Another nervy win.  2-1

Big rebuild in the summer.  5 players minimum, I can see us going in for Ennis who’s been on fire at Blackpool. Possibly even Ryan Hardie assuming Plymouth go down. 
 

Huge summer coming up, we risk stagnating as a league one side for years now a la Charlton.

48 minutes ago, paulhanley said:

we need to sell Vic

Vic is unfortunately out till the end of the year so he won’t be going anywhere won’t be named in the squad for the start of the season so does free a place up . but with is wages doesn’t leave a lot of scope for a replacement 

12 hours ago, Eavesy said:

Much rather have a squad that can push on when promoted and have a fighting chance of staying up in the championship. 

Wed be screwed going up with this lot and be straight back down.

Short term pain for long term gain. Build a proper team next year with Schumacher in league 1. And take it from there.

 

 

 

That was being said two years ago when we got the play offs 

And we're still here with a team that can't get out of league one

 don't worry about a team capable of staying in the championship till we get into the championship

We haven't got the cash to do it in L1 for a start

SS before the game was talking the squad up saying there an intelligent bunch for being able to take a lot tactical information on board and mentioned he was aware of them being labelled a bit soft after the Wigan game but showed courage in a derby game .

After Rotherham he as said there is clearly something a miss because he as now lost 5 games since he as been here .
The only good thing that might come out of it is he hopefully is going to learn a lot more about the squad in the last few games and he will have the summer to prepare. Hopefully he won’t do a evatt and come up with the same plan B he did 

Edited April 9, 20251 yr by Farnywhite

Lots of mixed views about Sheehan. I vaguely recall thinking a big part of our downturn in performances under Evatt was how the opposition chose to deal with marking him. At first it was the odd team that cancelled him out (Barnsley home springs to mind) then towards the end pretty much every time decided to do it.

Last night Rotherham remarkably left him free to be the ball carrier from our middle centre half/keeper with options to go to either the wide centre backs pushing on or the more advanced centre mids. I think that was the main reason for the quality and entertainment of what we saw. 

Lots calling him out for inconsistency depends on this factor, unfortunately when he is man marked by an aggressive midfielder he doesn't have the physical capabilities to get away. I really liked Matete with him as a double pivot earlier in the season, they can both carry from defence onto the forwards (Sheehan more successfully) and the opposition cant mark both. I'm surprised Matete doesn't play more for that very reason. 

1 hour ago, VividDreamer said:

Huge summer coming up, we risk stagnating as a league one side for years now a la Charlton.

Because of opinions like this, the swelling expectant fan base would be more forgiving with a relegation fight in the Championship than seeing us lose games in a promotion push in L1.

Unfortunately, any deviation from Plymouth’s 100 point Champions season is going to get a portion of our fans moaning and groaning that SS is getting it wrong.

I’m 100% behind getting up at the earliest opportunity, hopefully by winning at Wembley on the 25th May.

I also think it will give SS a fairer chance with our fan base as the majority will be expecting us to struggle, yet he will have the success in the bank of achieving promotion at the first time of asking, with a team that looked doomed in January.

If we are all honest, we aren’t good enough to be promoted this season.

we have lost 15 games in 41 and that ain’t promotion form in any year.

we are inconsistent to say the least, have got hammered too often, don’t score enough and don’t score at the times when we should.

even with ss, we have lost 5 games we probably shouldn’t and maybe won a couple we shouldn’t.

ss has had his hands tied behind his back due to no transfer window and injuries. He needs summer to root out what he doesn’t want and bring in who he does - and I am sure he already knows this.  However, we have certainly improved since he has taken over.

taking to a Huddersfield fan today and he was saying they aren’t good enough and that really it’s best if they don’t make the play offs and start a fresh in august, rather than having a hangover from losing in the play offs - and I maybe tempted to agree.

that said, I will still be at Barnsley and Lincoln as you just never know - but sometimes I think we need to look at it in the cold light of day and accept the situation for what it is rather than through rose tinted glasses.

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, marple whites said:

taking to a Huddersfield fan today

 

 

 

Season ticket holder presumably.

1 hour ago, marple whites said:

If we are all honest, we aren’t good enough to be promoted this season.

we have lost 15 games in 41 and that ain’t promotion form in any year.

we are inconsistent to say the least, have got hammered too often, don’t score enough and don’t score at the times when we should.

even with ss, we have lost 5 games we probably shouldn’t and maybe won a couple we shouldn’t.

ss has had his hands tied behind his back due to no transfer window and injuries. He needs summer to root out what he doesn’t want and bring in who he does - and I am sure he already knows this.  However, we have certainly improved since he has taken over.

taking to a Huddersfield fan today and he was saying they aren’t good enough and that really it’s best if they don’t make the play offs and start a fresh in august, rather than having a hangover from losing in the play offs - and I maybe tempted to agree.

that said, I will still be at Barnsley and Lincoln as you just never know - but sometimes I think we need to look at it in the cold light of day and accept the situation for what it is rather than through rose tinted glasses.

