BOLTON v Preston.....Match thread.

Yes I read that after posting too. The writer does have a point. Feeney is a crowd pleaser off the ball. He's selfless and untiring. He's a good runner.Sometimes it all comes off and even I feel he deserves star billing. I find myself giving him marks of seven or eight.

And I suppose quite a lot of fans, perhaps fewer than a few weeks ago, think Trotter is a waste of space whereas I think he's our best midfielder

These are all opinions. And for fans legitimate!

But what sticks with some is how publicly Feeney is always praised. Yesterday he lost the ball badly ahead of their equaliser. Was he criticised for that. I would have thought that yesterday Trotter could have been more appropriately been written up or praised.

The trouble is it seems partial! And if some of us have favourites so be it we are fans. But should a manager and should the BN?And if their favourites are not really that good it's unsurprising that some will point to the Emperor's New Clothes and see only nakedness?

Andy your 'fondness' for Trotter is for you to explain, yes, all fans will have their own opinion but over this terrible season from a dismal squad of overpaid, underperforming
bunch of journeymen Feeney is one of the very few players to wear the shirt and have made a reasonable contribution, and in my opinion criticism should be aimed at other players
Pratley has been poor the last few games but it looks to me that he is carrying an injury and is made to play, when fully fit Pratley is the glue that binds together the lethargic
and unsure Davies the limited but steady Trotter and A.N. other
Pratley had to go off yesterday but when he did it opened up midfield totally to Preston
For me the best 2 players yesterday were Holding and Derick
Criticism can be aimed at every player for individual mistakes yesterday but better game management and better use of subs by Lennon would probably have got us the 3 points, a penny for BSA's thoughts, if he endured the whole game.

We all have our favourites as well as players we love to hate, but to continually repeat long-aired opinions and criticisms each week ad nauseam simply makes people want to argue. It's irritating and will not change the manager's mind, in any case.
Fans' superior "I know best" attitude reeks of Dougie's pig-headedness. (Incidentally, it looks as if his time at Forest is fragile now). Come on, fellow fans, if you can't help your prejudices, at least suggest feasible alternatives....for manager as well as for players.

But yesterday summed up the season's  problems with regards to judgements on our players:- they are so inconsistent that every match produces new doubts , combined with new reasons to praise!  As a team against Preston, they were very good in the first half; inexplicably abject, lethargic in the second. Last week, some posters clamoured for Silva to be chosen ahead of Feeney, having had immediate (if rather underhand!) effect in the two minutes he played; yesterday, given much more time, he was an embarrassment. Madine and Clough are suffering lapses of confidence but have also contributed well at times recently. Steady midfielders have also blotted their copybooks with sudden, inexplicable gaffes that have led to goals against. How to cater for such inconsistency?  I expect performance and attitude in training affect Lennon's decisions. It doesn't help him when some players have awful attitudes. His purchases have been to the limit of what could be afforded; we surely must realise that now.

In effect, it is the board and previous managers who should be the butt of our wrath, having frittered away the millions Eddie put into the club. They have landed us in such a mess that we can't even pay the £100k we now owe for Spearing! How did such a clause ever get included in his contract in the first place? Shambles! I bet Lennon was never told this when he signed up!

The manager has strengths as well as weaknesses, too. Those calling for his head need to suggest a man/woman(!) who would be guaranteed to succeed at a price we can afford. The same goes for a deadly striker...they cost a fortune! I see cheap forwards like Beckford, Juke, Mason and Le Fondre are doing very little elsewhere.

One mitigating factor for yesterday's defeat: the worst man on the pitch was the referee! Two clear penalties for us were not awarded: they would have changed the final outcome.

