Match Thread Vertu Trophy - Bolton Wanderers (A)

It was a poor performance but a little over a week ago we matched these all over the park and could have taken the 3pts. They are a very decent side.

Im not bothered about the Vertu Trophy. We are 3rd in the league and dont need a cup run in a crappy competelition like this derailing us like it did last season. We picked up unneccesary injuries last night so I wont lose sleep we are out - 100% focus on the league now.

Plymouth and Port Vale are there for the taking. 6pts from the next 2 and all is forgiven.

 

GA comes across as a stubborn man who won’t change unless forced to. We saw that last season with Cook up front and just lumping it to him which didn’t work. We were heading for another failed season with probably another sacked manager in January.
When Cook got injured we had no other big number 9 so he was forced to pick the likes of Pointon and Kav and switch to a more intricate build up.

 

Just came across on Facebook, L1 forum page .

“So top of the league loses 5-1 and bottom of the league wins 5-0 tonight. Nice to see the competition is getting taken as seriously as usual this year. Just needs scrapping completely. The stadiums are empty, players don’t care, it’s an absolute waste of time!”

 

Heard that both Lapslie and Halliday are going in January. Also, Sheffield United have been watching Pointon all season. May come in for a bid in January.

 

Nobody is saying that Cook has been effective but when all 3 strikers aren't even remotely close to looking dangerous then perhaps we need to look at the wider picture rather that just pretending that the fault lies with someone that barely plays.

 

2 months ago a lot of fans were waxing lyrical about the recruitment and the squad. Form and performances have been poor the last couple of months but we are still 3rd in the league and only lost 2 times. I am concerned we seem to have fallen off the earlier performances and results and there is definitely a need to improve in January.

While every player in the squad can be improved on, and I agree we have better strength in depth, the facts are we have built a squad that has taken us from 3rd in L2, to 3rd in L1 - the quality of opponent is night and day so that suggests to me that the quality has improved in our side too.

We finished last season with Kavanagh and Mellor as our striking options, and while Swan and Humphrys have their limitations, they are both easily an upgrade. Neufville at RWB is a definite improvement on Halliday and Touray has been fantastic in switching from LWB to LCB to back again. Despite recent performances, Power is another firm upgrade on Smallwood IMO.

In January I think we need a AM and a CF as we need to improve that quality in the final 3rd. Defence, when all available looks ok on paper as Tilt and Pennington to come back gives us options instead of Byrne and Kelly. Maybe argue a case for another CM, but for that, one probably has to go. Metcalfe is a work in progress, Leigh is just inconsistent but does enough as as squad player but Pattison is just too injury prone so he would be the one to leave for me.

 

No issues from me on Lapslie and Halliday going - L2 players. If one of Kelly or Bryne can follow them out of the door then I am happy. If its both - I'm elated. Kavanagh another I wouldnt be sad to see free up a squad space.

I would be looking at the loan market - hopefully we can hit a bullseye with Khela and Adaramola impact loans. I dont think its the time to invest in long term signings.

 

I think it has dawned on all of us that we do not have a two team squad regardless of appearances early doors. GA is putting a positive spin on that, which is ok, he has to back the players. However, they cannot play out of position, it is just daft. It would appear he would rather put players in square holes than change the system. This is something GA needs to look at himself, as we have seen last night and previous games that we have struggled in. Nobody is going to shoot him if he tries 442 or any other system to get a result.

It is a shame about Humps, he has some very good technical ability but lacks the quality of being a team player. I would rather somebody take him on one side and tell him to be the playmaker and forget about scoring a worldie and concentrate on being a brilliant assist player. If that doesn’t work then there is no place for passengers.



We can’t quell fans expectations. I don’t think the club want that in any event, they have made a lot of money out of it. The squad and management team have supplied us with lots of fun and entertainment following on from last season promotion, yes fans expect more of the same, who wouldn’t? I don’t usually comment on our position in the league until October/November. We have made an excellent start and I expect more of the same please. Will I get it? Well now that very much depends on our ability to strengthen the squad. If we can do that the we are then on for more exciting times. I love the high press, but it is the sheer intensity of playing that twice a week that can cause injuries in my view. Which brings me back to systems. GA and back room staff need a re-think on changing to a system that not only brings results but is easier on the players.

