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Holden set to sign one-year extension at Bolton

Stuart Holden of Bolton Wanderers and Barry Ferguson of Birmingham City

By DAN KARELL

It’s looking likely that Stuart Holden will get another shot to prove his worth to Bolton Wanderers FC over a full season.

According to a report in England, Holden is set to sign a one-year contract with the club, keeping him at the Reebok Stadium through the end of the 2013-2014 season. The report states that he has written to the club to say he is in agreement with the contract, but won’t sign it until he has returned to England after the May/June U.S. Men’s National Team matches.

After spending over a year and a half on the sidelines, Holden made his Bolton return on January 15 in the FA Cup, featuring four times for the club and four for Sheffield Wednesday while on loan in March and April.

The 27-year-old midfielder was called up by U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann to the May/June camp, and currently Holden is awaiting the start of that camp by training with the Houston Dynamo to stay fit. The Scotland-born player has amassed 17 caps since 2009, but due to the injuries, hasn’t played for the national team once under Klinsmann.

What do you make of this news? Glad that Holden is staying at Bolton? Do you think he should have tried his luck somewhere else?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

      • Fat chance. He would go through a weighted lottery and LA has the slimmest chance to win the lottery since they won the MLS cup. There would be a better chance of him playing for Toronto or that LA-based team that is owned by a club that refuses to have Americans on their roster, yet Americans are supposed to like them.

  1. Training with his old team in H-Town, huh?!? I bet the Dom is wishing he had Holden in his starting 11.

    Dom: Hey Stuie, you sure you want to go back to England? We could offer you a good contract here, we know you are good for it. You didn’t have injury problems while playing with the Dynamo.

    Stuie: D-man, I love you bro, and I know I have a high-pitched voice and sexy-spikey hair, but you know I dreamed of playing in England all my life. I do look great in the color orange though.

    Dom: Houston has one of the cheapest cost of living indexes in the US. $400k here is like getting $800K in England. Plus, H-Town loves metrosexuals. You belong with us.

    Stuie: It is tempting Dom. I do love Tex-Mex and BBQ. No wonder Houston is one of the fattest cities in the US. Jus tlook at what happened to Landin when he played here.

    Dom: True. Keep it in mind. I love you bro!

    Stuie: I love you too D-man!

    (Brohug to seal the bromance)

    Reply
  2. Good news for Holden. He is familiar with the club, the overall management, etc. They have been fair with him, he has been useful for them when healthy. Go Stu.

    Reply
      • Kenji,

        He might have been their best player for 26 games until March of 2011.

        He has not been their best player since then as he has been unable to play.

        He is now on the mend but he is not currently their best player.

      • I think he understands that.

        Conversation started with “He is useful when healthy.” The reply was “you mean their best player when healthy.” Then, you describe in detail how he has not been their best player because he has not been healthy.

      • When Holden was healthy, Bolton were a top-half EPL team. He won team MVP in his last season of play. Without him, they dropped from the EPL and spent time in relegation zone in danger of dropping to League One.

        Not saying he’s 100% of the reason for their success, but they’re definitely related.

      • I agree and disagree. He was great with Bolton when he was healthy but needs to sustain it. Durability is one of the most underrated qualities in professional sports.

      • Holden was a great loss to Bolton but they were far from a one man team and they had other bad losses after Stu went out.

        The following season, 2011-12, Elmander left for Turkey, Lee Chung – Yong broke his leg, Matty Taylor and then Cahill at season’s end left for greener pastures and of course Muamba, Stu’s midfield sidekick had that career and nearly life ending heart issue on the field where he almost died.
        Bolton had a pretty rough go of it all around culminating in their relegation.

  3. good for him but love how he says he won’t sign until he returns to england. That tells me that if he has a big summer with qualifiers and Gold Cup, a smaller Premier League team could pick him up.

    I’m not opposed to that at all.

    Reply
    • well, it could also be that he’s rewarding their loyalty in him if- God forbid- he’s injured again over the summer they dont have to keep an injured player any longer than they have.

      Reply
    • “That tells me that if he has a big summer with qualifiers and Gold Cup, a smaller Premier League team could pick him up.”

      come on man, your reading comprehension should be better than that. not only will Holden NOT playing qualifiers, the article states:

      “…but won’t sign it until he has returned to England after the May/June U.S. Men’s National Team matches.”

      that says, clearly, that he will sign it after these games which will end early June. the Gold Cup does not start until July. in other words, he’ll sign it before the Gold Cup.

      Reply
    • That sounds nice but that is unlikely.

      If you read all the articles leading up to this Bolton, and the US have agreed, want to take this as slow as possible.

      This time with the USMNT is meant as part of his rehab. It was felt Stu would recover better in the company of the USMNT rather than working out on his own somewhere.

      If he does well great but JK is unlikely to risk him in any kind of significant situation either in the friendlies or in the qualifiers.

      Reply
  4. As unlucky as Holden has been, so too have Bolton, who are actually losing money. Fair play to them for giving him another year. Let’s hope both Holden and Bolton can capitalize on it.

    Reply

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