Boro 2-1 Bolton

I said after the Bristol and Wolves matches, the evidence that Phillips was any more clued up tactically than Clueless himself was slim. From today's game, reasons to think he is potentially as bad were plentiful, starting with the decision to play Kevin Davies as a lone striker, when we've seen him there isolated time and time again. It should have been 6-2 Boro by half time. We were lucky Emnes had to come off 20 minutes in as he was causing the back line alsorts of problems - Ream and Ricketts were second to every header and Mears had the worst game of any right back I've seen in my life (he was ironically cheered off by the Bolton fans when subbed near full time).

Petrov looked dangerous all game and he was brought off after an hour for Afobe and MDavies was brought off shortly after the equaliser for Pratley.

doffcocker wrote:I said after the Bristol and Wolves matches, the evidence that Phillips was any more clued up tactically than Clueless himself was slim. From today's game, reasons to think he is potentially as bad were plentiful, starting with the decision to play Kevin Davies as a lone striker, when we've seen him there isolated time and time again. It should have been 6-2 Boro by half time. We were lucky Emnes had to come off 20 minutes in as he was causing the back line alsorts of problems - Ream and Ricketts were second to every header and Mears had the worst game of any right back I've seen in my life (he was ironically cheered off by the Bolton fans when subbed near full time).

Petrov looked dangerous all game and he was brought off after an hour for Afobe and MDavies was brought off shortly after the equaliser for Pratley.

Did you fly to the game?

Should add that Davies lasted the full 90...AGAIN...even though he was ineffective...AGAIN!

aaron_bwfc wrote:Do you think it's time to introduce a few youngsters? The under 18's won again today, now i'm not saying they are the answer but I can't imagine the centre backs in the youth set up can defend any worse than our current back 4.

There's a lot of work on Freedman.

I suspect his first act will be to go back to basics. Sadly that will mean some ugly football i suspect but in the long run it will be wise.

I'd happily see a few 0-0's especially when you consider the fixtures we've got coming up.

It's unrealistic to expect much from the first 8-10 games and by then promotion will be a thing of the past most likely, with playoffs a stretch.

If Freedman culled the first team (he won't) and brought in a few youngsters and we lost, the same people saying "get the youngsters in" would be saying "can't believe he dropped Davies!"

I feel sorry for Freedman, he's on a bit of a hiding to nothing with this bunch.

doffcocker wrote:I said after the Bristol and Wolves matches, the evidence that Phillips was any more clued up tactically than Clueless himself was slim. From today's game, reasons to think he is potentially as bad were plentiful, starting with the decision to play Kevin Davies as a lone striker, when we've seen him there isolated time and time again. It should have been 6-2 Boro by half time. We were lucky Emnes had to come off 20 minutes in as he was causing the back line alsorts of problems - Ream and Ricketts were second to every header and Mears had the worst game of any right back I've seen in my life (he was ironically cheered off by the Bolton fans when subbed near full time).

Petrov looked dangerous all game and he was brought off after an hour for Afobe and MDavies was brought off shortly after the equaliser for Pratley.

So you don't think JP is the messiah?

terenceanne wrote:Whenever everyone is fit ..... My picks would be... Lonnie in goal, Riley, Alonso, Holden, Wheater, Sordell. Bring back Eaves .... sit SKD & Petrov.... and that's just for starters.....

warnock is our best LB

In a way Boro's winner was a good thing, it put a stop to any complacency that may have started to creep in. A home win and two away draws from the last three, not to sniffed at and it would have given the appearance that we have a good team in the making. I'm sure our new manager will now be under no illusions as to his task.

I wouldn't dream of trying to give him any advise (he's a professional and been in the game all his life) but I would think he'll see his first task as steadying the ship before trying to turn it round/

A lot depends on how much Eddie will let him have in January.

chipbutty wrote:In a way Boro's winner was a good thing, it put a stop to any complacency that may have started to creep in. A home win and two away draws from the last three, not to sniffed at and it would have given the appearance that we have a good team in the making. I'm sure our new manager will now be under no illusions as to his task.

I wouldn't dream of trying to give him any advise (he's a professional and been in the game all his life) but I would think he'll see his first task as steadying the ship before trying to turn it round/

A lot depends on how much Eddie will let him have in January.

