Win and back in the play off spots 

 

9 minutes ago, woolli said:

I dont know one Bolton fan who wants Bolton to ever lose a game? Do You?

Well there was one above which is why I called him out pal.

There’s definitely a few others too.

This particular debate has become twisted as me calling out out fans who don’t go to the games, and portraying myself as a super-fan which is nonsense.

Anyone and everyone has an opinion, yours is as good as mine from a few thousand miles away.

But once folk want us to lose that’s beyond reasonable debate in my mind.

Before the match we all wanted three in midfield, but most of the time midfield was by passed, hence putting Lolos on, but maybe with hindsight should have been Macatee or the substitution could have been done earlier.

We have a back three with Sheehan playing in front of them, our most creative player playing far too deep.

Subs ineffective again, Vic after a promising start, has completely gone, his lack of anticipation is unexplainable.

I had forgotten about Jones' head shaking and pointing, passing the blame, does not look good.

I agree wholeheartedly about game management, and giving the ball away needlessly, retaining possession was all we had to do in the last ten minutes.

When the injured players return we have a strong squad available for selection but they will continue to be badly managed and organised.

However, Evatt is hear to stay it seems so we shall see.

 

14 minutes ago, woolli said:

I dont know one Bolton fan who wants Bolton to ever lose a game? Do You?

Not personally, no, but someone on here mooted it, and that's who desperado is talking about.

11 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

We need more than that though to make up for the bad start. 

If we don't pick up points against those above us, then it will become insurmountable. 

However we're stumbling and staggering along we're not so far off the pace for it to be a big concern, not least evidently to Sharon and her co-owners. If we were to win the game in hand on Stockport and Barnsley we'd be 4th, it's that tight. If we lost another couple on the bounce we'd only drop to around 10th. 

After Huddersfield I reserved judgement till 10 games in, would still reserve it some more till Xmas is over. That still leaves half a season to make a modest amount of improvement and be well in the play off places.

There's plenty of time, the league is much of a muchness, but December will be a true test of whether we'll go into the New Year with resolution or see our chances go on the tip with the knackered Christmas trees.

A real mix of sides we ought to beat, ones we rarely beat and types we make hard work of it against. I don't have any great confidence that we'll beat any of them but it's equally possible we'll have a going day or two and see a few off, especially if they're having a bad time themselves, we're alright at picking on the vulnerable.

People thinking it would have been better if we had lost a game won because it MIGHT lead to an outcome that is far from guaranteed is some crazy shit.

I think IE needs to go based on results and his responses after games. Win we are all in together. Lose people get called out. But also fans are becoming polarised, it is like politics you seem to have be 'in' or 'out' a little or no sensible debate is allowed. Bolton Till I Die is even worse than here.

I don’t understand fans wanting us to lose because it pisses me off when we lose but more so when our manager doesn’t make positive changes when things are not working and players who cannot do the basics which we seem to have alot of. 
I cannot see Evatt getting the boot we are still in contention but surely the players need to take some responsibility for there own failings as others have said .

21 minutes ago, Cheese said:

Not personally, no, but someone on here mooted it, and that's who desperado is talking about.

I don't either, but I know most of us, after a performance like last night have said 'I fucking knew that was going to happen'.

Following on to say 'he should have had...... on from the start'. Or similar.

 

Pretty sad to see folk sniping at one another on here and calling folk out for this that and the other.

FWIW, I don't think Eavesy really wanted us to actually lose a game to get the manager sacked, more pointing out that it was papering over the cracks (could be completely wrong of course, please put me right if so).

As @Ani points out above, there's a case to be made for IE going just on performances alone.

Some of our play, given the investment in the squad is horrific. 

One thing that crops up a few times is how many if the other team would get in ours ?

Well, if we are looking at purely footballing ability, ok not many.

But if we look at strength, pace, energy and effort,  I'd say quite a few.

Most teams aren't going to outplay us, so just set up to stop us playing by being organised and physical. 

And sadly it works, we don't have any pace or power to worry teams with.

1 minute ago, Greg_BWFC said:

Pretty sad to see folk sniping at one another on here and calling folk out for this that and the other.

FWIW, I don't think Eavesy really wanted us to actually lose a game to get the manager sacked, more pointing out that it was papering over the cracks (could be completely wrong of course, please put me right if so).

As @Ani points out above, there's a case to be made for IE going just on performances alone.

Some of our play, given the investment in the squad is horrific. 

One thing that crops up a few times is how many if the other team would get in ours ?

