Home
Phil Parkinson admits his side is suffering from a crisis of identity as their promotion drive has started to wobble.
Seemingly unstoppable at Christmas, Wanderers’ momentum has slowed to a crawl after a run of just two wins in nine league games in 2017.
Problems have racked up on a weekly basis for the Whites boss, who will learn this morning whether his captain Jay Spearing has played his last game of the season after a scan on his injured knee.
Suspensions and illnesses have also taken their toll, not least with striker Gary Madine, whose pre-Sheffield United antics magnified his absence just as much as his side’s failure to play without him.
AFC Wimbledon are just the kind of unfancied opposition who would revel in making life tougher for the Wanderers boss.
But while he would normally be preaching the dangers of underestimating an opponent, the ever-methodical Parkinson has had to do some serious examination over the last few days after conceding there was something missing in defeat at Bramall Lane, and in a tepid second-half display at the Macron against Bristol Rovers in midweek.
For the first time since the post-transfer window dip of September, fans are asking serious questions about the club’s direction. And though they remain in a handy position for automatic promotion, let alone the play-offs, the manager knows that answers must be found.
“We are looking for an identity again, we’re trying hard to find it, but it’s difficult when you are chopping and changing every week through illness, injury and suspension,” Parkinson reasoned.
“We are hanging in there by our fingernails at the moment. I think we must get some luck somewhere along the line in terms of the injuries we’ve had – but we know we have got to get better.
“Results did go for us the other night but my focus is on getting a better Bolton Wanderers performance at the weekend.”
Losing key personnel has been a hindrance to Wanderers’ progress, and despite some quality additions in the January window, the the team is still making adjustments after losing two of its integral players, Zach Clough and Sammy Ameobi.
Integrating the new signings into a system which was working just fine at the end of 2016 has proved problematic. A move away from 4-2-3-1, sparked by Lawrie Wilson’s season-ending injury, produced limited success but with tomorrow’s visitors employing a 3-5-2 in their last away game, we may see the Whites match up and return to a back three.
Without Madine in the team Wanderers have struggled to move away from the direct brand of football they have played for most of the campaign. Doctors may give him the go-ahead to play this weekend, solving one of the manager’s problems, but strikers around him are also lacking form and match sharpness.
Adam Le Fondre, Max Clayton, Viv Solomon-Otabor and even Conor Wilkinson – who stepped into the target man role at Bramall Lane – have not played regular football.
Despite all the recent doom and gloom, it is encouraging to think that Parkinson’s side is still three points ahead of the promotion-winning team of 1992-93, managed by Bruce Rioch.
That side, containing legends like John McGinlay, David Lee and Keith Branagan, dropped just four points in their final 14 games to finish behind Stoke City.
Gaining such consistency looks to be a tall order for the current boss, whereas their opponents have earned two gook-looking wins against Walsall and second-placed Scunthorpe United in their last two games.
Dominic Poleon, one of the goalscorers at Glanford Park in midweek, believes his club can take heart from recent results.
“We came off the back of a dodgy spell, so we have to use the two games to give us confidence and go to Bolton looking to do it again.”
Source
Seemingly unstoppable at Christmas, Wanderers’ momentum has slowed to a crawl after a run of just two wins in nine league games in 2017.
Problems have racked up on a weekly basis for the Whites boss, who will learn this morning whether his captain Jay Spearing has played his last game of the season after a scan on his injured knee.
Suspensions and illnesses have also taken their toll, not least with striker Gary Madine, whose pre-Sheffield United antics magnified his absence just as much as his side’s failure to play without him.
AFC Wimbledon are just the kind of unfancied opposition who would revel in making life tougher for the Wanderers boss.
But while he would normally be preaching the dangers of underestimating an opponent, the ever-methodical Parkinson has had to do some serious examination over the last few days after conceding there was something missing in defeat at Bramall Lane, and in a tepid second-half display at the Macron against Bristol Rovers in midweek.
For the first time since the post-transfer window dip of September, fans are asking serious questions about the club’s direction. And though they remain in a handy position for automatic promotion, let alone the play-offs, the manager knows that answers must be found.
“We are looking for an identity again, we’re trying hard to find it, but it’s difficult when you are chopping and changing every week through illness, injury and suspension,” Parkinson reasoned.
“We are hanging in there by our fingernails at the moment. I think we must get some luck somewhere along the line in terms of the injuries we’ve had – but we know we have got to get better.
“Results did go for us the other night but my focus is on getting a better Bolton Wanderers performance at the weekend.”
Losing key personnel has been a hindrance to Wanderers’ progress, and despite some quality additions in the January window, the the team is still making adjustments after losing two of its integral players, Zach Clough and Sammy Ameobi.
Integrating the new signings into a system which was working just fine at the end of 2016 has proved problematic. A move away from 4-2-3-1, sparked by Lawrie Wilson’s season-ending injury, produced limited success but with tomorrow’s visitors employing a 3-5-2 in their last away game, we may see the Whites match up and return to a back three.
Without Madine in the team Wanderers have struggled to move away from the direct brand of football they have played for most of the campaign. Doctors may give him the go-ahead to play this weekend, solving one of the manager’s problems, but strikers around him are also lacking form and match sharpness.
Adam Le Fondre, Max Clayton, Viv Solomon-Otabor and even Conor Wilkinson – who stepped into the target man role at Bramall Lane – have not played regular football.
Despite all the recent doom and gloom, it is encouraging to think that Parkinson’s side is still three points ahead of the promotion-winning team of 1992-93, managed by Bruce Rioch.
That side, containing legends like John McGinlay, David Lee and Keith Branagan, dropped just four points in their final 14 games to finish behind Stoke City.
Gaining such consistency looks to be a tall order for the current boss, whereas their opponents have earned two gook-looking wins against Walsall and second-placed Scunthorpe United in their last two games.
Dominic Poleon, one of the goalscorers at Glanford Park in midweek, believes his club can take heart from recent results.
“We came off the back of a dodgy spell, so we have to use the two games to give us confidence and go to Bolton looking to do it again.”
Source