BOLTON v Northampton…. Match thread

Actually rioch I’m not sure Northampton are struggling. Let’s remember they’ve only just got promoted and will still be finding their feet but in fairness they’ve not done too bad and their defensive record so far is excellent, better than ours in fact and like Carlisle, when they’ve lost it’s not been by much and all their games have been close. In fact you could say they mirror Carlisle and anybody thinking this will be a pushover might be surprised.

I just can’t see us winning without a struggle at the moment,the teams all over the place and the slowness at the back is getting worse not better. At first it was only Rico standing with his foot on the ball, now it’s all of the Central defenders. I’d love to forecast a win, especially with Rico and others back but frankly I couldn’t tip us to beat anyone at the moment. Carlisle was a huge blow, bigger than I think some realise and it’s put a big gap between us and the top 2.

A loss or even a draw tomorrow could be terminal for our automatic hopes given the run of games we’ve got coming up now. Maybe playing away will help the players and relieve some of the pressure but that may be clutching at straws. I’m afraid I’m going to have to go for a 1-2 defeat tomorrow and a major rethink for Evatt on his system.

I’m a bit in the clouds at the moment as I don’t know what my team is up-to from one game to the next I fear for them every game as we are struggling to score goals and keep clean sheets 🤷‍♂️ It’s going to be a very long hard season and even if it’s early in the season I think we will struggle to get to the playoffs. On today’s game I just don’t know would love a win but 🤷‍♂️ COYWM

I think the comments on here genuinely reflect the feelings of the majority going off comments on other sites plus the BN views. It’s worrying and I think the owners have to take views seriously. Like others I watch games more in hope now than expectation because however lowly the opposition we seem to struggle to overcome them comfortably and that shouldn’t be the case for a club anticipating a top two finish. Frankly I think as others have said that with this team and this system we’ll be lucky to even make the top six. We’ve so far played supposedly “weaker” teams disproportionally at home yet have struggled to win any since Wigan, which clearly has had an effect. Should it have? Yes but it should have been a kick up the bum and an acceptance that anything less than 100% will get punished. We just don’t look a team at all. Good teams attack in waves, overwhelm the opposition and maintain pressure whereas we sit off, never attack in waves and allow the opposition to dominate their half then catch us on the break.

This is happening every week yet Evatt and his coaches just don’t seem to see it or adapt to it. We have no single player who can dominate a game in the way good teams do. Our players are inconsistent, good one week, poor the next. The tactics seem to be over complicated and I’m not sure the players really understand what they’re supposed to be doing and when it’s not working, heads go down and they give up. There’s no fighting spirit and nobody on the field who can stir the players into action because they’ve all got to follow the Evatt way, no place for taking the initiative. This post may sound overly negative but it’s how I feel at the moment. I want Evatt to succeed as much as anyone but I’m just losing confidence that he can really see where we’re going wrong and just blames bad luck, injuries, suspensions, fears or anything else he can rather than face up to the fact that it might just be him? 🤨

Ha, both easier said than done rioch. Despite my previous post I’m still backing Evatt. Why? Because I beleve he is committed and genuinely believes in his system unlike weaker managers who chop and change. I respect that and hope that he will learn from his mistakes and react to them. In fairness I think he’s done more good than bad but certainly the next ten games will be critical for him and if by January we’ve lost touch with the leaders, I then think questions will be asked. As for the owners, I can’t think of anything I would criticise them for other than neglecting to put much if any of their own money in. As I say the next period of games will show one way or the other where we’re heading, including IE and FV. I’m not full of confidence that Ian will learn or get it right but I am prepared to give him every chance to. 🤗

We don’t seem to be agreeing on much lately rioch?? 🥴

I agree with both, not because Forresters done anything wrong, he’s been really good defensively but I just think that Geth adds more to the attack with Coggers than either Will or Eoin do. As for Bod, we still don’t really know how fit he is but Dion and Vic has to be our go to starting partnership for me and the most likely for goals if we can get the ball into the right places for them.

Get innnnnnn

Dion⚽️⚽️⚽️

Need to go on and build on that now, no sitting back and when the chances come we have to take them. Come on Whites we scored first against Carlisle remember!!