Weird match, some positives and negatives.
Positives
1: It was actually entertaining. A few on us on the Kop said there had been more action in the first 10 minutes than what there was in the whole of the Birmingham match. One said after 10 minutes “we can all go home now…we’ve seen enough entertainment”
2: Creativity. We were laughing in that 1st half how we get rid of our creative players and now look more creative but only in the 1st half.
3: Cooper is back to his best….he was the main reason we won last night, the man of the match followed by Donovan.
4: Donovan looks a player. Low centre of gravity and quick feet meaning he’s a tricky player for opposition defenders to handle.
We said he looks like a 16 year old school kid but he’s so enthusiastic, chasing and battling for everything. He’ll go down well with our crowd at the Lane.
Keep playing like that and he’ll become the new crowd favourite.
Negatives
1: Midfield still not functioning properly. Thought the Peck/ Jairo combo was poor and Peck looks low on confidence
But when we subbed them off for the Phillips/ Blaster pairing, they were actually worse. It was like we had no midfield and we being over run (which is a common theme in the late stages of the 2nd half). Blaster seemed slow/too casual and was caught in possession a few times however Bolton were full of energy in the later stages and were swarming our players.
2: What happened to us in the last 15 to 20 minutes? It really felt like we were down to 10 men.
Every loose ball went to their player, they looked a bit fitter and faster than us and were the only team pushing strongly for a late winner.
At about the 85 minute stage I decided I’d take a draw and feel satisfied because Boltons strong finish meant they deserved to win.
3: We did that crazy thing we do in many matches where we just can’t keep simple/ basic possession.
Don’t know why Wilder never addresses this. We looked decent on the ball much of the match, especially 1st half.
However when ever we face a bit of pressure like in the last 20 minutes, most of our players seem to panic and just boot it upfield straight back to their players re-inviting more pressure. It’s almost embarrassing that so many of our players have a spell where they have zero composure to make simple 5 yard passes.
4: In the last 15 minutes when defending corners we have virtually all 11 of our players inside our box.
Donovan is too small and lightweight do defend corners. So why doesn’t Wilder ask Donovan to stand on the half-way line.
It would mean they have to take 2 central defenders (usually big lads) out of the box making it easier for us to defend.
Overall
Up to 75 minutes thought a draw would have been a fair result in an entertaining match with a decent atmosphere.
However towards the end Bolton were starting to dominate and I’d have settled for a draw because being honest Bolton probably deserved to win.
So it felt great to snatch an undeserved victory….right at the end.
Overall we look like a half decent/ OKish Championship team that’s missing high quality or players with a spark.
Think we can be consistently tough to beat but don’t look anywhere near good enough for a promotion push.
At least I think we’ll be too consistent and too solid to be involved in a relegation battle, so I suppose that’s a positive.
Also at least the players have character and are willing to battle and give their best….another positive.
How to Watch
