Bolton v Barrow match thread

[vialli 9]

Bit of a kick in the nuts today. However had we gone to Oldham and come away with a point, then gone to Bolton and got another point, we’d all be relatively pleased. Well we have one more point than that! So upwards and onwards! I now actually believe we WILL stay up. Barry Pos.

[russell_anderson]

Don't know if was a pen as didn't replay it.
If we don't have the ball and attack we won't score goals. Invited that pressure for 90 mins inevitable theyde score eventually

Jones and Thomas played well.

Completely agree. The difference in organisation since Kelly took over is excellent and our defence played really well, particularly the 2 you mentioned. However, Bolton had over 70% possession and our setup was far too passive. There is nothing in this league that any team needs to fear. The positives are that following the performance of Davies in the last match and that of Thomas and Jones today, we look like we have an abundance of good central defenders but we are still lacking in the attacking areas. Even then, we had the 2 best chances of the match but, unfortunately, they fell to Jason Taylor and Patrick Brough's right foot! Ironic that after the performances of the 2 central defender their goal came from a hopeful long ball that they had been dealing with comfortably for all of the match. It's difficult to judge on TV but I thought the first guy who made a mess of controlling it was onside but the second one looked offside.

[Ace]

Can't fault the effort and application from the players and there did seem a bit of belief in the game plan. I still believe that 3 points are going to be massive in our survival so let's hope we have a real go on Tuesday.
One final point, I thought our set plays were a bit disappointing, we look a big side with 6 six footers and other good headers in the team but didn't really threaten today.

[Tomo]

Good performance, just hope we're going to play further foreword and try and create more chances we need to score more goals if we're going to stay in this league, we shouldn't fear anyone.

[mickmike wilson]

Evatt on our penalty shout:

I spoke to their player after and he said ‘I’ve expected the contact and your lad’s pulled out and I’ve even told the ref that it wasn’t.’ So there’s no issues there. MJ’s done well to pull out. Credit to the referee and I’ve not said that too often of late, but in them instances and moments, he could have easily blown up. But to be fair to their player, he instantly held his hands up and said no to the referee and that’s brilliant honesty and great spirit.

Evatt would go ballistic if his player was as honest as that & TBH I’m disappointed with his honesty also as everyone else’s uses game management to the hilt, Get the pen & score it & we have 3 extra points tonight ...Hope it’s not relevant at the seasons end, & in total irony that’s my honest opinion, Providing Evatt isn’t BS-Ing again.

[HenneysKnee]

Big game for Thomas today

He was fantastic. Massive difference under a proper manager. Assuming Platt isn’t back anytime soon then Thomas, Davies, Jones should be our first choice back 3 now (anyone know how long Davies is out for?)
The difficult decision for Tuesday now is really whether Josh Kay starts; Ntlhe has done well but in theory we properly need Kay to provide more of an attacking threat at home

[GTBLUE]

There commentators said it was one of the worst games ever seen. I agree in parts. We defended for 90 mins. Almost had 3 points, could have had 1. Is that how Kelly is setting us up for the rest of the season. If so, god help the back 5 ! If we don't show ambition to score we will go down. And people on here are praising it. We lost !

[Big E]

Don't know if was a pen as didn't replay it.
If we don't have the ball and attack we won't score goals. Invited that pressure for 90 mins inevitable theyde score eventually

Jones and Thomas played well.

Completely agree. The difference in organisation since Kelly took over is excellent and our defence played really well, particularly the 2 you mentioned. However, Bolton had over 70% possession and our setup was far too passive. There is nothing in this league that any team needs to fear. The positives are that following the performance of Davies in the last match and that of Thomas and Jones today, we look like we have an abundance of good central defenders but we are still lacking in the attacking areas. Even then, we had the 2 best chances of the match but, unfortunately, they fell to Jason Taylor and Patrick Brough's right foot! Ironic that after the performances of the 2 central defender their goal came from a hopeful long ball that they had been dealing with comfortably for all of the match. It's difficult to judge on TV but I thought the first guy who made a mess of controlling it was onside but the second one looked offside.

