Wrexham (A) - EFL Trophy

[mickbrown]

We did ok.

Controlled the game for large parts.

Lacked an outlet up top.

Referee was an absolute gobshite.

[Traf]

2 hours ago, auckland_bwfc said:

Got stuck with the Wrexham comms last night and they described thommos (and sheehan) performance as "purring" 

Think he's somewhere in the middle of headless chicken and a jaguar.

 

A headless jaguar?

[Barnstoneworth White]

2 hours ago, L/H White said:

Haha the police was talking to him after the game 

No idea what about like

To be fair to the lad, he did get the crowd going.  I hope you joined in.

[gonzo]

[Steejay]

21 minutes ago, desperado said:

In the moment, being there, it didn’t feel like that.

So I’ve just looked at the stats, I was surprised that Wrexham edged it on tackles, but it was close, certainly not a case of them brushing us off.

Well into the 2nd half they didn’t lay a glove on us, they hadn’t had a shot and I suspect they were having to make more tackles to nullify a wave of pressure coming into their half consistently for 65/70 minutes. 

I’m really not getting this having no presence, as in not competing, not imposing ourselves, last night. 

I can accept criticism of individuals, debates over tactics/formations and frailties in areas such as not turning possession into goals. 

But to suggest that we didn’t compete, were brushed away and that this somehow translates into us not making the play-offs seems very wide of the mark.

Ignore him.

[Whitesince63]

13 minutes ago, Steejay said:

Ignore him.

Ignore what you want but the fact remains we’re weak as piss all over the park and until we add some muscle we ain’t going anywhere. If you’re happy to accept that good for you but some of us aren’t and hopefully SS is one of them.

[gonzo]

People really do need to take a look at the calibre of other teams players before commenting on our play off hopes.

[wakey]

I'd say we've been the better team in all five games since Evatt left.

Before that, we'd be lucky to be the better team in consecutive halves.

I think we're already seeing improvement, and encouragingly some experimentation.

There are some missing links, and it will take time for the new manager to really get his messages across.

But we can make the play-offs. And we could win them and go up.

But if we don't, I'm excited to see what SS can do next season.

 

[little whitt]

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

is that him 

[Eagle85]

4 hours ago, Barnstoneworth White said:

Of all 1250 seats last night, mine had to be the one behind the drummer boy.  He didn't stop all game and gave it some hammer as my yedwarch can testify this morning.

Think you might have been next to me, was in the very seat behind the drummer. Having to constantly look to the left meant it was all going straight in the same ear. Fair play to the lad some stamina doing that for 2 and a half hours

Edited February 12, 2025 by Eagle85

[Gonk]

5 hours ago, L/H White said:

Haha the police was talking to him after the game 

No idea what about like

Was it in Welsh?

[Tonge moor green jacket]

7 hours ago, desperado said:

I agree, I think more than anything, last night would have been a good lesson for SS, seeing some of our traits, (possession with little cutting edge) frailties (Vic being a poor target man) and even successes (Toal back to his best, Sheehan dictating again) 

I think the 2 man midfield was forced on him through trying to get back in the game getting forward players on, but being limited with his options.

For SS it was a game he wanted us to win, so I can see why Sheehan stayed on.

Think he went 4-3-3 at the end as he both realised that 5-2-3 wasn’t working and it was a last throw of the dice to try and salvage something.

It’s a real positive that he was able to use a competitive game like that to experiment and find out a lot more about what these players can/can’t do.

FWIW I didn’t think Thomason was anything like as poor as some are making out. I’m still having Sheehan and Morley on the team sheet in front, but all this ineffective, headless chicken nonsense is way over the top.

 

He took Matete off before they scored!

Afterwards was necessarily chasing the game. 

As above, maybe he felt we weren't finishing things off, so put another up top, but it seemed to bugger up the control of the game we had.

Can understand the thinking, but it didn't work, but I've no doubt he saw and learned.

