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Post by kenglowhite on Nov 6, 2022 20:32:07 GMT
Like Andy I decided to give this game a miss - not least because I thought I might have to fork out another £8-20 for parking on top of my season's subscription-and I was convinced I had made the right decision when I saw the team selection. Ever since the days of the great Ivan Campo I have been convinced that every team needs a strong defensive midfielder. I know that Williams hasn't quite been himself of late , but with no-one around to properly replace him it was obvious our defence would suffer, and it apparently did. I also noticed Evatt had taken up my suggestion of a few weeks ago to replace Johnston and try Iredale at left centre back, but he failed to name my other suggestion to bring back John, while leaving Afalayon to float somewhere between wing back and centre forward. Many of us on here were suggesting getting an extra robust centre back, another defensive midfielder, and a big striker capable of holding up the ball in the close season, but none of these materialised, and I think for all of these omissions Ian Evatt is now left wittering to Marc Iles ad nauseam like a latter-day Keith Hill, while the Bolton Titanic sinks.
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Post by whitesince63 on Nov 7, 2022 10:54:37 GMT
Too much doom and gloom at the moment so let’s hope the sun comes back out again soon. We’re playing a poor Cambridge side next, themselves going through a poor period, so there’s every reason to believe that we can continue their misery and get a result. Things could look completely different by Saturday night and we have consolidated our position in the top six. I know it could go entirely the other way but I’d rather look on the bright side than the negatives. We’ve got the players to do it, I’m convinced of that and it may well be that a number of players are just hitting poor form at the same time. Even the likes of Jones, Morley and MJ who have been steady are struggling, as is Bradley who is a shadow of his former self. Sometimes it just takes a spark to ignite the team and maybe if our forwards can start finding the net instead of missing it can happen quickly.
I accept all the complaints about team selection, substitutions and discipline but would it be better to just leave in players who are struggling and infuriate those sat on the bench by not using them? It’s a difficult choice to make and I suppose whichever way Evatt goes, if the players aren’t doing it, he’s going to come in for criticism. I don’t like the chopping and changing and I think it’s counter productive but we were two down on Saturday with the team that started so something needed to be done and to be fair it nearly did. Evatt actually did what we were all asking for, starting in 433 with Dapo on the left and Sadlier up front yet he still gets flack for it not working. Maybe he just can’t win? Things are tough at the moment and the next few months will tell us everything about where we’ll finish and whether Evatt can turn it round. If it is just poor form then it should improve but if it’s not and Evatt’s lost the plot and the squad I’ve no doubt that FV will be aware of it but could they afford to pay off Evatt anyway, however we do?
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Post by riochforthereebok on Nov 7, 2022 12:17:23 GMT
Sorry W63, I have zero confidence of a win at Cambridge, I can’t even see us drawing
Southampton are looking for a new boss🙄
On a happier note…. Peter Kay is back🤔
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Post by whitesince63 on Nov 7, 2022 17:02:34 GMT
That’s great, what position is PK playing? 😇
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Post by andyl on Nov 7, 2022 17:06:18 GMT
That’s great, what position is PK playing? 😇 Doesn't really matter. He'll have to 'ask the way' like all the rest just now!
