Football is a game of extremes, highs and lows often arriving within very short timescales. You only have to look at Aston Villa this summer if you need an example of that.

Now, for Bolton Wanderers fans, the same has applied to them, only it is a high followed by a low. Their start to the season has been nothing short of sensational, given their billing as pre-season relegation favourites. Nobody truly expected them to gather 11 points so early on.

Going into the international break having just signed Christian Doidge, fans were surely settled and focused on a season that might see them trouble the top ten.

How quickly that has changed. The recent news of possible administration and of course, the 12-point deduction, plunges them right back into the relegation battle despite their promising start. It leaves so many question unanswered, so many issues to now resolve.

Whilst the football world might have taken this as a bit of a shock, the home fans might have had an inkling all was not well. News of their players striking in July was glossed over at the time by a media feeding hungrily on transfer rumours and debate. It hardly warranted a footnote and things quickly moved on. Fans don't forget though.

Local papers have had murmurings of trouble, midfielder Karl Henry claimed he was still owed wages too. On the face of it, a £1m swoop for a star striker was just the boost they needed to accentuate that climb up the division.

Now, it might be viewed with scepticism. If the plug is pulled on the deal in January, all Bolton have managed to do it borrow a striker they couldn't possibly have had at their disposal.

One thing doesn't change though, the attitude and application of the players on the pitch. A 12-point deduction would see them fall five points adrift of QPR who are currently third from bottom, but is five points too much to make up quickly? When a team enters administration there can be an element of togetherness that emerges, certainly the bond between fans and those still fighting hard for the club increases.

12 points might seem like a huge amount, but the reality is they look far more likely to win games than Hull, Reading or QPR, the current bottom three. The must surely be a feeling amongst fans that the biggest spectre here is not the relegation but the financial trouble they could be about to encounter.

However, if players get paid and remain focused, there's no reason why their good start to the season can't see them through the tough times, at least on the field of play.