Sheehan

[Johnnyrotten]

Happy for him to stay, would have been happy if IE replaced him with better, no strong feelings either way.

Reward for playing just well enough to earn a contract and not quite well enough to get us past Barnsley, if we'd gone up I suspect he'd be looking for a new club.

[bwfc87]

8 minutes ago, Ani said:

I hope he proves me wrong ! 
 

Just think he is too light weight and disappears against bigger stronger teams. 

He was outstanding at Sheffield Weds away, especially second half, when they couldn’t get the ball of us.

[Zico]

never really been convinced by Sheehan other than being a player who may chip in with the odd tidy goal

saw this twitter thread recently going on about our style of play, and how important a player like Sheehan is in it, and what he does

I suppose anyone could do it, but, if he's good at what he does in IE's style of play, then fine, happy for him to stay

 

[Cheese]

He's easily good enough, and has exactly the right attitude.

[frank_spencer]

For most of the season our strongest midfield 3 was Sheehan, Morley and Dempsey. 

Chuffed we've signed Sheehan on for another go around, if we sign someone better then so be it, but now we know the midfield 3 isnt going to be any weaker going in to next season

[Ani]

27 minutes ago, bwfc87 said:

He was outstanding at Sheffield Weds away, especially second half, when they couldn’t get the ball of us.

He has been here 2 years and needs to do that more often. My problem with him in that role is the lack of physicality, tackling and heading not his strength and IMO a major weakness for him.

Would love him to prove me wrong. 

[Cheese]

2 minutes ago, Ani said:

He has been here 2 years and needs to do that more often. My problem with him in that role is the lack of physicality, tackling and heading not his strength and IMO a major weakness for him.

Would love him to prove me wrong. 

Those aren't "major weaknesses", they're just not part of his role. We're in League 1, trying (and mostly succeeding) to play expansive exciting football.

[little whitt]

50 minutes ago, Ani said:

I hope he proves me wrong ! 
 

Just think he is too light weight and disappears against bigger stronger teams. 

THIS 

but depends what teams he plays Against 

A footballing Team he will shine 

The Barnsley Bastards  he would be on the bench for me 

[BeeversLeftPeg]

12 minutes ago, Ani said:

He has been here 2 years and needs to do that more often. My problem with him in that role is the lack of physicality, tackling and heading not his strength and IMO a major weakness for him.

Would love him to prove me wrong. 

In fairness in his 2 years he was out of contention for 11 months and only played regularly Aug - Nov 21 and then March onwards this year.

[Wanderlust]

His lack of physicality - and I'd say the same about Morley - is a worry in some games and it would be even more so in the Championship where we'd get steamrollered every game in midfield, but for L1 he's good enough for the most part. For someone of his stature to play at a higher level he'd need far more quality IMO. So if we're recruiting midfielders for the more physical games ahead we need both quality and athleticism in a single player - but doesn't every team?

[Mantra]

Our big problem this season was lack of goals rather than lack of physicality in my opinion.

Yes we struggled against teams that try to bully us but there were also plenty of times we should have scored more and didn’t. 

Hopefully Sheehan can chip in with a few more goals next season. Should really be looking to add a few free kick goals to his game. We need to be more streetwise in trying to win free kicks in dangerous areas too, as we have Morley and Sheehan who have the ability to score from distance.
 

18 league goals for Charles 

followed by Bradley (6), Dempsey and Bodvarssson (5)

That’s just not good enough.
 

Bodvarsson actually has a better minutes per goal ratio than Charles so hopefully he can stay fit this season if he stays on.

Sadlier has the 3rd best MPG. I wouldn’t be opposed to him coming back into the fray either. But I doubt that happens.

If we’re going to have attacking wingbacks they both need to do more. Bradley started on hot shit but his goals dried up quickly after that. He did have 4 assists to his name too however.

[Mantra]

We never really got on a brilliant run either like we did in our league 2 promotion campaign. 
 

Think Sheffield, Plymouth and Ipswich all had lengthy undefeated spells or winning runs that set them apart from the chasing pack. Heck even Barnsley had a purple patch at one point and looked like closing in on the top 2.

