A nasty case of Ricketts
There's not normally much wrong with Michael Ricketts' timing. When on-form, he remains a player who can score a decent quota of Premiership goals - even if his whirlwind rise from Walsall to Bolton to England and subsequent fall from grace has shown that life at the top can change very quickly.
However, if the Birmingham born player does need to improve his timing off the pitch following a two-week saga which threatened to undermine Bolton's survival bid as the season enters its crucial phase.
Ultimately, Ricketts got the move he desired with Middlesbrough's 11th hour intervention but, quite simply, his transfer request couldn't have gone in at a worse time for the club where he made his name.
It left neither Bolton, Boro, nor Spurs who had also wanted him, with much time to formulate a deal with the transfer deadline looming.
And with manager Sam Allardyce rightly refusing a part-player exchange until he had enough hard cash to finance the hunt for a replacement, the frustration was mounting all round for Wanderers. In fact, it irritated Allardyce so much he will now be glad he can now get on with the job he is paid to do - keeping Wanderers in the Premiership.
What a pity though that the Bolton public never got the opportunity to see if Brummie Ricketts had the strength of character to handle whatever fate lay in store. Had he shown some loyalty - though these days loyalty is a rare commodity - and stayed at the club which harnessed his talents towards an England call-up, Ricketts could have overcome his disappointment at not moving on and displayed an attitude which would have maintained his previously happy relationship with the Bolton fans.
Indeed, if the £4 million striker had stayed and re-produced the form that led to four goals in five games over the festive period, all the negative vibes surrounding the player would have soon be forgotten and forgiven.
And, had he scored the goals that fired Bolton to safety, some supporters would have wished him well in the summer. He could also have enhanced his reputation as a prominent Premiership striker and still gained his big money move. Of course, had he stayed but not knuckled down to score the goals, fans would have thought his mind was elsewhere and made it a miserable end to his Trotters career.
But Bolton deserve better than his decision to leave now rather than in the summer, just two-and-a-half seasons after which the media asked 'Michael Who' when he made his switch from Walsall.
Ricketts certainly wouldn't have been the first Bolton player to find his commitment under the closest scrutiny. Former fan's favourites Alan Stubbs and Jason McAteer were prime examples. In the summer of 1995, both players seemed set to move to league champions Blackburn Rovers.
In the end, McAteer's agent engineered his client a dream move to his native Merseyside and with Rovers wanting to sign both players, pulled out of the deal leaving Stubbs to play out a full season under a cloud of disappointment.
In contrast, there was a fond farewell for Michael Johansen. The Dane signed a pre-contract agreement to join AB Copenhagen in January 2000 but left with good wishes after continuing to excel in the final months of the season.
With Ricketts gone, Allardyce managed, through a combination of a depressed transfer market and a shrinking time-scale, to sign Valencia striker Salva Ballesta on loan until the end of the season.
He has been entrusted with the task of kick-starting a strike-force which had struggled in the weeks leading up to Saturday's 4-2 triumph over Birmingham.
Timing remains everything in Bolton's bid to beat the drop zone. By a quirk of fate, Middlesbrough visit the Reebok Stadium on the final day of the season.
Should Bolton need to win that match to stay up, their fans will hope Ricketts' timing in front of goal is as lousy as was his belated transfer request.
