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Wanderers Ways. Neil Thompson 1961-2021

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4 hours ago, royal white said:

I’m just happy we still have a club. Some folk need a reality check. 

I must admit, not a week goes by when I don't appreciate where the club is now.  When we lose, the disappointment is about 2 out of 10.  When it was Harrogate,  Barrow and Crawley that looked better than us, the anger was 8 out of 10.  As long as we are nowhere near the drop zone, I continue to look forward to the next game.  If we don't go up, who cares, we start again in August.  That's not to be confused with not making comments on tactics, selections etc, but the future of the club isn't at stake, its a game to be enjoyed and the other improvement on 2 years ago is we have the luxury of attending games now. 

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47 minutes ago, Mounts Kipper said:

I’m hoping for 4-3-3 not sure A back 3 suits us, Jones is more a right back, Santos is great in back 3 but Johnstone average for me, we’ve two genuine wingbacks Bradley and John who’s out of favour, if we had 2 flying wing backs and 3 players adept at playing in a back 3 then fair enough, sadly the 3-5-2 isn’t allowing our most talented player and most prolific goal scorer to start, the Dapo situation needs addressing and 433 could be the solution. 

If we are playing wing backs what’s happened to John ? 

change of formation 4 3 3 seems popular I can’t see much wrong with a 4 4 2 also at home irdale and jones look more like full backs than wing backs . Amison or Johnston with santos then  Bradley and Dapo out wide with Morley and Dempsey in midfield , Bod and Charles up front  MJ would have to drop out the side 

Edited by Farnywhite
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2 minutes ago, Farnywhite said:

If we are playing wing backs what’s happened to John ? 

change of formation 4 3 3 seems popular I can’t see much wrong with a 4 4 2 also at home irdale and jones look more like full backs than wing backs . Amison or Johnston with santos then  Bradley and Dapo out wide with Morley and Dempsey in midfield , Bod and Charles up front  MJ would have to drop out the side 

Johns injured I think, 4-4-2 often leads to 2 centre mids against 3, that’s why it’s not popular these days. 

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4 hours ago, auckland_bwfc said:

Just back, not read up the comments yet so these are my thoughts, off me head, a few Madri in.

I dont think Madri at the ground is as good as in a regular setting. It's fizzier, dont get me wrong, drink it over coors every day, but at the bowling green, leigh, its a much smoother ride.

Football, 

Kachunga, 340 senior appearances, 59 goals (46 / 2 for bolton in league) - if we want to get promoted we cant have a striker with that goals to game ratio, i hear all about running and chasing etc, my first season watchin bolton I didnt see mcginlay or blake chasing much down, i did see them banging in 20 goals each from left foot, right foot and from their yeds, granted the game has changed, but them 2 in their pomp I wont accept wouldnt score goals in this league at better than 1 in 6.

At the start of the season most of us thought we have 4 strikers that may get 10 goals plus each with kachunga as a fifth option if we got despo.......nope, he's starting more often than not, and scoring fack all, even a shot would be good, was offside more times today than shots on target. I cant fault his effort but he is not a box to box midfielder, it isn't enough.

From our other strikers in the 10+ squad, one of them is playing left back, one of them (charles) isnt getting the type of servie he needs, JDB seems overly benched - we need him fit and firing, he is our best up fronter IMO, Baka is Baka, i think he over achieved last season, love how he is always in the right spot 8 yeards out but thats the only type of goal we get from him

Midfield - we seem to have too many options, start of the season i though Dempsey would be a shoe in for most games, think he is a decent box to boxer, i was hoping we'd build the centre around him but it looks like we're still not sure on our best threesome in there, Sadlier today looked good coming on, will he ever start ina meaningful game?

I just think we miss one or two chisled old pros, even a barry bannan, players that do things, we seem very robotic and predictable. Would love to see a a pair of wily old cnuts in our squad.....it was apparent early today we where winning nothing earlier in their box and would do well to keep them out for 90, it was the tallest opposition i can rememebr seeing in a long time.

