Is this the worst Bolton team for 20 years?

As I watched the Bolton v Spurs game on Wednesday night I just couldn't get over how bloody rubbish we were. I couldn't get over how we had absolutely no quality on the pitch at all. Who were our danger men? No one! Who could excite the crowd? No one! I couldn't get over how we have not one player the fans like any more. I couldn't get over how little some of the players seem to care.
I was watching players like Ngog give the ball away time and time again, Petrov is just awful, Eagles is a championship player, Kevin Davies - well we all know he was past it 3 or 4 years ago. Mark Davies could be a good player for us behind a striker, but in central midfield he is hopeless. NRC is a decent player IMO but he's surrounded by muppets.
I actually think our defence is the strongest part of our team believe it or not, I think the likes of Wheater, Ream and Ricketts are decent players.
I do think Muamba, Holden and Chung Yung Lee are big misses but this team is awful. It is completely devoid of quality. There is no threat at all.
I can't remember seeing a worse Bolton team than this and that includes some of the championship teams we had in the 90s.
I remember the teams we had under Colin Todd in the yoyo years, we had players like Per Frandsen, Claus Jensen, Gudjohnson, Gunlaugson, Thompson, Fish, Blake, Holdsworth, Johansen, etc. We had some really decent footballers who were exciting.
Even the Bolton team who won at Liverpool and Arsenal in the cups when we weren't a Premiership side with the likes of McGinlay, Lee, McAteer, etc was better than this shower.

This team is just so bad its unreal. To be honest though, didn't we see this coming last year when we had Sturridge on loan? He was practically a one man team in the second half of the season.
Maybe we would have stayed up if Chung Yung Lee, Holden and Muamba were available to us this season but all clubs get their injuries. The team being fielded right now IMO is the worst since the Phil Neal days.

How bad do you rate this current Bolton team?

In terms of actual ability to pass the ball, yes.

I'm stunned by just how bad this team is at passing and moving, you know, the fundamental part of football that everyone learns in primary school.

some players have one or two "unique" skills, like Petrov, fantastic crosser, Mark Davies is good at those little runs when he gets in the right areas.

thats it, there really is nothing inspiring about this team, and managed by Coyle, supposedly lauded for the way he gets his teams to play, it's just sad really.

The team lack pace and a solid midfield. If we go down then it's going to take a minor miracle for the current squad to come back at the first attempt. It might be time to blood our youngsters like Vela, Riley, O' Halloran and Eaves.

HN is quite right about our passing. It's absolutely woeful at times. We just can't seem to retain possession for more than two or three passes and tend to give the ball away far too easily.

It's true what Mr Bolton says, but it's not just Bolton. The current champions, Man Utd, would get hammered by the United side that contained Beckham, Neville, a young Giggs etc, ditto the Arsenal side that won the league without losing a game.

Nowadays, you don't even need to be a great footballer to make it as a professional - so many very average players earning millions.

As for Bolton, yes this is definitely the worst Bolton side in 20 years - the team that won the Championship under Colin Todd would murder our current PL team.

no.

It always surprised me when people talk about how great Mark Fish was. He was a comedy centre back.

largehat wrote:It always surprised me when people talk about how great Mark Fish was. He was a comedy centre back.

Charlton legend who was like a fish out of water at Bolton.

yes they are shit.

The biggest shock last night was Josh Vela came on and actually looked like he wanted the ball and could do something with it. The shocking part of it makes the rest of the team look even more shocking.

It's not just Bolton though, this is probably the worst United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal teams for a long time. If we had the team from 2004/05 this season we would be in the top 3.