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Post by andyl on Nov 7, 2022 17:33:09 GMT
More seriously, much as WS63 I do think we have to step back from all the gloom and frustration and see if we can accurately appraise just what's going on. I think Evatt is trying to do likewise and that's a plus. We should remember that relative to available resource (probably now diminished) we have seen a similar pattern in all three seasons of improvement in later season. Also, we have seen some excellent football in flashes and the fare is light years better than under Phil P. Even when we won and got promoted, we had awful runs and the games were deadly. with dire passing a feature, e.g Pratley. It was worse still the seasons we flirted with relegation and then were relegated. OK financial constraints towards the end but somehow under Ken Anderson in the promotion year we could afford some important players. Just a few thoughts
1. Having five subs available post Covid has transformed teams' tactics. It is no longer possible to pass the ball around and run teams out of energy. But equally without the deployment of most or all of them a passing game can only be intermittently sustained. We are criticising Evatt for sending on five subs but to my mind he has to in order to compete most of the time. What could he do differently? Instead of pressing like men demented in the first quarter, whilst strolling around passing side to side and back in the same quarter---which is incongruous, maybe he could conserve some energy at the start whilst utilising Bodvarsson and Bakayoko's aerial presence. But then go more attacking and expansive on the ground and step up the pressing as the game settles and try to force the opposition to commit their subs before ours
2. Linked to this, we are best when we counter- attack, so like Oxford he could sort his central defence out, use two holding midfielders and draw oppositions on to the counter attacks even at home, deliberately sacrificing sixty percent possession for 50 or less. I haven't seen too many attacking midfields better than ours this year
3. I think Evatt has a point when he laments the loss of balance with a surplus of attacking midfielders. We haven't got a Karl Henry or going back further Warhurst and Elliot who for a while were impassable. Nor have we got a Campo or Hierro, so we must have two most of the time. OK this means more long balls
4. Our set piece threat is minimal- so that needs work. One obvious point is that Santos should not go up. I still think Santos could play some sort of role in midfield but he can't head a ball for toffee. So maybe gt Bradley up instead
5. All too often we play a ball to a midfielder moving backwards centrally just to receive it back and then ponderously move it upfield. Let's cut this out- by all means let's play it form the back but quickly an decisively and then maybe into the box
6. Linked to 2 let's stop throw-ins always being thrown backwards and as often as not all the way backwards even from deep in the opposition half. Let's ping some in centrally or down the line and encourage forwards not just Lee to move to them- if possession is lost, so what we have at least achieved some presence in their penalty area
These for starters
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Post by chip on Nov 7, 2022 18:52:44 GMT
All these players that 63 has mentioned are hitting poor form all at the same time doesn’t wash with me as I believe the more you try to force something onto someone the more people push back maybe the players are getting fed up with it all just a thought. But what do we know I’m sorry but Cambridge could well add to our pain 🤞 I hope not onwards and upwards COYWM
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Post by riochforthereebok on Nov 7, 2022 21:49:27 GMT
That’s great, what position is PK playing? 😇 Doesn't really matter. He'll have to 'ask the way' like all the rest just now! Hi knows the way to Amarillo, so he could do a job for Ian 😂
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Post by riochforthereebok on Nov 7, 2022 21:53:09 GMT
So Barnsley have Crewe in the next round
Crewe usually do us over in the cup comps so I guess The Tykes have saved us the embarrassment
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Post by OohMac on Nov 8, 2022 7:36:36 GMT
Seems Ian has ruled out 433 as a failed experiment. Didnt give it long. Said before it almost feels like Evatt wanted it to fail so he could go back to his way as soon as possible.
I hope hes not abandoned it for good because its the only way that Dapo works, and when Dapo works we tend to work.
Ians not getting flack for using 5 subs Andy, that just makes sense. Just been chasing the game and this done with really little logic and it must confuse the rest of the team.
Have no real issue with 352 or dropping Dapo and not playing Sadlier. Kachunga I cant get on board with at all, for all his running he isnt a striker. Problem is lack of urgency, tempo and aggression and these 3 things have been missing in all of Ians tenure except for January when new blood come in and play thier natural game. Then they seem to get coached out of it.
Think theres gloom in the air, loss at Cambridge and it will be doom too.
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Post by whitesince63 on Nov 8, 2022 10:21:58 GMT
Maybe OM but equally a win at Cambridge lifts the doom and gloom?
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Post by kenglowhite on Nov 8, 2022 11:09:11 GMT
None of these excellent comments has answered my call for more attacking down our left flank. In my opinion Iredale is better playing left centre half, not wing back, and in the absence of John we are failing not only to support Dapo, but also to make much headway down the flank. I have seen Beck, but really class him in the Gordon mould, i.e. fast and progressive, but unable to cross effectively. It is crucial that we become more aggressive down the left, particularly as defences have wised up to Bradley and made him less effective on the right of late. If we tighten up defensive midfield and regain the power to attack down the left I feel most of our troubles are over. I, too, think Santos could become the midfield defensive general, but wonder where his replacement in central defence might come from. Equally, we need to know more on the John case.
