Bolton 2-2 Derby

doffcocker wrote:Very entertaining first half. Two fantastic Bolton goals. Second half was very poor from both sides. Bit of booing for Beckford towards the end which I find disappointing. He seems to have the right attitude, but isn't getting the clear cut chances. We don't need yet another big expectations striker ruined by impatient fans.

I agree. I still think there is time for Beckford to come good.

Decent performance, but still need to tighten up at the back - we were the better team - Beckford was rubbish

A good game of football, great start but extremely disappointing how quickly we collapsed for their first goal.

Positives:- Tierney at left back seemed to look decent, Eagles and his goal was quality and our movement coming forward in the first half and for about 15minutes in the second half was very good.

Negatives:- Beckfords movement was pisspoor and totally understand why the fans got on his back near the end, he tried the same thing every time when the ball came to his feet but it never came off.

Derby got around our back 4 so easy it was scary at how easy it was for them to come forward at times.

Michael Bolton wrote:

Mo wrote:At least is not another game to loose. Maybe the manager has told players is impotant to be working harder.

Why do so many people spell lose as loose? I have never understood it.

You would be a bit more loose if you lost a few more pounds, get back on the exercise bike tubby!

BoltonTillIDie wrote:Decent performance, but still need to tighten up at the back - we were the better team - Beckford was rubbish

How was he rubbish? we continually use him as a target man ie SKD which he is definatley not, he is never ever going to win high balls sent into him, he is what I call for want of a better word a 'sniffer' a goal line poacher who if given the right sort of support will score goals, all in all I was entertained last night, loads of effort which can't be knocked, I thought both their goals were fortunate with plenty luck on their side, moving Eagles out of the centre for the second half was wrong and the chances dried, very impressed with Team Ream and our new Captain (who incidently I said yesterday would be a good un) more of this and I think we will start to climb the table.

Another pitiful performance against a poor Derby side.

It's all very well booing Beckford, but you should be booing the clown of a manager who is using Beckford as a target man in the Kevin Davies mold. For fucks sake, Beckford needs the ball in front of him facing goal, not with his back to goal 40 yards out.

Sorry Freedman, but an old fashioned 4-4-2 with proper wingers is the only way to get the best of Beckford, he didn't score all those goals for Leeds and Everton playing as a lone striker. Once again Dougie is trying to fit players into his formation.

So Freedman, 3 points from a possible 21 and out of the Cup. At what point do you admit you got it wrong?

Triumph wrote:

BoltonTillIDie wrote:Decent performance, but still need to tighten up at the back - we were the better team - Beckford was rubbish

How was he rubbish? we continually use him as a target man ie SKD which he is definatley not, he is never ever going to win high balls sent into him, he is what I call for want of a better word a 'sniffer' a goal line poacher who if given the right sort of support will score goals, all in all I was entertained last night, loads of effort which can't be knocked, I thought both their goals were fortunate with plenty luck on their side, moving Eagles out of the centre for the second half was wrong and the chances dried, very impressed with Team Ream and our new Captain (who incidently I said yesterday would be a good un) more of this and I think we will start to climb the table.

Even when the ball was past to his feet he messed up.  Losing the ball or falling over.  The high balls he doesn't win as I don't think he can jump.

Hopefully he will score and boost his confidence.

A report for tonight's match from the Facebook group Reebok Roar:

"If theres one thing we're having to get used to as Wanderers fans, its that feeling of frustration. Whilst many fans have had their patience tested to the limit so far this season, at least going into this game tonight, their spirits would have been raised slightly with some of the changes made to the team sheet prior to the game.  With Hall getting a start, Mills and Wheater partnered up and Jay Spearing made captain in Knights abscence, the team at least looked far more promising.  And promising was the word straight from kick off.

The lads started with a much more notable increase in tempo and we played as well as we have all season in the opening 5 minutes.  With Eagles, Lee and Hall playing as a three behind lone striker Beckford, it was their interchanging and movement which forced a couple of early corners.  The opening goal started from a header from Eagles (really), keeping the ball in play and giving posession to Spearing whose ball in found Baptiste. His run inside fooled the Derby full back, he then took one more touch which opened up a yard of space into the Derby box. He hit a sweet shot, left footed which curled around their keeper and tucked in nicely (just) inside the far post.

As the whole ground began to think about getting the game settled and controlled, Derbys first attack of the game saw Baptiste once again drifting inside giving their wide man plenty of room to hit a hard and low cross which was met and hit in near post giving Boggers little to no chance. In past weeks, this would have meant heads going down and the crowd going quiet, but it didnt.  The crowd got behind the boys and we carried on. Derby looked a threat and passed the ball around with the zip you would expect from a team high on confidence. But we had our fair share of the posession and with the three wingers looking to get forward it still felt like it could be our night.  As our current luck would have it though, it didnt work out that way.  A richoted pass fell kindly (and close to being offside) to their right winger, who again crossed low and hard and the ball was turned in.  In the main it was against the run of play, and we again retained a degree of posession following that sucker punch.  With 30 minutes gone, Derby started to get a grip of the game and created a few half chances, which were dealt with by Bogdan, apart from heart stopping spill.  Just as they seemed to be well on top, CYL picked the ball up mid way into their half. Dribbling across field, he found Ream, he then ran back the way Lee had come from but his quick forward pass fell at the feet of Eagles.  Having already had a couple of sighters on goal, he shaped up and hit one with his right. The ball moved in the air and beat their keeper and ended up in the net.  It was a cracking finish and lifted the team and crowd just before half time.