We Threw away too many points in the early season. Those games against Plymouth away and Sheffield at home we totally melted when we should have done better.

Hopefully we get a bit of luck next season and get on one of those unstoppable runs, because you need luck in football

[Wanderlust]

15 minutes ago, Mantra said:

Our big problem this season was lack of goals rather than lack of physicality in my opinion.

Yes we struggled against teams that try to bully us but there were also plenty of times we should have scored more and didn’t.

They are in no way mutually exclusive - it's more "as well as" than "rather than".

I reckon genuine midfield dominance with quality players not only decreases the goals we concede but massively increases the goals we'll score.

I thought the forwards didn't do too badly with "clear cut chances" but to me it seemed there was nowhere near enough of them AND they ran themselves into the ground tracking back and chasing everything down rather than using that energy to make runs into and around the box to latch on to quality through balls - that seldom arrived when they did.

I reckon that's why Victor scored a shedload at Burton. He didn't spend most of the match chasing back to support the midfield - he was lurking around the box waiting to be fed.

Same could be said of JDB. Sure he made a token effort of chasing back but his natural instinct is to stay high, hold the ball up and sniff out chances - and he is a natural.

Dion works his ass off and that's why he's so valuable at this level - it's like having an extra midfielder who also pops up in the box. And I reckon the reason Evatt liked Dan was because of his workrate rather than his striking prowess because let's be honest - he hasn't got the touch, passing or finishing ability of the others.

Personally I reckon JDB, Victor and Dion would score shedloads IF the midfield and WBs could manage without them defensively AND the service was better i.e. "clear cut" rather than "half chances" or scrambles in the box which was mainly what they got last season.

Do we need another striker? Maybe but I'd be looking no further than a loanee to replace Dan if we can use the money to get better muscle, energy and quality in midfield and WB. Any budding Viera's or Yaya's going spare? 😎

[captainmed]

With a good pre-season behind him I’m hopeful but not confident.

He’s not good enough to be that type of player. No end result, defence splitting passes and only an odd goal.

Away from home, games can pass him by as he’s just too lightweight.

Lucky to get a new contract but let’s see.

[Mantra]

2 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

They are in no way mutually exclusive - it's more "as well as" than "rather than".

I reckon genuine midfield dominance with quality players not only decreases the goals we concede but massively increases the goals we'll score.

I thought the forwards didn't do too badly with "clear cut chances" but to me it seemed there was nowhere near enough of them AND they ran themselves into the ground tracking back and chasing everything down rather than using that energy to make runs into and around the box to latch on to quality through balls - that seldom arrived when they did.

I reckon that's why Victor scored a shedload at Burton. He didn't spend most of the match chasing back to support the midfield - he was lurking around the box waiting to be fed.

Same could be said of JDB. Sure he made a token effort of chasing back but his natural instinct is to stay high, hold the ball up and sniff out chances - and he is a natural.

Dion works his ass off and that's why he's so valuable at this level - it's like having an extra midfielder who also pops up in the box. And I reckon the reason Evatt liked Dan was because of his workrate rather than his striking prowess because let's be honest - he hasn't got the touch, passing or finishing ability of the others.

Personally I reckon JDB, Victor and Dion would score shedloads IF the midfield and WBs could manage without them defensively AND the service was better i.e. "clear cut" rather than "half chances" or scrambles in the box which was mainly what they got last season.

Do we need another striker? Maybe but I'd be looking no further than a loanee to replace Dan if we can use the money to get better muscle, energy and quality in midfield and WB. Any budding Viera's or Yaya's going spare? 😎

Agree with most of that to be honest.

Victor had the 4th highest pressing attributes while at Burton in the final third. Charles slightly lower at 6th, so he's used to doing.

Didn't see much of that from Victor when he played for us, looked like he was chasing shadows and therefore had to try and recover the ball in midfield or deeper.

No surprise that's one of the reasons why Evatt/Markham decided he was the right man for the job. Goalscoring + Pressing.