 

This is Bradford City not Birmingham or Wrexham ...........have we got one of the poorer budgets at this level ??? Teams with poorer budgets cannot simply go out and splash the cash can they ???
This recruitments all aim was to keep us in this division which looks like its gonna work

 

Not to worried about the result last night what does concern me is the perceived drop of in team spirit which has taken us so far.there is no doubt that we have been punching above our weight this season and if we lose our togetherness then we could slide badly.

 

Say what you want about Smallwood, he was genuinely brilliant for us last season and was a major part of the reason we got promoted. I don’t think Power has been quite as influential for us just yet.

I think we’ve upgraded in a couple of key areas, mainly the wingback positions, but as much we are reliant on the likes of Neufville and Touray, if you take some of the league 2 players out of the current squad (who some claim are holding us back) we suddenly look like a very poor outfit. Despite us signing 4 new Centre Backs this summer, Baldwin is probably still our best CB, Pattison would be in a lot of people’s first choice 11 with Metcalfe being his only competition, and if you take Sarcevic and Pointon out of the current starting 11 we’re screwed. These players are just as integral to our success as the 10 + players we signed during the summer transfer window.

With the odd exception, I don’t think there’s a massive gulf in class between any of the players we have on our books irrespective of what division we signed them in. There are no standouts in this squad, our success to date has relied on hardwork, tactics, and decent reserve options to cope with injuries and rotate regularly. Whether we can maintain it remains to be seen

 

I wouldn’t even say we have decent runners. Neufville and Touray just never got down the line. They got to 18 yard line and looked for an easy back pass. Neither the players of the first 6 matches.

 

Yes….we need to switch formation to suit those we have available.

Central midfield is the area that concerns me most. Bolton tore through us with ease last night, just as Exeter did. If you are losing the midfield battle you won’t win games!

im not convinced Metcalfe is L1 ready. Leigh isn’t good enough at all, and Patto isn’t fit. Even Power’s standards have dropped lately.

We urgently need control back in midfield. Not starting shite centre backs would help too, stop the CMs dropping deep to pick up the ball.

 

None of the front 3 got anything but scraps to feed off. How many times in the first half did we fail to get a ball into the box with 3 city player's dicking about with the ball?

 

Yeah CM worries me too as no partnership seems to have any legs for more than a match or two. A lot of inconsistent players in there or maybe inexperience in terms of Metcalfe and the Leigh experiment which just needs to end now. With the setup, you could be forgiven to say that we aren't supposed to see much control in midfield as the aim is to get it to a wing back, press onwards to the attackers and have quick attacks and quick transitions. But the CMs aren't really breaking up play as we were, don't really get box to box, don't really join in with attacks. We kind of have developed a little no mans land area which gets over-ran far too easily.

I don't think we need major surgery at all, just a few tweaks. There's no escaping the fact that teams have figured us out lately, one win in nine in all comps and that wasn't really convincing against Exeter. It's been almost 3 months since we've won back to back games and we still are where we are in L1 which is pointing to how inconsistent everyone is this season, tables pretty irrelevant at this stage when you can still drop or rise 6 or 7 spots with 2 wins or losses.

Even a slight change in approach might bring some confidence but to me it looks like the players seem really flat out there. We play and hope for something to happen rather than have belief that we can actually cause some danger.

 

Dont disagree on Smallwood, but could he cut it at L1 level - that was the question. Tranmere fans think they got a dud so it looks like the decision was correct. Power started off brilliant, form has dropped but he has captained us to a point off top.

CB is a tricky one, I think we have 'enough' but injuries have not helped the cause at all. Im taking what I see from J Wright, Tilt and Pennington over Crichlow, Johnson and Shepherd - as a collective.

 

This 100 percent.

 

The comment isn't just about last night's game, it's now an ongoing trend and needs resolving asap, whether that's personnel or system.

 

I think we need someone with legs, like Patto (who just can’t stay fit) to play alongside Power, as Metcalfe and Leigh don’t get forward to the same extent.

my knowledge of who is about in that mould is very poor though. You know these lower leagues, Jordan. Anyone likely to be available in Jan that springs to mind?