Pre-Season 2022/23 Thread

I thought we'd let Tutte go years ago. Never heard of Iredale or Conway.

Natasha Whittam wrote:I thought we'd let Tutte go years ago. Never heard of Iredale or Conway.

Conway's only been at the club since he was a foetus.

A 1-0 defeat to Wigan yesterday.At least it was closer than the 4-0 defeat to Wigan last year, the 5-1 the year before and the 5-2 the year before that.

Growler wrote:A 1-0 defeat to Wigan yesterday.At least it was closer than the 4-0 defeat to Wigan last year, the 5-1 the year before and the 5-2 the year before that.

Apparently we played well despite Baka being out with a knee injury - dominated the game, missed some good chances, skied a penalty over their bar - the usual.

Only 3 weeks to go before the season starts and I'm still nervous about our defence. We might sign Toal but it will be a while before he is ready to start and I agree with Nat the a quality DM wouldn't go amiss - but we are where we are and hopefully we'll have enough to give it a go.

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Yesterday's teamsheet, for those who like to see such things! [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Watford coming up and Evatt is bigging it up as a "[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]" - even though Cambridge beat them 3 - 1 the other day. 
It's at London Colney St Albans - which is Arsenal's training ground I believe.

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MATCH REPORT: Excellent stuff from Wanderers - a thoroughly deserved 2-0 win at Watford.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Very encouraging result and an interesting starting line up, especially Lee who scored the opener.
No sign of Isgrove yet though.
The more ebullient Watford fans reckoned they bossed it especially the second half but I've no idea how they know that as fans aren't usually allowed into Colney at least when Arsenal are playing there - must be their Marc Iles bigging them up.

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Match Reaction: Ian Evatt's verdict on Wanderers' 2-0 win at Watford

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Ian Evatt reckons Wanderers put a big marker down for the League One season as they toppled Watford on their own turf.

Goals from Kieran Lee and Dapo Afolayan capped off Bolton’s best performance of the summer so far against a side containing several players who turned out in the Premier League last season.

Pride stung by defeat against Wigan Athletic on Saturday, Evatt said his players did exactly what they set out to do on a sweltering and physically demanding afternoon at Colney.

“I think it’s another step forwards and we wanted to see improvements from the things we’ve been discussing and working on in training. I thought we saw those,” he said of his side’s performance.

“When conditions are as they are and it’s that hot and humid, I think it’s just energy and attitude. It would have been easy for us to come and say ‘do you know what, we’re going to conserve energy and sacrifice the ball a little bit’.

“But that isn’t us and there’s no point practising that because that’s not how we’re going to play in the season. We just said to the players just give us everything, press how we normally press, play with that intensity and if you feel like you’re blowing up we’ll get you off and bring someone else on.

In what proved a surprisingly tactical affair, Wanderers’ pressing game helped them establish a two-goal lead in the first half before Watford started to find their own rhythm.

Joel Dixon made two fine saves from Ismail Sarr to preserve the advantage and the hard graft continued as they went toe-to-toe with their hosts for the rest of the contest.

Evatt said: “We’ve got a really good squad to be able to do that, but the players’ fitness levels are excellent. I thought we kept up our energy and intensity throughout the game and it’s a positive performance.

“Absolutely there was good shape, structure and organisation. These are improvements that we’ve been putting in place on the training pitch. I think we’ve done a lot of work out of possession because that can create you opportunities as well and I think we’ve seen that in pre-season.

“We’ve been scoring goals and creating chances from our pressing strategy. That’s an important part of the game but what really pleased me today was some of our bravery in possession.

“We played through their press and I think the second goal is as good a goal as you’ll see at any level. That’s what we’re capable of but we just need to see that more consistently.” Wanderers’ second goal, scored by Afolayan and created by MJ Williams, summed up a successful afternoon in possession.

“We are trying to invite pressure, invite the press and then where that press comes from, we really attack the space behind it. I think we really did that well in the first half,” Evatt added.

“Watford really struggled to get to grips with it and it was a great second goal.”

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Watford 0-2 Bolton Wanderers - Five talking points from the friendly victory

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Wanderers produced an impressive performance to beat Watford at their Colney training base and give fans a tantalising taste of what is in store for the League One season ahead.

There was no let up from Ian Evatt’s men, whose high press left the Championship side struggling to get any sort of cohesion in possession for most of the first half.

After the break Watford made some telling changes and created a few more opportunities but Bolton deserved their result and stuck to the task admirably.

Here we pick out five talking points from the best display in pre-season so far.

DAPO FRONT AND CENTRE

We saw it against Sunderland last season, and it worked a treat, but the partnership of Dapo Afolayan and Dion Charles is really quite an intriguing prospect up front.

Ian Evatt has plenty of options up front, and though pushing Afolayan further forward was probably a product of Amadou Bakayoko’s injury – with Elias Kachunga and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson reserved for a weekend start at Carlisle United – the success of the experiment might just give him food for thought.

Afolayan took his goal well and built on what was an excellent performance against Wigan a few days earlier.

SADLIER PASSES THE TEST

With Conor Bradley benched, Kieran Sadlier was picked at right wing-back once more.

While many would say his best position is further forward, the hour he played against Watford’s quick and physical wide men suggests that his defensive work is improving.

He didn’t get too many opportunities to push on, so we are yet to see much of his attacking quality this summer, but Sadlier is certainly showing he is a team player.

