BOLTON TOAST TEYMOURIAN
By Oliver Brown

The Telegraph, UK
April 9 2007

Wigan (1) 1 Bolton (1) 3

The road from Teheran to Wigan pier might sound like a journey of
Orwellian bleakness, but for Andranik Teymourian it is one with a happy
resolution. After an inglorious week for Anglo-Iranian relations,
this unheralded midfielder proved the wisdom of Bolton’s ‘league
of nations’ philosophy with two goals that edged the club closer to
Europe, while dispatching Wigan deeper into the wilderness.

Often, when watching Bolton’s exotic assembly of talents, one cannot
help but ask, "Where on earth did he come from?" In the case of
Teymourian – a 24-year-old of Armenian extraction plucked from the
Abu Moslem club in Mashad – it is a question with a colourful answer,
reflecting the full reach of the scouting network pioneered by manager
Sam Allardyce. Such an approach is either inspired or mad but, seeing
how the club’s latest import tipped the balance at the JJB Stadium,
few would dare doubt it.

Rewind to last summer’s World Cup. Bolton receive a call, saying there
is a young man in Iran’s national team desperate to try his luck in
England. The name’s Teymourian, the agent says, and he will cost half
a million dollars. The deal is done and the rest, in Wigan’s case at
least, is history.

"You wouldn’t expect too many Iranians to play in the Premiership –
finding one was about being in the right place at the right time,
and acting on limited knowledge," Allardyce said. "I don’t think we
realise how big the Premiership is, but when players like him come and
tell you how much it’s watched in Iran, Kuwait, Dubai, you realise
that their love for it is such, that if they get the opportunity to
come here they can’t wait to grasp it."

On the surface, this defence of Teymourian’s motives undercuts
claims that English football is suffering at the hands of foreign
opportunists. But it does not tell the full story, for Bolton,
whose latest win has taken them to within two points of Arsenal, are
grappling with a dichotomy, wanting to broaden the pool of British
talent but lacking the political back-up to do so.

"I would much prefer to bring 10 homegrown players through, because we
have to look after our own," said Allardyce. "It’s a responsibility for
British managers to try to do that, to create our own champions. But
we need help from all aspects of government."

In this vacuum, the responsibility has fallen to Teymourian to help
sustain Bolton’s progress, and in the second half against Wigan he
delivered, adding to Nicolas Anelka’s strike with a calm finish from
El-Hadji Diouf’s exquisite cross, then scoring with an instinctive
near-post header five minutes later. "I’m loving it in England," he
said. "I have settled in well, although football in England is very,
very different to Iran."

Three thousand miles away, his first Premiership goals were doubtless
being toasted in Teheran. But just nine miles away, in Wigan, they were
being cursed. A second straight defeat, after Emile Heskey had steered
in the first goal, has left the club on the ragged edge of relegation.

While manager Paul Jewell acknowledged his side were in a "dog-fight",
stand-in captain Matt Jackson, who successfully battled relegation
with Everton, sought to impart a more positive message.

"We have to make sure we fight through it," he said. "The one thing we
cannot afford to do is panic – that would be the worst thing possible."

~U Man of the match: Andranik Teymourian (Bolton).

Match details

Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): Filan; Taylor, Jackson, Hall, Baines;
Valencia, Scharner, Skoko (Cotterill 74), McCulloch; Heskey, Folan
(Camara 63). Subs: Nash (g), Kilbane, Unsworth. Goals: Heskey 32
Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Hunt, Meite, Faye, Ben Haim
(Gardner 35); Teymourian, Thompson (Tal 74), Speed, Davies; Anelka
(Giannakopoulos 88), Diouf. Subs: Al Habsi (g), Pedersen. Goals:
Anelka 44, Teymourian 68, 73. Booked: Thompson, Davies, Jaaskelainen.
Referee: U Rennie (S Yorkshire).