Rotherham United (H)

[Wanderlust]

Not sure we have a completely satisfactory solution for RB and wondering that with JDC on ice recently, SS is looking to upgrade in Jan?

[Stig]

22 minutes ago, desperado said:

I think the swapping of wingers is a debatable point - I’ve never said this isn’t. 

I’m not against seeing it.

Do I think it would be this ground breaking epiphany some are making out it would be. I’m not sure myself. And to throw in another fact - he’s done it on a couple of occasions, all-be-it very fleetingly (Swindon away for one) - it didn’t work (that’s not to say it might work on an another occasion)

A more solid 4-3-3, again a debatable topic. I think we can (and have) done this on occasions. Personally I’d like to keep our wingers in home and away games. 

The points I’ve been calling out are the factually incorrect ones from Zog and Masi.

And the “one way” approach I’m pulling up is the “we only give the ball to inverted wingers and tell them to cut in” - as well as not recognising the visible and subtle differences that SS makes -  IMO he’s not inflexible. 

 

 

 

I agree on the whole. My only point of inflexibility is always playing inverted whoever the wingers are. Would it make a massive difference? I don't know. If Dalby is on I think it would suit him and the 10 better to have them on their normal sides going to the byline more, but we've not seen it to compare (can't use that shambles v Swindon to measure anything).

I also agree with @ianofcleveleys point that we can be happy with the win yesterday and still point out areas it looks like we're struggling in. For me that's converting dominance into goals. Would be incredibly boring on here without some opinions 

[jmjhb]

2 minutes ago, Wanderlust said:

Not sure we have a completely satisfactory solution for RB and wondering that with JDC on ice recently, SS is looking to upgrade in Jan?

Given all RBs are out of contract in summer I think it's something we'll look at then.

[desperado]

1 minute ago, Stig said:

I agree on the whole. My only point of inflexibility is always playing inverted whoever the wingers are. Would it make a massive difference? I don't know. If Dalby is on I think it would suit him and the 10 better to have them on their normal sides going to the byline more, but we've not seen it to compare (can't use that shambles v Swindon to measure anything).

I also agree with @ianofcleveleys point that we can be happy with the win yesterday and still point out areas it looks like we're struggling in. For me that's converting dominance into goals. Would be incredibly boring on here without some opinions 

And I pretty much agree with what you say there.

And with what Ian said.

Which is why I quoted him yesterday 

I’m just keen to keep pointing out that that calling out factually incorrect posts and the manic depressive unintelligent posts, is not me saying don’t express an opinion if it’s not positive (which seems to be a go-to for some -not you-)

A balanced view and debate around games (win or lose) is great. Even with opinions I don’t agree on. My first response to Masi on this thread started with - “reasonable” even though I disagreed with a lot of his points. 

 

[gonzo]

I think the main issue a lot of people miss regarding the turning dominance into clear cut chances and goals is the quality, ie lack of, our Number 9s.

None of them are natural finishers and two of em aren't even proper strikers.

 

[Matt Lofthouse]

39 minutes ago, masi 51 said:

Or TuTu

Injured? If not yes he’s ahead of JDC now I reckon. 

Edited December 27, 2025 by Matt Lofthouse

[Johnnyrotten]

10 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

Sheehan did score twice but he also misplaced a couple of passes that put us in danger, but they didn’t capitalise on them, however he was far from the worst on the pitch. I could understand a little criticism but whoever made that comment was just attention seeking. Or a moron. Or both.

I can't imagine anyone like that would go on X, not that I'd be looking to find out.

[Wanderlust]

3 minutes ago, gonzo said:

I think the main issue a lot of people miss regarding the turning dominance into clear cut chances and goals is the quality, ie lack of, our Number 9s.

None of them are natural finishers and two of em aren't even proper strikers.

 

I think the issue is composited by not having midfielders who can put a powerful shot on target from the edge of or outside the box. I know it’s not our “style” but teams that have it as an option benefit from deflections, handling errors/spillages and occasional goals plus the threat draws blockers out of rigid defensive lines.

And more options = less predictability.

[Rizlar]

Sheehan and Johnson have been excellent this season and yesterday as well and I have criticised them a lot in the past.The cheering of Randal being substituted is pathetic  I thought he played well yesterday. 
We need to take our chances that is my only criticism but this is league 1 football, overall I am happy with SS and the players up to now this season. 
Masi , desperado I enjoy reading your posts both very informative even though you both have opposite views at times. 

