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It is the time for miracles, and many Wanderers fans will feel seeing their side finally get a penalty would qualify.
Sides in the midst of a dreadful run of results, it is said, rarely get the big, important decisions going their way and Bolton will certainly feel they qualify on that front.
Such was the series of decisions hampering their chances, Phil Parkinson was compelled to fire a DVD of recent incidents to ref’s chief Dave Allison, who upheld the complaint.
Assistant manager Steve Parkin would love for some help – any help – from the officials at Brentford today but would prefer to see the players take care of business themselves.
“I don’t think there’s anything massively wrong,” he said. “During my career I’ve been involved with teams that are broken, really, and they’re certainly not that, you can see that in the games – it’s just that final bit of quality at the top end of the pitch and that final bit of concentration at the other end of the pitch, that helps you get results.
“I think half an ounce of luck wouldn’t go amiss, but you can’t count on that and we can’t keep blaming referees, though we have had our fair share of penalties that have not been given.
“And goals change games, if we’d got one of those at a crucial time in a match and somebody slams it away it changes the face of the game. While we can’t keep talking about that we have had a little bit of bad luck, we can’t get away from that.”
The Whites head for Griffin Park desperate to arrest their slump, which has seen three draws and nine defeats in the last 12 Championship games.
That run has seen Bolton slip into the relegation zone, with Ipswich destined to spend Christmas Day in bottom spot.
And Parkin admits steering the ship through the stormy waters, with off-field issues compounding their difficulties on the pitch, has been tough, even for the club’s experienced coaching staff.
“It’s difficult, I think experience helps but only helps you so far,” he said. “We’re professional enough to know you need to win matches, we’ve been doing it a long time and we’ve been together a long time, I think it’s about seven years, and during that time we’ve had periods where we’ve won lots of matches and you have to take the rough with the smooth but it’s difficult when you like to win.
“The preparation during the week is to try to win a football match on a Saturday or a Tuesday night and when you’re not winning matches it gets you down and you have to make sure that you focus on what your job is, make sure the players still know that you believe in them, which we do, and bounce into the next game.”
While Mark Beevers trained yesterday and is available after his groin issue and Sammy Ameobi has served his suspension for the red card he picked up at Norwich, Wanderers supporters will not see Stephen Ireland in a white shirt.
The ex-Manchester City, Aston Villa and Stoke midfielder has struggled for fitness since a bad leg-break at the start of last season and has been released after joining on a short-term contract in October.
And while his move to the University of Bolton Stadium did not work out as hoped by all parties, Parkin says Ireland can leave with his head held high.
“Stephen has come in and tried his best,” added Parkin. “He’s a nice lad and given everything he could to get as fit as he could.
“He picked a calf strain up when he first came in, which didn’t help. He played a few under-23s games and I’ve not really been privy to what’s been said between the player and the manager, we’ve been concentrating on this weekend.
“But Stephen was a nice lad to have around the place and we sincerely wish him all the best for the future.”
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Sides in the midst of a dreadful run of results, it is said, rarely get the big, important decisions going their way and Bolton will certainly feel they qualify on that front.
Such was the series of decisions hampering their chances, Phil Parkinson was compelled to fire a DVD of recent incidents to ref’s chief Dave Allison, who upheld the complaint.
Assistant manager Steve Parkin would love for some help – any help – from the officials at Brentford today but would prefer to see the players take care of business themselves.
“I don’t think there’s anything massively wrong,” he said. “During my career I’ve been involved with teams that are broken, really, and they’re certainly not that, you can see that in the games – it’s just that final bit of quality at the top end of the pitch and that final bit of concentration at the other end of the pitch, that helps you get results.
“I think half an ounce of luck wouldn’t go amiss, but you can’t count on that and we can’t keep blaming referees, though we have had our fair share of penalties that have not been given.
“And goals change games, if we’d got one of those at a crucial time in a match and somebody slams it away it changes the face of the game. While we can’t keep talking about that we have had a little bit of bad luck, we can’t get away from that.”
The Whites head for Griffin Park desperate to arrest their slump, which has seen three draws and nine defeats in the last 12 Championship games.
That run has seen Bolton slip into the relegation zone, with Ipswich destined to spend Christmas Day in bottom spot.
And Parkin admits steering the ship through the stormy waters, with off-field issues compounding their difficulties on the pitch, has been tough, even for the club’s experienced coaching staff.
“It’s difficult, I think experience helps but only helps you so far,” he said. “We’re professional enough to know you need to win matches, we’ve been doing it a long time and we’ve been together a long time, I think it’s about seven years, and during that time we’ve had periods where we’ve won lots of matches and you have to take the rough with the smooth but it’s difficult when you like to win.
“The preparation during the week is to try to win a football match on a Saturday or a Tuesday night and when you’re not winning matches it gets you down and you have to make sure that you focus on what your job is, make sure the players still know that you believe in them, which we do, and bounce into the next game.”
While Mark Beevers trained yesterday and is available after his groin issue and Sammy Ameobi has served his suspension for the red card he picked up at Norwich, Wanderers supporters will not see Stephen Ireland in a white shirt.
The ex-Manchester City, Aston Villa and Stoke midfielder has struggled for fitness since a bad leg-break at the start of last season and has been released after joining on a short-term contract in October.
And while his move to the University of Bolton Stadium did not work out as hoped by all parties, Parkin says Ireland can leave with his head held high.
“Stephen has come in and tried his best,” added Parkin. “He’s a nice lad and given everything he could to get as fit as he could.
“He picked a calf strain up when he first came in, which didn’t help. He played a few under-23s games and I’ve not really been privy to what’s been said between the player and the manager, we’ve been concentrating on this weekend.
“But Stephen was a nice lad to have around the place and we sincerely wish him all the best for the future.”
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