Michael Bolton wrote:As I watched the Bolton v Spurs game on Wednesday night I just couldn't get over how bloody rubbish we were. I couldn't get over how we had absolutely no quality on the pitch at all. Who were our danger men? No one! Who could excite the crowd? No one! I couldn't get over how we have not one player the fans like any more. I couldn't get over how little some of the players seem to care.
I was watching players like Ngog give the ball away time and time again, Petrov is just awful, Eagles is a championship player, Kevin Davies - well we all know he was past it 3 or 4 years ago. Mark Davies could be a good player for us behind a striker, but in central midfield he is hopeless. NRC is a decent player IMO but he's surrounded by muppets.
I actually think our defence is the strongest part of our team believe it or not, I think the likes of Wheater, Ream and Ricketts are decent players.
I do think Muamba, Holden and Chung Yung Lee are big misses but this team is awful. It is completely devoid of quality. There is no threat at all.
I can't remember seeing a worse Bolton team than this and that includes some of the championship teams we had in the 90s.
I remember the teams we had under Colin Todd in the yoyo years, we had players like Per Frandsen, Claus Jensen, Gudjohnson, Gunlaugson, Thompson, Fish, Blake, Holdsworth, Johansen, etc. We had some really decent footballers who were exciting.
Even the Bolton team who won at Liverpool and Arsenal in the cups when we weren't a Premiership side with the likes of McGinlay, Lee, McAteer, etc was better than this shower.

This team is just so bad its unreal. To be honest though, didn't we see this coming last year when we had Sturridge on loan? He was practically a one man team in the second half of the season.
Maybe we would have stayed up if Chung Yung Lee, Holden and Muamba were available to us this season but all clubs get their injuries. The team being fielded right now IMO is the worst since the Phil Neal days.

How bad do you rate this current Bolton team?

Not as bad as you think

Natasha, I'm surprised, very, when you mention Beckham as being a reason for Utd. being a good team. You give credit to Neville in the same post, true, his contribution was not only at right-back but also allowed Beckham to do naff all except cross the ball and take free kicks. Fergie got rid of Saint David but kept Giggs, Scholes and the two Nevilles

Anyway back to the topic. No this is not the worst team for the last 20yrs, far from it, but memory plays tricks and truly average/poor player's of the past are remembered with affection.

I'm not so sure it bears comparison. The recent focus throughout the prem has been "technical ability" and players who are gifted in that area get more protection than they have ever done. Tackling is practically outlawed and players get rewarded for falling over - often when they haven't been touched - in fact diving is now a recognised art form. Wanderers teams I've watched over the years didn't strike me as being particularly more technically gifted (with some obvious individual exceptions) or retaining possession as a team - it's just that we have always had players who could compete well to win it back. I'm not sure if the proportion of stray passes has increased or stayed the same, but we can't compete in the same way we used to.
Two different games IMO.

chipbutty wrote:Natasha, I'm surprised, very, when you mention Beckham as being a reason for Utd. being a good team. You give credit to Neville in the same post, true, his contribution was not only at right-back but also allowed Beckham to do naff all except cross the ball and take free kicks.

Beckham did nothing for Man Utd? Next you'll be telling me John McGinlay was shite.

I wouldn't say it's the poorest in 20years but certainly the worst in our premier league history, even the 1998/9 team was better and had more balls than this one IMO/

In terms of being able to keep the ball and pass it, this is probably the poorest in the last 20 years.

Gary Henshaw, Warren Joyce & Trevor Morgan had better passing skills than any of the current day ponces.

Football in 2012 is of a poor standard. Teams that are winning things today would be facing relegation if they were playing 15 years ago.

If the current Norwich & WBA team had come up 10 years ago then they would be in the bottom 3 now, the standard has dropped without a doubt.

This sack of sh.... that we have at bolton now wouldn't stand a chance in the premier league 10 years ago

I wouldn't even compare this team to any of the past teams. They are clueless, gutless, and more important, rudderless, both on and off the field. A complete sack of shit. When when we knew we were in for a pasting, at least we made the effort. At the beginning of the season, after the first game, we went into every one in a defeatist frame of mind. Unfortunatley, we haven't got out of it all season. Wonderful management.

Sad but we seemed to have more fight about us under Megson, remember the time when we were away at chelsea and they were, I think 4-0 up and we almost got it back to 4-4?...I know we lost 4-3 but still a good effort.

Can't imagine us doing that under Coyle in the premier league or in the championship sadly.