Onwards to Shrewsbury. 

A really big game this now. We need a good performance and result for continued confidence among players and fans.

[L/H White]

1 hour ago, Gonk said:

Was it in Welsh?

haha no, I did hear one of the stewards say to someone though "I don't speak welsh"

[Johnnyrotten]

9 hours ago, masi 51 said:

Vic is Vic, a honest player who is very limited in lge1.....Was a winger and Evatt moved him central....It is up to Schumacher but i doubt many would have him partnering Collins long term

For the life of me how was Vic a winger?  Pace?  Trickery?  Accurate crossing/passing?  Holding off the full back with strength?  Cutting inside from the right and crossing with his left? I'd love to see some footage - scrap that, YouTube will have him looking like a combination of Adama Traore and David Lee 😀 

[Johnnyrotten]

8 hours ago, desperado said:

 

FWIW I didn’t think Thomason was anything like as poor as some are making out. I’m still having Sheehan and Morley on the team sheet in front, but all this ineffective, headless chicken nonsense is way over the top.

 

I must admit, whilst I'm not Tomo's biggest fan and am baffled that he's picked every single game, I thought he played OK last night.  A number of times he took possession in tight situations and played it safely and calmly to a colleague, I don't recognise some of the descriptions of his performance, he looked the opposite of headless chicken to me, very calm and measured in possession (tackling less so, but nothing that bad that I saw).

[Casino]

9 hours ago, gonzo said:

Jesus, one tricky result in the Papa John's and we are shipping half the squad off

when all it needed was to sack evatt

[Casino]

5 hours ago, Whitesince63 said:

 If you’re happy to accept that good for you but some of us aren’t and hopefully SS is one of them.

you do know it doesn't matter what you are happy to accept

we have won 3 of 4 of games that matter and prob should have won all 4

the fact we didn't was down to not taking our chances and one crackpot handball

 

[desperado]

1 hour ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

He took Matete off before they scored!

Afterwards was necessarily chasing the game. 

As above, maybe he felt we weren't finishing things off, so put another up top, but it seemed to bugger up the control of the game we had.

Can understand the thinking, but it didn't work, but I've no doubt he saw and learned.

Onwards to Shrewsbury. 

A really big game this now. We need a good performance and result for continued confidence among players and fans.

Mixed up the subs. I’m blaming the stanchion 😁 (absolutely shocking view in that top tier)

I think even before Matete went off we’d started to lose the initiative. Their 4 subs also made a difference. But I agree the 2 in midfield didn’t do anything to make us better.

[desperado]

9 hours ago, gonzo said:

Jesus, one tricky result in the Papa John's and we are shipping half the squad off

 

49 minutes ago, Casino said:

when all it needed was to sack evatt

Thought you’d both appreciate that tweet, made me smile 😊.

 

[Leyther_Matt]

3 hours ago, desperado said:

Mixed up the subs. I’m blaming the stanchion 😁 (absolutely shocking view in that top tier)

I don’t think it’s healthy how much I celebrated this morning that I’ve been allocated lower tier for the league game

[Only In Welsh]

Was a poor game. We were terrible and it showed that the team we put out had barely played together, especially the two up front. Took 4 subs to swing the game for us. 

You, like many many L1 teams against us this season can keep the ball really well but ultimately are toothless. Seen it so many times this season. Parky often allows the opposition to have possession and generally it works.

Glad we didn't sign McAtee as was rumoured we were in for him, although I suspect we were used by his agent to get what he wanted from you and he was never coming here.

Considering we play with two strikers and 3 midfielders I'm not sure where he would fit in anyway. 

Not fussed about the competition but it has served well to keep our squad getting game time.

[L/H White]

5 minutes ago, Only In Welsh said:

Was a poor game. We were terrible and it showed that the team we put out had barely played together, especially the two up front. Took 4 subs to swing the game for us. 

