Match Thread Bolton Wanderers (a)

Understandable that survival as a club is now the number 1 objective imo. I can't decide if Rhodes has been over cautious in releasing the said transfer kitty, whether McCall was in cahoots in keeping below budget, or has he just been undermined by present Covid developments. The problem I have is the present squad falls way below expectation. So now we are drifting and the question is who is really to blame.We have a rich owner who isn't close enough or keen enough to push the boat out to propel us up the leagues.(Although he is propping us up with loans to protect his investment) We all knew a branch and root sort out was needed to stop the rot and to progress, a good backroom staff, coaches and scouting system needed to be assembled. With all in place there could be no excuses, but the necessary cash injection and backing hasn't apparently happened.It's all soundbites and fits and starts..no cohesion, no plan, no framework to act as a catalyst for successful redevelopment. I am dismayed and concerned because ALL the Club Management collectively are responsible for the direction in which we are heading.Sustainability is paramount, even more so in the present circumstances, but decisions have been taken earlier which have placed the football side of the business in jeopardy. Someone has to pick up the reins and take charge.

 

I love Stuart, but when I keep seeing Anthony O’Connor on the right wing I know we’ve got problems.

 

Continue to say it and get bored of it. Mid table at best side. It’s so bad at the minute and tonight was one I was hoping we could get some points on the board. Clearly not.
We seem to be worryingly not very good at the back and not very good going forward. We have a half decent central midfield but not one that would push for promotion. The whole side is bang average and results are showing.
As @Idlebantam i think it was pointed out to me it is actually 2 that go down from this league and that’s worrying but luckily Scunthorpe Southend and Mansfield seem a lot worse. However the latter have sacked their manager tonight.
We are in trouble and unless McCall admits this he is not the man to sort it out. He seems deluded into thinking we are close to a play off side?
No one is gonna sign up to I follow based on tonight and this week. Our form is crap and the product with the log in details is garbage.
We need a massive boost and a shot in the arm. It’s been bad news now for seasons. A new CEO who will sort our club out is needed and fast. It all feels very much to me like the season before parky came in at the minute. And that’s scary.

 

I don't disagree with your assessment of the squad, the back line has looked shaky under pressure, partly because we try to play out from the back, the front line is toothless, but I'm not sure why the midfield gets a pass.

Watt cost us the game with his defensive blunder, and I'm not really sure what he and Cooke are contributing given the sheer lack of supply to the albeit poor front line.

 

You’re right actually it doesn’t deserve a pass but just in my opinion it is our strongest area of the pitch. And that’s not saying much.
But agreed. Cooke looks a shadow of the player we have seen. Watt in my opinion would benefit from an experienced hard man type in there with him to do some of the dirty work. We won’t get that now sadly

 

It's a shame how poorly Cooke has started the season.

He showed commitment to the club by signing permanently in the Summer, and I think a lot of us thought Bowyer's shackles had prevented him posing a real attacking threat.

Sadly, he and Watt aren't doing anything particularly impressive at the moment. The only reason I asked why you gave them a pass was because I keep reading how they're our best players. It's marginal, in my eyes, and not particularly noteworthy! But that's the general consensus.

 

Seems Bowyer may have been right in not playing him when fans were calling for his inclusion. Had Bowyer still been here I doubt he’d have extended his contract.

On another note, how short sighted was it to ditch Connolly? He might not have had the best crossing ability, but he had pace and put us on the front foot and quickly turned defence into attack. I’d love to hear why the club decided against signing him.

 

Looking back I did not rate Connolly but now given the state of things I agree at least he might have carried a threat ? DMH (missing last night) is poor and Ismail is always injured and useless to us. I didnt get Cooke last season ? and when came over to the crowd at Salford was roundly booed off ! Thought we seen last of him ? Then Stuart bizzarely calls him back ? Same with DMH ?.

No idea where we go from here. We could call time on Stuart but whats that achieving ??? Unless we get rid of this truly all time in my 50 years worst group of players. Only Watt; Wood; Staunton and Hosannah are near good enough. The rest do need to go before there is any possibility of moving forward.

