Bolton Wanderers may have seized a lifeline with Saturday’s win over West Ham United, but without wishing to disparage a victory that will be celebrated in some quarters as fervently as a big cup win, what is the point of it all?

What is the point of any club who have survival for its own sake as their aim, as so many in the Barclays Premier League do these days? Clubs who no longer balance the accumulation of riches with a lust for glory and exist, it would seem, largely to keep a bank statement healthy.

Last season, Bolton qualified for the Uefa Cup, which was a fantastic achievement. Once there, however, they treated the competition as an unwanted distraction. If so, why is survival essential now? What is the purpose of Premier League existence if progress means nothing and status maintenance outweighs all? Where is the bounty of the season for supporters if the highest aim is the generation of money and the right to watch a better class of opponent next season? Truly, as the Old Trafford taunt goes, they have only come to see United.

The same question could be raised with another ten clubs, including the one defeated at the Reebok Stadium at the weekend. Alan Curbishley, the West Ham manager, is working hard to get a mid-table finish rebranded as a triumph, having lost six out of eight matches at a stage in the campaign when it was possible to kick on and challenge for Europe, but what is there to laud in mediocrity?

Supporters beyond the elite quartet may no longer think seriously of winning the league, but in a season when three of four FA Cup semi-finalists were from a lower division, other prizes were within reach. “Finishing in the top ten is not to be sniffed at,” Curbishley said. In this, of all seasons, yes it is.

Yet throughout the Premier League, weakened teams were fielded in domestic cup competitions and European campaigns were viewed with suspicion. Now five or six teams are battling to maintain their Premier League status. Big deal. Cut to basics and unless a club truly have ambition to go somewhere, to use their Premier League position as a platform to greater glory, all that is being fought over is cashflow and when football becomes just another branch of the accountant’s trade, where is the magic?

Of course, Premier League survival is important, but only if it is a means to an end. This season Bolton’s run in the Uefa Cup should have been one of the highlights, a true underdogs story. They drew against Bayern Munich, became the first British team to win away to Red Star Belgrade, defeated Atlético Madrid in the knockout phase and then, when it mattered, when the last eight was in sight, fielded a weakened team against Sporting Lisbon, to focus on a match against Wigan Athletic (that they lost) and were eliminated by a slender margin.

Now, for a club such as Bolton, who are barred from winning the league in the present climate, attaining a place in Europe is surely as good as it gets. To show an aptitude for the competition is an unexpected bonus, considering Everton recently dipped a toe in the Champions League, were beaten by Villarreal home and away at the qualifying stage and have not been heard from since. Yet Gary Megson, the Bolton manager, appeared to resent participation. The team who made history in Belgrade were greatly reduced (better to concentrate on another match against Wigan) and by the time the tie in Lisbon arrived, it was as much as Bolton could do to turn up. There were two players from the Lisbon starting lineup in the first XI at Wigan three days later, including Ali Al Habsi, the goalkeeper.

So what is the fuss about? Bolton’s win on Saturday gives them hope of what, exactly, beyond the right to fulfil another set of similar fixtures next season? Given that the best supporters are with their team through thick and thin, don’t they deserve more? Don’t they at least deserve a plan that aspires to more than money-transference and the chance to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney once a season? Not that either of them played when Manchester United went to Bolton on November 24. They probably had a big match coming up.

When silence is golden

The explanation for the failure of Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, to appear at his usual Friday press conference was that he did not want to get in the middle of the fight between Rick Parry, the chief executive, and Tom Hicks, the co-owner. He was probably also mindful of the maxim that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. He may need to take a vow of silence for the rest of the season, then.

Stick to chiropody, Neil

Leon Cort, the Stoke City defender, says that he suspected that his time was up at Crystal Palace when Neil Warnock, the new manager, said that he did not have enough scars on his face. Bobby Moore managed to get through his career without looking like Razors from The Long Good Friday, too. If you can play, it is not compulsory.

Fabio’s vanishing trick

Fabio Capello is still on honeymoon with English football, and here is the proof.

From The Sun, Friday, April 11: “Fabio Capello has revealed that Theo Walcott’s blistering display in the Champions League semi-final took his breath away. He said: ‘The run he made for Arsenal’s second goal was incredible – there can be no disputing Walcott’s maturity.’ ” From The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, April 9: “Fabio Capello left Anfield after about 80 minutes on Tuesday and so missed the one real moment of magic from an Englishman.”

Now can you imagine if Steve McClaren had tried to pull that one? “The wally with the brolly” would not have been the half of it.

Cech’s career change?

Bad news: Petr Cech has 50 stitches in his face to go with the protective headgear he wears in matches. Good news: producers of The Phantom of the Opera are wondering if he can sing.

Holes in Ramos plan

Juande Ramos, the Tottenham Hotspur head coach, says that he needs to spend big to take the club forward, which will come as joyous news to Joe Lewis, the owner, who lost £500 million in the Bear Stearns crash. Ramos also says that he is determined to retain Dimitar Berbatov, the 27-year-old Bulgaria striker recently linked with Manchester United and AC Milan. He may find his two policies incompatible.

Inequalities of fortune

One of football’s greatest myths has been nailed in the past two weeks. Decisions do not even out over the season. There was no pairing of the stonewall penalty that Arsenal were denied against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium. How, by any logic, could there be? Decisions never balance and, in fact, Arsenal are not as hard done by as many. A rotten twist of fate is more likely to make an impact on a small team.

Say, Manchester United are playing Fulham at Old Trafford. In the first half United have a good goal ruled out for offside. Infuriating, yes, but unlikely to be their only chance of the game. But if Fulham have a legal goal disallowed, the odds are that it will be their one opportunity to win, resounding away victories at Old Trafford being a rarity.

Think of West Bromwich Albion, a club who have not reached an FA Cup Final in 40 years. They feel that Milan Baros handled the ball to set up Portsmouth’s goal at Wembley. I am not so sure, but it was a borderline decision. For argument’s sake, let’s say he did. When is that call going to even itself out? At next year’s FA Cup semi-final, perhaps?

Is he worth it, Brandon?

David Beckham’s salary has been revealed as £63,000 a week, 508 times that of his Los Angeles Galaxy teammate Brandon McDonald, who takes home £124 before tax. No potential for jealousy there, then, so long as Goldenballs does his shift. About 36 goals a game should do it.

Fifa must play fair

An attempt to overhaul the disciplinary system is to be attempted by the FA, in the hope of removing one of the game’s great vexations. If successful, the loophole that a violent offender cannot be further punished if a referee is deemed to have seen his transgression and dealt with it, even if the punishment was inadequate, will be closed.

As it stands, a player can commit an appalling and dangerous foul that deserves a red card, but if the referee issues only a yellow, or even gives only a free kick, the incident is deemed to have been judged and no further action can be taken. “A game cannot be refereed twice,” Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, has said.

The case being put by the FA is that if a seriously bad tackle is met with inadequate censure, the referee cannot have seen it correctly and will welcome the opportunity to review it the next day, with the benefit of technology, when he could upgrade his verdict. By the same token, issued yellow cards could be challenged, as well as red ones. The present system allows for a booking to be rescinded only in the case of mistaken identity.

Both excellent ideas that, placed before a sensible regime, would go through on the nod. This is Fifa we are dealing with, however. As Harry Hill would say: “What are the chances of that happening?”