Source: FOOTYMAD
Eagles and Mears join Bolton
The deals are complete and both Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears are now Bolton Wanderers players just days after the news broke that Burnley had accepted an offer for them. The whole saga has brought about much discussion with fans at either end of the spectrum, but the fact remained that both players wanted to go and had we turned it down we would have, without any doubt, have been left with two unhappy and unsettled players who would then walk for nothing in a year's time. Eagles has been with Burnley the longest, signing just under two weeks ahead of the 2008/09 season. He was part of the team that won promotion, although he had to settle for a place on the bench at Wembley and was still there at the beginning of the Premier League season. He started just over half of our Premier League games but last season, once he'd signed a contract extension, he probably, for a couple of months, played his best football for Burnley. He's a player who will always divide opinion, from those who point to his 'match winning' expertise and others to his total lack of consistency. A lack of consistency is certainly not something that could be said of Mears. He was Burnley's first signing following promotion in 2009 and he played every single minute of our Premier League campaign. Last season he missed just two games; at Ipswich when injured and at home to Preston having been sent off in the previous game at Swansea. Again, in none of the games he played was he substituted. Both have played their part in our recent success although they certainly won't be remembered best for their penalty and free kick taking respectively. They wanted to move, they've got their move to Bolton, and we now move on without them whilst offering them our best wishes and our thanks for their contribution to our own club.
