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Oga ready to sign new Bolton contract.
According to the papers today Jay Jay is about to extent his contract with Bolton. This from the Daily Mirror.
JAY JAY OK Bolton 1-0 Portsmouth
By Paul Atkins
JAY JAY OKOCHA revealed he is on the verge of agreeing a new £40,000-a-week, 12-month deal to stay at Bolton after helping Sam Allardyce's outfit turn the screw on sliding Portsmouth.
The Nigeria skipper, who has won his battle to delay his departure for the African Nations Cup until after Bolton's Carling Cup semi-final with Aston Villa on Wednesday, signed off from the Premiership for the next month by helping Bolton to a crucial win.
Kevin Davies's goal in the second half, his sixth of the season, was enough to lift Wanderers into the top 10 and avenge August's 4-0 mauling at Fratton Park.
The nine-point cushion Bolton now have between themselves and the bottom three means they might just be able to cope while Okocha is in Tunisia.
Bolton manager Allardyce has fought hard to hold up Okocha's Cup departure. But with the striker out of contract at the end of the season, his biggest fear was not Okocha missing crucial games, but using his time away to impress admirers and clinch a move elsewhere.
With a financial scandal in Nigeria wiping out a big chunk of his £4m fortune, a lucrative move to Italy or Spain would have done nicely.
But the Bolton captain has become a cult figure in his 18 months at the Reebok and admits talks over extending his stay are going well.
Okocha said: "The club have shown an interest in keeping me here and things are looking good. That is good news for me and hopefully also for Bolton. The last few weeks have been very difficult for me with all the fighting with the Nigerian federation.
"I get paid here and owe Bolton something in return, so I've done everything I possibly can to give them something back. The game against Villa is probably one of the most important of the season and that's why I've been fighting to stay. I'll be here for that match."
Bolton have lifted themselves into contention for Europe after taking points off Chelsea and Arsenal. But with the threat of relegation lingering, Okocha insists results against the likes of Portsmouth remain the priority.
He said: "This was one of our games of the season and it was always more important than those against Chelsea, Manchester United or Arsenal.
"Good results against those clubs are always a bonus, but for us, the most important games are against teams down with us and we did ourselves a massive favour by beating Portsmouth."
Harry Redknapp's strugglers showed why they have failed to win away from Fratton Park this season. They did not register an effort on goal until Patrik Berger's 30-yard strike on 55 minutes.
Sixty seconds earlier, Bolton had taken the lead when Davies diverted Nicky Hunt's cross past Shaka Hislop - who should have done better.
Despite the creativity of Eyal Berkovic and Teddy Sheringham, Pompey struggled to make any headway. A Yakubu strike, deflected on to a post by Bolton defender Emerson Thome, was the closest they came and had Dejan Stefanovic sent off for abusive language towards ref Phil Dowd in stoppage time.
With their flying start to the season now a memory, Pompey look increasingly like candidates for the drop. Redknapp said: "I need to get at least two or three new faces in just to give me enough for a decent squad. But Wolves's win against Manchester United showed any club can pick up points in this league."
ATTENDANCE: 26,558
MAN OF THE MATCH: Djorkaeff
JAY JAY OK Bolton 1-0 Portsmouth
By Paul Atkins
JAY JAY OKOCHA revealed he is on the verge of agreeing a new £40,000-a-week, 12-month deal to stay at Bolton after helping Sam Allardyce's outfit turn the screw on sliding Portsmouth.
The Nigeria skipper, who has won his battle to delay his departure for the African Nations Cup until after Bolton's Carling Cup semi-final with Aston Villa on Wednesday, signed off from the Premiership for the next month by helping Bolton to a crucial win.
Kevin Davies's goal in the second half, his sixth of the season, was enough to lift Wanderers into the top 10 and avenge August's 4-0 mauling at Fratton Park.
The nine-point cushion Bolton now have between themselves and the bottom three means they might just be able to cope while Okocha is in Tunisia.
Bolton manager Allardyce has fought hard to hold up Okocha's Cup departure. But with the striker out of contract at the end of the season, his biggest fear was not Okocha missing crucial games, but using his time away to impress admirers and clinch a move elsewhere.
With a financial scandal in Nigeria wiping out a big chunk of his £4m fortune, a lucrative move to Italy or Spain would have done nicely.
But the Bolton captain has become a cult figure in his 18 months at the Reebok and admits talks over extending his stay are going well.
Okocha said: "The club have shown an interest in keeping me here and things are looking good. That is good news for me and hopefully also for Bolton. The last few weeks have been very difficult for me with all the fighting with the Nigerian federation.
"I get paid here and owe Bolton something in return, so I've done everything I possibly can to give them something back. The game against Villa is probably one of the most important of the season and that's why I've been fighting to stay. I'll be here for that match."
Bolton have lifted themselves into contention for Europe after taking points off Chelsea and Arsenal. But with the threat of relegation lingering, Okocha insists results against the likes of Portsmouth remain the priority.
He said: "This was one of our games of the season and it was always more important than those against Chelsea, Manchester United or Arsenal.
"Good results against those clubs are always a bonus, but for us, the most important games are against teams down with us and we did ourselves a massive favour by beating Portsmouth."
Harry Redknapp's strugglers showed why they have failed to win away from Fratton Park this season. They did not register an effort on goal until Patrik Berger's 30-yard strike on 55 minutes.
Sixty seconds earlier, Bolton had taken the lead when Davies diverted Nicky Hunt's cross past Shaka Hislop - who should have done better.
Despite the creativity of Eyal Berkovic and Teddy Sheringham, Pompey struggled to make any headway. A Yakubu strike, deflected on to a post by Bolton defender Emerson Thome, was the closest they came and had Dejan Stefanovic sent off for abusive language towards ref Phil Dowd in stoppage time.
With their flying start to the season now a memory, Pompey look increasingly like candidates for the drop. Redknapp said: "I need to get at least two or three new faces in just to give me enough for a decent squad. But Wolves's win against Manchester United showed any club can pick up points in this league."
ATTENDANCE: 26,558
MAN OF THE MATCH: Djorkaeff
Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, 1996 to 2018. I was there.