[kent_white]

14 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Funny how we all see things differently, no problem with that, its just chat.  But if there's one player who I've watched for Bolton over the years who has a footballing brain its Josh Sheehan.   I wish the rest of the squad were blessed with the ability to read the game how he does and make the right decisions much more often than not.  Just how I see it.

Fair enough. I think he gets it right about half the time - which I don't think is good enough for someone in his position. Each to their own though. I'd sooner he'd gone in the summer and we'd kept George Thomason (who had a blinder for Wrexham yesterday by the way). 

Game of opinions though, like you say. 

[Rizlar]

Thought EE had a good game yesterday up until his substitution and him and Sheehan played well together.

[Johnnyrotten]

2 hours ago, Matt Lofthouse said:

Without sounding like a 10 year old, but EE is fast becoming a favourite. His doing the dirty breaking up play is just as important as Sheehan starting our play  or the spark ACD gives in his assists / goals.

Another mention to Johnston, as he was getting on my tits last season but he’s certainly turned it around.

All 4 above need to start when fit, but appreciate the squad will come into its own through January and hopefully our time to get into and stay in the top 2 positions and finally get out of this horrific 3 tier. 

EE was excellent yesterday, he's been superb a couple of times that I've seen him start this season eg Reading and Wigan at home.  But then there are the away games!  I didn't watch Wycombe away but I heard negative stuff about his ball retention, he was poor at Northampton.  ACD, Johnston and Sheehan have to play as much as possible because nobody else can do their jobs but EE has a long way to go to be in that category, he seems to be as inconsistent as Simons.

[Johnnyrotten]

1 hour ago, waffer cup 07 said:

Expect JDC to start on Monday. No way is Christie playing 2 games in 4 days.

Where's Tutu, is he injured?  Missed him hugely as a sub yesterday to replace either Christie or Gale (instead of Burstow square peg in round hole). 

[desperado]

17 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

Sheehan and Johnson have been excellent this season and yesterday as well and I have criticised them a lot in the past.The cheering of Randal being substituted is pathetic  I thought he played well yesterday. 
We need to take our chances that is my only criticism but this is league 1 football, overall I am happy with SS and the players up to now this season. 
Masi , desperado I enjoy reading your posts both very informative even though you both have opposite views at times. 

100% agree on Sheehan, Randal and Johnston 👏

It’s unbelievable how good Johnston has been this season. Starting with him Toal and Forino at the beginning of the season worried me - I honestly thought he was one we could do with moving on.

How happy I am to be proved wrong! I think he’s been our most consistent (excellent!) player.

The problem we have now, is we can’t replace him without weakening our back line! 

And cheers for the shout out on the posts - I genuinely thought before I got to the end of the sentence, you were going to say something like “as much as I enjoy your posts you don’t half go on!” 😂

Edited December 27, 2025 by desperado

[desperado]

5 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

Thought EE had a good game yesterday up until his substitution and him and Sheehan played well together.

They are turning into our best “Midfield two” 

Hope it was just a slight knock when he went off.

[kent_white]

11 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

Sheehan did score twice but he also misplaced a couple of passes that put us in danger, but they didn’t capitalise on them, however he was far from the worst on the pitch. I could understand a little criticism but whoever made that comment was just attention seeking. Or a moron. Or both.

@Zico is right. I'm the attention seeking moron. 

And I've been loving the attention and infamy this has brought me these past 24 hours. 2 likes and 3 comments.

The internet can't get enough of me, clearly! I'll probably asked to be on the next series of I'm a celebrity with all this sought attention I'm getting! 

It's fucking magic! 

And if you re-read it (you fucking ignoramus) you'll notice that I said he was a solid 6.5 out of 10 even taking the goals out of the equation. 

My point (that you missed) wasn't that he had a bad game yesterday. It's that I find him incredibly frustrating because he is is extremely gifted technically - but 50% of the time - I think he chooses the wrong pass, or just plays it easy when there's a decent pass on (which I'd expect him to make as a creative player). 

[masi 51]

8 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

Sheehan and Johnson have been excellent this season and yesterday as well and I have criticised them a lot in the past.The cheering of Randal being substituted is pathetic  I thought he played well yesterday. 
We need to take our chances that is my only criticism but this is league 1 football, overall I am happy with SS and the players up to now this season. 
Masi , desperado I enjoy reading your posts both very informative even though you both have opposite views at times. 

Yes it is all about opinions and i like Schooling Desparado....Good debate is healthy. I came on here once the teams were out yesterday and said i do not see what SS sees in Randall, i also came on to say he played well Yesterday.