If he sells


Ngog
Sordell
Mears
Ream or Mills

He'll have a few bob to play with

Lyric Todkill wrote:

If he sells

Ngog
Sordell
Mears
Ream or Mills

He'll have a few bob to play with

I'd say Ngog, Ream & Mears are unsaleable right now. Someone might take a punt on Sordell for £250k and Mills for similar.

Thanks Owen Coyle.

Natasha is correct.....however I think Sordell should be given a chance before we call it a day.

As for playing SKD upfront alone ....it's well beyond a joke at this point. I say regularly that playing SKD is like playing with 10 men .....for all the reasons we argue about.

Overall I'll take a few hammerings if Dougie drastically changes the team around....be worth it in the long run.

terenceanne wrote:Natasha is correct.....however I think Sordell should be given a chance before we call it a day.

As for playing SKD upfront alone ....it's well beyond a joke at this point. I say regularly that playing SKD is like playing with 10 men .....for all the reasons we argue about.

Overall I'll take a few hammerings if Dougie drastically changes the team around....be worth it in the long run.

This isn't a Davies bashing but as soon as a manager comes in who has the balls to take the captains armband away from Davies, we may finally see him dropped.

Will that man be Freedman? I hope so but I highly doubt it.

I don't think there will be money to spend in January, I'm not convinced the youngsters are getting the experience they need nor do I think that the more mature players are getting any where reaching the potential OC felt they have. In delivering salary cutbacks on the scale that OC has, gambles had to be taken and it's increasingly looking like none of them have come off so far. Keeping the remaining squad injury-free was a gamble, but that's backfired. Bringing the youngsters through to plug the gaps was a gamble but nobody has been willing to commit to giving them serious playing time so far so we can assume that they were assessed as not being ready. Cheap signings like Ream, Mears, Andrews and Mills have shown why they were cheap - none have noticeably improved. More expensive signings like Ngog and Sordell haven't done anything of note either.

Add to that the pre-season hype about our squad and a general unwillingness to recognise the quality that other teams have has led to unrealistic expectations for this season. Promotion? Maybe next year if the youngsters come through and Holden, Vela and Wheater are back, but barring a miracle I can't see it this year.

So if we aren't going to spend any more money, what else can we do to get back on track?

I think the first thing is to re-evaluate our expectations. I'd settle for survival this season providing that the youngsters are given a lengthy period of first team football in which to acclimatise to the pressure. If Riley, Alonso, Vela, Wylde, Eaves, Sordell and a bunch of youth players were given a "no-pressure" 10 game trial playing under a new system which suited their collective style of play and supported by 3 or 4 key established players e.g. Spearing, I wouldn't complain if we lost the first five in a row.

For long-term security we appear to have no choice other than to build on our youth talent and yet so far we have hardly seen them, let alone playing together as a team or in a system that suits their talents. Give them that chance and by the end of it, we'll really know what we've got rather than having to speculate on the true strength of our squad and future prospects. We should have enough to survive this season so let's not waste the season rehashing the same predictable approach using the same has-beens. Let the youngsters play so they can grow up quicker.

Over to you Douglas.

wanderlust wrote:I don't think there will be money to spend in January, I'm not convinced the youngsters are getting the experience they need nor do I think that the more mature players are getting any where reaching the potential OC felt they have. In delivering salary cutbacks on the scale that OC has, gambles had to be taken and it's increasingly looking like none of them have come off so far. Keeping the remaining squad injury-free was a gamble, but that's backfired. Bringing the youngsters through to plug the gaps was a gamble but nobody has been willing to commit to giving them serious playing time so far so we can assume that they were assessed as not being ready. Cheap signings like Ream, Mears, Andrews and Mills have shown why they were cheap - none have noticeably improved. More expensive signings like Ngog and Sordell haven't done anything of note either.

Add to that the pre-season hype about our squad and a general unwillingness to recognise the quality that other teams have has led to unrealistic expectations for this season. Promotion? Maybe next year if the youngsters come through and Holden, Vela and Wheater are back, but barring a miracle I can't see it this year.

So if we aren't going to spend any more money, what else can we do to get back on track?