It truley is depressing not withstanding its being played out against a soul destroying "back drop" of Covid. I sense it is dragging Stuart down; you only have to look at the body language. The one set of people he does not like failing in front of is us !. And by the same token we do not want to see him fail. He is the one single thing we have left to hang on to at this club. Other than that there is nothing absolutely nothing left down there the place is a complete mess.

It needs someone to come in on the football side who can support Stuart properly. To me Stuart is and always will be too close to it. It nigh on broke him first time around and I sense that happening over again. Its not going to happen but for me if there was the slightest chance Rupp should bail out. Hopefully to a more local buyer ???. Bring the club back to basics and try and ride out this season staying in the Footbsll League.

I do think thats what we have to focus upon rather than worrying points are being lost in the chase for a promotion ?. Rather its a week to week affair seeing how far we can get away from the fall into Non-League football. That actually takes some pressure off Stuart and the players if we are honest. In a sense Stuarts "we can afford to lose 10-15 makes some logic then ?. You can lose 10-15 and stay in this league. We have to accept how poor this squad is; yet trust that Stuart & Kenny can galvanise them sufficiently in the end to keep the club in the Football League.

If we could at the same time move on from Rupp and Rhodes then that to me might be another step forward ? So its about survival now for me plain and simple.

 

Couldn't agree more about Connolly, as I bored everyone going on about him at the time. Appears we chose DMH who, regardless of what we are told, doesn't even seem particularly quick

 

Biggest mistake Stu is doing for me is not playing Pritchard naturally left footed who gives balance in midfield as well as added height in both boxes but the only midfielder we have who makes darting runs and can finish.

 

Stuart cannot and will not take criticism ever.

Anyone thinks i'm wrong only has to listen to his post match interviews this season.

 

Players under 21 don't count in the squad size.

 

The depressing thing for me is this isnt just a bad set of results, its gaping holes in an imbalanced squad lacking real leaders, sacking him is unlikely to bring a turn in results, as the squad is even weaker than Bowyers.

Only poor finishing meant a poor Bolton side werent out of sight before we raised our game.

Stuart was a Fans hero but im afraid he is playing a big part in ruining this club now. His media interviews arent endearing him to me one bit.

He is clearly not the man to build a successful team on a shoestring and he has seriously over estimated his own abilities with the lazy signings he gas made.

This club take the absolute piss out of our fans the way the support is taken for granted by Rupp and Rhodes, but i can see a tide turning and people will just get bored and find other interests.

 

Looking at last night's Programme we do list 26 players but Bolton, on the same basis, list 35. Explain that then.

 

Sorry Jon, I disagree. What cost us the game was a missed penalty. Yes, their goal was one of comedic proportions (if you're a Bolton fan) but it came at a time when they were on top and had other chances.
In the second half we battered them, believe me, battered them, I was there and saw what we did all over the pitch. If that pen had gone in we would have won comfortably in my view, a view shared by the Bolton people and Rick Parry incidentally.
Agree this is all a downer, I was looking at 7 points this week, now I'm looking at 6 from the next two and a Cup win in the next week.
Others on here in other posts have commented on various parts of the team, I won't but believe me we weren't as bad as some make out, yes, a cutting edge was missed but Hosannah was tremendous, AOC did well on the right of the back line, just as before in the Carabao, BRE carried the ball from defence surprisingly well, Finn Dawson made a good start although naturally tired and Wood also got forward well. Not all bad.
We should go to Barrow with some confidence and then get those results I'm looking for in the next three.

 

He brought the players in.

So you saying lets trust him again..No thanks.

 

Just to add some perspective Bolton were woeful in the second half yet still had chances to extend their lead. A draw would have been a fair result but there are glaring gaps in this squad that should have been evident to any manager worth his/her salt. If those gaps had been taken care of before the season started we wouldn't look half as bad as we do.

 

I was just about to say that.