TALKING POINTS: What we noticed from Wanderers' defeat against Forest Green

Wanderers slumped to defeat on their first league outing of the season – but how concerned should supporters actually be?

Ian Evatt has now seen his new group of players beaten on three successive occasions, proving that grafting his new style of play on the club will not be a walk in the park.

But what did the 1-0 defeat against Forest Green Rovers actually teach us? Here’s what we think Bolton fans will be discussing around a post-match pint tonight.

STATIC ELECTRICITY

Wanderers want to play possession football – but they have to pass with a purpose.

Too often they were pushing the ball around outside their own penalty area with little damage caused to Forest Green – and when they did push forward, the quality of pass was not good enough.

Things improved when Ali Crawford was introduced, the Scot always looking to play a forward pass and break the lines. Food for thought for head coach, Ian Evatt?

ON THE BOARD

Eoin Doyle was last season’s top goal-scorer in League Two, bagging 26 for Swindon Town. And he certainly hasn’t lost the touch overnight.

But the Whites cannot rely on him alone. They allowed his early miss to affect them and it took the introduction of Crawford in the second half for them to look anything like potent in attack again.

Doyle looks frustrated and probably will until the goals start to flow. Evatt will be hoping that it sooner rather than later.

CALM DOWN

Too much of Bolton’s football in the first half was tense and forced.

If Evatt’s brand is to work, the players need to relax a little more on the ball and trust their ability, demand the ball.

Credit to Forest Green, they minimised the space available to Bolton in midfield, but Wanderers have to be braver in possession than this.

MOTIVATION’S WHAT YOU NEED

It feels as though Wanderers’ players are struggling without the natural backing of a crowd – even in a negative sense.

The first half didn’t sparkle. But had the players been subjected to the ‘scrutiny’ we know a Bolton crowd is capable of giving to their team, it might just have kicked them into gear.

For a few games now the team has looked passive. They need to find their own impetus.

KEEP THE FAITH

It is plan daft to think that a few poor results at the start of a season will guarantee a poor season.

Evatt needs time and patience for his plan to work, and his players deserve some time to learn the ropes.

It is frustrating, to say the least, and poor performances like this should be scrutinised but there should also be a sense of perspective. What is it they say about marathons and sprints?

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The rest is waffle but the point about making good use of the possession is bang on. Passing it from side to side does nowt bar change the angle so unless there is forward movement and runs into space we get nowhere.
There’s no point in having loads of possession unless we do something with it.

I believe there's a severe lack of self-belief within the entire club right now. It wasn't helped by Covid of course but it predates it by quite some distance. In fact I'd go far as to say it started the moment we got relegated from the Premier League. That's NOT an invitation for sluffy to Coyle-bash again, simply an opinion. Things were not helped by Dougie's dour and pessimistic approach and even Lennon couldn't sustain a real turn around. The sad fact is we've become almost comfortable with losing and that has to change if we're ever going to climb back to L1 let alone higher.