Cahill call-up is fitting tribute to Wanderers

The selection of Gary Cahill in the squad for England’s friendly against Hungary at Wembley tomorrow is further proof of the young centre-half’s international calibre and underlines what we all know in these parts that he is one of the country’s top defenders.

Let’s just hope Capello actually plays him this time and that Gary gets that first cap he thoroughly deserves for the way he has bounced back after all the worry of that injury that kept him out for so long last season.

On top of that, the club can also take a lot of credit for young Jack Wilshere getting his first senior call-up.

Jack’s back at Arsenal now, of course, but he will never forget what Owen Coyle and Bolton Wanderers did for his career while he was at the Reebok on loan last season.

He got his Premier League debut here, scored his first Premier League goal and his game came on in leaps and bounds. He might not be a Bolton player any more but I’m sure everybody at the club will congratulate him and bask in the reflected glory.

And you never know, there is so much mutual respect between Arsene Wenger and Owen Coyle that if the Arsenal manager decides he needs Wilshere to go out on loan again – there’s only one place he is going . . .

It’s all added to the excitement and expectation ahead of the new season.

There are new players – the talented Martin Petrov, young Marcos Alonso and that experienced campaigner Robbie Blake who impressed me a lot the other day when I was watching him working on his crossing and shooting. And I’ve been chuffed to bits to see Joey O’Brien and Sean Davis back in action – it really is like having two extra new signings.

We can see from there having been few big transfers anywhere this summer that there isn’t much money around. But that hasn’t stopped Coylie doing some shrewd business.

And with other positive signs such as Stu Holden and Chungy coming back with World Cup experience behind them and Fabrice Muamba signing a new contract, the place is buzzing in the build up to Saturday’s Fulham game.

Actually, with the World Cup having been such a let-down from an England point of view, I think we’re all ready for the new domestic season to start to get the disappointment out of our system.

I’m optimistic about Wanderers chances. The workrate will be there and they’ll be very difficult to play against. The manager will make sure of that, but he’ll also have them playing good football. He wants them to get the ball down and out wide – and that’s something to look forward to.

And when you look at the squad the fact that we are still guessing about what the team’s going to be tells you just how tough the competition for places will be. The manager’s got two players for just about every position.

Away from the first team, I’m looking forward to continuing as fan liaison officer and keeping my connections with the supporters and combining that with my new part-time role as assistant to youth team coach David Lee.

We’ve just got back from Northern Ireland, where they reached the final of the Milk Cup – not bad for a group of under 18s who included four 16-year-olds. The kids were brilliant but the final – their sixth match of the tournament – just proved a game too far for them.

The manager wants to see the Academy produce local home-grown players for the first team and with people around like Jimmy Phillips, David Lee, Dean Crombie, Nicky Spooner and myself – all with the strongest possible Bolton Wanderers connections – it won’t be for the want of trying.