It's not just the organisation, it's the desire they have to do the dirty side of the job, Brad Barry was excellent today, the number of tracking runs he made all across teh park was impressive, especially for a lad just back from injury.
You can see there is a togetherness about the squad now that's been missing for a long while. Deserved the draw.

[Big E]

There commentators said it was one of the worst games ever seen. I agree in parts. We defended for 90 mins. Almost had 3 points, could have had 1. Is that how Kelly is setting us up for the rest of the season. If so, god help the back 5 ! If we don't show ambition to score we will go down. And people on here are praising it. We lost !

If we'd have tried to compete footballing wise Bolton would have cut us open. Tactics were spot on - horses for courses. Expect it to be different on Tues and Sat

[xerxes]

There commentators said it was one of the worst games ever seen. I agree in parts. We defended for 90 mins. Almost had 3 points, could have had 1. Is that how Kelly is setting us up for the rest of the season. If so, god help the back 5 ! If we don't show ambition to score we will go down. And people on here are praising it. We lost !

I don't think we had a lot of choice in the way we set up. It's a big pitch, and Bolton were good enough to make full use of it to keep the ball for long periods. However we did pretty well in stopping them from making use of it. When we did get forward we gave them a few scares. There won't be many teams good enough to hold on to the ball the way Bolton did, so no, I don't expect to see us setting up like that for the rest of the season.

[Middleton Nick]

There commentators said it was one of the worst games ever seen. I agree in parts. We defended for 90 mins. Almost had 3 points, could have had 1. Is that how Kelly is setting us up for the rest of the season. If so, god help the back 5 ! If we don't show ambition to score we will go down. And people on here are praising it. We lost !

Yes we did lose Graham, but to a suspiciously offside goal. Our goal chances were equal at least to theirs, but you can see the improvement in the last two games to at least give us a chance of survival. Hopefully we can come out of the blocks on Tuesday and get a result against Harrogate.

[JohnnyK]

Although I live a long way from Barrow and unfortunately I haven't had the chance to ever visit the ground, I remember Barrow losing their place in the league when I was 8 years old and i always tried to look out for their results. It's been a long journey for them to be back where I believe they belong, hopefully two wins in their next two home games will go a long way in keeping them in the league. I was gutted to see the score today, but they have more chance of staying up now than they did with Jolley.

[GTBLUE]

There commentators said it was one of the worst games ever seen. I agree in parts. We defended for 90 mins. Almost had 3 points, could have had 1. Is that how Kelly is setting us up for the rest of the season. If so, god help the back 5 ! If we don't show ambition to score we will go down. And people on here are praising it. We lost !

If we'd have tried to compete footballing wise Bolton would have cut us open. Tactics were spot on - horses for courses. Expect it to be different on Tues and Sat

Expected that reply. I do realise other teams are better than us. But it just seems like defend, defend, defend for the rest of the season, and hope we get lucky in a few games. Southend might think differently.

[Big E]

If we'd have tried to compete footballing wise Bolton would have cut us open. Tactics were spot on - horses for courses. Expect it to be different on Tues and Sat

Expected that reply. I do realise other teams are better than us. But it just seems like defend, defend, defend for the rest of the season, and hope we get lucky in a few games. Southend might think differently.

It was like watching a improved version of what we were doing last year to teams, pressing really high and closing them down. We tried a few times to counter but they put us under too much pressure too quickly. Kay may have been a useful counter attack option, but KG probably gave us teh better shape and discipline to stay in teh game. Fine margins

[GTBLUE]

There commentators said it was one of the worst games ever seen. I agree in parts. We defended for 90 mins. Almost had 3 points, could have had 1. Is that how Kelly is setting us up for the rest of the season. If so, god help the back 5 ! If we don't show ambition to score we will go down. And people on here are praising it. We lost !

Yes we did lose Graham, but to a suspiciously offside goal. Our goal chances were equal at least to theirs, but you can see the improvement in the last two games to at least give us a chance of survival. Hopefully we can come out of the blocks on Tuesday and get a result against Harrogate.

A "suspicially" offside goal still means we lost Nick. That means no points. We have shown more effort, determination etc. But the fact is, we need to score one more goal than the other teams to stay up. I just can't see how at the minute. But like everyone, I will keep the prayer mat out !