Gillingham 0-3 Bolton

Had a bit of an upsurge these men, looking like another big turnout for Bolton.

Harris seems to have fired Gillingham up, and they are now getting results, so not going to be an easy ride, but we should have enough about us.

3-1 Bolton

MartinBWFC wrote:Had a bit of an upsurge these men, looking like another big turnout for Bolton.

Harris seems to have fired Gillingham up, and they are now getting results, so not going to be an easy ride, but we should have enough about us.

3-1 Bolton

No it won't be an easy ride Martin - great result against Lincoln and a respectable 8 points from the last 15 available which is decent from a side facing relegation. Harris has switched them to a 3421 system since we nicked their best player and it seems to be paying dividends.

Not having a midweek game should help us get rested up and ready for this one so hopefully we'll be able to produce a decent performance on Saturday.

0 - 2

Some games of interest taking place tonight - Portsmouth can jump up in the table with a win. Sheffield Wednesday are home and can put three more points between us. Same with Wycombe.
Nowt we can do except hope for a few upsets and of course win our games.


Unfortunately, all the above went against us last night. We find ourselves in 11th this morning. Obviously Saturday is another must win. COYWM

terenceanne wrote:Some games of interest taking place tonight - Portsmouth can jump up in the table with a win. Sheffield Wednesday are home and can put three more points between us. Same with Wycombe.
Nowt we can do except hope for a few upsets and of course win our games.


Unfortunately, all the above went against us last night. We find ourselves in 11th this morning. Obviously Saturday is another must win. COYWM

I've been saying for weeks that Portsmouth were on our tails and now they've gone ahead of us with two games in hand. The only consolation is that they beat Oxford.

Reality is we're 9 points off a playoff place with 5 good teams ahead of us - all with better GDs - in the race to get there. If Plymouth win their games in hand it will be 11 points off the playoffs.

It seems very unlikely that they'll all falter.

It was always a big ask Lusty but there will still be ups and downs before the season ends. Defeat last Saturday was a big blow and I’d say if we lose at Gillingham this week, we’ll be out of it altogether. Losing all those games in our bad run, many of the games we shouldn’t have lost whatever our injury situation with the squad we’ve got, has cost us badly. Realistically we need to win every game now if we are to do it and I just don’t think that’s likely. Having said that, many of the clubs above us are playing each other in the run in and we still have 6 pointers to come against Wednesday and Plymouth which if we can win will really pull us up. We also have Wigan away which I’m hoping we can win and get some pay back. On the other hand I’m sure Wigan would really love to finish off our play off chances.

Whitesince63 wrote:It was always a big ask Lusty but there will still be ups and downs before the season ends. Defeat last Saturday was a big blow and I’d say if we lose at Gillingham this week, we’ll be out of it altogether. Losing all those games in our bad run, many of the games we shouldn’t have lost whatever our injury situation with the squad we’ve got, has cost us badly. Realistically we need to win every game now if we are to do it and I just don’t think that’s likely. Having said that, many of the clubs above us are playing each other in the run in and we still have 6 pointers to come against Wednesday and Plymouth which if we can win will really pull us up. We also have Wigan away which I’m hoping we can win and get some pay back. On the other hand I’m sure Wigan would really love to finish off our play off chances.

The problem is that there are nowhere near enough fixtures left where the teams above us play each other for them all to drop the requisite number of points for us to sneak in as I've been saying for weeks. We need a lot of upsets whilst simultaneously winning every game and even then it will be touch and go.

Back to winning ways this week i think, i'm going for a 2-1 away win.

I still think we aren't ready for another promotion though.

wanderlust wrote:
The problem is that there are nowhere near enough fixtures left where the teams above us play each other for them all to drop the requisite number of points for us to sneak in as I've been saying for weeks. We need a lot of upsets whilst simultaneously winning every game and even then it will be touch and go.

Of course there are enough fixtures left for teams above us to drop points. I’m not talking only about their fixtures against each other but also against teams at the bottom who will be fighting for their lives. If we win all our games we should be in the play offs, no guarantees because as you say, we need some upsets but in fairness that’s what usually does happen towards the end of every season. We just have to make sure they don’t happen to us. The odds are steeply against us but in football you just never know.

