Northampton Town (H)

[frank_spencer]

10 minutes ago, desperado said:

Think I’d be tempted to make a couple of changes.

I agree with the paragraph in the BEN:

“It was a back to basics plan, most un-Bolton-like, in fact. But to take three points against Northampton Town on Tuesday night will require an entirely different way of thinking”

Lolos and Vic both did a good job on Saturday with the way we played. But is this more a game for Randall and Sheehan?

                   Southwood  

         Jones.  Forrester  Jonhston

Cogley.          Sheehan          Schon

                Morley.    Tommo

                        Randall

                        Collins.

Nah got to go with 2 strikers at home.

Sheehan Tomo and Randall behind Vic and Collins 

[Matt Lofthouse]

12 minutes ago, frank_spencer said:

Nah got to go with 2 strikers at home.

Sheehan Tomo and Randall behind Vic and Collins 

Agreed. 
 

Can’t say I want santos back in an hurry either. Shame because on the whole he’s been great for us. Just think evatts fucked his head and confidence. 

[Arrested development]

8 minutes ago, Matt Lofthouse said:

Agreed. 
 

Can’t say I want santos back in an hurry either. Shame because on the whole he’s been great for us. Just think evatts fucked his head and confidence. 

I found it interesting that both Sheehan and Randall were on the bench for Darby's first game. Most likely because we were away from home against hudds. But there was a clear shift to a more pragmatic sensible approach with the bigger physical players playing. Id be surprised if Randall and Sheehan both play. 

Re santos he might come back in when hes fit, he might not. But I don't think it's all Evatts doing. He's been dropping off for a while. Maybe the change will do him good, and maybe not being asked to play out from the back all the time may help him. Find out I suppose but I just have this nagging suspicion that he's peaked. 

Edited January 27, 2025 by Arrested development

[Matt Lofthouse]

Sorry agree on the 2 strikers but would definitely start Morley. 

[Dr. Feelgood]

1 hour ago, Arrested development said:

Re santos he might come ... I just have this nagging suspicion that he's peaked. 

His head has certainly gone. He lost a lot of face having, very rightly, the captaincy removed.

He bought into the tippy-tappy, hook, line & sinker ... as did Baxter. It will take time to ween him off it & I suspect he'll be checking out before that.

Good player ruined by Cptn. Plan A.

[superjohnmcginlay]

4-0 slick, fast flowing football

olé’s ringing round every sideways and backwards pass in the closing stages. 
 

no one leaves early

free hot dogs 

what a night. 
 

 

*1-0 grafted win

 

 

[perth_white]

8 minutes ago, superjohnmcginlay said:

 

no one leaves early

free buttered hot dogs 

what a night. 
 

 

*1-0 grafted win

 

 

Fixed it 

Edited January 28, 2025 by perth_white

[Stig]

9 hours ago, desperado said:

Think I’d be tempted to make a couple of changes.

I agree with the paragraph in the BEN:

“It was a back to basics plan, most un-Bolton-like, in fact. But to take three points against Northampton Town on Tuesday night will require an entirely different way of thinking”

Lolos and Vic both did a good job on Saturday with the way we played. But is this more a game for Randall and Sheehan?

                   Southwood  

         Jones.  Forrester  Jonhston

Cogley.          Sheehan          Schon

                Morley.    Tommo

                        Randall

                        Collins.

I'd be slating Evatt for that line up, as it's so negative at home.

However, I'm not expecting JD to come in and spend the time changing formation and tactics. His job is about steadying the ship and giving the players some belief, so I can see the merit in this to keep it tight early, don't get overrun and then start to boss the game.

I'm really hoping we consign 5 at the back to the bin once the new manager comes in.

[desperado]

6 minutes ago, Stig said:

I'd be slating Evatt for that line up, as it's so negative at home.

However, I'm not expecting JD to come in and spend the time changing formation and tactics. His job is about steadying the ship and giving the players some belief, so I can see the merit in this to keep it tight early, don't get overrun and then start to boss the game.

I'm really hoping we consign 5 at the back to the bin once the new manager comes in.

I know what you and others are saying above, as after a win, you sense an unnecessary need to change things and being at home requires two forwards.

To be honest in that formation I see Randall more as a forward support for Collins, not a midfielder.

My counter argument to all of the above is that this game is completely different to Huddersfield. I think we’ll see a lot more of the ball, we’ll play higher up the pitch. WBs will be much further forward, so Sheehan acts not only as a shield, but as the deeper midfielder who can dictate things as he does so well.

I think Northampton have one of the lowest possession stats in the league, so I doubt we’ll approach the game in the same way we did Huddersfield.

Anyway another refreshing thing about tonight is that nobody, me included, is going to be overly bothered what side he picks pre-game! And after Saturday JD gets a free ride on his team selection. 

[Dr. Feelgood]

57 minutes ago, desperado said:

I think Northampton have one of the lowest possession stats in the league, so I doubt we’ll approach the game in the same way we did Huddersfield.

 

Nobody ..... is going to be overly bothered what side he picks pre-game! And after Saturday JD gets a free ride on his team selection. 

