Opta Jury: El Hadji Diouf

The latest subject of the Opta Jury is Bolton forward El Hadji Diouf.

As Bolton Wanderers left the Craven Cottage pitch last Sunday there was further drama when Graham Poll showed El-Hadji Diouf a red card, ostensibly for dissent.

It meant that the Senegalese attacker was in the headlines for the wrong reasons once again, just when his side need him the most.

It is widely accepted that Bolton manager Sam Allardyce rescued Diouf's career in English football when he took him on loan from Liverpool in summer 2004. Former Anfield boss Gerard Houllier had spent £10 million pounds to bring him from French side Lens two years earlier, but Diouf contributed a mere three league goals in two seasons, a paltry return for an international striker.

Houllier pushed Diouf into a wide role, but the feeling persisted that this was more in the hope of making his transfer fee and subsequent lack of goals seem less outrageous. As Diouf's Anfield career drifted into disgrace - after spitting at a Celtic fan in a Uefa Cup tie - it was clear that he needed to make a move somewhere else.

He ended his time at Liverpool with three Premiership goals and four assists in almost 60 hours of football, certainly not the best investment The Reds had ever made.

But the short move to The Reebok Stadium seems to have revitalised Diouf. He is now largely used in the wide role he first occupied at Liverpool but has proven far more effective. 10 Premiership goals and five assists in his season and a half at The Trotters have helped Wanderers to one of the finest spells in their history, culminating in qualification for the Uefa Cup for the first time.

Indeed, Diouf claimed the honour of being the first ever Bolton player to score in European competition when he notched against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in September.

His red card against Fulham last weekend was his first sending off in the league for Bolton - though he dismissed against Arsenal in the FA Cup last season - and it is certain that Sam Allardyce will continue to coax performances out of his inscrutable forward. His pass completion has declined slightly at Bolton but his crossing has improved, and that is something that will also delight his manager.

What do you think? Has Diouf been a hit, a miss or is the jury still out? Have your say using the feedback form below and we will publish a selection of responses.