Pre-Season Games - Thread

Personally I think Beckford is being a little hard done by by Bolton fans. He's clearly the type of player that needs a run of games to get into a rhythm and when he got that he had a good scoring record for us. I think with Feeney Hall and Mavies behind him he would get some good service, something we lacked last year. Feeney may not have the technical ability of Eagles or Lee but he's got pace to go past defenders and puts a good cross in on the run - which IMO we haven't had for years.

Obviously the main problem is whether Dougie now trusts the defence enough to play Hall Feeney and Mavies in away games, hopefully we'll be far more solid now and he'll go for it a little more, the combination of a solid back four and a pacy attack is what worked wonders at Palace.

bwfc1874 wrote:Personally I think Beckford is being a little hard done by by Bolton fans. He's clearly the type of player that needs a run of games to get into a rhythm and when he got that he had a good scoring record for us. I think with Feeney Hall and Mavies behind him he would get some good service, something we lacked last year. Feeney may not have the technical ability of Eagles or Lee but he's got pace to go past defenders and puts a good cross in on the run - which IMO we haven't had for years.

Obviously the main problem is whether Dougie now trusts the defence enough to play Hall Feeney and Mavies in away games, hopefully we'll be far more solid now and he'll go for it a little more, the combination of a solid back four and a pacy attack is what worked wonders at Palace.

I still have my doubts about Beckford unfortunately. He has the pace and he manages to get into decent positions but he just seems to lack the poise and control required to get shots off quickly enough and he ends up scuffing them a lot. Not sure if that can be learned.
That's why I don't think he'll be a 20 goal striker.

Norpig wrote:

Numpty 28723 wrote:Feeney looked excellent in the first half. He wanted to get past the full back every time and usually did. I'm hoping he can have a good impact this season.

i hope so too, its always good to have a winger who can beat a man and put in a cross, but at the moment do we have any strikers that are going to benefit?

Correct you are Sir .....  if we have wingers lumping crosses in then a big man to nod down was the key.  i.e. Juke.

Plan A out the window ...... now I read in the BEN that Doog is telling the wingers to play inside more and have some shots on goal etc.. I think he realizes that lumping in crosses now will be bread & butter to big defenders.  Currently I can't see the ability to pass the ball in but we shall see how it pans out.

Arsenal have had this problem for years.....no big men up front...they rarely cross it...always trying to walk the ball in etc.  They have a tad more skill then us but they still can't quite get past the bigger physical teams.  They need a better mix and so do we.

Team to face MelbourneCity: Fitzsimons, White, Sellers, Taylor, Bolger, Threlkeld, Bastos, Vela, Wilkinson, Trotter, Youngs.

BWFC XI subs: Trialist, Clough, Iliev, Lester, Walker, Holding, Woodland

1-0 wilkinson

Losing 2-1 now

3-1 now. Former wanderer Aaron mooy scored

where are you seeing this ????

Twatter

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Bolton Wanderers XI (Kids, mostly) were defeated 5-1 by Australian outfit Melbourne City in a pre-season friendly at the County Ground on Wednesday evening.

Keegan wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Bolton Wanderers XI (Kids, mostly) were defeated 5-1 by Australian outfit Melbourne City in a pre-season friendly at the County Ground on Wednesday evening.

Take that with a pinch of salt, to be honest.  We fielded kids whilst Melbourne City FC if owned by Manchester City FC!!!  (Melbourne City FC are formerly known as Melbourne Hearts FC)

I think it's a setback personally. Dougie has given a lot of these kids a chance to show their worth recently (perhaps because we might actually need them if we sell our top earners and fail to recruit before the window is out) and this will have done their confidence no good at all. More poignantly it won't have done a lot for Dougie's confidence in them and may force him to react in the transfer window if he has anything to work with.

6 of the eleven have been mingling with the senior players and getting a run out of late - I'm sure the manager would have wanted them to show they are Championship material - and a good Championship side shouldn't get steamrollered by an A-League outfit.

An average A League side, maybe - but this is a Man City A League team that has David Villa as a loanee and the experience of Damien Duff pulling the strings. I was disappointed when Mooy left Bolton - I thought he was going to be good and he has since gotten a Aussie first team call up and is rated as one of the best midfielders in the league (not saying a whole lot, I'll agree) but he would have done his best against his former team. Literally men against boys, so nothing to worry about.

Keegan wrote:Literally men against boys, so nothing to worry about.

But Vela and Trotter are the future of BWFC. I know because Dougie said so.

Beaten at home by an Aussie team - has there been a darker day in our long history?

If they were the present, there would be cause for concern!

It wasn't a home match but that's not really the point. I'm sure Dougie would have wanted them to give a good account of themselves to show they are ready for the Championship if they have to be called upon.

Team for tonight's pre-season game against Tranmere:
Lonergan, McNaughton, Mills, Dervite, Moxey, Spearing, Danns, Pratley, M Davies, Beckford, C Davies
Subs: Fitzsimons, White, Ream, Riley, Medo, Lester, Lee, Bolger, Wilkinson, Youngs, Feeney

GOAL! Spearing caps a great give and go with Craig Davies by firing in from distance!

Brilliant!

I hate Tranmere more than I hate sprouts.

And I really hate sprouts.

Sprouts 1 Bolton 1

Basically the first X1 out for this one so very disappointing result. Plus they've had plenty of time to gel and get fit.

Holding back as the season approaches? Or just not good enough?

Hopefully the former.