Archive for December, 2011
Wanderers 0 Newcastle 2
Just before Christmas, I was updating my spanking new 2012 diary. As I entered the Wanderers fixtures, perhaps encouraged by the win at Ewood, I kept thinking ‘We should win that’, ‘We could get something there’, so when I had finished, I decided to check if Premier League survival was a possibility.
Maybe I’d become over-pessimistic in recent weeks; maybe all was not yet lost. On the basis that thirty-nine points will probably be enough this season, I identified nine games that I thought we might win. This match against Newcastle wasn’t among them, but it was in the next tranche of games, from which we might pick up the odd point.
For seventy minutes or so, it appeared that we might just do that; a point against Newcastle following on from beating Blackburn would surely help to build up the team’s confidence, which has looked so fragile in recent games, and set the scene for the upcoming game against Wolves. Our manager clearly didn’t see things like that. He made a substitution and within minutes, the game was lost, confidence dissipated like melting Christmas snow, and the season’s highest crowd went home distinctly lacking in goodwill to all men.
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Coyle’s Tactics & Subs Frustrate The Fans
The latest home defeat has left some fans scratching their heads and many roundly criticising Owen Coyle’s choice of tactics.
The first half was a tight and competitive affair that saw limited chances for both sides. Not least for Bolton who offered very little in terms of attacking creativity with the ball on the ground and often resorted to simple route one football.
David Ngog struggled in what appeared to be an unfamiliar role as an aerial target man and as such had very little success. A fan sat next to me remarked, “what use is there playing these balls to Ngog? If we’re going to play like this then he should use Davies”. The man had a point – the Bolton captain looked on from the substitute bench as his team mates continued to launch balls forward.
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Merry Christmas To All Bolton Fans Everywhere
With a much needed 3 points secured before the Christmas break, we hope all Bolton fans everywhere who are celebrating the festive season have a great Christmas.
Here’s looking forward to the Boxing Day game against Newcastle United, and we hope the lads are focused on the 3 points which will hopefully help us out of the bottom 3 before the New Year.
So, for now – Happy Christmas to all our readers, our friends – The Men In White, FootballFanCast, 188BET, YourFIFALeague, Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Association, and those who we’ve forgot to mention.
What a Heart Stopping Game That Was Last Night
Over the years, we’ve always looked forward to getting one above our fellow neighbours. However, there have only been a couple of games where we’ve managed to produce some fantastic football against Blackburn. Last night was one of them.
Normally, we tend to have scrappy affairs, with plenty of tackles flying in, yellow cards and even red cards being flung abou in either direction. Last night was something else.
With plenty on stake – points, manager’s job (Coyle not so much), thought of being bottom of the table during the festive season, and of course reputation – both teams dominated each half to produce some really good moments of football that will be talked about at the end of the season.
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Coyle’s Changes Do The Trick
Even though it doesn’t need to be said – WOW! What a valuable three points! A very compelling and tense game up the road at Ewood Park, and most importantly some crucial points in the bag to bring home.
The entire game was a nervous affair and the news that OC had tinkered with the starting line-up by dropping Kevin Davies for Ngog and retaining the services of Marcos Alonso at left-back added some extra intrigue into the mix. Arguably, demoting both Davies and Robinson to the bench is not as controversial as the mainstream media would make out. Kev’s form has been seriously below par this season and given his advancing years this could well signal the end of his regular place in the first XI.
Similarly, Paul Robinson’s all or nothing approach, mixed with some dodgy positional play and tired legs, has seen him fall well out of favour.
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We’re Quite Used To It Now – Aren’t We?
Well, we sort of expected another disappointing weekend and to be honest the Wanderers this time didn’t disappoint.
Confidence is at an all time low in the Wanderers camp, and with 2 goals within a minute of each other, Bolton again lacked the passion from the start where Fulham could’ve been atleast 2 or 3 up before the first goal was even knocked in.
This time around though, many a Wanderer’s fan wasn’t surprised by the result. With the game against Blackburn tomorrow, we could see this game being important in 3 different ways:
- The first being it’s a derby – we just loooove playing against the Rovers – don’t we?
- The second being a relegation encounter – the team that takes the 3 points will get the boost they need in order to help them to safety
- And the third being the most talked about over the last 48 hours or so, it’s make or break for both Kean and Coyle.
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