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Considering what had gone before, Monday was somewhat of a social media love-in for Wanderers keeper Remi Matthews.
The Football League Paper voted him into their team of the week, a fact readily retweeted by the club’s official account, and a whole manner of statistics were circulated illustrating why the Bolton stopper should be regarded so highly.
Matthews’ seventh clean sheet of the campaign had arrived just a couple of days earlier in a 0-0 draw with Accrington, a point he preserved by making two special saves in the second half to deny Stanley’s talented winger, Jordan Clark.
All the praise that poured forward after that performance was in stark contrast to the criticism the 26-year-old has faced in recent times as Wanderers languish at the bottom of League One.
Matthews is one of several first team players with accounts on Twitter and Instagram and, on occasion, he has chosen to tackle personally some posts he felt went beyond acceptable comment.
As the only senior goalkeeper of a team that has shipped 64 goals this season – the second-highest total in the division – it may be argued that a certain amount of critique can be expected.
Football is easily explained away with statistics these days. But it is not always the case with the intricacies of goalkeeping.
For example, only Southend United’s Mark Oxley (2.16) has conceded more goals per 90 minutes than the Bolton keeper (2.06), who also finds himself 19th of 23 goalkeepers who have made 19 or more appearances in regard to save percentage (goals conceded divided by shots on target against).
Equally, Matthews can point out he has been among League One’s busiest stoppers, making an average 3.5 saves per game, a total bettered only by former Wimbledon loanee Nathan Trott (4.1) and MK Dons’ Lee Nicholls (3.6).
Matthews has faced more shots on target (176) than anyone else and only Nicholls can beat him for the total number of saves (112) made since August.
So, given those circumstances, and the havoc that has been going on in front of him at times, should the odd error be overlooked?
Matthews has kept his own counsel for the last couple of weeks, save for endorsing a few charity drives from friends and club staff and liking a statement from Blackburn Rovers winger Elliott Bennett, which skirts particularly closely to the issue at hand.
“Being in the public eye, being rich, being famous is no defence barrier to any individual’s mental struggles,” Bennett wrote. “While we are all entitled to an opinion, we should all think about the impact of what we say can have on another person.”
So is it wise for a professional footballer to subject themselves to potential criticism online, given their livelihood is so closely linked to confidence?
Wanderers issue their players with an online code of conduct – but would the easiest thing be to remove yourself from the equation altogether?
“I think if you are not mentally strong, then probably,” Matthews reasoned when quizzed after Saturday’s game. “I’d say there are lads who don’t go on social media because of that basis.
“I have come out and said a few things throughout the season but that isn’t just my point of view, it is expressing how we feel as a team.
“Fans want players to come out and say what has been happening and how we feel about things, and sometimes one or two might jump on it as an excuse to get a few more followers. So be it, each to their own.
“We’ll probably all look back and smile someday, hopefully with Bolton back in the Prem and I’m lying on a beach somewhere retired.”
Matthews signed last January after a spell on loan from Norwich City, a move that nearly collapsed because of the precarious financial situation of the club under previous owner Ken Anderson.
He played all but two of the last 18 games of the season in all competitions, eventually usurping Ben Alnwick as Bolton’s first choice against the backdrop of more money worries.
Unpaid from February onwards, senior players like David Wheater and Andy Taylor confirmed that players’ mental wellness was being affected by what was happening off the pitch, a situation which culminated in the infamous strike to force the cancellation of a home match against Brentford in April.
And for Matthews, who was one of only a handful of players contracted to this season in League One, the test continued way beyond the summer.
A move to Crystal Palace was blocked by the club’s administrators in July but while several team-mates exercised their option to tear up their contract in-line with employment law, Matthews stayed put in the hope things would settle and the ownership issue would be resolved.
With the exception of the goalless draw against Coventry City in August, before which the wage issues had again come to the fore, Matthews has been ever-present in the league and has been on the pitch nearly six hours longer than his nearest rival, Jason Lowe.
He was involved in heavy defeats against Tranmere, Ipswich, Rotherham, Accrington and Lincoln, results which he accepts were always likely to bring scrutiny on a goalkeeper.
Even given the online flare ups, Matthews insists the decision to sign for – and stay with – Bolton has improved him as a player and as a person.
“I ignore a lot of what is being said – and I always notice it’s the same people doing it anyway. It’s one of those where I’ll see them in the summer and they might ask for a picture,” he said.