Well, if we are looking at purely footballing ability, ok not many.

But if we look at strength, pace, energy and effort,  I'd say quite a few.

Most teams aren't going to outplay us, so just set up to stop us playing by being organised and physical. 

And sadly it works, we don't have any pace or power to worry teams with.

good post.

That was my take on it too, but can see how it could be misconstrued.

 

Are the highlights (and I use the term in its most casual form) available anywhere ? Can't see it on Sky.

9 minutes ago, FrancisFogarty said:

Are the highlights (and I use the term in its most casual form) available anywhere ? Can't see it on Sky.

 

1 hour ago, Traf said:

That's where I'm at. 4pts from the last two games, 20pts from the last 10.

The magical/mythical 2ppg without even playing well?

but we're 8th

if you take into account the first 6 games as well

then we're on 1.67 PPG

with the toughest run of the season coming up

1 hour ago, Traf said:

That's where I'm at. 4pts from the last two games, 20pts from the last 10.

The magical/mythical 2ppg without even playing well?

Average league position of the teams we’ve played in those 10 games - 16th.

We’ve played 2 teams in the top half - lost both.

2 hours ago, Traf said:

That's where I'm at. 4pts from the last two games, 20pts from the last 10.

The magical/mythical 2ppg without even playing well?

Agreed but our goal difference is terrible... GD is how it all stacks up at the end of the season

Well said Greg.

Obviously, he can be very critical, but it wasn't a case of wanting us to lose, more a case of believing FV may have acted had we lost.

As a consequence of that, he feels that it might be better in the long run.

A subtle difference. 

Fwiw, I don't think they'd have got shut if we'd lost the Blackpool game anyway, so largely irrelevant. 

15 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Well said Greg.

Obviously, he can be very critical, but it wasn't a case of wanting us to lose, more a case of believing FV may have acted had we lost.

As a consequence of that, he feels that it might be better in the long run.

A subtle difference. 

Fwiw, I don't think they'd have got shut if we'd lost the Blackpool game anyway, so largely irrelevant. 

Nobody wants us to lose we all want us play well and win well, watching Bolton is full of ups and downs I think it is how the downs feel, at the moment we can all see it's not right 1:0 down against Blackpool hearing Bolton get battered every where they go at half time gets to you especially after the Stockport game the majority on here state we have a good set of players but could you see a club paying £3 million plus for one of our players as in previous 3rd division promotions? I think the fans are getting restless and disappointed about the season so far we expect promotion this season and we can see it ebbing away that is the main problem 

6 hours ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

We've been here before with Tomo on a yellow, and concerns he will get sent off.

Usually ends up playing better!

If there was an suitable replacement available, or we were further ahead then yes, sub him.

Only 1-0, not playing overly well, and the necessary, formulaic substitutions see us tweaken the midfield.

Of course we should have been able to cope, but we're not ripping up trees, and it comes down to the manager again.

As for the transfer window, I simply can't see how there will be money to spend without player sales first.

Moreover, if we fail to go up, then you'd imagine player sales would have to happen as well.

Sharon's comments about finances previously suggest such funding cannot continue. 

That's the big risk in waiting until the end of the season before deciding on his tenure; any new manager may have his first job involving reducing squad size/quality. May make recruitment tougher.

Make the decision earlier and a new gaffer still has the season with this squad, and can have the window to ship out ones he doesn't want.

After the sending off the Cambridge players were barking at the ref at every contact a Bolton player was involved in. With 20 mins left and 1 nill up It shouldn't matter who the replacement is. It was the right decision.

2 hours ago, Greg_BWFC said:

FWIW, I don't think Eavesy really wanted us to actually lose a game to get the manager sacked,

 

2 hours ago, wakey said:

good post.

That was my take on it too, but can see how it could be misconstrued.

 

Fair enough.

I’m always one to back down if I feel I’ve misinterpreted something and I like to feel I can be reflective and change my opinion after reading some considered debate on here.

So @Eavesy if your post is a more heat in the moment response and you’re not out there hoping we lose games, then apologies. I can accept that my response could be considered inflammatory.

Something which folk (including me in here, and definitely those on the politics thread 😊) forget is there is only one thing which bonds us together - BWFC

And when we are so passionate about something, with different opinions, things can flare up.

I’m moving on.

Shame there’s no game Saturday. We’ll have to mull over that rubbish last night for a few more days 😊🙄😂

Edited November 27, 20241 yr by desperado

2 hours ago, Greg_BWFC said:

Pretty sad to see folk sniping at one another on here and calling folk out for this that and the other.