You, like many many L1 teams against us this season can keep the ball really well but ultimately are toothless. Seen it so many times this season. Parky often allows the opposition to have possession and generally it works.

Glad we didn't sign McAtee as was rumoured we were in for him, although I suspect we were used by his agent to get what he wanted from you and he was never coming here.

Considering we play with two strikers and 3 midfielders I'm not sure where he would fit in anyway. 

Not fussed about the competition but it has served well to keep our squad getting game time.

Accurate assessment 

[desperado]

29 minutes ago, Only In Welsh said:

We were terrible

You really were and very quiet too.

Your squad seemingly doesn’t have too much depth to it, think you are going to struggle in the run-in especially with these extra games now, a bit like us 2 seasons ago 

Think we were 6 short of our best 11, so it will be interesting on the 1st March when we are both full strength.

It would be a bit of a travesty if we were to dominate a 3rd game and lose again. 

That would have been a near on certainty with Evatt, now it could and should be different. But this is Bolton Wanderers so you never quite know 😊

[Only In Welsh]

2 hours ago, desperado said:

You really were and very quiet too.

Your squad seemingly doesn’t have too much depth to it, think you are going to struggle in the run-in especially with these extra games now, a bit like us 2 seasons ago 

Think we were 6 short of our best 11, so it will be interesting on the 1st March when we are both full strength.

It would be a bit of a travesty if we were to dominate a 3rd game and lose again. 

That would have been a near on certainty with Evatt, now it could and should be different. But this is Bolton Wanderers so you never quite know 😊

The league game will be totally different. We'll have McClean, Dobson, James, Barnett, Smith, Rodriguez, O'Connell and Rathbone all starting.

Disagree about squad depth. Its right up there in this league. Our strength in depth up front is pretty good now, as is midfield. Rathbone is class and our best signing of the season so far.

If our new strikers click we'll be a lot stronger.

We tend to have our bad spells in Jan/Feb and then we do pick up form for the run in if Parky's past seasons here are anything to go by.

Be an interesting game on the 1st March. The atmosphere will be far better than Tuesday thats for sure.

To be honest I'm in no mad rush for us to get promoted as I believe the Championship next season might be too much too soon. Our owners though, well they think otherwise.

Must say that Bolton fans are a far more realistic and decent bunch than most i've come across in L1. Peterborough fans as an example at the start of the season were talking like they were Barcelona although I think their delusions have been washed away by now 😆

Edited February 13, 2025 by Only In Welsh

[desperado]

20 minutes ago, Only In Welsh said:

The league game will be totally different. We'll have McClean, Dobson, James, Barnett, Smith, Rodriguez, O'Connell and Rathbone all starting.

Disagree about squad depth. Its right up there in this league. Our strength in depth up front is pretty good now, as is midfield. Rathbone is class and our best signing of the season so far.

If our new strikers click we'll be a lot stronger.

We tend to have our bad spells in Jan/Feb and then we do pick up form for the run in if Parky's past seasons here are anything to go by.

Be an interesting game on the 1st March. The atmosphere will be far better than Tuesday thats for sure.

To be honest I'm in no mad rush for us to get promoted as I believe the Championship next season might be too much too soon. Our owners though, well they think otherwise.

Must say that Bolton fans are a far more realistic and decent bunch than most i've come across in L1. Peterborough fans as an example at the start of the season were talking like they were Barcelona although I think their delusions have been washed away by now 😆

Cheers for the response a pretty balanced and realistic perspective.

I think having been in this league now for 4 years we know there’s no entitlement to promotion. It very much needs to be earned by prioritising a winning mentality - something we’ve not yet mastered. 

My squad depth assessment was purely based on what I saw as your back-up on Tuesday which didn’t look up to much. I think a more ruthless and potent strike force would have had that game sown up by 70 mins.

Here’s to the 1st March, fingers crossed I get there, to hopefully see us finally put a dent in your promotion charge and add a notch to ours 😊