Whitesince63 wrote:
Of course there are enough fixtures left for teams above us to drop points. I’m not talking only about their fixtures against each other but also against teams at the bottom who will be fighting for their lives. If we win all our games we should be in the play offs, no guarantees because as you say, we need some upsets but in fairness that’s what usually does happen towards the end of every season. We just have to make sure they don’t happen to us. The odds are steeply against us but in football you just never know.

The point is that there doesn't appear to be any combination of results that will get us into the playoffs without quite a few lower placed teams beating the teams higher placed than us, so it's not just a matter of us winning all our games but also getting a massive change in form throughout the league with all the luck going our way.

There’s really no point in trying to work out the possibilities Lusty, too many things can happen but if we did win all our remaining games, there’s no question in my mind that we would make the top six. Sadly I don’t see us winning all our games. For all the improvements in the squad in January, I still see weaknesses that need to be strengthened before we really challenge. I just hope that we can hold on to the likes of Dapo and Rico and strengthen elsewhere so that we can have a real go next year.

Whitesince63 wrote:There’s really no point in trying to work out the possibilities Lusty,

Well there is when people are hanging their hopes on the idea that if we win all our games we've done it.

The reason I did it was to work out for myself that in reality we've got to the point where we need teams below us to start beating the teams above us.

Norpig wrote:Back to winning ways this week i think, i'm going for a 2-1 away win.

I still think we aren't ready for another promotion though.

I don't believe we have the finances to sustain a Championship team, Norpig. I'm not sure we have the finances to sustain a League 1 side for very long without some new money coming in.

Last season's accounts should tell us a bit more when FV release them but I don't expect them to be in a hurry.

Ten Bobsworth wrote:
I don't believe we have the finances to sustain a Championship team, Norpig. I'm not sure we have the finances to sustain a League 1 side for very long without some new money coming in.

Last season's accounts should tell us a bit more when FV release them but I don't expect them to be in a hurry.

That said, Shazza and co have been pretty nimble on their feet since taking over and already the financial landscape seems to have shifted several times during their tenure to meet current need so it wouldn't surprise me if they have planned for the various scenarios. Who is to say they haven't got plans for future share sales, issues or even an exit strategy?

What happens on the pitch will drive financial strategy to some extent, not just the other way round.

Gills fans about 50-50 on their result prediction poll although many of them qualify it with "depends which Bolton turns up" - a sentiment I can only agree with.

Generally they reckon they have improved considerably since Harris came in. Still plenty of respect for Dempsey but they like his replacement.

Important game for both clubs so I'm praying the lads are on it this afternoon.

wanderlust wrote:
That said, Shazza and co have been pretty nimble on their feet since taking over and already the financial landscape seems to have shifted several times during their tenure to meet current need so it wouldn't surprise me if they have planned for the various scenarios. Who is to say they haven't got plans for future share sales, issues or even an exit strategy?

What happens on the pitch will drive financial strategy to some extent, not just the other way round.

Good old Lusty. Always the Master of Bullshit Articulation.

wanderlust wrote:

Ten Bobsworth wrote:
I don't believe we have the finances to sustain a Championship team, Norpig. I'm not sure we have the finances to sustain a League 1 side for very long without some new money coming in.

Last season's accounts should tell us a bit more when FV release them but I don't expect them to be in a hurry.

That said, Shazza and co have been pretty nimble on their feet since taking over and already the financial landscape seems to have shifted several times during their tenure to meet current need so it wouldn't surprise me if they have planned for the various scenarios. Who is to say they haven't got plans for future share sales, issues or even an exit strategy?

What happens on the pitch will drive financial strategy to some extent, not just the other way round.

You claim yourself to be a Business Advisor???

Last seasons accounts show that the business has debts substantially greater than its assets - that's a fact that even you should be able to see from them.

Somebody is keeping the club afloat from their own personal wealth simply because the business itself can't raise the revenue to do so - and the club has had to take out a £5m loan to keep it going through Covid since those accounts were published - so is even further in debt than on the day FV bought the club (or rather the owners have a less equity share in it than when they started).

Yes, some white knight might ride over the horizon to buy the club from Sharon tomorrow for all I know but the chances that they do, or even exist, are extremely remote.

Personally I think it probably doesn't make much difference financially which division we play in next season in the sense that the only difference in costs to the club would be whatever contractual increases we would have to pay in players wages for promotion (and Eddies promotion clause) and those costs would likely be offset from the increase in prize money, TV revenue and bigger crowds in attendance.