FWIW, I don't think Eavesy really wanted us to actually lose a game to get the manager sacked, more pointing out that it was papering over the cracks (could be completely wrong of course, please put me right if so).

As @Ani points out above, there's a case to be made for IE going just on performances alone.

Some of our play, given the investment in the squad is horrific. 

One thing that crops up a few times is how many if the other team would get in ours ?

Well, if we are looking at purely footballing ability, ok not many.

But if we look at strength, pace, energy and effort,  I'd say quite a few.

Most teams aren't going to outplay us, so just set up to stop us playing by being organised and physical. 

And sadly it works, we don't have any pace or power to worry teams with.

I agree with this and IOC’s observations too but would add that Bolton fans can handle defeat if the effort is there - just look at the rapturous support the U18s got when we were forced to put them out against mature teams - but the current team has been constructed specifically to play better football than the opposition - pass through them rather than outrun, outpace or outpower them so that is the yardstick by which they should be measured.

Frustratingly, we’ve all seen that they can do it - and that’s where the expectations come from. Unfortunately we only see it in patches so it gives hope to the opposition and the mentality of the players when things don’t go their way or they are simply in poor form leaves a lot to be desired. We have some talented players for this level but I suspect a few need to control their egos and focus on the job. They have no God-given right to win any game - just the opportunity to ply their trade to the best of their ability.

 

52 minutes ago, Underpants said:

After the sending off the Cambridge players were barking at the ref at every contact a Bolton player was involved in. With 20 mins left and 1 nill up It shouldn't matter who the replacement is. It was the right decision.

Of course it matters.

Even with 10 men, they were bound to have a go, especially if we've eased off the gas.

At that point, you need the midfielders who will put a foot in and scrap. It's not as if we had a like for like replacement. 

Evatt himself said he felt we should see it out at 1 up, but why then weaken the side defensively?

Either keep the pressure on and get a second, or pack the midfield and keep the clean sheet.

The changes did neither. 

1 hour ago, desperado said:

 

Fair enough.

I’m always one to back down if I feel I’ve misinterpreted something and I like to feel I can be reflective and change my opinion after reading some considered debate on here.

So @Eavesy if your post is a more heat in the moment response and you’re not out there hoping we lose games, then apologies. I can accept that my response could be considered inflammatory.

Something which folk (including me in here, and definitely those on the politics thread 😊) forget is there is only one thing which bonds us together - BWFC

And when we are so passionate about something, with different opinions, things can flare up.

I’m moving on.

Shame there’s no game Saturday. We’ll have to mull over that rubbish last night for a few more days 😊🙄😂

I’m buzzing we’ve no game on Sat. Ale trail sounds a much better laugh than an IE rinse or repeat. I used to crawl the walls with no game or the summer but this guy is making me enjoy every break. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat 😂

If airfield can’t be trusted to replace Thomason last night for a like for like replacement to see the game out then he needs taking out of the squad in Jan and a replacement bringing in . Also 5 yellow cards last night suspensions are going to start to bite if we can’t get it under control 

6 hours ago, gonzo said:

I've yet to see a not shit team this season.

Talking to Blackpool fans today, they were shit last night, Bristol were shitter.

Both teams were shit on Saturday.

Brum were shit at theirs and we were shitter.

Wrexham were shit. We were just as shit.

The whole division is shit. 

 

The aim is to be one of the six least shit, if not the two least shit.

It really is a poor league.

 

25 minutes ago, tomski said:

I’m buzzing we’ve no game on Sat. Ale trail sounds a much better laugh than an IE rinse or repeat. I used to crawl the walls with no game or the summer but this guy is making me enjoy every break. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat 😂

Ale trail sounds far more appealing than watching any game.

5 hours ago, Dimron said:

but we are just trundling along. 

Only been to two games this season, last night included. That is how I feel when watching the play... I have used the words "adequate third division" previously.

I was impressed with how Cambridge were set up in defence... everyone knowing and doing their jobs and when they went down to 10 men we all know from experience it can be almost impossible to open teams up. Collins did the job with what looked like a side footer through the traffic. 

I recall one of the newer players putting it over the bar after a bad contact... should have scored really.

If Kachunga had a proper striker's touch we'd have lost it.

Away point in the end.

If Kachunga had a proper striker's touch he'd still be with us 😀

Joking aside, that shot was comical, Kachunga all over, thank god it dropped to him.