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Another case of friends reunited – Wanderers will conclude their early season trilogy with Rochdale hoping to strike a blow against familiar foes.
Friends off the pitch, Keith Hill, David Flitcroft and Dale boss Brian Barry-Murphy also have plenty of shared history in the dugout, meaning there will be few surprises on either side when the teams emerge from the tunnel tomorrow.
So far this season, Rochdale have had the edge in two Spotland meetings. They outclassed a junior Whites side in the Carabao Cup – albeit before Hill and Flitcroft’s arrival – and then held their nerve in the Leasing.com Trophy to win on penalties at the start of the month.
This time, an improving Bolton team may feel they are in their best position yet to claim a first victory of the season and a step towards their gargantuan survival target.
Flitcroft took up press duties yesterday at Lostock, speaking thoughtfully about the short and long-term targets he and Hill have identified at Wanderers.
He was also able to offer a unique perspective on Barry-Murphy, the young Irish coach who took up the reins impressively from Hill in March at Rochdale.
“I was his room partner,” Flitcroft told The Bolton News. “He was always a deep-thinker, Murph, someone who loved football, talked football. Hilly had him on his staff for a long time.
“I knew he’d go into coaching but it was a bit like when I was at Barnsley – and Hilly had just gone – you don’t know whether you can step up, have the right man-management skills.
“It’s something me and Murph have talked about. You have the experience, he certainly did, but it’s so important the structure around you is right. He was part of that system, stepping into something that was already built, adding to it, refining it.
“If something is solid, like it is at Rochdale, you can plug into it. He has done it seamlessly and done a fantastic job.
“The brand of football they are playing is great, Murph’s style, but it’s club-led. He has kept it going.”
Flitcroft switched successfully from playing into coaching at Rochdale before moving with Hill to Oakwell, then striking out successfully alone.
The two Boltonians reunited at the UniBol in August in the hope of creating the same ‘system’ that worked so well at Dale, on a slightly larger scale.
Flitcroft is confident his time at Barnsley, Bury, Swindon and Mansfield means he returns alongside Hill better equipped.
“The big thing for me, coming back as an assistant for the second time, is that you know where the pressure points are,” he said. “You take the weight off him at times and try to protect him at times, wherever it’s coming from.
“That is what is great about going back to being the assistant after six years as a manager, it’s easier to tell where those pressure points are, because it can be a lonely place.
“You can only really speak to other managers. Me and Brian Barry-Murphy have had these types of chats – there’s a 10 per cent that nobody ever knows about. It’s somewhere you are lay in bed at night on the 3am shift with something nagging in your mind and it’s keeping you awake until you can get in and speak to your staff.
“I still get in now. I am intrinsically linked with Hilly – I know what he’s thinking. But it has certainly helped me by being number one and knowing how to support a manager who needs me. It’s almost telepathic.”
To sum up the long and short-term targets which have fallen on Hill and Flitcroft’s shoulders, the pair spent last weekend watching two of Bolton’s youth teams before taking in Rochdale’s 2-1 win against Accrington Stanley.
Flitcroft said: “We’ve put in a lot of work behind the scenes, trying to work with the first team and getting them to play the way we want them to play but we were also at the Under-16s and 18s games at Burnley on Saturday morning. We went across to watch Rochdale live in the afternoon.
“We want to lay the foundations for a long time here. From where it has been it is going to take time and work to get everyone aligned to a different way of thinking. We are going to a completely different style to the one we have played for a number of years and that needs a lot of detailed planning and buying into.
“The ‘free week’ has given us a chance to look at the bigger picture, and we enjoyed doing that.”
Flitcroft also took a hands-on role in the Under-23s’ 4-1 defeat against Crewe on Monday night.
“What was brilliant is watching how Crewe committed to the game, they have got an incredible philosophy,” he said. “It goes right from the six-year-olds to the first team. The kids know how they are expected to play, keep the ball, and you can see it’s a structure that has worked for them for a number of years.
“I don’t think we had the same commitment but we will, over a period of time. Playing for the 23s is something you should want. If you are not in the first team it’s the next step down, a chance to show you should be.
“Again it goes back to ‘what does football mean to you?’ It has to be more than turning up Monday to Friday.
“If you have an opportunity to play for any Bolton team you should have an ambition to go through the levels 16s, 18s, 23s, first team.
“We will be pushing and driving ambitious people up to first-team level. There was a young lad the other day, Tweedley, who has gone in and looked excellent. There are some really good shoots emerging in that academy."
