Home
Call it a Christmas miracle if you want but are Wanderers fans finally warming to Darren Pratley?
It certainly seemed the ice had thawed at The Den on Friday night as the midfielder’s sensational winner at Millwall sent Neil Lennon’s men into Christmas with a song in their hearts.
The Wanderers faithful haven’t always been “Walking in a Pratley Wonderland” – indeed, there have been times when the team’s poor form has been pinned on his broad shoulders.
But what better time than Christmas for a truce? And with Pratley finally feeling comfortable holding down a first-team place under his third Bolton manager, he might even risk picking up a copy of The Bolton News and checking out the match report.
“It’s great when the fans are on your side,” said Pratley, tongue buried in cheek, “it hasn’t always been the case.
“But for me the only thing that matters is that the team wins. I don’t matter.
“Maybe when you were younger you'd look in the paper and hope you got seven or eight out of 10. But I don't read papers now.
“I am nearly 30 now and the main thing is a team win. I am not bothered about personal accolades anymore.”
While Pratley might have lacked the finesse Wanderers fans craved at times he has never been accused of a lack of effort.
And it was those battling qualities which Lennon looked to tap into when he reintroduced him to the team immediately on his arrival in October.
Steadily, the former Swansea City man has rediscovered his form, even when sacrificed in an unfamiliar wide left role.
By the manager’s admission, he now looks back to the player who took this division by storm with the Swans just prior to his arrival at Bolton.
Pratley put the upturn in form down to feeling more secure in the team.
“I am enjoying my football but it's not about me,” he said. “Things haven't gone as well as I would have liked [at Wanderers] but you have to play regularly and you have to have someone who has a little faith in you as well.
“When you are in for one week and out for five, it is hard to get a rhythm.
“Any player who plays week in, week out as the confidence to feel he is going to play the next game even if you have a bad match. It makes a big difference.
“Football is all about confidence. I always try my hardest and luckily things are going well. The main thing for me is to play and enjoy my football.
“I can't say I have enjoyed too much since I have been at the club but I am enjoying myself now.”
Back in his Swansea days Pratley weighed in with regular goals, hitting 12 in the year Roberto Martinez’s side got promotion via the play-offs.
His sweet strike at Millwall was his first in the league since last August and hoisted Wanderers briefly into 14th place in the table.
Pratley refuses to get over-excited by the steady climb and has urged focus going into the Boxing Day derby against local rivals Blackburn.
“We don't want to get carried away just because we have won one game,” he said. “We have been here many times and the following week you go and get beat. It's got to be one game at a time rather than talk about play-offs.
“If we are good enough by the end of the season we will be up there. You finish where you deserve over a 46 game season.
“If we finish outside the play-offs then we weren't good enough. If we finish inside we do deserve to be there."
Source
It certainly seemed the ice had thawed at The Den on Friday night as the midfielder’s sensational winner at Millwall sent Neil Lennon’s men into Christmas with a song in their hearts.
The Wanderers faithful haven’t always been “Walking in a Pratley Wonderland” – indeed, there have been times when the team’s poor form has been pinned on his broad shoulders.
But what better time than Christmas for a truce? And with Pratley finally feeling comfortable holding down a first-team place under his third Bolton manager, he might even risk picking up a copy of The Bolton News and checking out the match report.
“It’s great when the fans are on your side,” said Pratley, tongue buried in cheek, “it hasn’t always been the case.
“But for me the only thing that matters is that the team wins. I don’t matter.
“Maybe when you were younger you'd look in the paper and hope you got seven or eight out of 10. But I don't read papers now.
“I am nearly 30 now and the main thing is a team win. I am not bothered about personal accolades anymore.”
While Pratley might have lacked the finesse Wanderers fans craved at times he has never been accused of a lack of effort.
And it was those battling qualities which Lennon looked to tap into when he reintroduced him to the team immediately on his arrival in October.
Steadily, the former Swansea City man has rediscovered his form, even when sacrificed in an unfamiliar wide left role.
By the manager’s admission, he now looks back to the player who took this division by storm with the Swans just prior to his arrival at Bolton.
Pratley put the upturn in form down to feeling more secure in the team.
“I am enjoying my football but it's not about me,” he said. “Things haven't gone as well as I would have liked [at Wanderers] but you have to play regularly and you have to have someone who has a little faith in you as well.
“When you are in for one week and out for five, it is hard to get a rhythm.
“Any player who plays week in, week out as the confidence to feel he is going to play the next game even if you have a bad match. It makes a big difference.
“Football is all about confidence. I always try my hardest and luckily things are going well. The main thing for me is to play and enjoy my football.
“I can't say I have enjoyed too much since I have been at the club but I am enjoying myself now.”
Back in his Swansea days Pratley weighed in with regular goals, hitting 12 in the year Roberto Martinez’s side got promotion via the play-offs.
His sweet strike at Millwall was his first in the league since last August and hoisted Wanderers briefly into 14th place in the table.
Pratley refuses to get over-excited by the steady climb and has urged focus going into the Boxing Day derby against local rivals Blackburn.
“We don't want to get carried away just because we have won one game,” he said. “We have been here many times and the following week you go and get beat. It's got to be one game at a time rather than talk about play-offs.
“If we are good enough by the end of the season we will be up there. You finish where you deserve over a 46 game season.
“If we finish outside the play-offs then we weren't good enough. If we finish inside we do deserve to be there."
Source