Was still hopeful of a point at 85 mins but thats what kills u...

 

Dont think we're a bad team, statiscially defensively we're very good, surpringly so actually, but we lack fluidity and just a general up and at them approach ....unless we're 0-1 down, at that point we seem to spring to life somewhat.

The soloution? no idea, really, thats why i work in logistics, BUT, id like to see Dapo starting on the left, id like to see a formation accomodating that, id like to see a more fluid looking midfield 3 of say morley, sheehan and dempsey.....and maybe some start time for JDB. Could Dion go wide right of a front 3 with Dapo? Its gotta be better than a line up of kanchunga up front and dapo left back?

have a good night all, time for a pink gin

 

 

 

 

Great post.  In summary, Dapo left wing.  Use JDB,  Sadlier and Morley more.  Kachunga less.  Baka has a scorers instinct.  If there was a poll of fans I'd be surprised if the majority weren't in agreement.

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Why do people think we will come good after Xmas like the past 2 seasons how does that work it’s a different season we could end up being in a relegation  battle for all we know! He needs to change the system to suit the players and stop being stubborn ! 

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8 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

Why do people think we will come good after Xmas like the past 2 seasons how does that work it’s a different season we could end up being in a relegation  battle for all we know! He needs to change the system to suit the players and stop being stubborn ! 

Well surely we can’t be as bad as the last SIX league games

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Not sure if we have a set piece coach. If we do, he needs replacing. If we don’t, we need one. It’s not right at either end of the pitch.

A pretty shitty game today and not the best for my two kids’ first ever match. Not that it’ll stop me raising 2 more wanderers. 

The way I see it, we’re well placed and there’s no reason we can’t finish top 6. Some winnable games coming up between now and Xmas. Need to reset and push on.

Sadlier must be sleeping with Evatt’s wife.

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2 minutes ago, Jol_BWFC said:

Not sure if we have a set piece coach. If we do, he needs replacing. If we don’t, we need one. It’s not right at either end of the pitch.

A pretty shitty game today and not the best for my two kids’ first ever match. Not that it’ll stop me raising 2 more wanderers. 

The way I see it, we’re well placed and there’s no reason we can’t finish top 6. Some winnable games coming up between now and Xmas. Need to reset and push on.

Sadlier must be sleeping with Evatt’s wife.

...with Declan John on camera filiming it

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I HATE losing, it really gets me down, but can still see the journey we are on and appreciate the style he wants to play, at times it doesn't work and he does need to settle on a team and stick with it for a bit. When it clicks though, and I have no doubt it will, we will rip some teams apart, we do have it in our locker just stubbornly hidden at the moment. 

However two things really, really piss me off at the moment,  our corners in both defence and attack are woeful (had seemed to improve defensively but regressed massively) and our throw ins. We call other teams for wasting time, but every throw in we have takes a fucking age, and looks like a team of strangers without a clue, never any urgency. 

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2 hours ago, Cheese said:

Pure opinions, but I think we're better than mediocre. All that matters is where we are in May next year. In the meantime, enjoy the ride. We'll win some, we'll lose some, we'll draw some.

I agree with the 2nd bit, not so much with the first.  We'll finish where we finish, then start again in August.  Realistically I don't think we're one of the best 3 teams in the league.  So I expect to start again in league one.  Its about enjoying games, and wanting to go to the next away game because you'll see a decent attacking performance, maybe more 2-2 draws than 1-0 defeats even though you only get 1 extra point, its worth more than that.  As long as we don't flirt with relegation I just want to be enthused by the team, and to feel like the club is in good hands.

