My Focus Is On Bolton - Okocha

Last updated : 08 March 2004 By Mark Heys
Bolton Wanderers captain Jay-Jay Okocha has said that the ongoing saga over his future will not effect how he performs on the field of play and says that he will give his best for the Trotters whilst he is still contracted to them.


The Nigerian international has been a shadow of his former self since returning from African Nations Cup duty last month and there has been continious talk as to where the midfield playmaker will be playing his football next season with Scottish Champions Celtic linked to the player on numerous occasions over the last fortnight.

However the 30-year old former PSG player says that he is not focusing on any contract at the moment, with his only focus being on his performances for Bolton until the end of the season.

"I'm not thinking about that. What is going to happen is going to happen - it's not stopping me and I will stick to my contract until the end of the season because it's my obligation to do my best until then. So no matter what i'm still a Bolton player and I owe them my obligation to perform" Okocha told the Official Site.

Okocha also stated that the standards he has acheived during his time at Wanderers have created a certain amount of pressure for him to keep up those standards each week but the Trotters skipper has said that he feels he may be going through a bad period but expects everyone to help each other and pick themselves up for the next game.

"The problem for me is that the expectation is always so high and I need to be performing week in, week out from myself and others as well. I can't be playing well every week and maybe i'm going through a difficult period now. But it's left for me to pick myself up and get to my best again. But you maybe expect your team mates to help you, which I think they may have forgotten that I might need some help sometime"

The Super Eagles star was substituted in the second half during Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Birmingham City and whilst at the time the Nigerian did not look at all happy to be replaced by Ibrahim Ba he now admits he deserved to be taken off by manager Sam Allardyce.

"I was disappointed with my performance because i deserved to be replaced. I know I didn't do well so I didn't expect anyone to pat my back. The manner that we lost in was very disappointing. But I think it's been a very difficult week for us and if you needed something desperately and you lose it - and you know how hard you've worked for that - no matter how hard you try and get yourself motivated, it's always difficult. I personally have had a very difficult week and the same goes for the other players as well" Okocha added

Sam Allardyce, the Bolton manager was deeply disappointed with the performance of the Nigerian during the Birmingham defeat but admits that the past month of games coupled with the amount of travelling done during the African Nations Cup has had an effect on the player and in the way he has been performing.

"I was deeply disappointed in Jay-Jay's performance at Birmingham. The bottom line is that the Tunisia thing has taken too much out of him. We can clearly see that now. In the Carling Cup final at Cardiff, he didn't play as well as we know he can play and he certainly didn't against Birmingham either.

"He's had the five or six weeks out there with the African Nations Cup and he has paid a heavy price - and so have we. He has to be at full tilt in the Premiership but not the African Nations Cup and the transition back to the Premiership has been difficult."