Darren Pratley - Important work to be done this summer

Speaking following Wanderers’ final day clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage, Darren Pratley called for unity as the club looks to League One whilst praising the Whites’ supporters for their continued backing throughout the course of the season and in West London at the weekend.

With Tom Cairney’s second half strike denying Bolton a share of the spoils in West London, the club’s travelling contingent – over 1,200 of them – made themselves heard throughout the game.

Reflecting on the team’s narrow reverse at the hands of the Cottagers meanwhile, the 31-year-old admitted that Wanderers were ultimately left disappointed at not taking something from the game.

“Ultimately, we’ve been undone by another mistake near the end which is a blow,” he said. “I think a draw would have been a fair result, but we can’t dwell on it now.

“The season is over now though and we need to look forward and prepare for life in League One next year. It’s all about getting ourselves ready for the challenge.”

He added: “The fans were absolutely fantastic today and it’s a credit to them all. To come down here, with us having nothing to play for and with an early kick-off too, it’s just brilliant and we genuinely appreciated it.

“You could hear them all the way through the game singing and it really does mean a lot.

“They have been like that all season though to be fair and we need that to continue into next season because we’ll need them more than ever.”

Looking ahead to the summer and beyond, the club’s captain said, “From the club’s point of view, we know there will be changes in the coming months but it’s important to keep a good nucleus of players, especially from a youth point of view.

“It’s massively important that we get a manager in as quickly as possible to give them time to get their own structure on the place because come next season, teams will look at us as a big scalp in League One.”

He continued: “We need to be hard to be, get in people’s faces and make our mark from the outset. We need to start as we mean to go on because it’s not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination.

“It’s going to be a challenge for us, but we won’t be taking it lightly. There’s no international breaks or any of that comfort – it will be a long, hard season and we all need to be on the same page if we want to succeed.

“There’s always a lot of pressure on newly relegated teams to win promotion back at the first time of asking and that’ll be no different for us.

“There will no doubt be recruitment in the summer and it needs to be the right kind of players to ensure that we’re in a strong position to bounce back.”

Source

Someone else banging on about the urgency of appointing a manager. Does he think they've forgotten?

wanderlust wrote:Someone else banging on about the urgency of appointing a manager. Does he think they've forgotten?

I wouldn't blame him if he thought they had lusty. In all seriousness there's been no solid progress (at least none that's been mentioned) on either the manager or embargo question and it's now months since the takeover was complete. 

Given that Darren is the club captain I'd say he has every right to speak out on the issue. He's arguably our most senior player now that Wheater and Heskey are gone (albeit from june officially) and the fact he doesn't seem to have a clue about what's happening either doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.

Hes going to wigan anyway (with any luck)

I'd heard that rumour johnny but wouldn't put too much faith in it if I were you. For one thing the pie eaters aren't likely to match his current wages and even if the clubs agree a fee he doesn't have to move or accept Wigan's personal terms.

We've got a number of players on premiership wages who know damned well they ain't getting that wedge anywhere else and are still under contract. Expect to see most if not all of them sit here for every day of that contract unless we get much more investment and can afford to pay them off as a result.

the most important work this summer is finding some mug club to take you off our hands Dazzler

We'll need Pratley in League 1, we should definitely hang onto him.

Natasha Whittam wrote:We'll need Pratley in League 1, we should definitely hang onto him.

I'm not so sure about that Nat. If we can get the embargo lifted and sell Pratley for even a nominal sum his wage would probably fund two or maybe even three decent L1 or even championship quality players. Whether or not it's actually true is still open to question obviously but if it was then it could be a decent step in the right direction.

Pratley is one of our best players, he will be even more important in League 1.

A midfield of Pratley, Davies and Vela will smash league one to be fair

If they're that good, why have we crashed and burned in such spectacular fashion ?

gloswhite wrote:If they're that good, why have we crashed and burned in such spectacular fashion ?

Because we were in the Championship.

PM me to learn tips of how the football structure works.

Boggersbelief wrote:A midfield of Pratley, Davies and Vela will smash league one to be fair

You could well be right. I think a lot would depend on whether or not we can hang onto Vela in those circumstances but assuming we could and all three stayed fit (always a question with Mavies) then yes, I can see them dominating the middle against pretty much any team in that division.

But, and not being negative here, if an offer comes in for Pratley that takes his wage off our books I'd say the owners would be more or less obliged to do it. That wage (if it's been accurately reported) could easily fund two or perhaps even three decent players at League One wages.

In the end it'll come down to what it always does, the money. If Wigan approach and Pratley can get a wage out of them to match or better the one he's on now then I think he'll be off. But if they offer him less, especially if it's significantly less he'll sit tight and see out his contract. I know I would in his place and professional pride wouldn't factor into it. Professional pride is a nice thing to talk about but it doesn't pay the mortgage or put food on the table and Pratley would be nuts to take a big drop in wages when he doesn't have to.

Of course if someone comes in and agrees to pay Pratelys wages he should be fucked off. But it's not the end of the world if he stays

Natasha Whittam wrote:

gloswhite wrote:If they're that good, why have we crashed and burned in such spectacular fashion ?

Because we were in the Championship.

PM me to learn tips of how the football structure works.

made me laugh!

Pratley needs to be dropped as captain.  He turned it down last season and before he took it this season he was playing well.

If he does stay then i hope they make someone else captain.

I also heard there is a strong possibility of mr spearing staying as the playing bonus to lfc doesnt count if we are in league 1

BoltonTillIDie wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:

gloswhite wrote:If they're that good, why have we crashed and burned in such spectacular fashion ?

Because we were in the Championship.

PM me to learn tips of how the football structure works.

made me laugh!

And me.
However, the same logic should have applied when we came down into the Championship, (indeed, we still have Premiership players), and we all know how that went.

y2johnny wrote:Pratley needs to be dropped as captain.  He turned it down last season and before he took it this season he was playing well.

If he does stay then i hope they make someone else captain.

I also heard there is a strong possibility of mr spearing staying as the playing bonus to lfc doesnt count if we are in league 1

Good point, captaincy should be given to Mark Davies who excelled during the short time he had the armband

Boggersbelief wrote:

Good point, captaincy should be given to Mark Davies who excelled during the short time he had the armband

You were doing ok until you posted that nonsense.

A captain has to be a leader, Mavies is about as far from leadership as you are from having a girlfriend.