I think the first thing is to re-evaluate our expectations. I'd settle for survival this season providing that the youngsters are given a lengthy period of first team football in which to acclimatise to the pressure. If Riley, Alonso, Vela, Wylde, Eaves, Sordell and a bunch of youth players were given a "no-pressure" 10 game trial playing under a new system which suited their collective style of play and supported by 3 or 4 key established players e.g. Spearing, I wouldn't complain if we lost the first five in a row.

For long-term security we appear to have no choice other than to build on our youth talent and yet so far we have hardly seen them, let alone playing together as a team or in a system that suits their talents. Give them that chance and by the end of it, we'll really know what we've got rather than having to speculate on the true strength of our squad and future prospects. We should have enough to survive this season so let's not waste the season rehashing the same predictable approach using the same has-beens. Let the youngsters play so they can grow up quicker.

Over to you Douglas.

I agree, and neither would i. Sadly most would.

wanderlust wrote:

I think the first thing is to re-evaluate our expectations. I'd settle for survival this season providing that the youngsters are given a lengthy period of first team football in which to acclimatise to the pressure. If Riley, Alonso, Vela, Wylde, Eaves, Sordell and a bunch of youth players were given a "no-pressure" 10 game trial playing under a new system which suited their collective style of play and supported by 3 or 4 key established players e.g. Spearing, I wouldn't complain if we lost the first five in a row.

For long-term security we appear to have no choice other than to build on our youth talent and yet so far we have hardly seen them, let alone playing together as a team or in a system that suits their talents. Give them that chance and by the end of it, we'll really know what we've got rather than having to speculate on the true strength of our squad and future prospects. We should have enough to survive this season so let's not waste the season rehashing the same predictable approach using the same has-beens. Let the youngsters play so they can grow up quicker.

Over to you Douglas.

If Dougie assessed the squad and realised it was pants and made a public statement that he was going to go with youth I think the crowd would give him time. But you have to give them 15-20 games, not 10 minutes at the end of a game when we're 5-0 down.

If this under 18 team is as good as it's cracked up to be, in three years they could be shit hot first team players, unfortunatley BWFC are not known for blooding youngsters...that needs to change.

The Under 18s are great but the Under 21s "development squad" has had a string of poor results. In theory they could try out someone like Luke Woodland from the Under 18s, but in the short term I'd like to see the ones mentioned above playing regularly so they can start to take a bit more responsibility and get some mileage under their belts. If they can hack it - and I'd be inclined to give Ngog another chance with that team - we could be great especialy when Vela, Wheater and Holden are back.

Ngog has had enough chances. Sordell has been poor, but he's not had the game time of Ngog. I'd give him a run to see what he can do.

Ngog has had plenty of chances to play second fiddle in a different set-up. There may be mileage in asking him to do the job Eaves does or rather I think it would be worth looking at.

If Dougie assessed the squad and realised it was pants and made a public statement that he was going to go with youth I think the crowd would give him time. But you have to give them 15-20 games, not 10 minutes at the end of a game when we're 5-0 down.

If this under 18 team is as good as it's cracked up to be, in three years they could be shit hot first team players, unfortunatley BWFC are not known for blooding youngsters...that needs to change.

Couldn't agree more.

I make it 11 Bolton goals from 19 that have come from set pieces this season. I don't think poor finishing has much to do with it, as some have suggested. Every match, we don't know where our next real goalscoring opportunity is coming from. In Eagles, Petrov and CYL we've got three players that can do real damage on the counter. Kevin Davies does not fit anywhere into this. If Freedman knows what he's doing, it won't be long before Davies is benched.

Guys, when you look at it, the whole team is poor, just as Nat says. If you take it in the three areas, i.e. defence, midfield, and attack, we do not have any outstanding player, (at the moment) who can carry the other two (or three). Whether its down to skill, tactics, mind-set, training, or even the bloody pies at half time, DF has a big job to do, and we cannot move forward until the defence is sorted. We need at least one 'caracter' in each area, and we have to build on that. It won't happen this season, and I'd be happy to end up middle to top of the table, just as long as we don't have to go through the depression we had week in, week out, with Coyle. I'm happy to forego an immediate return to th PL, as we'd only get our arses kicked again. its just too soon. For me its a season to enjoy watching the team rebuild, and going to games where we will at least have a chance of doing something.