Reply To: Bolton Match Thread

[Jon B]

A frustrating night and the game was a hard watch.

Last night we were shown what the difference is between a top 4/5 side and a bottom 4/5 side.

Our problems stem from the sacking of Graham Alexander, and since then the club has dropped like a burning moth from a hot lightbulb. This mistake was then compounded by sacking both McCall and Hurst much too early. There’s a common denominator here, of course.

At present I fear the club is locked in a battle to survive both on and off the park. There’s an end to the pandemic in sight, but when will the end to this awful downward spiral come?

I don’t see the point in slating Cox or the players. Yes Cox messed up with the formation last night but we’d have lost however we set up, as Bolton are miles better as a team, and in every area on the park. I actually felt we really matched up quite well in the first half once we got a foot on the ball and arguably we had the two clearest chances. We do seem to be dreadful after re-starts though so whatever is going on at half time needs looking at again. We just didn’t really turn up or the second half.

The squad is very thin and if any of Gillead, KVV and Eisa are missing, we really struggle. Several of our players have given their all over the last ten days and last night was a bridge too far.

I like the way Cox has instilled a team spirit and a willingness to work and battle. There’s enough dung in this league that we shouldn’t be worrying about survival, but anything more than lower mid table is ambitious for this campaign.

I hope the players are able to recover and van Veen is back for next week against Harrogate which will be another hard game. Hopefully that’s the last we’ll see of a 3-4-3 with this limited group of players.