 

 

 

 

Always good to hear your point of view pal and some valid points which I agree with, inconsistent, hammerings, conceding too many etc. Not traits you associate with a promotion winning team.

However a couple of points to counter.  Oxford lost 13 games last year and  got 77 points. The reason you’ll be going to Barnsley and Lincoln (As I will) will be in the hope (not expectation) that that goal is in our sights. It’s still very possible.

Again I’m not expecting promotion, it’s a real long shot this season, but I do think the club, SS and the expectant fans will be better placed in the championship than L1 next season.

If we lose in the play-offs, so be it. I don’t see the hangover we suffered this season or the one your Huddersfield mates talk about. Yes it will be painful. But the big difference this year is pretty much for most of the season including now, most aren’t expecting us to get there! 

We can quickly turn that into a positive, let’s take those good performances and traits under SS this year into a good foundation for L1 next year.

I think some fans are in rose tinted specs if they think HMS piss the league with 100 points is on the table in L1 next season. And thats my worry. First defeat in L1 next season, you watch the in-game thread on here and the #bwfc - it will be meltdown, with new signings being criticised, SS being compared to Evatt, no better than we were 5 seasons ago etc etc

Get up as soon as we can, however we can, wherever we can.

Let’s hope that’s in grand fashion after a Wembley win.

If not that, then next season. But let’s keep our expectations realistic, that could well be a rollercoaster through which we have to be patient and supportive….. I’m just not sure how many will be willing to show those traits when the bumps in L1 come next year…

9 hours ago, Eagle85 said:

I really liked Matete with him as a double pivot earlier in the season, they can both carry from defence onto the forwards (Sheehan more successfully) and the opposition cant mark both. I'm surprised Matete doesn't play more for that very reason. 

Matete has his faults, but I was surprised he wasn't on the bench.

Randall and CMG were awful when they came on, no energy, guile, anything?? Killed the game for me.

At least Matere drives at people and has energy, clearly SS has an issue with him given he bombed him out at Plymouth apparently.

9 hours ago, marple whites said:

If we are all honest, we aren’t good enough to be promoted this season.

we have lost 15 games in 41 and that ain’t promotion form in any year.

we are inconsistent to say the least, have got hammered too often, don’t score enough and don’t score at the times when we should.

even with ss, we have lost 5 games we probably shouldn’t and maybe won a couple we shouldn’t.

ss has had his hands tied behind his back due to no transfer window and injuries. He needs summer to root out what he doesn’t want and bring in who he does - and I am sure he already knows this.  However, we have certainly improved since he has taken over.

taking to a Huddersfield fan today and he was saying they aren’t good enough and that really it’s best if they don’t make the play offs and start a fresh in august, rather than having a hangover from losing in the play offs - and I maybe tempted to agree.

that said, I will still be at Barnsley and Lincoln as you just never know - but sometimes I think we need to look at it in the cold light of day and accept the situation for what it is rather than through rose tinted glasses.

 

 

 

 

We have scored more goals than 4 of the top 6 teams!!

49 minutes ago, JimmyRiddle said:

Matete has his faults, but I was surprised he wasn't on the bench.

Randall and CMG were awful when they came on, no energy, guile, anything?? Killed the game for me.

At least Matere drives at people and has energy, clearly SS has an issue with him given he bombed him out at Plymouth apparently.

Randall hasn't done a thing to warrant even making the bench.

7 hours ago, desperado said:

Always good to hear your point of view pal and some valid points which I agree with, inconsistent, hammerings, conceding too many etc. Not traits you associate with a promotion winning team.

However a couple of points to counter.  Oxford lost 13 games last year and  got 77 points. The reason you’ll be going to Barnsley and Lincoln (As I will) will be in the hope (not expectation) that that goal is in our sights. It’s still very possible.

Again I’m not expecting promotion, it’s a real long shot this season, but I do think the club, SS and the expectant fans will be better placed in the championship than L1 next season.

If we lose in the play-offs, so be it. I don’t see the hangover we suffered this season or the one your Huddersfield mates talk about. Yes it will be painful. But the big difference this year is pretty much for most of the season including now, most aren’t expecting us to get there! 