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1 hour ago, tomski said:

Evatt deserves all the flack coming. Solely on him today

As always our manc friend is correct. 
 

this isn’t wanting him out or denying whatever shit is being posted about progression. The fact is we have been shite for weeks. He’s been wrong for weeks and apart from two lucky come backs we would have had 1 out of 18 You simply can’t play 5 at the back and be successful with these players. The teams we have played have been shit and we’ve lost the battles. It’s poor. Very poor 

Charles has been dire but because he isn’t Kachunga that seems to be ok. 

santos is just not good enough if we want to progress. Too busy pointing and trying to be the tough guy despite as mentioned previously going missing. That booking was ridiculous today. No need to boot off. 
 

Apparently he is sticking to his morals / beliefs. Well then he best get used to managing the lower leagues as being a stubborn cunt is not successful. 

Edited by Big E
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58 minutes ago, Spider said:

No

its despite him when we win

because of him when we lose

you know the script 

Fuck me can you not see it’s been shite for weeks and his tinkering isn’t helping. 
There is no evatt out compaign just folk wanting him to accept it’s not working and change it 

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2 hours ago, ErnestTurnip said:

Only highlights of the day for me both came from Dean Holden on GMR after the game.

"Let's see what Dean Holden thinks as an ex-player and ex-manager"

"Not a very good one or I wouldn't be sat here"

And then in a moment of absolute genius he suggested the natural progression of Evatt's use of Dapo was for him to play him at left back so our best player could be on the pitch in a 3-5-2.

Holden IN.

Ha ha!  Holden lives in Worsley, seems to commentate on quite a few of our games when he's between jobs.  The 3 Bolton fans that were on GMR post match were very eloquent and reasoned.  All 3 of them were baffled why Sadlier never ever gets a start (the only one in the squad, even behind Sheehan now).  We can't keep hiding behind the system when Dapo is being picked as LWB, I think Sadlier is good enough to play in any of the positions apart from centre back (and LWB).  First name in midfield for me, if he looks poor after 5 games fair enough, but how is he behind every other midfielder, with his ability to score and create?

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Back home, had time to take in the match and I've clamed down now.. Physically shaking before I was that worked up about how poor the ref was.. Bit worrying how much I got into the match. 

 

Anyway.. thoughts.. 

We are set up to allow for Bradley to play.. Everytime the team gets the ball, they're looking to the wings.. We have a very rookie and raw 19 year old with about 20 first team games on one side, and left back on the other. Basically feels like the whole game plan is to accommodate Bradley.. (bare with me here).

The players don't want to shoot, instead sending the ball out wide. We are then wipping it in to the middle with nobody there to receive it, their No5 had a foot on Charles today. The plans not working..

Jones is getting flack, he's constantly under pressure again, supporting a very rookie new player on that wing, Bradleys very good, but he needs a rest, 

We have no set midfield. Different players every game. How neither Morley, Saddlier or Dempsey (to a lesser extent) are not getting in the first 11 is beyond me, all 3 will take a decent shot on goal given the chance. That's what we need allowing either DC of EK to get on rebounds. Why did we buy them?? It's not squad rotation as it's only the midfield that gets rotated!

Dapo was shite today, amazing player with so much potential, just doesn't show it. 

We need Charles with a bigger player up front, or Kachunga with a bigger player.. Both are getting battered every match. 

Declan John must have done something really dodgy to not be with a look in.

 

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5 hours ago, Black Sheep said:

Where is the steel in this team / squad, all the best teams have 2 or 3 rum fuckers who will if & when required engage in the dark arts. We have a team of choirboys who if the opposition get in their faces and mix it don't know what to do - its so easy for an opposition manager to stop us playing.

Taggart, Fairclough, McGinley, Sheridan, Blake etc (apologies to any others in that team I've forgot who could handle themselves), they could all play good football but could also handle themselves.

Evatt needs to find a team capable of playing his preferred type of passing football, but who can also handle themselves against rough, savvy, shit house League 1 teams (as otherwise as I've said we will be in League 1 for many years).

