positions and continued a poor first half of the season.

BBC Radio Manchester reported the decision was taken at an emergency board meeting following the loss at home on Tuesday night.

"There comes a point in football when a change needs to happen and the last thing I want is to damage what we have all built together," Evatt said in a statement.

"I believe the club is still well placed to achieve its goals this season, and I want to give the board and players the best chance of doing that."

The 43-year-old arrived at the club in 2020 and won automatic promotion from League Two in his first season.

He led Wanderers to the EFL Trophy at Wembley in 2023 as well as last season's League One play-off final, where they were defeated by Oxford United.

Bolton chairman Sharon Brittan said that Evatt's dedication to rebuilding the club had been "commendable".

"He instilled a renewed sense of professionalism and purpose, and we are grateful for his significant contributions during his four and a half years at the helm," she said.

The club said they were committed to finding the "right" candidate to replace Evatt with an announcement regarding the interim management to be made in due course.

Ian Evatt on the touchline
Image source,Getty Images
Image caption,
Evatt guided Bolton to promotion during his first season and also won the EFL Trophy

A season to forget leads to Evatt exit
Having challenged for automatic promotion from the third tier last term, Bolton were beaten to the final spot by Derby County on the final day of the 2023-24 campaign.

They eventually beat Barnsley across two legs in the play-off semi-final to reach the final at Wembley, but they were uncharacteristically off the pace as Oxford dominated them over 90 minutes and won 2-0.

Evatt blamed fear on their defeat, which prevented them from returning to the Championship for the first time since 2019.

Bolton carried on that form into this season, with Tuesday's defeat at the hands of Charlton their 10th in the league in 2024-25, a result which left them ninth and three points off the play-off places after 24 games.

It has been a tough campaign for Evatt, who claimed in September he had the backing of the club's board after a wayward start to the campaign, while his son also experienced abuse from fans.

Having blamed his side's inconsistent form on psychology, his side then registered 10 victories from 17 games in all competitions to claw their way into the play-off places, but Evatt was critical of fan judgement on his side's performances.

That criticism came after Brittan pledged her support despite the fact they were well off the pace of League One's automatic promotion chasers following a dispiriting defeat by near neighbours Wigan Athletic, who themselves had been struggling.


There seems to have been an air of inevitability about Evatt's departure for some time.

Two wins in his last nine league games clearly hasn't helped, but his style of play has often been criticised by the fan base with his obsession for possession- based football.

Losing to local rivals Stockport (5-0), Wigan (2-0) and a 4-0 home defeat to Huddersfield brought further examination of his playing style.

Off the field, his behaviour has at times also been questioned and only last month he was given the curse of the "vote of confidence" by the club hierarchy.

Evatt can however reflect on a promotion, an EFL Trophy win and guiding Wanderers to consecutive play-off campaigns.

He leaves as their fifth longest serving manager across the Premier League and the EFL.

Well what can you do when these giant clubs come in and steal local players from UNDER YOUR SLEEPY NOSE?

Group A

Twerton 9
Zinman 8
Themaclad 7
Minizin 7
Amelia 7
A.A.A. 6

Well after last weeks levels of consistency, we have seen the same again this week but with a bit more mediocracy built in for good measure. Last week saw players separated by just 2 points but all in double figures, this week the difference is 3 points between first and last but this time no one reached double figures!! The Bonus was the culprit this week with every player getting it wrong!!

Twerton leads the way with 9 points, he missed on the Gamball and the Bonus but did manage to get 2 CSs to boost his score. Zinman is a point behind, he got a CR on the Gamball but not much else.

A further point behind sees 3 players with 7 points - Themaclad, Minizin and Amelia. Mac and Minizin managed a CS each but Amelia was the only one to score a CR on the Gamball to even out the scores. AAA ended bottom with 6 points, ironically he managed a week's high 2 correct scores but was only able to muster one CR while missing out on all his balls!!

212 Themaclad
185 Minzin
176 Twerton
171 Zinman
159 A.A.A.
145 Amelia

No changes in position and with it being so close for the past two weeks no real changes in the gaps between positions either. The post-season places are there for the taking for any player than can put some positive consistency together!!!

Cheers
SCO

Group B
BaggieOne 10
Snooty 10
Lady Jane 5
BBB 5
Stairs 2
Derby 2
SCO -2

Not a good week for Group B. Just 1 correct bonus and 3 correct scores leading to the second worst week of the season with the group scoring just 32 points. An unfamiliar name at the top of the pile as BaggieOne secured his first double figure score since week 9 and just his 4th of the season. He scored on 5 games including the gamball and the scoreball but failed to predict a correct score. He's joined at the top by Snooty, scoring his 10 points in exactly the same way as B1.

Not a great week for the rest. Lady Jane and BBB scored 5 points each, Lady Jane scoring on 3 games with 1 correct score and was also the 3rd player to secure the scoreball point. BBB only scored on just 2 games (1 correct score) but was helped by one of them being the gamball. Stairs was the other player to get a correct score but didn't do much else, blowing all his balls to secure just 2 points. Derby only scored on 1 game but this happened to be his bonus (this week;'s only positive bonus ball) so he was saved from the ignominy of a negative score.

And then we come to SCO who saw his recent good form come to a crashing halt. Just 1 correct result for him and a wipeout from his balls to leave him languishing in last place with minus 2 points (and yes, I did enjoy typing that!)

201 Lady Jane
175 Derby
164 Stairs
163 SCO
152 Snooty
144 BBB
122 BaggieOne

Congrats to Lady J for being the first Group B player to reach 200 points. She still enjoys a healthy lead over Derby in 2nd place. The one positional change this week sees Stairs edge above SCO into 3rd.

Zin


With Zinman's fighting talk towards his fellow scorer I thought it would be interesting to do a little comparison between the two of us!!

Points - SCO 163 v 171 Zin
Position - SCO 4th v 4th Zin
Correct Scores - SCO 22 v 20 Zin
Correct Results - SCO 46 v 51 Zin
Gamball Points - SCO 11 v 25 Zinman
Bonus Points - SCO -3 v -21 Zinman

So very little difference between us, just both mediocre really!!! The Gamball is Zin's biggest lead, but is offset by the lead I have on the Bonus Ball.

I'll just slot this draw info in here and briefly comment it's not a welcome home draw although it's a reasonable one compared with who we could've been paired with. A potentially tricky match all the same where Hibs need to show up and prove they are the better team with better players. Ultimately, just win it Hibs and get to the quarter-finals. Also Kieron Bowie should be fully fit when we play this game. So he'll be another decent striker to "enter the fray".

GGTTH