Wanderers in Scotland

Sluffy wrote:
Attendance is 722.

And one of them is this guy.....


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2 - 1 against the Lichters. A pen and an own goal has done nothing to convince me we have a decent attacking threat as yet but I live in hope Parky will sort something out.

2 games in, playing a mix of youngsters and first team players over 45 or 60 mins, we are not going to get an idea about how good an attacking team we can field.

All about fitness at this stage.

At Chorley Le Fondre and Madine were truly terrible.

Crying out for a Rob Earnshaw or Leroy Lita. Someone who knows where the goal is.

MARC ILES' PRE-SEASON VERDICT: Arbroath 1-2 Bolton Wanderers

FOR most of the 100-or-so fans who made the trip to Arbroath’s tiny coastal stadium it wasn’t so much about who was on the pitch, as who was sat in the stand.
After keeping him out of the public eye for the majority of the warm-up, it was with a sheepish smile that former Newcastle United man Sammy Ameobi skipped up the stairs to take his seat next to injured Wanderers Derik Osede and Filipe Morais.
A chant went up instantly from those who noticed. But the word, and the excitement quickly spread around social media.

The free agent, who was on loan at the Macron Stadium last season, linked up with the squad on their Scottish trip but is yet to agree a deal with the club. He may not even feature in Friday’s game at Dundee.
But the sight of him in Wanderers training kit was certainly enough to brighten an otherwise straightforward pre-season exercise, won in the end with minimal fuss.
Wanderers had made great play of the fact Parkinson was picking a youthful side but the first-half team actually had plenty of experience in Mark Howard, Mark Little, Dorian Dervite, Adam Le Fondre and Chris Taylor.
It was young striker Connor Hall who proved the pick of the bunch, though, his energy and pace keeping the Arbroath back line on their toes throughout.
The 19-year-old arrived at the back end of last season on trial from Sheffield United and seems to have a physical presence about him which sets him out above the rest.
Bolton’s own Cole Lonsdale had a tough start to pre-season at Chorley on Saturday but his delivery down the left was much more consistent. Another academy gem, Harry Brockbank, looked composed against a tricky customer in Steven Doris.
The first half was a tale of two penalties, both scored within two minutes of each other.
The first, awarded for the softest of fouls on skipper for the night Le Fondre, was despatched down the middle by the Whites striker with relish.
Just as Wanderers seemed to have given themselves a foothold, Howard brought down livewire Doris, who also got up to smash an identical spot-kick into the roof of the net.

That seemed to spook the Whites, and some of the nervy defending before the break gave the Lichties’ front line some encouragement.
Things improved after the break and it wasn’t long before Parkinson’s men had edged ahead.
Again it was the strong running of Hall which forced the issue – his low cross being diverted by the home number five Tom O’Brien past stranded keeper Ricky Gomes.
On the hour, as promised, Parkinson made wholesale changes. Ben Alnwick had already replaced Howard at the break but the sight of 10 substitutions at once brought about a few mutters from home fans in the Main Stand who thought they had seen it all.
The more experienced 11 did not need to stretch themselves much to defend a lead, although Alnwick did make one useful stop at his near post from Jamie Henry.
With a bit more composure they could have extended their lead – Ryan White hit one volley over the bar and Andy Taylor was uncharacteristically wasteful with one chance to cross from the left.
Will Buckley and Gary Madine showed some promising link-up play late on which bodes well for the future but after the final whistle the talk once again turned towards the man in the stand.
“We agreed with Sammy on Saturday and his agent and Ken (Anderson) are just finalising that now,” Parkinson said.
“I was keen to get Sammy up training rather than leaving him down there and missing more. He was keen to do that.

“He has been doing his own work but we need him to be out there playing football and he’s done a few days now.
“There is a little bit more work to be done and we need to get the paperwork done in the next 24 hours but it would be great to have him on board.”

Wanderers (first 60 minutes): Howard (Alnwick 45), Little, Dervite, Brockbank, Lonsdale, C Taylor, King, Earing, Le Fondre, Hall, Tabakovic.
(last 30 minutes): Alnwick, A Taylor, Beevers, Vela, Karacan, Buckley, Madine, Pratley, Darby, Wheater, White.

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Fabians Right Peg wrote:2 games in, playing a mix of youngsters and first team players over 45 or 60 mins, we are not going to get an idea about how good an attacking team we can field.

All about fitness at this stage.

Reluctantly, I agree - it's all about fitness seeing that we can't afford better quality up front - I just need to accept that fact and move on.
I guarantee there'll be more defenders and midfielders arriving though, starting with one or more on loan from West Ham.

wanderlust wrote:

Fabians Right Peg wrote:2 games in, playing a mix of youngsters and first team players over 45 or 60 mins, we are not going to get an idea about how good an attacking team we can field.

All about fitness at this stage.

Reluctantly, I agree - it's all about fitness seeing that we can't afford better quality up front - I just need to accept that fact and move on.
I guarantee there'll be more defenders and midfielders arriving though, starting with one or more on loan from West Ham.

Agree there is a long way to go and I don't get the signings we are making, darby and Little are to my knowledge traditional RB's so that suggests 4-4-2.

Morais and Ameobi (if he lands) both right sided midfield player as I believe is Buckley?

Nothing much signed on the left hand side of the Pitch, I believe King played there against Chorley and Hall against Arbroath.

Left sided defender?

Team looks pretty unbalanced to me at the moment, lot of work to be done and I don't think our biggest issue is upfront TBH.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Crying out for a Rob Earnshaw or Leroy Lita. Someone who knows where the goal is.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
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Fabians Right Peg wrote:

wanderlust wrote:

Fabians Right Peg wrote:2 games in, playing a mix of youngsters and first team players over 45 or 60 mins, we are not going to get an idea about how good an attacking team we can field.

All about fitness at this stage.

Reluctantly, I agree - it's all about fitness seeing that we can't afford better quality up front - I just need to accept that fact and move on.
I guarantee there'll be more defenders and midfielders arriving though, starting with one or more on loan from West Ham.

Agree there is a long way to go and I don't get the signings we are making, darby and Little are to my knowledge traditional RB's so that suggests 4-4-2.

Morais and Ameobi (if he lands) both right sided midfield player as I believe is Buckley?

Nothing much signed on the left hand side of the Pitch, I believe King played there against Chorley and Hall against Arbroath.

Left sided defender?

Team looks pretty unbalanced to me at the moment, lot of work to be done and I don't think our biggest issue is upfront TBH.

I'm also struggling to understand where it's going although it does very much look like 442 is back on Parky's agenda despite the success we achieved with a back 3 + wingbacks. Maybe we'll see Dervite, Wheats and Beevers together before the season starts so at least they have an alternative to go to if required?
Hall did well on the left and Ameobi would be an option but we have hardly dominated Chorley and Arbroath so we'll see how we get on against a better class of opposition starting with Dundee. Maybe parky will start to show a bit more of what he's aiming starting then?