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Phil Parkinson feels Wanderers’ stunning 4-1 win over Walsall was the perfect antidote to a miserable week at the Macron.
Preparations for the game had been overshadowed by a barmy boardroom row between Ken Anderson and Dean Holdsworth – which left players and staff worried about the club’s immediate future.
But the Whites boss says an uplifting performance against the Saddlers on Saturday can now help to restore a sense of normality.
“Everyone in the club needed a win – it has been a low place,” he told The Bolton News.
“As I said last week, managers nowadays have all kinds of problems upstairs at clubs and sometimes you just have to get on with it.
“I am really pleased the lads have remained focussed.
“I said to the lads at half time, when we were 3-1 up, ‘there’s a real opportunity here to give everyone at the club a lift.’
“I think we did that. I have to give the lads enormous credit. We need to take this into Tuesday against Rochdale and give fans a reason to come here and talk about the football, not everything else that is going on.”
Parkinson played a back three for the first time this season and got his tactics spot on as goals from Gary Madine and Liam Trotter, either side of an own goal by James McCarthy, cancelled out Erhun Oztumer’s fourth-minute long distance effort.
New boy Chris Long then capped off a fine day on the pitch with a brilliant fourth after Walsall had fought hard to get back into the game.
“We’d decided on the coach last Saturday what we needed to change it around a bit because Lawrie Wilson had picked up an injury,” he said. “We tried the new system and, to be honest, it got better as time went on including when it really mattered on a matchday.
“Right through the week we trained on a new system but it doesn’t necessarily mean we will be using it on Tuesday – we just felt it was right for this particular occasion. And I think we were proved right on that decision.”
The second half was delayed by 15 minutes when referee’s assistant Helen Byrne was taken to Bolton Royal Hospital with a chest problem. The Merseyside-based official was discharged late on Saturday night.
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Preparations for the game had been overshadowed by a barmy boardroom row between Ken Anderson and Dean Holdsworth – which left players and staff worried about the club’s immediate future.
But the Whites boss says an uplifting performance against the Saddlers on Saturday can now help to restore a sense of normality.
“Everyone in the club needed a win – it has been a low place,” he told The Bolton News.
“As I said last week, managers nowadays have all kinds of problems upstairs at clubs and sometimes you just have to get on with it.
“I am really pleased the lads have remained focussed.
“I said to the lads at half time, when we were 3-1 up, ‘there’s a real opportunity here to give everyone at the club a lift.’
“I think we did that. I have to give the lads enormous credit. We need to take this into Tuesday against Rochdale and give fans a reason to come here and talk about the football, not everything else that is going on.”
Parkinson played a back three for the first time this season and got his tactics spot on as goals from Gary Madine and Liam Trotter, either side of an own goal by James McCarthy, cancelled out Erhun Oztumer’s fourth-minute long distance effort.
New boy Chris Long then capped off a fine day on the pitch with a brilliant fourth after Walsall had fought hard to get back into the game.
“We’d decided on the coach last Saturday what we needed to change it around a bit because Lawrie Wilson had picked up an injury,” he said. “We tried the new system and, to be honest, it got better as time went on including when it really mattered on a matchday.
“Right through the week we trained on a new system but it doesn’t necessarily mean we will be using it on Tuesday – we just felt it was right for this particular occasion. And I think we were proved right on that decision.”
The second half was delayed by 15 minutes when referee’s assistant Helen Byrne was taken to Bolton Royal Hospital with a chest problem. The Merseyside-based official was discharged late on Saturday night.
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