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Wanderers head to Bloomfield Road looking to end a four-decade wait for victory on Blackpool turf tonight with a plea from manager Keith Hill to keep calm and carry on.
Not since Frank Worthington and Neil Whatmore found the net for Ian Greaves’ Super Whites in 1977 has a Bolton team triumphed beside the tower.
But Hill believes his players know exactly where they need to improve in order to earn the points he believes performances have warranted.
The key, says the Wanderers boss, could rest in learning lessons from the weekend’s defeat at MK Dons.
“The players practice winning football matches every day and want to learn – but I think watching back the MK Dons game, a lot of their energy is misguided,” he told The Bolton News.
“If we were to reference distance covered, for example, they are returning some great numbers, but they have to channel it. They have to make better physical decisions.
“Everybody talks about the transitions. We are using positive energy in a negative fashion because in trying to support attacks we are taking ourselves out of good defensive positions and leaving ourselves vulnerable.
“As a defender you have to think negatively, the worst-case scenario, and plan. We have gone through it this morning and the players have accepted it has to be done more often because you want to attack as a team but you have to be in good positions defensively too so that we don’t fall victim to one or two of the goals we have conceded.”
Hill insists he is getting the right reaction from his players on the training ground, making him believe he can get a positive result at Blackpool.
“They have had a spring in their step and they take the challenges on,” he said. “Everybody wants better results, we’re striving for it. Sometimes you can’t see that brighter future because you get so upset with the present but I think when the dust settles the bright new future is the beginning of next season. We can’t carry any negativity into next season. I don’t think you should do, anyhow.
“To be perfectly honest as a manager or a player you do move on very quickly into next season and you don’t want to take the negativity. There is a call for solidarity and unity at this club.
“Everybody should be backing each other because it’s difficult for those players, no question. I am not making excuses for them – I have been there as a player myself on a run of losing performances – but what you don’t need is constant criticism, being told you are doing something wrong all the time."
Hill says Wanderers must look past the vitriol which followed the weekend's defeat and their own sense of disappointment.
"I am not going to alienate anyone who reacts emotionally to results," he said. “We have to react positively to the situation we are in. I knew what I was getting into when I took the job on. I had no preconceived idea that this was going to be some type of holiday camp.
“It is a difficult job in many ways and we are proactive in our search for the winning formula, whether it’s systems or players, with the group we have got. But the players are good to work with and they have got desire, they do want to wear the shirt with pride, and they are doing.
“At this moment in time it’s a bit misguided and there can be an over-emotional reaction. The last thing I’ll do is accusing the players, beating them in, or reacting negatively to losing matches, because there will be no future if I act like that."
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Not since Frank Worthington and Neil Whatmore found the net for Ian Greaves’ Super Whites in 1977 has a Bolton team triumphed beside the tower.
But Hill believes his players know exactly where they need to improve in order to earn the points he believes performances have warranted.
The key, says the Wanderers boss, could rest in learning lessons from the weekend’s defeat at MK Dons.
“The players practice winning football matches every day and want to learn – but I think watching back the MK Dons game, a lot of their energy is misguided,” he told The Bolton News.
“If we were to reference distance covered, for example, they are returning some great numbers, but they have to channel it. They have to make better physical decisions.
“Everybody talks about the transitions. We are using positive energy in a negative fashion because in trying to support attacks we are taking ourselves out of good defensive positions and leaving ourselves vulnerable.
“As a defender you have to think negatively, the worst-case scenario, and plan. We have gone through it this morning and the players have accepted it has to be done more often because you want to attack as a team but you have to be in good positions defensively too so that we don’t fall victim to one or two of the goals we have conceded.”
Hill insists he is getting the right reaction from his players on the training ground, making him believe he can get a positive result at Blackpool.
“They have had a spring in their step and they take the challenges on,” he said. “Everybody wants better results, we’re striving for it. Sometimes you can’t see that brighter future because you get so upset with the present but I think when the dust settles the bright new future is the beginning of next season. We can’t carry any negativity into next season. I don’t think you should do, anyhow.
“To be perfectly honest as a manager or a player you do move on very quickly into next season and you don’t want to take the negativity. There is a call for solidarity and unity at this club.
“Everybody should be backing each other because it’s difficult for those players, no question. I am not making excuses for them – I have been there as a player myself on a run of losing performances – but what you don’t need is constant criticism, being told you are doing something wrong all the time."
Hill says Wanderers must look past the vitriol which followed the weekend's defeat and their own sense of disappointment.
"I am not going to alienate anyone who reacts emotionally to results," he said. “We have to react positively to the situation we are in. I knew what I was getting into when I took the job on. I had no preconceived idea that this was going to be some type of holiday camp.
“It is a difficult job in many ways and we are proactive in our search for the winning formula, whether it’s systems or players, with the group we have got. But the players are good to work with and they have got desire, they do want to wear the shirt with pride, and they are doing.
“At this moment in time it’s a bit misguided and there can be an over-emotional reaction. The last thing I’ll do is accusing the players, beating them in, or reacting negatively to losing matches, because there will be no future if I act like that."
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