However, his technical quality limited him greatly in our team. With a pre-season focused on technical ability he could end up being a top player for us yet. 

 

[Wanderlust]

8 hours ago, Mantra said:

Agree with most of that to be honest.

Victor had the 4th highest pressing attributes while at Burton in the final third. Charles slightly lower at 6th, so he's used to doing.

Didn't see much of that from Victor when he played for us, looked like he was chasing shadows and therefore had to try and recover the ball in midfield or deeper.

No surprise that's one of the reasons why Evatt/Markham decided he was the right man for the job. Goalscoring + Pressing.

However, his technical quality limited him greatly in our team. With a pre-season focused on technical ability he could end up being a top player for us yet. 

 

Just looked like that to me regardless of the data TBH. Seriously think that Dempsey does a job but Morley and Sheehan despite their occasional brilliance are overrun too often defensively and are too dependent on forwards dropping back to help them out which leaves us with nowt up top - hence the goals issue. Thomason and MJ are better defensively but hardly creative.

Ultimately we're a League 1 club so it's unlikely we'll be able to afford a midfield that can dominate, score goals themselves and provide quality service to the forwards - but that's where I'd put the money. IE may have a different view though especially if he is dogmatic about this system.

[MickyD]

23 hours ago, Mantra said:

We Threw away too many points in the early season. Those games against Plymouth away and Sheffield at home we totally melted when we should have done better.

Thing is, if we’d won every game we, as Bolton supporters thought we could/should win, the league table would be

  P  W  D. L.  F     A  Pts

46 46 0   0 140   0 138

 

[Farrelli]

1 hour ago, MickyD said:

Thing is, if we’d won every game we, as Bolton supporters thought we could/should win, the league table would be

  P  W  D. L.  F     A  Pts

46 46 0   0 140   0 138

 

Forwards need to sharpen up

[MickyD]

2 hours ago, Farrelli said:

Forwards need to sharpen up

Yes, the slack fuckers only scored 3 each game!

[Tombwfc]

On 05/06/2023 at 14:19, BeeversLeftPeg said:

In fairness in his 2 years he was out of contention for 11 months and only played regularly Aug - Nov 21 and then March onwards this year.

 

I think that's a bit overlooked - being out for a year and then coming back part way through a season. He did well enough to keep around anyway, but I think we'll see the best of him next season.

[bolton va va]

On 05/06/2023 at 13:34, bwfc87 said:

He was outstanding at Sheffield Weds away, especially second half, when they couldn’t get the ball of us.

Yep, before that game, I thought Sheehan was a bit lightweight but I revised my opinion after his performance at Sheff Wed where he was very good, seemed stronger & outplayed the worldbeater Bannan.

I'm pleased he's signed, but my doubt is over whether Morley & Sheehan are a bit similar & may be competing for one place alongside Dempsey & our new midfield signing, a bruiser who's good on the ball, tall enough to be an aeriel threat & scores a few goals.........shouldn't be that difficult to find !!

 

[Eddie]

Thank god he got those games last year to play his way to another contract.

Interesting reading some of the comments which mostly say fair enough, but not too arsed either way. I don’t think we’ve seen what he can do until this season, with injuries etc. holding him back previously but I’d say he’s got to be up there as our best player so far this season. There were times last night where it just looked like he’d thought, fuck it I’ll do it myself, and just dribbled past 4 or 5 of their players (especially after they equalised).

I think we only put him on a 1 year contract - I’m hoping Evatt is doing everything he can to extend that already. 28 years old, regularly in the Welsh squad and proving himself game after game. It wouldn’t surprise me if he has some admirers in the Championship who could see him as a bit of a bargain.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

Does Dempsey get back in, if they keep winning?

[Eddie]

3 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Does Dempsey get back in, if they keep winning?

I could tell you where he would for me… but you wouldn’t like it 😂

[Tonge moor green jacket]

Just now, Eddie said:

I could tell you where he would for me… but you wouldn’t like it 😂

If was was for the better...

But there may be a reason that Sheehan is being more influential. Take that away, and perhaps Sheehan would become far less influential again.