Whether we would stop up that season would be difficult with the squad we currently have but isn't that what football is about, aspirations and to achieve the best we can?  Maybe being in the Championship would increase our chances of attracting more investment or richer owners but I tend to think that is all a bit of a myth too because how many Championship clubs do you know where such things have actually happened in the last decade or so?

I see Bob clearly holds the same views of you as I have too!

There's a big information gap, Sluffy, as there has been pretty much for the last 25 years. Most business owners will try to paint a rosy picture and FV are a long way from being the exception. The spin wagon just keeps on rolling compounded by long-standing media incompetence. As I have said before there are people I would expect to know better but I haven't encountered many that have  even wanted to grasp it.

FV will, of course, do whatever they can to keep the wheels turning as best they can and Lusty's right in one sense; that success on the pitch is what most fans are interested in and they aren't really bothered about much else.

Ten Bobsworth wrote:There's a big information gap, Sluffy, as there has been pretty much for the last 25 years. Most business owners will try to paint a rosy picture and FV are a long way from being the exception. The spin wagon just keeps on rolling compounded by long-standing media incompetence. As I have said before there are people I would expect to know better but I haven't encountered many that have  even wanted to grasp it.

FV will, of course, do whatever they can to keep the wheels turning as best they can and Lusty's right in one sense; that success on the pitch is what most fans are interested in and they aren't really bothered about much else.

Thanks Bob.

Tbh I don't see why anyone other than shareholders or investors in a company seem to think they have some form of divine right to financial information of the company?  No one asks to know the financial business of your local chippy, cinema, food store, pub, etc, so why should anyone feel the need to be told the ins and out of their local footy club?

I'm personally interested and curious about the clubs financial position obviously but I don't expect it to be shared with me, or anyone else, unless the club itself wishes do do so, or is legally obligated to put the information into the public domain.

Let's be honest, there are extremely few fans who are even bothered about such stuff and even worse the few who have shown interest, have largely demonstrated a massive lack of comprehension and understanding of what information has been provided by the club - take for example (which I know I refer to frequently but it underlines perfectly my point) of someone claiming that Anderson had raped the club of £168m of assets which simply neve even existed!!!

Of course all business want to entice consumers to buy their product (let us not lose site that the football on the pitch is the 'product' that people are paying their money to see) and the company will always endeavour to package their products in the best ways they can to that end.

Obviously the more desirable that product is to the consumer (in this case a 'winning team') the more they will 'sell' of it.

Well that's the general principle anyway but it's no longer true of football in the top tier anymore where the financial incentive is to stay in the Premier League (and to a much lesser extent the Championship) rather than generate revenue from people turning up at the ground buying their tickets and their half time pie and pints.

The overriding financial desire is remain in the top tier rather than having an 'attractive' product to watch on the field.

When we were in the PL, towards the end we couldn't attract capacity crowds simple because the product on the pitch was so dire to watch - but the product on the pitch was solely aimed at keeping us at that level - which was the overriding financial objective of the business.

Our circumstances now are that we are a long way off the PL riches and must rely on building up a revenue generation base based on fans coming through the turnstiles.

The plan seems to be based on getting us to the Championship as soon as could be achieved based on the finances that had been invested into the club by the 'five' investors (who we still aren't sure exactly who these five were/are?).

The club went all in on Doyle and Sarce to do that and seemed to get fortunate with the Covid circumstances to upgrade that plan when Doyle and Sarce seemed to be unable to move us up to the Championship from our current level.

If we remain in this division this season, which seems highly likely (even if we get to a playoff position by the end of the season, we still have to win the semi-final and final to get promoted remember!), it will be interesting to see if there is any money given to improve the team for next season.

And by not getting promoted we stand to risk losing some of our best players being bought from us by clubs in a higher division.

At the end of the day we are only talking about a game, 'football', and it is something that we should all be enjoying by it being entertaining to us - which currently it is.

Sadly there are far worse things going on in the world right now than the game of football.

Ian Evatt has made � changes to the team to face [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] this afternoon:

JDB comes in for Amadou Bakayoko.
Will Aimson replaces Gethin Jones who is on compassionate leave.
Kyle Dempsey misses out through illness and Dapo Afolayan comes in.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]