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- 5 Dec 2017
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We've been crap most of the season mate. Even when we were top 2 we weren't particularly good. And now we are clueless, toothless and rudderless and have been for months.
Last night was the straw ..
Agree with most of what you say re; players etc, but felt we could and shouldโve gone 2 up top, and the player I wouldโve replaced was Rodrigues.I appreciate football fans notoriously overrate their own players but I donโt understand the narrative that the majority of our players are top League 1 players. How many of them could play in the Championship? Iโd say two - Cam and Tyler. You could name some others who could hold their own for the odd game: Leigh, Moore, Dale maybe, but everywhere you look, the team is filled with players who have consistently shown that they are not good enough. They are not physical enough. They are not robust enough. There are so few leaders in that dressing room. I canโt wait for the summer turnover. I donโt have a list to hand but Iโm not sure thereโs a single player who is out of contract this summer that I would be trying to re-sign.
Which brings us to who the manager will be who will be making those signings in the summer. Itโs becoming harder and harder to defend Des, particularly when you look at other coaches who are new to League 1 like the Lincoln and Barnsley coaches, who seem to have got their teams playing.
Iโve said before - I watch football to be entertained. With the exception of the Portsmouth game, the performances are dull. It is boring. There is no way I would buy a season ticket to watch that next season. The fact that only 200 fans travelled on a Tuesday night in a 3rd v 7th game suggests some are already voting with their feet.
Iโm at a loss to understand what the tactics were meant to be tonight. Answers on a postcard if you have any ideas. My only guess is that we set out to defend and to counter attack at pace, which, given we have kept one clean sheet in 3 months and we were playing a team who hit goal 100 of their season against us according to the commentary, is utter madness. I understand the urge to play two up front but who is going to get those two the ball and which position do you take out to put another up front? We got destroyed in central midfield with 3 v 3 in there so going to 2 v 3 wasnโt going to work. Similarly, I donโt think we are a team that is set up to play wingbacks. And to return to my first point, the horrible truth is that the players we have are not comfortable enough on the ball to play through a press. Long and Brown routinely cough the ball up. McGuane only passes backwards.
What intrigues me are two questions that I have not heard good answers to:
1. Tactically, what was Manning doing with this team that Des isnโt? The formation seems to be the same. The players are more or less the same. There are certain things that I can see as a coach and have picked up from listening to others but Iโd love to hear the big tactical differences others see.
2. Same 11 playersโฆHow can we look so good against Portsmouth and so bad tonight, 11 days later? It canโt just be that Portsmouth โlet us playโ and Bolton didnโtโฆ
We were excellent.
Yes always worrying when Des keeps saying that they'll concentrate on how 'we" want to play BUT not really the opposition and if we aren't allowed to then what! This buttoned up approach and comms style isn't working certainly with fans and maybe the players but we don't know as what we see and hear is so one dimensional. Recommend departure by mutual consent.Everybody linked to L1 - pundits, supporters, journalists, other managers and coaches knew that Sheehan makes Bolton tick and everything goes through him.
He needed to be properly marked. He wasnโt.
Everybody knew except Des Buckingham, seemingly.
We never had a plan, didnโt look properly prepared, were not organised, not compact, and were unmotivated. Tactically it was a disaster too.
What are you going to have them do today? If you go all old skool and have them working hard, chances are you'll have a load of soft tissue injuries to deal with on Saturday. The 222 heroes are probably back at work today, but they weren't putting their bodies through a hard workout - I'll ignore the debate about how hard they worked, but I'll say chasing shadows is harder work than dominating and moving the ball.So in Buckingham words, they are back in training on Thursday. Unbelievable get the fuckers in today or are they to tired from travelling. 222 travelling fans are back at work today
We werenโtWe were excellent.
Could get them in and make them watch the game and have a good old open/honest discussion.What are you going to have them do today? If you go all old skool and have them working hard, chances are you'll have a load of soft tissue injuries to deal with on Saturday. The 222 heroes are probably back at work today, but they weren't putting their bodies through a hard workout - I'll ignore the debate about how hard they worked, but I'll say chasing shadows is harder work than dominating and moving the ball.
I would have them in, in a class room, they're acting like children after all. I'd actually as them to read this forum - it would be an reality check and perhaps they'd understand one or two thingsWhat are you going to have them do today? If you go all old skool and have them working hard, chances are you'll have a load of soft tissue injuries to deal with on Saturday. The 222 heroes are probably back at work today, but they weren't putting their bodies through a hard workout - I'll ignore the debate about how hard they worked, but I'll say chasing shadows is harder work than dominating and moving the ball.
Hopefully they would have done that on the coach on the way back.Could get them in and make them watch the game and have a good old open/honest discussion.
Thatโs just an unbelievable statement. We were absolutely there on merit - look at the results we got and how consistent we were. This, by the way, with much of the same squad but actually down on numbers and a number of them still finding their feet. Des was well backed in January but only one of the signings gets a game.We've been crap most of the season mate. Even when we were top 2 we weren't particularly good. And now we are clueless, toothless and rudderless and have been for months.
Last night was the straw ..
Now having them read through the match thread would be a bloody good idea.I would have them in, in a class room, they're acting like children after all. I'd actually as them to read this forum - it would be an reality check and perhaps they'd understand one or two things
Yep sat on their arses chatting amongst themselves watching a horror show , they will love that,Could get them in and make them watch the game and have a good old open/honest discussion.
Itโs not to make them love it, itโs to allow an extra day to address the horrors of last night and have a real open air discussion. They certainly donโt deserve a free day.Yep sat on their arses chatting amongst themselves watching a horror show , they will love that,
For Christ sake donโt put your name in the hat for the vacant managers jobWhat are you going to have them do today? If you go all old skool and have them working hard, chances are you'll have a load of soft tissue injuries to deal with on Saturday. The 222 heroes are probably back at work today, but they weren't putting their bodies through a hard workout - I'll ignore the debate about how hard they worked, but I'll say chasing shadows is harder work than dominating and moving the ball.
I'm not sure it is a good idea but might bring home a few realities... None of us are football experts with perhaps the exception of a few on here, but my god we're all passionate no matter how misguided some views are. I do feel sorry for Des after sleeping on it, for whatever reason it is just failing at the moment and the players don't seem to be able to turn it around on the pitch or worse still are unwillingNow having them read through the match thread would be a bloody good idea.