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Post by realtrottersforever on Nov 8, 2022 17:13:28 GMT
www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/23108407.bolton-wanderers-boss-ian-evatt-doesnt-want-claudio-ranieri-style-tinker-man/classic Evatt. used to post/read these a lot in the early days, but you just get fed up of doing it, but I simply can't let this one pass. I've spoke recently about how it's felt a lot like that DF 1st season, and chopping and changing was a big part of that too. i personally don't mind a bit of that, but DF did it in a mad way. score a goal and you were almost certain to be dropped. i've felt IE was possibly doing it either as some kind of physical plan to get more intense pressing without getting them injured, which he's always struggled with. especially with KL who can barely play 2 games together. but now he's denying tinkering !?! . of course, the teacher's pet never gets rotated, i've said before I'm not sure what it'd take for RS to get dropped. score 3 own goals and get sent off, flick the V's to IE on the way off, & sleep with his Mrs, and he'd still be on the next teamsheet, ( after the suspension ). i love the excuse they try and defend this with. other clubs might have used 1 or 2 more players in total than us. so what. tinkering is tinkering, it's changes from match to match. other clubs might have had more injury crises. necessary changes forced through injuries aren't the same as unnecessary changes. he's effectively blaming the players for not carrying out his instructions. perhaps they don't want to play for you Ian. maybe you can blame Phoenix for buying them , hang on.... you bought them in and took sole control. he's even been firing the threats out about replacing them in January with another mass spending spree. more antagonism to the players. blame the ref's , blame the players. not exactly running through brick walls for you are they, if you're having so many digs at them. I don't mind a bit of carrot and stick , but the best managers have their players onside more often than not. there's a bit of an old saying i once read about ..."lion's made to jump through hoops are no longer lions". ties in with the over-coaching aspect some have mentioned , keep yelling at them what to do. can't think for themselves. get fed up when what they've been told to do doesn't work. get fed up getting blamed for carrying out managers instructions etc etc . edit- continued in post below
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Post by realtrottersforever on Nov 8, 2022 18:10:45 GMT
one of the best comments ( in the BN story ) is by Campo's wig in that article above (the comment reproduced below), as well as a good one by our own OohMac. Abosolute B******ks!!! you are 100 % "Tinkerman" and d'ont start to try & convince anyone otherwise. Even after excellent team & outstanding individual performances its then all change without injuries or suspensions forcing the issue. You even started the season off stating you needed two players for each position for "squad rotation" no matter how well the player did one match they whre then "rested" and thats exactly what you did. It was like watching 2 different teams from week to week at the start of the season, so suddenly acting like you've allways wanted to name an unchanged side unless forced is like I said utter B******KS!!!and it made me think, was there an article maybe a month or two ago when IE admits rotation was always the plan.. kerching...yes. !! . you'd think he might contact BN first before he completely contradicts himself wouldn't you to pull previous articles. www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/20911050.biggest-challenge-facing-bolton-wanderers-boss-ian-evatt-season/IAN Evatt’s toughest challenge at Wanderers this season may not be on the pitch.
Like it or loathe it, the Bolton boss is committed to a policy of rotating his players according to the tactical requirements of the next opposition.
The methodical approach of planning ahead with team selection reduces the impact of short-term form. Gone are the days where the first XI is scribbled on the back of a cigarette packet on the team bus – much to the detriment of Messrs Benson and Hedges – these days it is more likely to be established on a spreadsheet.
Making more play of physical data and opposition analysis supplied by the specialist team led by technical performance director, Chris Markham, Evatt’s plan is to keep the components of his plan as fresh as possible.this reminds me of that classic article in his first few months when he said , after not getting off to the best of starts, to say the least, WHERE HAS ALL THIS EXPECTATION COME FROM ? then we looked back to find that artcle the HM P the lge type one, where he said he was hoping to outdo Pep and Guardiola by getting a trophy/ win the title in his 1st season in lge football.
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Post by OohMac on Nov 8, 2022 19:05:07 GMT
None of these excellent comments has answered my call for more attacking down our left flank. In my opinion Iredale is better playing left centre half, not wing back, and in the absence of John we are failing not only to support Dapo, but also to make much headway down the flank. I have seen Beck, but really class him in the Gordon mould, i.e. fast and progressive, but unable to cross effectively. It is crucial that we become more aggressive down the left, particularly as defences have wised up to Bradley and made him less effective on the right of late. If we tighten up defensive midfield and regain the power to attack down the left I feel most of our troubles are over. I, too, think Santos could become the midfield defensive general, but wonder where his replacement in central defence might come from. Equally, we need to know more on the John case. Hard to answer your calls when its what we all see. Only 1 man can really tell you. I certainly dont know anyone who would say "I like Dapo, just wish they'd play him deeper. Hes better defensively" I'm not sure about Santos in DM though, he commits a lot of clumsy fouls. Because of his position I think ref lets the game go rather than give soft penalties. Stick him further up and I think its constant free kicks against.
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