It is indeed all about opinion...I'm not sure how anyone can argue with the fact that since Spearing and Trotter were recalled to the team they have been our best midfielders, and it was unfortunate to say the least that Spearing has had to be removed from the midfield. Trotter's passing was fluent, his goal was taken superbly, but from the kick-off it was obvious that to replace an influential but financially unplayable midfielder with a striker was asking for trouble. Sure, the Wanderers gave it a go first half, and managed to hold the lead for a while, but the signs were becoming increasingly ominous as the second half developed. Chances were again wasted, and a tired Pratley removed, but to replace him with the mercurial Silva simply sealed the team's fate, aided by the deployment of Feeney at full back when Wilson was withdrawn. The winning goal came from a move down our right of course, and the sense of Deja Vu was yet again pre-eminent. Vela or Danns, if not both , should have been on at half-time, with one or possibly two of the front 3 being sacrificed, as a means of helping Trotter, Pratley and Mark Davies to be more effective in shielding a defence that was doing it's best to keep Preston out, whilst themselves shielding a somewhat nervy keeper. Lee Johnson at Bristol City made 2 half-time subs.. they went on to come from behind to win their game. Similarly judicious subs can also help defend a lead, but for some reason the option of strengthening defence or midfield as a tactical ploy is never one that is exercised. The number of single goal defeats and draws throughout the season are a damning statistic, and illustrate how many points could have accrued with greater tactical acumen. I agree totally with Joanna that Neil is not entirely to blame for the position we are in, that is obvious, but there is a stubbornness of tactical predictability that should raise concerns,  too many matches that should have been won have been drawn, and too many that should have been drawn have evolved into losses. Yesterday was not a case of individual error or bad luck, it was down to a team trying to defend a slender lead without being allowed the resources to actually defend that lead.

Re Joanna's post I'm not quite sure why it is a bad thing to repeat analyses when so many games have been distressingly similar? Or why we should regret provoking argument.On a forum? Also if we take away from fans their right to' know best' well it would silence all of us and there would be no such fora. And overall we commit a chunk of time and money to this club so why not exercise thoughts?

Of course we ought to be able to relax in the knowledge that professional managers know more than we do but it's pretty obvious I would have thought that Messrs Lennon, Freedman, Coyle in various ways have all struggled to convince that they really do. Megson was knowledgeable enough but alienated everyone. And more widely Steve McClaren hasn't convinced Newcastle's fans and even Big Sam had to hear choruses of 'you don't know what you're doing' at Newcastle. To take the view that we do not know or do not have a right to opinions also excludes footballing journalists And by the same coin is say refereeing experience necessarily certain to make judgments of ex referees more accurate than others. I think the argument is erroneeous.

I do think though that circumstances do change and this or that player impresses or depresses. As I keep saying there is a lot to admire in Feeney, loyalty , energy, commitment being just three of his probably many qualities. But he is a player who continually frustrates. As of course is Trotter and that's why he is castigated by some. But yesterday he scored a really impressive, measured goal, late on glanced a header nearer than anyone else had and forced a good keeper save and had Silva not nicked the ball of his foot just as he was about to shoot I think we would have a late shot on target in added time. So yes I think he had a good game yesterday and I think Feeney in terms of attacking had a bad one.That said it was not just the defence who starved of midfield protection but the forwards were starved of good passes forward. Clough in particular was rendered less effective by this.

Yesterday Grayson made his substitutions and Preston took control. I don't know their team well enough to analyse how. Lennon was on the back foot, depleted midfield further to no good effect and opened up the defenders. He was yet again outmanoeuvred by his opposite number. And were his reasons for keeping Vela on the bench professional in that he felt he had no contribution to make in midfield and indeed that Feeney was a better late full back or personal arising form whatever spat they had? We don't know. But I do think it's legitimate to say that midfield was once again bested and overrun.

On the way home listening to GMR, Steve Ayres, son of Fred and previous manager of Rochdale and Oldham, I think, commented that he had watched Bolton a few times this season and had come to the conclusion that Lennon encouraged his team to go flat out until collectively they were spent making it easier for teams to then overpower us and score while we were in a recovery phase. He suggested that if you play with high intensity for a period you should then try and control the pace to recover by thoughtfull possession during the next phase, ie 'a game plan'
Back to yesterday, did anyone else think that BSA made a big point to acknowledge the crowd at half time? even before his name was chanted, he could well be one of Holdsworth's mystery investors?
What about Sam back as 'director of football' with a young upcoming coach?

Don't suppose it changes much in our situation as Charlton score their second goal against a much fancied Prem elect, Middlesboro!!

Maybe changing managers want such a bad idea even for Charlton...