I assume possession stats add to 100%. In which case some fckrs got to have it 😅. I used to glory in our high possession ratio, till realising 25m pitty pat between Santos & Baxter meant f'call.

Regarding selection, I saw Saturday's & thought wtf !! Turns out I was wrong. 

[L/H White]

big adrenaline dump from saturday, 2-1 defeat conceding late 

[gonzo]

26 minutes ago, L/H White said:

big adrenaline dump from saturday, 2-1 defeat conceding late 

Such a slag.

[DaveTheRave]

2-1 Collins, Randall.

20,727.

Come On You Whites!!!

[Leyther_Matt]

Be positive, have a go and enjoy it. Done.

Nolan will get a clap before and after, but for the 90 minutes in between I hope he has a thoroughly miserable evening. 

[Dimron]

1 hour ago, L/H White said:

big adrenaline dump from saturday, 2-1 defeat conceding late 

It'd be just like Nolan to come and piss on our bonfire!!!

Still going for a BWFC win though... 2 niller

[bwfc4ife]

After that result on Saturday, the fire and passion was definitely there and will be tonight. We'll smash this lot. 

Keep the line up the same, don't change a winning team with subs second half. I though Lolos, Morley, Vic and even Cogley were great on Saturday so why the need to change? Still gives us the out ball over the top as well. 

[thebells]

Hope this is more realism than being glass half empty, but a couple of thoughts.

Saturday was a one off in many ways. Players clearly on a high having the shackles of a system removed, and absolutely wanting to play for themselves and the fans. Julian Darby living all of our dreams for 90 mins. Easy to get caught up in the emotion of it all - I'll honestly remember that day for years to come.

But, regardless of manager or formation, this is a group of players that have struggled and been inconsistent all season. Evatt is part of that, but so are the (underperforming) players. Usually, Northampton at home looks a gimme. But I'm not so sure. I hope we take the game to them and stick 5 past them - we might - but the realist in me says it'll be a grind and we'll either draw and nab a narrow win. We've just taken 1 point from 6 at home against 2 of the worst teams i've seen all season!

Hope I'm wrong, and hope Jules gets the acclaim he deserves. I don't get too flippin emotional at footy these days but that moment at the end of Saturday's game flippin got me. Flippin great it was!

[Wanderlust]

The players were brilliant against Huddersfield, and I suspect JDs tactics and surprising selection were spot on even though we did ride our luck a bit, so the questions for me are whether JD will change things again for this game and whether the players can reproduce that energy and focus.

Having won away at one of the better teams, I'm just hoping they don't slide back into sloppy complacency again.

In our current position we just have to win every game and we should win this one, but the passion has to be there to do it.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

I have a feeling that they will be playing for their places tonight too.

If they have been called in, then I suspect they will be told who their next boss is.

[Wanderlust]

2 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

I have a feeling that they will be playing for their places tonight too.

If they have been called in, then I suspect they will be told who their next boss is.

True - they know he'll be watching!

[bolton va va]

These are supposed to be quite strong defensively now - Wycombe couldn't break them down - so maybe play Tutu for Cogley as the more attacking option & push the wing backs further forward than Saturday, but I don't expect many changes.

[DaveTheRave]

2 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

The players were brilliant against Huddersfield, and I suspect JDs tactics and surprising selection were spot on even though we did ride our luck a bit

Why did we ride our luck a bit?

They hardly had a shot on target and we had at least four decent chances.

[Whitesince63]

3 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

The players were brilliant against Huddersfield, and I suspect JDs tactics and surprising selection were spot on even though we did ride our luck a bit, so the questions for me are whether JD will change things again for this game and whether the players can reproduce that energy and focus.

Having won away at one of the better teams, I'm just hoping they don't slide back into sloppy complacency again.

In our current position we just have to win every game and we should win this one, but the passion has to be there to do it.

To be fair lusty I thought Huddersfield rode their luck too on Saturday and if anything probably more than we did so we really shouldn’t have any worries we won’t continue our form tonight. I’m hoping the days of capitulating to the likes of Northampton, no disrespect, at home left with Evatt and whilst it will be great to see Nobby back, he’s sitting on a bench and can have no impact on what’s happening on the grass so let’s not make this more difficult than it should be. We all know we’ve grossly underperformed this year for whatever reason though I suspect mainly due to IEs system and their application of it. With a simpler less intensive mindset the players will hopefully be more able to show the skills that they’ve got. If they do that we should be in for a comfortable win and a good platform for Schuey or whoever the new man is to take us on from.

[Johnnyrotten]

1 hour ago, bolton va va said:

These are supposed to be quite strong defensively now - Wycombe couldn't break them down - so maybe play Tutu for Cogley as the more attacking option & push the wing backs further forward than Saturday, but I don't expect many changes.

Agreed Northampton look strong defensively, but Wycombe couldn't break us down under IE, so that means nothing 😀 (Wycombe only won 1 in last 6 homes and that was v Exeter, only 4 goals scored, puts our performance there into a bit of perspective).

I was going to have a bet on us winning but we're a very poor 2/5, we haven't beaten 11 men here since Blackpool in Nov.  Northampton a very generous 7/1.  Those odds must be the Jules effect!

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

I'm hoping this means the suits have gone permanently