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The league table made woeful reading as Wanderers walked away from Villa Park in September but Phil Parkinson believes the defeat marked a watershed moment in the campaign.
Rock-bottom, with two points from 11 games – no club had ever escaped relegation from the Championship after such a dire start.
One bookmaker was so sure that Wanderers’ fate was sealed, it gave odds of 1,500/1 ON that they would make an immediate return to League One.
Nine defeats had prompted sections of the Bolton support were calling for the manager’s head, and even in the mixed zone at Villa, Parkinson was being asked if he really had the full backing of the board in such a precarious position.
But the performance in the Midlands, and a no-nonsense statement from Ken Anderson which unequivocally ruled out change gave the manager some breathing space, and the rest is history.
In hindsight, it was a good call. Had the season started after the final whistle at Villa, Wanderers would be sitting 13th in the table, whereas tomorrow’s opponents would be fourth.
Looking back, Parkinson feels the team – which had been bolstered that week by the signing of midfield general Karl Henry – started to feel they belonged in such exalted company.
“I think in that game we started to look more like a Championship side,” he told The Bolton News. “We went to Villa Park and lost but we got confidence from the performance. We didn’t walk away thinking we didn’t deserve to be at this level.
“I thought we really played well that day and it was only a penalty decision that settled it in the end.
“We had some decent chances, had one cleared off the line at the end and Adam Armstrong went clear through in the first half. I think we had enough moments in that game to give us heart going into this one.”
The unpredictability of the Championship was summed up in the last week as Villa beat champions-elect Wolves on Saturday before being humbled at home by a QPR team who have struggled for most of the season in the bottom half of the table.
“People say it’s a shock – but I’m not so sure about that,” Parkinson said.
“QPR can beat anyone on their day when they get their best 11 on the pitch but that’s the kind of result you get at this stage of the season. Everything matters, every single point.
“I went to the game and they played well. After QPR had gone 2-0 up Villa struggled to respond.”
As such, is there more pressure on Steve Bruce’s men to respond to the defeat with a performance in front of the cameras?
“I think the onus has got to be on Villa because of their ambition,” he said. “Top six is the minimum requirement.
“They had a great result against Wolves and that was a great Championship match to watch but they couldn’t reproduce it against QPR. The other teams have won around them so there’s pressure.
“There was definitely a flatness about the place on Tuesday night, whereas you’d imagine it would have been bouncing on Saturday.
“But that’s football, isn’t it? You get the highs and lows. With Cardiff playing Sunday they will want three points.”
Wanderers currently have a six-point advantage on the bottom three, and with a 5.30pm kick-off will have the luxury of knowing what their relegation rivals have done before treading on to the pitch.
Parkinson continues to resist the temptation to set points targets but fresh from two battling away performances feels his side has not been distracted by the league table.
“You want to be heading into the international break on the back of a good result,” he said. “I’d like to see as big a gap as possible on the bottom three.
“But we haven’t been focussing on the table or who is playing who – it’s more about what we can do to prepare as best as we can for each game.
“I’ve been very pleased with the way we played in the last two away games and now we need to take it into this weekend.
“I think we’ve played well at home against the top six teams. I think the Bristol City game was one of the best I’ve seen this season, it was terrific.
“We played with the right intensity in those two games and we’ll need to match that again.”
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Rock-bottom, with two points from 11 games – no club had ever escaped relegation from the Championship after such a dire start.
One bookmaker was so sure that Wanderers’ fate was sealed, it gave odds of 1,500/1 ON that they would make an immediate return to League One.
Nine defeats had prompted sections of the Bolton support were calling for the manager’s head, and even in the mixed zone at Villa, Parkinson was being asked if he really had the full backing of the board in such a precarious position.
But the performance in the Midlands, and a no-nonsense statement from Ken Anderson which unequivocally ruled out change gave the manager some breathing space, and the rest is history.
In hindsight, it was a good call. Had the season started after the final whistle at Villa, Wanderers would be sitting 13th in the table, whereas tomorrow’s opponents would be fourth.
Looking back, Parkinson feels the team – which had been bolstered that week by the signing of midfield general Karl Henry – started to feel they belonged in such exalted company.
“I think in that game we started to look more like a Championship side,” he told The Bolton News. “We went to Villa Park and lost but we got confidence from the performance. We didn’t walk away thinking we didn’t deserve to be at this level.
“I thought we really played well that day and it was only a penalty decision that settled it in the end.
“We had some decent chances, had one cleared off the line at the end and Adam Armstrong went clear through in the first half. I think we had enough moments in that game to give us heart going into this one.”
The unpredictability of the Championship was summed up in the last week as Villa beat champions-elect Wolves on Saturday before being humbled at home by a QPR team who have struggled for most of the season in the bottom half of the table.
“People say it’s a shock – but I’m not so sure about that,” Parkinson said.
“QPR can beat anyone on their day when they get their best 11 on the pitch but that’s the kind of result you get at this stage of the season. Everything matters, every single point.
“I went to the game and they played well. After QPR had gone 2-0 up Villa struggled to respond.”
As such, is there more pressure on Steve Bruce’s men to respond to the defeat with a performance in front of the cameras?
“I think the onus has got to be on Villa because of their ambition,” he said. “Top six is the minimum requirement.
“They had a great result against Wolves and that was a great Championship match to watch but they couldn’t reproduce it against QPR. The other teams have won around them so there’s pressure.
“There was definitely a flatness about the place on Tuesday night, whereas you’d imagine it would have been bouncing on Saturday.
“But that’s football, isn’t it? You get the highs and lows. With Cardiff playing Sunday they will want three points.”
Wanderers currently have a six-point advantage on the bottom three, and with a 5.30pm kick-off will have the luxury of knowing what their relegation rivals have done before treading on to the pitch.
Parkinson continues to resist the temptation to set points targets but fresh from two battling away performances feels his side has not been distracted by the league table.
“You want to be heading into the international break on the back of a good result,” he said. “I’d like to see as big a gap as possible on the bottom three.
“But we haven’t been focussing on the table or who is playing who – it’s more about what we can do to prepare as best as we can for each game.
“I’ve been very pleased with the way we played in the last two away games and now we need to take it into this weekend.
“I think we’ve played well at home against the top six teams. I think the Bristol City game was one of the best I’ve seen this season, it was terrific.
“We played with the right intensity in those two games and we’ll need to match that again.”
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