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'Don't mention the score' – Whites look to move on from Bristol nightmare

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karlypants

karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse

Jimmy Phillips is intent on turning over a new leaf against Reading tomorrow and putting the nightmare of Ashton Gate firmly behind him.

Pain felt after the darkest day of his 28-year association with Wanderers has not dulled but the interim boss has not laboured the point with his players.

Instead he has slowly and steadily enforced a new way of thinking on the training ground, putting more emphasis on team shape and structure.

And Phillips hopes that with a busy April to come he can be better judged as a coach than with the limited preparation he had before the Bristol City game.

“It was still a very bad day and it will stay etched in my recent memories,” he told The Bolton News, “and it’s a day I don’t want repeating.

“But we have got to move on – just as we have from any other bad days you have as a player.

“I mentioned it (the score) once to the players and I said I wasn’t going to mention it again, and I haven’t done.

“We learned a lesson from Bristol about our application in the game.

“But over the international break the mood of the players has been good. They have worked hard and they have been responsive to different ideas which is good. They have open minds to be willing to change in order to change.

“I'm pleased with what I have seen so far. The acid test is Saturday and with games against Brentford and Derby to follow, it’s a week where we ‘could’ get nine points. I am looking forward to the challenge. We have to be positive.”

Gary Madine could miss the Reading game with a hip injury he has carried for the last couple of months, while checks will be carried out on Neil Danns when he returns from international duty with Guyana today.

Phillips believes the break – which saw the players given three days off over the Easter weekend – should stand them in good stead in a month with no fewer than seven fixtures.

“It gave the players a rest mentally and when you come to the April time of the season, it’s down to the mental side of the game. If they are not fit now, they are never going to be fit,” he said.

“We’ve had a few players struggling to train fully all week due to carrying injuries so it has been a chance for a couple of those to clear up. Hopefully we will get a much better performance on Saturday.”

Relegation is, in all but the most optimistic supporters’ eyes, a foregone conclusion. But Phillips is demanding his players do not give up as they appeared to have done at Bristol City.

“You wouldn’t want any club wanting to swap places with us in the Championship,” he said.

“But we will go into every game looking to get a result out of it. Whatever happens at the end of the season, whether it be relegation or not, we need to put in performances the supporters can be proud of.

“When I do reflect on Bristol game, the fans gave us terrific backing. This season they have been great at the Macron so we need to put some pride back in the shirt.”

Source

doffcocker

doffcocker
Ivan Campo
Ivan Campo

karlypants wrote:
We learned a lesson from Bristol about our application in the game.

What was there to learn?

Ah yes, we've been dicked 6-0, but at least now we know we must try harder.

Norpig

Norpig
Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse

sorry Jimmy you should have been mentioning the score all the time and made them watch it on a loop. they need to understand how much they have let the club down this season, not just in the last match.

If we go behind tomorrow i expect a lot of abuse to come from the stands for the players and to be honest most of them deserve it.

Numpty 28723

Numpty 28723
Andy Walker
Andy Walker

karlypants wrote:“It was still a very bad day and it will stay etched in my recent memories,” he told The Bolton News, “and it’s a day I don’t want repeating. 

Definitely won't be 6-0 to the home side then.

luckyPeterpiper

luckyPeterpiper
Ivan Campo
Ivan Campo

I can see Jimmy's point to be honest. When you've had a disaster like that then there is very little point belabouring it. Either the players know how bad it was and will fight back for pride's sake if nothing else or they just don't care in which case going on about it will make no difference. 

Oddly enough I think the break may help us more than Reading. When you're on a roll of good form a break can sometimes break your concentration and when you're on a down like ours it can give you a chance to regroup. For this reason I'm predicting a draw. I'd love to see us take all three points but I suspect we're just not quite good enough to get them and Reading won't be so off the pace as to give them to us. 1-1 for me.

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