FA rejects Cahill appeal
The Football Association has rejected the Bolton Wanderers appeal over the red card Gary Cahill received during Bolton’s 4-1 loss to Arsenal.
Defender Cahill was shown a straight red card following a challenge on Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh. Bolton manager, Owen Coyle, was furious over the incident because of a clear foul earlier in the same passage of play on a Bolton player that went unnoticed.
An FA statement said, "At a regulatory commission hearing, a claim for the wrongful dismissal from Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill was dismissed. As a result, Cahill's three-match suspension will remain and will be served with immediate effect."
The news is a huge blow to Bolton because Cahill is one of the best defenders at the club. Sam Ricketts or Paul Robinson will most likely be asked to come in and fill Cahill's place.
Cahill has been in very good form; his early Premier League performances attracted enough attention from Fabio Capello to earn Cahill a cap in England's European qualifying game against Bulgaria. Cahill will not play in the Premier League games against Aston
Villa and Manchester United. These are two very strong teams that will place extreme pressure on the Bolton defence, and Cahill’s absence will put Bolton at a disadvantage. He will also miss a difficult League Cup game against a Burnley side that will be looking
to cause an upset.
Bolton currently sits in 12th place after four games with five points. Coyle now has to break up a confident side and may have to deploy new tactics to cope with Cahill's absence. Bolton does not have a massive squad and missing Cahill will place extra strain
on the rest of the defenders. The club cannot afford any more suspensions or injuries that would rule further players out from playing.
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