It’s a great feeling, getting three points but it doesn’t happen enough at the Reebok anymore which is all annoying, frustrating, and a lot more words that come from the stands within the Reebok. However, today we did manage to get the magical three points and even slightly move up the table, which it seems hasn’t happened enough either this term.

I’m going to give you a few points on why I think we managed to get the win today.

Jacob Butterfield

The guy is a gem in my opinion, he’s showed short moments of it in the last few games but today, he got the nod to start and delivered. Numerous times against Charlton he received the ball within a tight space, surrounded by two/three players and wriggled his way out of the situation before moving the ball on.

Yes, players like Lee, Eagles and Mavies have similar technique but Jacob seemed to do it with flair. I personally would love to add this guy to our books permanently but I can see why Chris Houghton sees him as a quality asset.

Patience

Freedman stressed this in his post match interview and made more sense in that one period of questioning than Coyle did throughout his whole Bolton Wanderers career. We’ve conceded far too many goals this season by committing players forward and then being caught on the back foot and the fact that in first half we where happy to keep the ball and wait for the gaps to open, not really trying to force anything.

It’s nice to see, despite what some of our fans think. I had a ‘fan’ behind me at the game who repeatedly said: “This is one of the worst half of football I’ve seen us play..” despite us having 55%+ possession and looking in control for 90% of the half. Nevertheless, we didn’t score and didn’t go into the break 5-0 up, so it wasn’t good enough.

I think some Bolton fans need to remember what’s happening, we’re playing in the Championship, a league that is more unpredictable than the Premier League so a game plan is needed. It shouldn’t be, ‘let’s try and score as many as possible’ – it should be have a game plan, stick to it and get the result. I’m not saying all Bolton fans are idiots, honestly, I don’t think they are but I do think they’re not understanding what Freedman is trying to do with our team – which to my understanding is bring stability back to the Reebok.

Being Clinical

It’s something that we haven’t been all season and it’s a shame because when the team is in full flow, we create a lot of chances for the likes of Davies, Ngog, Mavies and Eagles. Looking at when Ngog came on yesterday, I don’t think I’m the only one that saw from the off that he was going to change the game. The first thing he did was bring the ball down on his chest, lay it off and make his way forward, something Kevin Davies had failed to do in the previous 60+ minutes. However, this time I’m not blaming Davies, as I don’t think the support he was receiving yesterday was good enough but at the same time, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we created a lot more when Ngog came on.

Funny ol’ game football though, as now it’s a tough decision going into the next game, does he stick with Davies from the start and maintain that solidness that we had first half or does he put Ngog in that position and ask him to do a similar job?

Whatever he does, I just don’t want to see Ngog out wide, where he’s utter useless. Hopefully, those two goals will push Ngog forward and give him some momentum, the same momentum he should have used last time he got a brace until the red card.