JOEL’S REDEMPTION

Not much went well for Joel Dixon in his first season at Bolton Wanderers.

He seized control of the goalkeeper spot a week in and looked solid until the club started to rack up injuries and Covid absences, after which his confidence seemed to suffer with each poor result at the end of last year.

Some reports – wrongly – claimed he was being lined up for a return to Barrow this summer. But this summer he has made some genuinely eye-catching saves and looks determined to fight for as much football as he can wrestle from James Trafford.

More importantly, he is also winning over some of the doubters who had racked up at the end of 2021 when the mood at Wanderers was quite different.

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CHAIRMAN DROPS BY

Sharon Brittan came to see Wanderers in action at Colney, along with her sons Ollie and Toby, and stayed behind to chat with players and staff.

As quite a few supporters observed when The Bolton News published a picture of the chairman speaking with Ricardo Santos and Elias Kachunga, the smiles painted a picture of a happy club. And long may that continue.

GIVE AS GOOD AS YOU GET

Early in the game George Thomason was poleaxed by one of the Watford midfielders, some of whom looked like they were playing a game of dads v lads.

Despite the difference in stature, however, Wanderers played their way into the lead and then showed they can dish out the darker arts of the game too.

Will Aimson and MJ Williams got stuck in to the point that complaints from the home players nearly drowned out the traffic buzz from the nearby M25.

Ricardo Santos was also back to his swaggering best, timing his challenges perfectly. If the skipper had been slightly below par in a few pre-season games, this was much more like it.

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Away at Atherton Colls

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Never heard of them.

Defeat for the B Team at the Skuna Stadium.

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Match Report: Atherton Colls 1-0 Bolton Wanderers B

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The B team experiment is off and running at Wanderers – and one hopes there are better times ahead.

A late goal from a Colls trialist gave the Northern Premier League side a result they deserved, and one which looks pretty good on paper regardless of which players comprised the Bolton team.

For a Wanderers squad, created virtually from scratch this summer from youth teamers, young professionals and players released from up and down the football pyramid, it was little more than a first step on the ladder.

Matt Craddock’s team will take time to settle. And football of this standard and physicality can only do them good.

Early rustiness was only to be expected, and Wanderers were a might fortunate not to fall behind in the opening few minutes as a confident Colls laid siege to the penalty box.

Aaron Smith headed over the top from close range after a trialist right-back clipped in a good cross from the right, and moments later he got another decent chance as Nelson Khumbeni got in a tangle and keeper Luke Hutchinson was required as an auxiliary centre-half to clear the danger.

Jack Lenihan also skimmed the post with a dipping free kick as Colls – unbeaten in three pre-season games to date – continued their strong start.

Wanderers started to find a little rhythm midway through the half, most notably when Conor Carty got on the ball. The former Wolves youngster looked composed and tried to pick up the pace of the game, also going close with an instinctive shot from 25 yards after the referee restarted play with a dropped ball.

Ex-Reading wing-back Lynford Sackey also looked to make things happen, drifting infield from a wing-back position and keeping the Colls midfield on its toes.

Carty could have had the first goal of the B Team era, rolling the ball past Colls’ trialist keeper, only to be adjudged offside after running on to Gez Sithole’s pass.

The Irishman clearly fancied himself to score and dropped another free kick just over the crossbar just before half time, with Wanderers starting to find some semblance of cohesion.

Wanderers’ first team did have a couple of representatives watching from the side-lines – James Trafford and Connor Bradley giving some moral support. Trafford even doubled up as a ball boy at one stage, punching back a loose pass to the amusement of the crowd.

Connor Stanley had caught the eye on the training ground over the last couple of weeks, leading Ian Evatt to bring him into the squad to face Wigan Athletic last Saturday to cover for the injured Amadou Bakayoko.

The former Manchester United man showed a couple of classy touches and went close to a goal when he curled a 25-yard free kick narrowly wide.

Wanderers were let off the hook just after the hour mark when Ellis Litherland’s skewed clearance set the nerves jangling and Lamine Toure – who had been very solid to that point – nearly sent a headed clearance over his own line. Thankfully, Adam Senior was back on the line to hook the ball clear.

Colls went close again in the 77th minute as two trialists combined to stab a shot narrowly wide of Litherland’s left-hand post, bringing an agonising groan from the Colls fans dotted around the perimeter of the pitch.

Another fizzing shot caught the crowd’s attention just before the end. As is usually the case in these pre-season affairs, it came from a trialist.

Just as folk considered grabbing another pint of Skuna from the bar before heading off home, the winning goal arrived.

Rather out of the blue, another of the Colls trialists unleashed a fine shot from 25 years that beat Litherland and nestled into the top corner.

There was little time for a response. A couple of moments later the final whistle sounded and a first B Team result was in the books.

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Should be a good game against Carlisle today - both sides starting with what will be close to their best eleven.

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Approaching half time and we're losing 2 nil.

A sloppy pass from Santos gifted the first
Barclay left free at the back post to head in for the second following a corner

Dempsey brought down. Morley converts the pen.
2 - 1

And immediately Carlisle go down the other end for Dennis to score.

3 - 1

Another defensive cock up as we fail to clear

Carlisle taking the piss now as they bring on their second stringers for the last 10 minutes.
Point made.