I have also said i would have Christie before Cogley but again Christie was shocking yesterday......We all do not get it right all the time

[kent_white]

2 hours ago, Zico said:

It was @kent_white and he's an attention seeking moron

😁

[gonzo]

2 minutes ago, kent_white said:

@Zico is right. I'm the attention seeking moron. 

And I've been loving the attention and infamy this has brought me these past 24 hours. 2 likes and 3 comments.

The internet can't get enough of me, clearly! I'll probably asked to be on the next series of I'm a celebrity with all this sought attention I'm getting! 

It's fucking magic! 

And if you re-read it (you fucking ignoramus) you'll notice that I said he was a solid 6.5 out of 10 even taking the goals out of the equation. 

My point (that you missed) wasn't that he had a bad game yesterday. It's that I find him incredibly frustrating because he is is extremely gifted technically - but 50% of the time - I think he chooses the wrong pass, or just plays it easy when there's a decent pass on (which I'd expect him to make as a creative player). 

Is it too early to sell some dirt to the press?

[masi 51]

8 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

EE was excellent yesterday, he's been superb a couple of times that I've seen him start this season eg Reading and Wigan at home.  But then there are the away games!  I didn't watch Wycombe away but I heard negative stuff about his ball retention, he was poor at Northampton.  ACD, Johnston and Sheehan have to play as much as possible because nobody else can do their jobs but EE has a long way to go to be in that category, he seems to be as inconsistent as Simons.

EE has not been on the losing side when he has started a league game for Bolton. He does the horrible things well

Northampton, Burton, Wycombe he comes on and maybe finds the game too fast. Not sure if he came on at Stockport but he certainly did not start

[Rizlar]

6 minutes ago, desperado said:

100% agree on Sheehan, Randal and Johnston 👏

It’s unbelievable how good Johnston has been this season. Starting with him Toal and Forino at the beginning of the season worried me - I honestly thought he was one we could do with moving on.

How happy I am to be proved wrong! I think he’s been our most consistent (excellent!) player.

The problem we have now, is we can’t replace him without weakening on our back line! 

And cheers for the shout out on the posts - I genuinely thought before I got to the end of the sentence, you were going to say something like “as much as I enjoy your posts you don’t half go on!” 😂

Credit needed for both you and Masi always balanced with good informative points even though both of you have different opinions👍

[bwfc87]

10 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Where's Tutu, is he injured?  Missed him hugely as a sub yesterday to replace either Christie or Gale (instead of Burstow square peg in round hole). 

Think he put Burstow on partly as extra height for defending any late corners they might have.

[kent_white]

8 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Is it too early to sell some dirt to the press?

No skeletons in my cupboard mate! 😬😬😬

[Wanderlust]

16 minutes ago, kent_white said:

@Zico is right. I'm the attention seeking moron. 

And I've been loving the attention and infamy this has brought me these past 24 hours. 2 likes and 3 comments.

The internet can't get enough of me, clearly! I'll probably asked to be on the next series of I'm a celebrity with all this sought attention I'm getting! 

It's fucking magic! 

And if you re-read it (you fucking ignoramus) you'll notice that I said he was a solid 6.5 out of 10 even taking the goals out of the equation. 

My point (that you missed) wasn't that he had a bad game yesterday. It's that I find him incredibly frustrating because he is is extremely gifted technically - but 50% of the time - I think he chooses the wrong pass, or just plays it easy when there's a decent pass on (which I'd expect him to make as a creative player). 

And if you’d actually read what I wrote it was in response to L/H White re a reported (anonymous) comment on another forum stating that Sheehan was the worst player on the pitch. So if it was you saying that Sheehan was the worst on another forum I stand by my response - and if you were misquoted you need to take it up with someone else I.e. LHW. And if it wasn’t you, have a word with Zico about it. But leave me out of it.

Edited December 27, 2025 by Wanderlust

[barrycowdrill]

55 minutes ago, gonzo said:

I think the main issue a lot of people miss regarding the turning dominance into clear cut chances and goals is the quality, ie lack of, our Number 9s.

None of them are natural finishers and two of em aren't even proper strikers.

 

Front man is beginning to cause me some concern. We’re fortunate in the respect of having goals from anywhere it seems at the min but you still need a front man to weigh in with 15+ in my opinion if your expecting to be pushing for promotion. 
 

burstow might get there and he just needs one of his knee, arse, back or anywhere at the minute to get him going again. ACD also hasn’t been as effective in recent weeks and luckily Gale has come back and seems a threat

SS seems to be trying to find the answer with his selections in the last couple of games and we need 1 of them to grab the chance with both hands