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After last week’s derby win against Blackburn it was back-slapping and smiles for all in the corridors around the Macron but by Saturday evening normal solemn service had been resumed.
If the televised victory against Rovers had raised hope, the first result of 2016 snuffed it back out again, with interest.
Many Wanderers fans had trudged out long before referee Andy Haines blew the final whistle on the 2-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town and an hour-or-so after the final whistle Neil Lennon’s players also shuffled out of the stadium silently.
Ben Amos stuck around to speak with the press but could offer no solutions to what had made this performance so different to the last.
“Football changes so quickly,” he told The Bolton News. “After the win against Blackburn the atmosphere was so different around the place, it was more positive. We were really positive about this game too, we wanted those back-to-back wins.
“But now I’m stood here knowing we’ve come away with nothing again.
“It is really difficult but we have to find a way out of it.”
In truth, some of the positive vibes gained last week had already been tempered by the club statement released in midweek that hinted player sales would be likely in January to keep wolves from the club’s door.
Amos admitted the prospect of losing team-mates like Zach Clough, Josh Vela and Mark Davies was not an appetising one – but that he and the players had to try and put the bad headlines to one side.
“You see all the stories and statements but you have to put them to the back of your mind,” he said.
“The club will do what it has to do to survive. We can control what goes on out there but not in the boardroom. We’ve got no choice, we have to get better.
“We’ve been saying we’re unlucky, this, that and the other. But there isn’t a hiding place any more – we have to get the club out of the mess that they are in on the pitch and leave them to sort out off the field stuff. If that means selling players then that’s what they’ll do.
“Of course it will make the job tougher. Younger players might have to make the step up or maybe they’d try and find replacements – but it’s not at that point right at this moment.
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
Amos maintains that Wanderers’ problems do not boil down to a lack of effort or belief in the cause and that the hurt felt in the dressing room is just as strong as that felt on the terraces.
“Sometimes supporters don’t realise we’re human and we don’t want to be at the bottom of the league at all,” he said. “We’re as frustrated as they are.
“No-one has got any answers for why this has happened. But there are no excuses we have to get ourselves out of it.
“Our problems have all stemmed from consistency. We’ve picked up quite a lot of draws this year where you might say one or two games were unlucky and we should have come away with more.
“That’s what separates the teams at the top from those at the bottom.
“I’m frustrated and there’s no hiding that. Backs are against the wall and we’ve got to the stage where we have to start picking up points, it’s as simple as that.
“We’re scratching our heads because we’re giving it our utmost but no-one has chucked in the towel.”
Source
If the televised victory against Rovers had raised hope, the first result of 2016 snuffed it back out again, with interest.
Many Wanderers fans had trudged out long before referee Andy Haines blew the final whistle on the 2-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town and an hour-or-so after the final whistle Neil Lennon’s players also shuffled out of the stadium silently.
Ben Amos stuck around to speak with the press but could offer no solutions to what had made this performance so different to the last.
“Football changes so quickly,” he told The Bolton News. “After the win against Blackburn the atmosphere was so different around the place, it was more positive. We were really positive about this game too, we wanted those back-to-back wins.
“But now I’m stood here knowing we’ve come away with nothing again.
“It is really difficult but we have to find a way out of it.”
In truth, some of the positive vibes gained last week had already been tempered by the club statement released in midweek that hinted player sales would be likely in January to keep wolves from the club’s door.
Amos admitted the prospect of losing team-mates like Zach Clough, Josh Vela and Mark Davies was not an appetising one – but that he and the players had to try and put the bad headlines to one side.
“You see all the stories and statements but you have to put them to the back of your mind,” he said.
“The club will do what it has to do to survive. We can control what goes on out there but not in the boardroom. We’ve got no choice, we have to get better.
“We’ve been saying we’re unlucky, this, that and the other. But there isn’t a hiding place any more – we have to get the club out of the mess that they are in on the pitch and leave them to sort out off the field stuff. If that means selling players then that’s what they’ll do.
“Of course it will make the job tougher. Younger players might have to make the step up or maybe they’d try and find replacements – but it’s not at that point right at this moment.
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
Amos maintains that Wanderers’ problems do not boil down to a lack of effort or belief in the cause and that the hurt felt in the dressing room is just as strong as that felt on the terraces.
“Sometimes supporters don’t realise we’re human and we don’t want to be at the bottom of the league at all,” he said. “We’re as frustrated as they are.
“No-one has got any answers for why this has happened. But there are no excuses we have to get ourselves out of it.
“Our problems have all stemmed from consistency. We’ve picked up quite a lot of draws this year where you might say one or two games were unlucky and we should have come away with more.
“That’s what separates the teams at the top from those at the bottom.
“I’m frustrated and there’s no hiding that. Backs are against the wall and we’ve got to the stage where we have to start picking up points, it’s as simple as that.
“We’re scratching our heads because we’re giving it our utmost but no-one has chucked in the towel.”
Source
