Bolton 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Another indicator of the shit we're in I would say is that most people in the North Stand today seemed to agree come 80 minutes that to bring on Emile Heskey (for fuck sake) would make a positive difference. And to be fair he did.

scottjames30 wrote:Just read our play was great today, way the better team, like my wing man boggers said, if we had a good striker we would've scored 3 or 4.

Their goal was a wonder goal, 25 yard top corner job, ill have to watch it on match of the day or C5 as its called these days.

We'll batter Blackburn .

Unfortunately we don't have a striker who would score those goals.
Clayton might do it when he's back- but it seems to take months for injured front players to get back to their game. Look at  Chungie after his broken leg- it was  at least a year before he was back to his old self. Clough is a shadow of the player he was before his injury, and so it might be months before he and Clayton  recover sufficiently well.
Yesterdays game, particularly in the first half, was tedious- a boring affair and it only livened up in the last half hour.
Silva looked good- often intent on beating at least three men before running into a dead end- he has got to learn to part with the ball much more quickly. At the end he limped off- and it looked like more than just a bit of cramp.
Hopefully its nothing more.
So- we won't batter Blackburn on todays showing and its more likely that we'll take a battering
I'm beginning to wonder about Lennon as we don't seem to have moved on since the back end of last season.
His signing of Madine ,at the moment ,looks  like a sad affair (not just the missed penalty)-he looks  impotent in front of goal.
I think the bad times are with us a bit longer.

doffcocker wrote:The trouble is that us Bolton fans - rightly or wrongly - are still in the frame of mind that any striker that signs for our great club should be Premiership quality, or top 6 Championship quality at worst.

Gary Madine has never been anything more than an average (statistically well below average) player at this level, yet I think some people would think that to get less than 10 goals out of him this season would be a disappointment. Personally, I think we're looking at about 6.

But I actually get 100% why Lennon brought him in, which I think is a sad reflection of what a poor place the club is in.

Any professional footballer in any professional league should be able to score from 12 yards with only the goalkeeper to beat.

There simply is no excuse, especially for the lazy way he took it.

I had a 14/14 record for Penwortham Girls School, and some of them were taken under a lot more pressure than some crap Championship game between two shite sides.

i see the Madine for next scapegoat campaign is ticking along nicely   The lad is trying and his confidence may be low but you can't knock his effort during matches. He does a great job leading the line but we need a poacher to play off his knock downs

Someone needs to tell young Zach to stop trying so hard. He's over thinking where he should be and what he should be doing and not just relaxing and doing what comes naturally. I'd expect NL to get Clough firing in the next couple of games or he's not doing his job very well!

Totally agree with Nat about pens. You can live with a great save but a pathetic pea roller is inexcusable. Madine has been playing well though IMO. Having watched all the games bar yesterday's.

Norpig wrote:The lad is trying and his confidence may be low but you can't knock his effort during matches.

You could have plucked any Bolton fan from the crowd yesterday and got 100% effort.

This is a professional sport with players being paid massive wages. We should expect a certain level of skill.

If you went to a restaurant and paid £35 for a rare steak and it came overcooked would you accept "the chef tried his best" as an excuse?

There are a lot better players than Gary Madine, who have missed penalties probably every top striker since the game began. For me he works hard wins every ball in the air and considering his reputation and the cash situation, for me he exceeds expectations.

If the 3 headers that hit the woodwork go in, my guess is, he scores the penalty, and we would all be happy. Clough i agree needs to stop over thinking, use is natural ability, he is suffering by the weight of expectation something he eluded to pre season in an interview.

Its early days we are playing better football than under Dougie, Lennon should be judged on his team once in the groove, so IF Derek, and the Italian guy start as well as Prince, then he's off and running, IF Clough and Madine do click, and with Silva to provide options, and Wheater, and more importantly Clayton to return, we may yet start to see a push up the table.

wessy wrote:There are a lot better players than Gary Madine, who have missed penalties probably every top striker since the game began. For me he works hard wins every ball in the air and considering his reputation and the cash situation, for me he exceeds expectations.

Anyone can miss a penalty, but if you trot up like someone shoved a broom up your arse you deserve all the abuse you get.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Norpig wrote:The lad is trying and his confidence may be low but you can't knock his effort during matches.

You could have plucked any Bolton fan from the crowd yesterday and got 100% effort.

This is a professional sport with players being paid massive wages. We should expect a certain level of skill.

If you went to a restaurant and paid £35 for a rare steak and it came overcooked would you accept "the chef tried his best" as an excuse?

Madine should have blasted the pen or let someone else take it if the importance of the situation for him personally and the team as a whole was getting to him, but as the CF he clearly felt had to take responsibility. Now Lennon will have to find a way to get his confidence back up. Clough too, seeing as we can't afford another striker and one or both will have to start scoring soon. On the plus side, I was encouraged by the increase in number of chances created even if they weren't sitters and I think Pisano will help us improve a little bit more. Hopefully that will be enough.
Disappointed Lennon didn't give Walker a chance on the left or at least let him and Da Silva switch sides occasionally - felt like he wasn't getting a proper chance stuck out on the right.
We are shit but there's still a chance we'll start firing if Lennon gets the mix right and we keep injuries to a minimum for once.

I don't like Walker at all. Every game I see him play he does fook all and then gets taken off because he can't last the pace.

I'm all for using young players but sometimes they are just plain shite.

Natasha Whittam wrote:I don't like Walker at all. Every game I see him play he does fook all and then gets taken off because he can't last the pace.

I'm all for using young players but sometimes they are just plain shite.

Nat- that's harsh. He put in a shift several times last season and he was out of position on Saturday. He's not plain shite-he's improving and I reckon that before this season is over he'll be a regular and competent squad player

rammywhite wrote:
Nat- that's harsh. He put in a shift several times last season and he was out of position on Saturday. He's not plain shite-he's improving and I reckon that before this season is over he'll be a regular and competent squad player

I disagree.

Firstly, he's about 12 so he should be able to run for 90 minutes without dying. When I was a teenager I could run forever.

He's played several times and done nothing. He has no pace, and no strength.

And that's the main problem with this team, too many lightweight ponces. I'd take this whole squad in a dark alley any day of the week.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wessy wrote:There are a lot better players than Gary Madine, who have missed penalties probably every top striker since the game began. For me he works hard wins every ball in the air and considering his reputation and the cash situation, for me he exceeds expectations.

Anyone can miss a penalty, but if you trot up like someone shoved a broom up your arse you deserve all the abuse you get.