If you're looking for a team to match Todd's side for football and fighting ability you're in for a long wait. No other manager in my time watching Bolton has managed that (first manager I can remember is Charlie Wright). Evatt has progressed each season and I suspect that he is still achieving targets set by FV, people are talking about him being stubborn, have you guys forgot Rioch? Always rumours about him falling out with players, etc, successful managers are always stubborn and sure of themselves.

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There's a lot of talk about formations, which I believe are moot, when you consider the abysmal decision-making from the wide areas. When Oxford have two gigantic lumps at centre half, WHY are we always pumping high balls into Kachunga and Charles?

Evatt referred to this in his post-match; for me, if the fanbase is going to berate him - this is the stick he needs beating with, not calls of 442 or whatever. The system we play, by definition, creates these great chances, and today's only three goal chances come from balls fizzed in. Please, Ian, spend the next two weeks hammering them to play it on the floor in the final third, as currently, we're setting crosses up for an imaginary Peter Crouch.

Other thoughts:

Oxford will be knocking on the door of playoffs, decent side; decent balance of class and shithousery.

Jones seems to have gone to shit in the past few weeks. Trouble is, do you bring Aimson in for him? Not sure. Does Eoin Toal actually exist?

Sadlier deserves a start behind the front two. He was involved in most good things for us today.

I personally haven't a problem with Dapo at LWB. Think it could pay off if he didn't try to beat every man from his own third. 

Evatt is going nowhere, neither is a back 3. Enjoy the ride.

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1 hour ago, perth_white said:

If you're looking for a team to match Todd's side for football and fighting ability you're in for a long wait. No other manager in my time watching Bolton has managed that (first manager I can remember is Charlie Wright). Evatt has progressed each season and I suspect that he is still achieving targets set by FV, people are talking about him being stubborn, have you guys forgot Rioch? Always rumours about him falling out with players, etc, successful managers are always stubborn and sure of themselves.

Black Sheep does have a point though. Many great teams who became habitual winners had a midfield enforcer (thinking Vieira, McMahon, Keane etc.). We had a few at our zenith.

How can we tempt Granit Xhaka away from north London? Maybe when the Swiss take over? Got to be the best one around at the moment and a large part of the Arsenal revival. Also has the best christian name in the game.

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2 minutes ago, bolty58 said:

Black Sheep does have a point though. Many great teams who became habitual winners had a midfield enforcer (thinking Vieira, McMahon, Keane etc.). We had a few at our zenith.

How can we tempt Granit Xhaka away from north London? Maybe when the Swiss take over? Got to be the best one around at the moment and a large part of the Arsenal revival. Also has the best christian name in the game.

Point taken but he didn't talk about a midfield enforcer, he talked about a team of footballing double hard bastards, I've only ever seen one of those playing for us 

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6 hours ago, Spider said:

No

its despite him when we win

because of him when we lose

you know the script 

It really isn’t. Do you believe yesterday’s defeat was unavoidable or an Oxford masterclass?

There is not witch hunt going on here.  
 

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If you take previous teams in this league and even use Parkinson’s side they have the basic formula for me 

no nonsense defender, not pretty but does the job and gets you 5 goals plus 

grafter in the middle

and a 15/20 goalscorer

Still using parkinson as an example in L1, it wasn’t pretty at times but very effective but  we could also mix it when needed we absolutely played some teams to death 

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What I've seen from these last few games is the other teams doing the basics better than us.

Defending, working hard and causing bother from set pieces.

In no way an Evatt out fan, but he does need to have a long look at things (and I'm sure he is).

Plenty calling for 4 4 2 or 4 3 3, but I'm not sure we have a right back good enough.

Agree with @Casino that Gethin is better in a back 3, and for me, Bradley isn't good enough defensively (and tbf, we want him attacking).

Maybe 3 4 3, is that even a thing ?

Anyway, get our best players out there and fingers crossed 😄.

Onwards and upwards COYWM 

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