“You can’t let it get you down. I feel like whoever was playing in goal this season was bound to get some level of criticism. I feel like I have done well for myself and no matter what happens in the future I will never look back and have any grudges with Bolton.
“Phil Parkinson last year gave me the platform to play in the Championship and here I am now, I’ve played 50-odd games for Bolton Wanderers, so it’s definitely an achievement for me.”
At 26, Matthews is still relatively young for a goalkeeper playing regular first team football, and after switching coaches in mid-season from the Sunderland-bound Lee Butler to the homecoming Mike Pollitt, he is only now reaping the rewards of working in a more stable environment.
He remains without senior competition following Alnwick’s departure at the end of December but has high hopes for young protegee Matt Alexander, who stood-in to make his league debut back in August against Coventry.
Matthews is out of contract this summer and does not know whether he will be offered a longer deal. But if this is to be the final dozen games of his Bolton career, the keeper is sure that the unique experience will stand him in good stead for the future.
“I am mentally strong,” he said. “At the start of the season I was the one being criticised but I felt like I could take it – whereas if that was being dished out to the younger lads, I think it would have been different.
“It has made me stronger as well, a stronger man. Would I want anyone else to experience it? Probably not. But I can take positives from the whole thing and move on from there.
“It has been an interesting experience. Obviously it has been mentally tough at times, fatiguing, and every day you have got to go in and be as professional as possible – when we weren’t getting paid and even now when results haven’t picked up, being bottom of the league and starting on minus 12 points.
“It has been tough on everyone from the manager down to the scholars and people like that, so people like me, senior lads, need to keep going and showing the younger lads that it’s about yourself as a professional. You have to work hard and try to take that out on the field.
“I am sure in 10 years we’ll look back, laugh and joke about it, but it was a kick in the teeth to start the season off on minus 12. Again, it was also a kick in the teeth not to have the sort of squad we wanted at the start of the season to give it a good go.”
On his most recent exploits, Matthews affords himself a little smile when asked if his two saves against Accrington were the best, or at least most important of his career.
"I'd better not say 'yes' because someone is bound to jump on that," he said.
"I think I made a better one at Sunderland but I'll leave other people do decide that, for me it's about getting a job done."
Source
The Football League Paper voted him into their team of the week, a fact readily retweeted by the club’s official account, and a whole manner of statistics were circulated illustrating why the Bolton stopper should be regarded so highly.
Matthews’ seventh clean sheet of the campaign had arrived just a couple of days earlier in a 0-0 draw with Accrington, a point he preserved by making two special saves in the second half to deny Stanley’s talented winger, Jordan Clark.
All the praise that poured forward after that performance was in stark contrast to the criticism the 26-year-old has faced in recent times as Wanderers languish at the bottom of League One.
Matthews is one of several first team players with accounts on Twitter and Instagram and, on occasion, he has chosen to tackle personally some posts he felt went beyond acceptable comment.
As the only senior goalkeeper of a team that has shipped 64 goals this season – the second-highest total in the division – it may be argued that a certain amount of critique can be expected.
Football is easily explained away with statistics these days. But it is not always the case with the intricacies of goalkeeping.
For example, only Southend United’s Mark Oxley (2.16) has conceded more goals per 90 minutes than the Bolton keeper (2.06), who also finds himself 19th of 23 goalkeepers who have made 19 or more appearances in regard to save percentage (goals conceded divided by shots on target against).
Equally, Matthews can point out he has been among League One’s busiest stoppers, making an average 3.5 saves per game, a total bettered only by former Wimbledon loanee Nathan Trott (4.1) and MK Dons’ Lee Nicholls (3.6).
Matthews has faced more shots on target (176) than anyone else and only Nicholls can beat him for the total number of saves (112) made since August.
So, given those circumstances, and the havoc that has been going on in front of him at times, should the odd error be overlooked?
Matthews has kept his own counsel for the last couple of weeks, save for endorsing a few charity drives from friends and club staff and liking a statement from Blackburn Rovers winger Elliott Bennett, which skirts particularly closely to the issue at hand.
“Being in the public eye, being rich, being famous is no defence barrier to any individual’s mental struggles,” Bennett wrote. “While we are all entitled to an opinion, we should all think about the impact of what we say can have on another person.”
So is it wise for a professional footballer to subject themselves to potential criticism online, given their livelihood is so closely linked to confidence?
