Is it too much to ask, to just enjoy one week? The team finally has some momentum, after stringing together much-needed (if not impressive) results, which have pushed Bolton firmly into the middle of the pack. Somewhat surprisingly, Megson's team produced a vintage performance against Spurs and then on Tuesday Fabio Capello corrected an egregious oversight in his original squad for the World Cup Qualifier in Kiev, and called up the sparkling Gary Cahill to replace Joleon Lescott. Maybe Bolton's season has turned a corner? Wait, who on Earth is Mark Connelly?

What are we supposed to make of the allegations coming out of Molineux? Jez Moxey, Wolves' chief executive, feels confidant enough about his case to go public with claims that Chris Evans, Bolton assistant and former academy chief at Wolves, tapped-up Irish U-19 International Mark Connelly.

Last January, Bolton raided Wolves for Mark Davies, and reading Moxey's comments now make it sound as if there were suspicions back then that something (or someone) had turned Davies' head.

Ever since the Gael Kakuta ruling, accusations have been banded around with gusto, when before chief execs restrained themselves to veiled suggestions in press releases. Maybe Moxey has been waiting for an opportunity to 'do' Bolton since January? It remains to be seen whether it's enough to deter Evans from pulling the same dirty trick again.

Of course, Evans (whose official role at the club is Performance Director) wouldn't have to resort to looting better academies if Bolton's own academy hadn't panned out as a dismal failure.

As explained on the club's website, "Wanderers Academy was created in 1998 and represents the youth policy of Bolton Wanderers Football Club. It is designed to bring boys through from the junior teams to the first team squad." In ten years, the academy has produced Kevin Nolan (sold at a discount last January), fringe-player Nicky Hunt, and the elusive Joey O'Brien and Ricardo Vaz Té, who should have their own treatment tables in the medical room by now. The link also lists the various members of the academy staff, which, after a decade, must have been quite a drain on the Club's resources for relatively little reward.

Not that I think the Academy is bad at producing players, it's just not in a very good position to produce good players.

Because of the Darren Fletcher Rule (my name for rule N.56, on page 168 in the Premier League Handbook), academies cannot sign youth players (Under 13 to Under 16) unless they live within 90 minutes of the academy. This means that Bolton are directly competing with Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Everton, Wolves, Blackburn, Villa, Wigan and Birmingham for the best young players in the North-West, and that's just other Premier League teams. Given Bolton's relatively poor reputation for producing players, would it be a surprise to find out that they are struggling to recruit?

The best young players at the club at the moment have all been signed from other academies; Chris Basham started at Newcastle and Danny Ward was signed from Leeds.

The same Rules .pdf linked to above also outlines the level of investment needed for a youth system to be officially classed as an academy, and it sounds expensive. It makes the concerns outlined in Eddie Davies' entry (52) on the FourFourTwo rich list - that the club appears to be in some significant debt - more worrying.

While any fan would want their team populated with free local talent, maybe this is something that simply can't work for a club like Bolton. Populating the academy with youth players produced by other teams is not the answer, especially if it means the club loses the chance to bolster the side in a transfer window.

It's a shame that this story could overshadow the progress we've seen on the pitch over the last few weeks. On Saturday, they produced their best performance since the last ten minutes of a lost cause at Stamford Bridge last April. Bolton looked a match for "high-flying" Tottenham, at times (whisper it) passing and playing football. Megson has benefited from the return of Ricardo Gardner, the emergence of Tamir Cohen and (perversely) Johan Elmander's absence.

Elmander hasn't featured since the Liverpool game (not counting his League Cup exploits) and, coincidentally, the results have picked up. It's allowed Megson to revert to a five-man midfield, where Gardner and Cohen are 'busier' than McCann and Mark Davies and the balance of attack vs. defence is better.

Elmander's absence has also highlighted his limitations in the Premier League. While he often finds himself in good positions, he lacks the basic speed or strength to make the most of his situation. The most disappointing thing is that it doesn't seem as if he has learnt his lessons after a tough first season in England. he's still making the same sort of errors that we came to expect of him last season; he still takes too long on the ball and gives up possession easily, while rarely looking dangerous. At 28 it might just be too late for him.

Of course, if Jez Moxey gets his way, Bolton might have to make do with Elmander for a few more transfer windows.