The second half began with Wanderers well on top.  Again the same trio were pulling the strings with both Ream and Spearing doing a decent job to break up any Derby posession.  With all the posession though, we created fewer chances and it became more and more apparent that we were lacking something, and unfortunately that was a forward.  Up to that point, Beckford had been largely missing and his actual touches of the ball could be counted on one hand.  His movement tonight was well off the pace of the quick three behind him.  Ngog was brought on for Hall and made very little impact.  Derby had created very little, and it was only on 60 mins that they made their first and really, only decent chance of the second half.  A ball from out wide was flashed across goal, with Bogdan only able to get fingers to deflect it away, the follow up was then cleared away from goal by Spearing.  Our best chance fell to Ngog, with Spearing hitting a deep field cross into the box, and Ngog glanced a diving header wide.  With 20 to go, what had been a really good game, fizzled out. Derby were obviously happy with a point and set up to defend, and we found little space to create anything meaningful. Once again, this weeks Championship referee attempted to steal the show with some amazingly strange decisions and being as inconsistant as he could possibly be.  There were a few boos following the full time whistle, and whilst you could sense the frustration, even the most negative of fan would have at least seen some improvement tonight.

It would be easy to point to Beckford as the week link tonight, and its hard to build a case for him, but, this system could work with him, if and when we play a midfielder who isnt a winger and is comfortable looking up when running toward goal and being able to see his runs.  Mark Davies is the obvious, but annoyingly injured choice.  Once again, Tim Ream continues to shine in midfield, and minus the goal threat, is starting to look as important and influencial as his American mate, who is again, annoyingly injured. If it was not for Marc Tierney, Ream would once again been motm, but Tierney was tonight very good. Perhaps looking better going foward, but his work rate was fantastic and he produced some real quality crosses.  Mills and Wheater also looked a huge improvement over the Knight combinations we have seen, and given time, the two could become the first choice pairing.  Defence is still an issue however, and its this area where we as fans may well have to be the most patience with. 

Patience at the moment is the key.  The team is changing every weekend at the moment, different players are being tried and different partnerships tested, much like DF did at the beginning of his reign.  All this whilst playing some of the better teams in the league.  The team will improve and things will get better performance and results wise.  We just need to grit our teeth and keep backing the lads, as the 14 and a bit thousand did tonight, in what was a much improved atmosphere at the Reebok."

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when i saw the team before kick off i was pleased to be honest, it looked a lot more attacking than previous games.
Hall started well but faded but he looks a good prospect, Ream was excellent again in midfield.
 
The negatives for me was our defending again, a decent passing side can cut through us so easily, the marking for their goals was non-existant. Also Beckford had a stinker, the ball didn't stick with him once all night and his first touch was poor.
 
i came away from the ground a bit more postive than in recent games as we at least looked loke we could score goals but we must tighten up at the back.

I have seen Derby 3 times this season and on each occasion they have looked decent, certainly much better than their last visit to the Reebok. Credit to them opening us up with a bit of quality with the back heel that split us wide open. A little fortunate with the second goal where a deflection landed kindly for them. Its difficult to counter good fortune Disappointing result from an entertaining but frustrating game.

I think we still have problems going forward. Whilst we got plenty of shots away, they were predominantly from distance so we're not getting round the back or through defences. Encouraged, but there's still a lot of work to be done.
Also. I'm not 100% convinced that the games will get any easier.
Millwall stuffing Blackpool shows no team can be underestimated in this league.

We aren't helping Beckford in the least, with more pace and width in the team last night I thought that we might at least try to to play him a ball that he could run on to but I can't remember one. Overall the tempo was better and certainly up to the hour mark we looked more of a threat going forward, on balance I thought we deserved the 3 points against a decent looking Derby side.

Can't believe how impressed everyone is after another poor result. Derby are crap like most of the other teams in this division and we're happy with a draw. Well I'm not, nothing has changed for me except we ragged a draw. Freedman still has no idea.

Whitesince63 wrote:Can't believe how impressed everyone is after another poor result. Derby are crap like most of the other teams in this division and we're happy with a draw. Well I'm not, nothing has changed for me except we ragged a draw. Freedman still has no idea.

Nobody's impressed with the result, but it could have been a lot worse and there were a few positive signs that we're not dead yet.

Whitesince63 wrote:Can't believe how impressed everyone is after another poor result. Derby are crap like most of the other teams in this division and we're happy with a draw. Well I'm not, nothing has changed for me except we ragged a draw. Freedman still has no idea.

But you attributed every win we had last season to "luck" or "flukes" so even if we beat Derby 5-0 It'd be irrelevant really eh.