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My only hope for this afternoon’s game is that Wanderers come off the pitch at the Pirelli Stadium with no regrets – and that statement applies to the manager too.
This may very well be the most important 90 minutes in the club’s recent history, eclipsing even last season’s melting pot at Port Vale, or the final-day drama against Peterborough United.
With so much at stake for both protagonists today, it is perhaps more reminiscent of the 1987 play-off semi-final against Aldershot. Touch wood there is a better outcome.
A victory will not necessarily mean Bolton are safe from relegation – for that to happen Barnsley would also have to fail to beat Brentford – but it would most definitely reignite hope among the supporters, which has faded so badly since the international break.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what has gone wrong in the last six games but there have been times when Wanderers have been their own worst enemy. The lack of a calm head to take control in possession, to get on the end of a free kick, or to drive at defenders and trying something different.
It has too often been paint-by-numbers, safety first, and at this level it seldom pays off with points.
But how did the mindset change so drastically between that swashbuckling performance in the snow against Aston Villa and the meek home performances we saw against Millwall and Birmingham?
It may stem from the fact we presented an unknowing excuse. Fans and the media have discussed the team’s limitations all season.
It is well documented this team did not cost a penny, that Phil Parkinson was saddled with a transfer embargo for three out of four windows in his tenure and was forced to sell his top scorer in January.
But perhaps it has been focused on it for too long? However realistic the target of 21st place was, constantly reinforcing the fact may not have helped.
We can only hope the angry reaction to last weekend’s defeat against Wolves and the lifeline granted by Barnsley’s defeat at Forest has snapped Bolton out of their malaise.
Just 180 minutes remain to save the season, and there is no time left for ‘what ifs?’
It is time to be ruthless. Wanderers can – to borrow a phrase from Parkinson “eliminate” Burton from the equation today – but it won’t be pretty.
Warriors are needed, and I wonder if this is the perfect time to get Mark Little back into the team?
I would have been surprised back in February if anyone had pipped him to Bolton’s player-of- the-year award, up until that fateful day at Loftus Road.
One poor decision and his season came to a shuddering halt. His loan replacement, Jon Flanagan, is well capable but seems to me in desperate need of a full pre-season without distraction or fitness problems.
Parkinson sees Little as more of a wing-back than a full-back but such subtle nuances are unlikely to matter in a game as rough and ready as I expect this one to be. It will be just as much about character.
We will know a lot more about how much fight is left in the Wanderers tank by 5pm.
If they fail to win the game but give their all, the Bolton fans are educated enough to accept it. What this club’s supporters don’t accept – and never have – is half measures.
It may be that in a week I am writing another column billing Sunday’s game against Nottingham Forest with equal hyperbole.
In an ideal world I’d be inviting supporters to accompany me to a massive Macron survival party, followed by a beer festival at Bolton Old Links.
Just as long as I am not left describing another missed opportunity or a day on which I felt Wanderers could have done more to protect their Championship status.
Source
This may very well be the most important 90 minutes in the club’s recent history, eclipsing even last season’s melting pot at Port Vale, or the final-day drama against Peterborough United.
With so much at stake for both protagonists today, it is perhaps more reminiscent of the 1987 play-off semi-final against Aldershot. Touch wood there is a better outcome.
A victory will not necessarily mean Bolton are safe from relegation – for that to happen Barnsley would also have to fail to beat Brentford – but it would most definitely reignite hope among the supporters, which has faded so badly since the international break.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what has gone wrong in the last six games but there have been times when Wanderers have been their own worst enemy. The lack of a calm head to take control in possession, to get on the end of a free kick, or to drive at defenders and trying something different.
It has too often been paint-by-numbers, safety first, and at this level it seldom pays off with points.
But how did the mindset change so drastically between that swashbuckling performance in the snow against Aston Villa and the meek home performances we saw against Millwall and Birmingham?
It may stem from the fact we presented an unknowing excuse. Fans and the media have discussed the team’s limitations all season.
It is well documented this team did not cost a penny, that Phil Parkinson was saddled with a transfer embargo for three out of four windows in his tenure and was forced to sell his top scorer in January.
But perhaps it has been focused on it for too long? However realistic the target of 21st place was, constantly reinforcing the fact may not have helped.
We can only hope the angry reaction to last weekend’s defeat against Wolves and the lifeline granted by Barnsley’s defeat at Forest has snapped Bolton out of their malaise.
Just 180 minutes remain to save the season, and there is no time left for ‘what ifs?’
It is time to be ruthless. Wanderers can – to borrow a phrase from Parkinson “eliminate” Burton from the equation today – but it won’t be pretty.
Warriors are needed, and I wonder if this is the perfect time to get Mark Little back into the team?
I would have been surprised back in February if anyone had pipped him to Bolton’s player-of- the-year award, up until that fateful day at Loftus Road.
One poor decision and his season came to a shuddering halt. His loan replacement, Jon Flanagan, is well capable but seems to me in desperate need of a full pre-season without distraction or fitness problems.
Parkinson sees Little as more of a wing-back than a full-back but such subtle nuances are unlikely to matter in a game as rough and ready as I expect this one to be. It will be just as much about character.
We will know a lot more about how much fight is left in the Wanderers tank by 5pm.
If they fail to win the game but give their all, the Bolton fans are educated enough to accept it. What this club’s supporters don’t accept – and never have – is half measures.
It may be that in a week I am writing another column billing Sunday’s game against Nottingham Forest with equal hyperbole.
In an ideal world I’d be inviting supporters to accompany me to a massive Macron survival party, followed by a beer festival at Bolton Old Links.
Just as long as I am not left describing another missed opportunity or a day on which I felt Wanderers could have done more to protect their Championship status.
Source