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Wanderers are finishing off the season as they stared it, and that spells trouble for their Championship survival hopes.
Phil Parkinson’s side has spent the majority of the campaign making amends for taking just two points from their opening 11 games.
They battled back to gain a six-point cushion on the bottom three before the international break but have now lost form at the worst possible time.
In his 20 months in charge Parkinson has continually found ways to avoid a problem becoming a crisis – whether that be a surprise name in the line-up, or a change in system. But despite trying just about every available combination in his squad over the course of the last four defeats, some are now speculating that he is out of aces.
The importance of a result at Barnsley, the team who occupy the place below Wanderers in the table, is not lost on the Bolton boss.
“We have got to find a way to get these boys going again for Saturday,” he told The Bolton News.
“This has been a setback but it is too important to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves, we need to find a response.
“Last year when we got promoted it was really hard towards the end of the season. We couldn’t get a win or score a goal for a while, we really stumbled. We had to dig deep and find a way to get over the line. It has to be the same this year. Now we have to find a way to get a result down at Barnsley.”
Parkinson made six changes to his line-up in defeat to Millwall on Tuesday night, having made five a few days earlier at Derby County.
“We went with six changes to try and give us some freshness,” he said after the final whistle. “But second half, after the goal, they were better than us. I can’t hide from it.
“I have to find a team which has got enough legs in it, with enough creativity, enough of everything to give us an opportunity to make this better.
“When you are confident you can feel like you have loads of energy but when you are being beaten, as we have in recent weeks, it can deflate. And I think the energy got sapped out of the lads.”
The current slump evokes memories of last season, when sombre defeats at Scunthorpe United and Oldham Athletic left many questioning the Whites’ promotion credentials. A dull 0-0 home draw with Bury did little to assuage doubts and so it was left to two powerful performances at Port Vale and in front of a packed Macron against Peterborough United to finally get over the line.
Back then, the impetus for improvement was Gary Madine. The striker had injured his shoulder at Southend and looked destined to miss the run-in until a course of painkilling injections finally convinced him otherwise.
Rather ironically, the target man’s unavailability has caused problems this season too, although this time there is no chance of a surprise comeback.
Since Madine was sold to Cardiff City on deadline day the Whites have managed just eight goals in 14 games, and never more than one in 90 minutes.
Adam Le Fondre’s purple patch in March has now evaporated, albeit more through a lack of service than his own failings.
Despite the mounting pressure, there is evidence to suggest things can still turn out just fine if it doesn’t go all-well at Oakwell.
Burton’s precarious position means they could be relegated by the time Wanderers head to the Pirelli Stadium the weekend after next.
And since the Villa game the only other Championship club which has failed to win a single point is Nottingham Forest, Wanderers’ opponents on the final day of the season.
Rivals Birmingham have also got to play high-fliers Wolves, Fulham and Sheffield United in their final four outings.
Source
Phil Parkinson’s side has spent the majority of the campaign making amends for taking just two points from their opening 11 games.
They battled back to gain a six-point cushion on the bottom three before the international break but have now lost form at the worst possible time.
In his 20 months in charge Parkinson has continually found ways to avoid a problem becoming a crisis – whether that be a surprise name in the line-up, or a change in system. But despite trying just about every available combination in his squad over the course of the last four defeats, some are now speculating that he is out of aces.
The importance of a result at Barnsley, the team who occupy the place below Wanderers in the table, is not lost on the Bolton boss.
“We have got to find a way to get these boys going again for Saturday,” he told The Bolton News.
“This has been a setback but it is too important to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves, we need to find a response.
“Last year when we got promoted it was really hard towards the end of the season. We couldn’t get a win or score a goal for a while, we really stumbled. We had to dig deep and find a way to get over the line. It has to be the same this year. Now we have to find a way to get a result down at Barnsley.”
Parkinson made six changes to his line-up in defeat to Millwall on Tuesday night, having made five a few days earlier at Derby County.
“We went with six changes to try and give us some freshness,” he said after the final whistle. “But second half, after the goal, they were better than us. I can’t hide from it.
“I have to find a team which has got enough legs in it, with enough creativity, enough of everything to give us an opportunity to make this better.
“When you are confident you can feel like you have loads of energy but when you are being beaten, as we have in recent weeks, it can deflate. And I think the energy got sapped out of the lads.”
The current slump evokes memories of last season, when sombre defeats at Scunthorpe United and Oldham Athletic left many questioning the Whites’ promotion credentials. A dull 0-0 home draw with Bury did little to assuage doubts and so it was left to two powerful performances at Port Vale and in front of a packed Macron against Peterborough United to finally get over the line.
Back then, the impetus for improvement was Gary Madine. The striker had injured his shoulder at Southend and looked destined to miss the run-in until a course of painkilling injections finally convinced him otherwise.
Rather ironically, the target man’s unavailability has caused problems this season too, although this time there is no chance of a surprise comeback.
Since Madine was sold to Cardiff City on deadline day the Whites have managed just eight goals in 14 games, and never more than one in 90 minutes.
Adam Le Fondre’s purple patch in March has now evaporated, albeit more through a lack of service than his own failings.
Despite the mounting pressure, there is evidence to suggest things can still turn out just fine if it doesn’t go all-well at Oakwell.
Burton’s precarious position means they could be relegated by the time Wanderers head to the Pirelli Stadium the weekend after next.
And since the Villa game the only other Championship club which has failed to win a single point is Nottingham Forest, Wanderers’ opponents on the final day of the season.
Rivals Birmingham have also got to play high-fliers Wolves, Fulham and Sheffield United in their final four outings.
Source