We can quickly turn that into a positive, let’s take those good performances and traits under SS this year into a good foundation for L1 next year.

I think some fans are in rose tinted specs if they think HMS piss the league with 100 points is on the table in L1 next season. And thats my worry. First defeat in L1 next season, you watch the in-game thread on here and the #bwfc - it will be meltdown, with new signings being criticised, SS being compared to Evatt, no better than we were 5 seasons ago etc etc

Get up as soon as we can, however we can, wherever we can.

Let’s hope that’s in grand fashion after a Wembley win.

If not that, then next season. But let’s keep our expectations realistic, that could well be a rollercoaster through which we have to be patient and supportive….. I’m just not sure how many will be willing to show those traits when the bumps in L1 come next year…

With you on the vast bulk of that, realist as I am I'll still be wanting and hoping we get the points needed in these next five games and then find those big performances that get us up. It's why we do it, wanting your team to win, wanting it to be the best it can be.

Whether we go up or not, Summer will be full of unknowns and, while there'll always be a certain number of the fanbase that deal in extremes, hopefully the majority will be realistic about the aim in the Championship or in L1.

With fans and dealing with losing games, the challenge if we go up for some that have swelled the crowd over the last few years will be us scrambling about near the bottom and losing a lot, having been used to watching a team that's won a lot more often than not. 

If we don't go up the demands of some for us to romp it next season might be tempered when they see that the 'big clearout' hasn't been as big as they expected and we line up in August with a lot of the same faces, with maybe 4 or 5 new ones and a couple of hopefully better loans. That still ought to make us a a side in the top six all season but not necessarily a Piss the League outfit. 

The Summer unknown but thing of interest for me is what our new DoF can bring to the table in terms of approach to new signings, different contacts, knowledge of different player markets etc. 

We haven't been good enough to go up, but neither were Oxford and they're doing ok. You do just have to take your chances when they come. Better teams can bottle the playoffs.

But I'm not having that expectations need to be tempered for next season if we're in L1. They need to be higher. We spend enough, the wage budget is big enough. Schumacher is here to win the league, and if he can't do that he needs to get us second. And if he can't do that, we move on and find someone else.

Whilst winning the league by a country mile is always my preferred option, happy to scrape into 6th place on the last game of the season and win the play-offs.

Seen us gain promotion every which way and all were equally as enjoyable. 96/97 was the comfortable one but the Reading play-off final sums up the highs and lows of being a BWFC fan in one game. Wrexham away on the last day of the season to go up remains my favourite Bolton game.

I don't understand comments suggesting some don't want us to go up because "this team" would struggle next year. It won't be "this team". Every window we have new players in and the board have indicated previously that they're aware more investment is needed in the Championship. The main shareholders have continued to put money in and have hinted they're willing to continue doing so.  When we go up there will be more new players coming in than usual so the team that starts in the championship will be very different than the one that gains promotion.

Edited April 10, 20251 yr by kobeer

1 hour ago, bwfc2003 said:

We have scored more goals than 4 of the top 6 teams!!

But we have conceded as many as the bottom few - so we either score more or concede less 

I've decided I don't want us to make the play offs unless we win it.

 

16 minutes ago, Tombwfc said:

We haven't been good enough to go up, but neither were Oxford and they're doing ok. You do just have to take your chances when they come. Better teams can bottle the playoffs.

But I'm not having that expectations need to be tempered for next season if we're in L1. They need to be higher. We spend enough, the wage budget is big enough. Schumacher is here to win the league, and if he can't do that he needs to get us second. And if he can't do that, we move on and find someone else.

Completely agree with paragraph 1.

Paragraph 2 is an interesting one. The unknowable there is how much we get to spend this summer.

And as I’ve mentioned earlier, there’s a large portion of the fan-base who don’t deal with bumps in the road very well. It’s been forever and the day. In the 96/97 record breaking season, the home loss against Ipswich was such a case, you’d have thought that was season over.

Let’s hope there’s a balance between having high expectations and  aspirations (I’m not against that) but also a realism that not everything will fall into place for a seamless return to the championship.

I’m unsure on the last point, if he doesn’t get top two in L1 next season then move on….. mmm,  I’d be more inclined to judge on the context of circumstances that have played out throughout the season.

We could be chopping and changing for years trying to find the right formula.

50 minutes ago, Tombwfc said:

We haven't been good enough to go up, but neither were Oxford and they're doing ok. You do just have to take your chances when they come. Better teams can bottle the playoffs.

