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Wanderers’ defenders bore the brunt of Phil Parkinson’s disappointment as they slipped to a first defeat of pre-season at Mansfield Town.
Disappointed by a careless opening 15 minutes, in which his side found themselves two down, the new Whites boss expressed some home truths to his players at half time and after the game at the One Call Stadium.
Parkinson wants immediate improvement, starting with tomorrow’s trip to Tranmere Rovers for Warwick Rimmer’s testimonial.
“I’m not happy with a lackadaisical start,” he told The Bolton News. “I sat the lads down and told them you have to do whatever you need to do on a sticky day like this to make sure you start a game well and that you are prepared properly for those first 15 minutes.
“We gave a team a 2-0 start inside a quarter of an hour. It was a great lift for them.
“We need to learn how to win games away from home, full stop. Defenders need to defend properly, clear their lines, make sure they keep a shape and we were loose in that early period.
“Whatever team you play and especially with the changes you have to make at this stage of the season it makes it difficult to get back into it, especially when you defend like that early on.”
Parkinson was pleased enough with the second-half display, in which Zach Clough halved the deficit with a fine finish from Max Clayton’s clever ball.
“It was a great goal and we need to get Zach in more of those sort of positions,” he said. “I thought in the second half we responded well. This was a team which would have been down last season and not shown a response.
“The lads in the second half played with a lot more energy and urgency and got themselves a goal. The changes we made after that made it difficult to keep the momentum but I was happier after that.
“They would have been delighted to be 2-0 up and obviously at times you have to be patient.
"But when it is on to go forward quickly then you have to travel into space quicker and commit players. We did that loads better in the second half and looked more positive.
“Without doubt I have to get that into them.”
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Disappointed by a careless opening 15 minutes, in which his side found themselves two down, the new Whites boss expressed some home truths to his players at half time and after the game at the One Call Stadium.
Parkinson wants immediate improvement, starting with tomorrow’s trip to Tranmere Rovers for Warwick Rimmer’s testimonial.
“I’m not happy with a lackadaisical start,” he told The Bolton News. “I sat the lads down and told them you have to do whatever you need to do on a sticky day like this to make sure you start a game well and that you are prepared properly for those first 15 minutes.
“We gave a team a 2-0 start inside a quarter of an hour. It was a great lift for them.
“We need to learn how to win games away from home, full stop. Defenders need to defend properly, clear their lines, make sure they keep a shape and we were loose in that early period.
“Whatever team you play and especially with the changes you have to make at this stage of the season it makes it difficult to get back into it, especially when you defend like that early on.”
Parkinson was pleased enough with the second-half display, in which Zach Clough halved the deficit with a fine finish from Max Clayton’s clever ball.
“It was a great goal and we need to get Zach in more of those sort of positions,” he said. “I thought in the second half we responded well. This was a team which would have been down last season and not shown a response.
“The lads in the second half played with a lot more energy and urgency and got themselves a goal. The changes we made after that made it difficult to keep the momentum but I was happier after that.
“They would have been delighted to be 2-0 up and obviously at times you have to be patient.
"But when it is on to go forward quickly then you have to travel into space quicker and commit players. We did that loads better in the second half and looked more positive.
“Without doubt I have to get that into them.”
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