IF anyone ever doubted my boast that Bolton Wanderers is an extra special club, they would have changed their tune on Sunday.

The fans came out in force and the team responded with a performance that summed up everything about the place . . . under the most difficult circumstances.

It can’t have been easy for anyone – the manager, the staff, the players and especially the supporters – to put the bitter disappointment of Wembley behind them. And a game against Arsenal was hardly the easiest fixture you’d choose if you were looking to get back on track.

But it was clear for all to see that everyone was pulling together, united in proving that the FA Cup semi-final choker a week earlier really was just a one-off.

I have never been so proud in my role as fans liaison officer. I said last week the supporters could be the key and urged them to come out and play their part and I really could not have asked any more of them.

From start to finish they were amazing, even when Arsenal got back in the game and started to get on top of us. You could see the lads starting to get a bit tired and under pressure but that was when the supporters came into their own.

Personally I would like to thank each and every one of them but I think the team thanked them by giving them the reward of a great victory. I’m sure the display and the result was everything they had hoped for – and well deserved too.

I know Arsenal had a lot of possession but they do that against a lot of teams. Look at the number of shots they had on goal and you can see how hard the lads worked to keep them out – and when you think we had the luxury of Kevin Davies missing a penalty to make it 2-0 and us STILL winning.

Bolton Wanderers is special. I’ve played for 13 clubs and I’ve had good times and made good friends at most of them. But I can say in all honesty that none of the others is a patch on this club.

Not for the first time I had personal experience of the genuine thoughtfulness and consideration of the good people here last week when I got some bad news on the family front. About 15 years ago my mum had a heart bypass and she’s recently discovered she’s developed a problem.

Now you’d have though that with so much on their plate after the Stoke defeat that the staff up at Euxton wouldn’t have had time for anybody else’s problems.

But they picked up on the fact that I was a bit down and every day people have been going out of their way to enquire as to how my mum’s doing.

We won’t know for a while how serious it is but it’s so comforting to know so many people are rallying round in support.

So it was no surprise to me to see the outpouring of emotion on the field when Tamir Cohen dedicated his late winner to the memory of his father, Avi.

Everyone shared in Tamir’s grief at the time of Avi’s recent death – and everyone shared in that special moment on Sunday when the tears flowed down the lad’s face.

I played alongside Avi at Liverpool and he was a lovely lad and would have appreciated the tribute. When you experience that sort of emotional support for a fellow professional, you know you are at a special place.

I KNOW he won’t thank me for throwing bouquets at him but, for my money, Owen Coyle is a genuine contender for manager of the year.

He’ll probably have a go at me for saying it, but I don’t care. Anyone who can suffer a setback as devastating as that FA Cup semi-final defeat and not only bounce back himself but inspire such an impressive performance as the team put in against Arsenal on Sunday has to have extra special qualities.

Don’t imagine for one moment that Owen wasn’t deeply wounded by what went on at Wembley last week. In fact he was probably hurting inside more than anyone else.

And I know there were people out there who wondered if the rest of the season would fall apart. But I had no fears on that score, especially not after going to see him on Tuesday. I went to console him but he was having none of it and promptly dragged me off and thrashed me at table tennis.

Take it from me, he will have got as much pleasure out of that performance and result against Arsenal as anyone.

When you see turnarounds like that, you realise the importance of a good manager and, for me, Owen is right up there with the best.

Just look at the Premier League table now and the table as it stood when he first took over – and with very much the same squad of players, give or take one or two.

That’s no fluke. We are up there on merit and the fact the team just didn’t turn up for one match should not take anything away from what they have achieved and will continue to achieve with Owen in charge.

I WAS privileged to walk onto the Reebok pitch with a couple of the game’s true legends on Sunday.

Former Arsenal double-winning goalkeeper Bob Wilson stopped off in Bolton on his cycle ride round the 20 Premier League grounds to raise funds and awareness of the Willow Foundation – set up in memory of his daughter Anna, who died of a rare cancer, aged just 31.

And at half time he shared centre-stage with World Cup winner Roger Hunt, who made his name at Liverpool but also played for Wanderers towards the end of his career.

Andrew Dean from our promotions department presented Bob with a signed photo of Nat Lofthouse, which was quite fitting because Nat was Roger’s all-time favourite player and a big influence on his career.

I felt honoured to be rubbing shoulders with a couple of great former players and really smashing blokes.

JACK Wilshere must have been gutted by the result but he was genuinely gobsmacked by the reception he got on his return to the Reebok.

The Bolton fans took Jack to their hearts when he was on loan here last season, not only recognising a star in the making but also a young lad who put a shift in every time he pulled on the shirt.

I had a quick chat with him after the game and promised him he would get a warm welcome here for the rest of his life and that the Bolton fans would always take a special interest in him as he goes on to even bigger and better things.

Maybe one day we’ll be looking at the young midfielder who played for Bolton and became the PFA’s Young Player of the Year and acknowledging one of the best players in the world.

I GOT a wry smile off Kevin Davies on Sunday evening when I offered to give him some lessons in penalty taking. He took it in good heart, as you can imagine.

Obviously, Davo would have been distraught when he missed the chance to put us 2-0 up against Arsenal, but, typical of the fella, he didn’t go and hide. I’ve seen it so many times when a player has fluffed his lines and loses his confidence and goes missing for a while. But you never see that with the skipper.

He just carried on leading the line, taking the game to Arsenal and helping out at the back when needed.

That’s the character of the man and that’s what makes him such an inspirational figure.