But I'm not having that expectations need to be tempered for next season if we're in L1. They need to be higher. We spend enough, the wage budget is big enough. Schumacher is here to win the league, and if he can't do that he needs to get us second. And if he can't do that, we move on and find someone else.

Little doubt in my mind that autos would be an expectation, up via play offs a bare minimum, I'd imagine SS would expect that. If we actually win the league fine, though second and comfortably clear of third will also do for me. 

Edited April 10, 20251 yr by ianofcleveleys

Bit late to the party but a few interesting things of note from this game, for me;

1. Easily the most comprehensive and dominant performance of the season. Frustrating we didn't win, but every team has one of those games each season. What made this unique, and gives me hope, was SS's response. Rather than lambasting our bad luck, he quite rightly voiced his frustration at individuals and the collective. This shows we've got someone who cares about the details and is desperate to succeed. I think IE would have responded similarly last season, and proves to me his own hunger had gone this time around. 

2. SS called out Sheehan after this game for his part in the first goal. It's not the first time he has publicly dug a player out. It's not a major issue for me, but i'll watch with interest to see how that tactic plays out amongst the fanbase if he goes on a bad run or people start to question him.

3. The Rotherham manager went into the Bolton changing room after the game to congratulate our players, and told them he expects us to get promoted this season if we keep playing like that. He didn't have to do that. He may be wrong, but don't write our season off just yet. Reading will drop points, and there is a possibility 7th place makes the play offs this time around (if the club isn't sold by April 22nd it's highly likely they'll be suspended from the League (though i don't know what happens with points accrued against them. We took 3 and Huddersfield 1 so i think that puts us on level points). Regardless, we probably need 3 wins and 2 draws or 4 wins to have a chance now - possible, but scoring boots need to be found.

If we played as well as that in all our remaining games I'd accept wherever we finish up and go into next season full of excitement.

 

34 minutes ago, wakey said:

If we played as well as that in all our remaining games I'd accept wherever we finish up and go into next season full of excitement.

 

It helped that Rotherham came out with intent early on, looking for the first goal and making it open as a result, but we cut through them really well on a number of occasions. We bombarded them again through some great play in that first 15 minutes of the second half then still created three or four good situations later on before it got a bit messy and desperate in the last 10 mins. Some of the football to get us into those good situations was as good as we've produced for a long while, apart from second half v Brum. Converting those situations into goals was, sadly, the big issue. 

 

20 minutes ago, ianofcleveleys said:

It helped that Rotherham came out with intent early on, looking for the first goal and making it open as a result, but we cut through them really well on a number of occasions. We bombarded them again through some great play in that first 15 minutes of the second half then still created three or four good situations later on before it got a bit messy and desperate in the last 10 mins. Some of the football to get us into those good situations was as good as we've produced for a long while, apart from second half v Brum. Converting those situations into goals was, sadly, the big issue. 

 

Slightly off point but i'm always fascinated by the mindset of a football fan with games like this. Rotherham fans are using this result to talk about a new found resilience with the management change. The reality is they were very poor, rode their luck, and won as a result of our poor finishing rather than anything else. Every other week they lose that game 5-0 and the fans are unhappy. You're absolutely right - converting into goals was the only thing that stopped a hammering.

Similarly, when we beat Birmingham, they were beset by injuries. We played well and deserved the win, but the reality is we caught them at absolutely the right time. 

It's why i think we win comfortably on Saturday. Barnsley haven't won in 40 odd days, no permanent manager, and players seemingly on a beach now until a new guy comes in. We couldn't pick a better time to play them. A nice 2 or 3 goal win, and a Reading draw, pretty much puts us neck and neck (it's always the hope that kills eh)

1 hour ago, kobeer said:

Whilst winning the league by a country mile is always my preferred option, happy to scrape into 6th place on the last game of the season and win the play-offs.

Seen us gain promotion every which way and all were equally as enjoyable. 96/97 was the comfortable one but the Reading play-off final sums up the highs and lows of being a BWFC fan in one game. Wrexham away on the last day of the season to go up remains my favourite Bolton game.

I don't understand comments suggesting some don't want us to go up because "this team" would struggle next year. It won't be "this team". Every window we have new players in and the board have indicated previously that they're aware more investment is needed in the Championship. The main shareholders have continued to put money in and have hinted they're willing to continue doing so.  When we go up there will be more new players coming in than usual so the team that starts in the championship will be very different than the one that gains promotion.

Fuckin hell i actually agree on something you have posted

Barnsley haven't won in 40 odd days you say....... 🤔🙄

 

But yeah, find our shooting boots and we should win.