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Friends off the pitch, Keith Hill, David Flitcroft and Dale boss Brian Barry-Murphy also have plenty of shared history in the dugout, meaning there will be few surprises on either side when the teams emerge from the tunnel tomorrow.
So far this season, Rochdale have had the edge in two Spotland meetings. They outclassed a junior Whites side in the Carabao Cup – albeit before Hill and Flitcroft’s arrival – and then held their nerve in the Leasing.com Trophy to win on penalties at the start of the month.
This time, an improving Bolton team may feel they are in their best position yet to claim a first victory of the season and a step towards their gargantuan survival target.
Flitcroft took up press duties yesterday at Lostock, speaking thoughtfully about the short and long-term targets he and Hill have identified at Wanderers.
He was also able to offer a unique perspective on Barry-Murphy, the young Irish coach who took up the reins impressively from Hill in March at Rochdale.
“I was his room partner,” Flitcroft told The Bolton News. “He was always a deep-thinker, Murph, someone who loved football, talked football. Hilly had him on his staff for a long time.
“I knew he’d go into coaching but it was a bit like when I was at Barnsley – and Hilly had just gone – you don’t know whether you can step up, have the right man-management skills.
“It’s something me and Murph have talked about. You have the experience, he certainly did, but it’s so important the structure around you is right. He was part of that system, stepping into something that was already built, adding to it, refining it.
“If something is solid, like it is at Rochdale, you can plug into it. He has done it seamlessly and done a fantastic job.
“The brand of football they are playing is great, Murph’s style, but it’s club-led. He has kept it going.”
Flitcroft switched successfully from playing into coaching at Rochdale before moving with Hill to Oakwell, then striking out successfully alone.
The two Boltonians reunited at the UniBol in August in the hope of creating the same ‘system’ that worked so well at Dale, on a slightly larger scale.
Flitcroft is confident his time at Barnsley, Bury, Swindon and Mansfield means he returns alongside Hill better equipped.
“The big thing for me, coming back as an assistant for the second time, is that you know where the pressure points are,” he said. “You take the weight off him at times and try to protect him at times, wherever it’s coming from.
“That is what is great about going back to being the assistant after six years as a manager, it’s easier to tell where those pressure points are, because it can be a lonely place.
“You can only really speak to other managers. Me and Brian Barry-Murphy have had these types of chats – there’s a 10 per cent that nobody ever knows about. It’s somewhere you are lay in bed at night on the 3am shift with something nagging in your mind and it’s keeping you awake until you can get in and speak to your staff.
“I still get in now. I am intrinsically linked with Hilly – I know what he’s thinking. But it has certainly helped me by being number one and knowing how to support a manager who needs me. It’s almost telepathic.”
To sum up the long and short-term targets which have fallen on Hill and Flitcroft’s shoulders, the pair spent last weekend watching two of Bolton’s youth teams before taking in Rochdale’s 2-1 win against Accrington Stanley.
Flitcroft said: “We’ve put in a lot of work behind the scenes, trying to work with the first team and getting them to play the way we want them to play but we were also at the Under-16s and 18s games at Burnley on Saturday morning. We went across to watch Rochdale live in the afternoon.
“We want to lay the foundations for a long time here. From where it has been it is going to take time and work to get everyone aligned to a different way of thinking. We are going to a completely different style to the one we have played for a number of years and that needs a lot of detailed planning and buying into.
“The ‘free week’ has given us a chance to look at the bigger picture, and we enjoyed doing that.”
Flitcroft also took a hands-on role in the Under-23s’ 4-1 defeat against Crewe on Monday night.
“What was brilliant is watching how Crewe committed to the game, they have got an incredible philosophy,” he said. “It goes right from the six-year-olds to the first team. The kids know how they are expected to play, keep the ball, and you can see it’s a structure that has worked for them for a number of years.
“I don’t think we had the same commitment but we will, over a period of time. Playing for the 23s is something you should want. If you are not in the first team it’s the next step down, a chance to show you should be.
“Again it goes back to ‘what does football mean to you?’ It has to be more than turning up Monday to Friday.
“If you have an opportunity to play for any Bolton team you should have an ambition to go through the levels 16s, 18s, 23s, first team.
“We will be pushing and driving ambitious people up to first-team level. There was a young lad the other day, Tweedley, who has gone in and looked excellent. There are some really good shoots emerging in that academy."
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