Wanderers issue their players with an online code of conduct – but would the easiest thing be to remove yourself from the equation altogether?
“I think if you are not mentally strong, then probably,” Matthews reasoned when quizzed after Saturday’s game. “I’d say there are lads who don’t go on social media because of that basis.
“I have come out and said a few things throughout the season but that isn’t just my point of view, it is expressing how we feel as a team.
“Fans want players to come out and say what has been happening and how we feel about things, and sometimes one or two might jump on it as an excuse to get a few more followers. So be it, each to their own.
“We’ll probably all look back and smile someday, hopefully with Bolton back in the Prem and I’m lying on a beach somewhere retired.”
Matthews signed last January after a spell on loan from Norwich City, a move that nearly collapsed because of the precarious financial situation of the club under previous owner Ken Anderson.
He played all but two of the last 18 games of the season in all competitions, eventually usurping Ben Alnwick as Bolton’s first choice against the backdrop of more money worries.
Unpaid from February onwards, senior players like David Wheater and Andy Taylor confirmed that players’ mental wellness was being affected by what was happening off the pitch, a situation which culminated in the infamous strike to force the cancellation of a home match against Brentford in April.
And for Matthews, who was one of only a handful of players contracted to this season in League One, the test continued way beyond the summer.
A move to Crystal Palace was blocked by the club’s administrators in July but while several team-mates exercised their option to tear up their contract in-line with employment law, Matthews stayed put in the hope things would settle and the ownership issue would be resolved.
With the exception of the goalless draw against Coventry City in August, before which the wage issues had again come to the fore, Matthews has been ever-present in the league and has been on the pitch nearly six hours longer than his nearest rival, Jason Lowe.
He was involved in heavy defeats against Tranmere, Ipswich, Rotherham, Accrington and Lincoln, results which he accepts were always likely to bring scrutiny on a goalkeeper.
Even given the online flare ups, Matthews insists the decision to sign for – and stay with – Bolton has improved him as a player and as a person.
“I ignore a lot of what is being said – and I always notice it’s the same people doing it anyway. It’s one of those where I’ll see them in the summer and they might ask for a picture,” he said.
“You can’t let it get you down. I feel like whoever was playing in goal this season was bound to get some level of criticism. I feel like I have done well for myself and no matter what happens in the future I will never look back and have any grudges with Bolton.
“Phil Parkinson last year gave me the platform to play in the Championship and here I am now, I’ve played 50-odd games for Bolton Wanderers, so it’s definitely an achievement for me.”
At 26, Matthews is still relatively young for a goalkeeper playing regular first team football, and after switching coaches in mid-season from the Sunderland-bound Lee Butler to the homecoming Mike Pollitt, he is only now reaping the rewards of working in a more stable environment.
He remains without senior competition following Alnwick’s departure at the end of December but has high hopes for young protegee Matt Alexander, who stood-in to make his league debut back in August against Coventry.
Matthews is out of contract this summer and does not know whether he will be offered a longer deal. But if this is to be the final dozen games of his Bolton career, the keeper is sure that the unique experience will stand him in good stead for the future.
“I am mentally strong,” he said. “At the start of the season I was the one being criticised but I felt like I could take it – whereas if that was being dished out to the younger lads, I think it would have been different.
“It has made me stronger as well, a stronger man. Would I want anyone else to experience it? Probably not. But I can take positives from the whole thing and move on from there.
“It has been an interesting experience. Obviously it has been mentally tough at times, fatiguing, and every day you have got to go in and be as professional as possible – when we weren’t getting paid and even now when results haven’t picked up, being bottom of the league and starting on minus 12 points.
“It has been tough on everyone from the manager down to the scholars and people like that, so people like me, senior lads, need to keep going and showing the younger lads that it’s about yourself as a professional. You have to work hard and try to take that out on the field.
“I am sure in 10 years we’ll look back, laugh and joke about it, but it was a kick in the teeth to start the season off on minus 12. Again, it was also a kick in the teeth not to have the sort of squad we wanted at the start of the season to give it a good go.”
On his most recent exploits, Matthews affords himself a little smile when asked if his two saves against Accrington were the best, or at least most important of his career.
"I'd better not say 'yes' because someone is bound to jump on that," he said.
"I think I made a better one at Sunderland but I'll leave other people do decide that, for me it's about getting a job done."
Source