Whites V Scum [R]

[Prenn]

1-1

I never thought I'd ever see a game like that. Bolton totally outclassing Manchester United in every way and if our finishing had been a little better we could have hammered them. I'm gutted withe the way they managed to snatch the jammiest of equalizers in the last minute. Beckham was way offside too but I guess that's the way the ref and linesmen were playing.

Anyway, how many times do we have to do this? Why can't Sam see that pulling all but 2 player behind the ball isn't defending, it's suicide. I'm sick of seeing us take the lead only to defend deep and give the opposition chance after chance with predictable results. We should have kept attacking, they had no answer to us.

A brilliant performance today but no doubt we'll be treated to the usual dross against Liverpool in 2 weeks time.

[Real Ray]

Well you see them much more than I do, but I thought it was more lack of concentration and some very sloppy passing that did them in more than tactics. Some were just outright gifts to Man Utd. They also got a little too cute with some of their offensive possesions late in the match; too much dribbling, etc.

But Okocha-whew! He gave me an entertaining afternoon. And Mendy-they should have put a "no vacancy" sign along right flank, as he owned that part of the pitch the whole game.

Should have taken all the points.

[bettyrasta]

I agree it was amazing to see us dominate them in the waty that we did. Usually expect or hope for a decent result against the odds. Individually, we were better all over the pitch. Okocha of course was fantastic, Laville had a brilliant debut, Mendy top class etc etc.
Love Ricky to bits but how stupid was that final pass. Why won't they play the game out? I know what you mean Prenn about changing style once we've scored but to some extent it does change the dynamics so that they were bound to come at us more.
So frustrating that we should by now practically be celebrating safety instead of chewing fingernails about other eams scores.
The big hope now is that all the class which showed yesterday continues to be there every week.At least there's another rest and that seemed to help.
Incidentally, amid Fergies admission that we deserved to win did you hear the excuse about it being because the game was at 12 o'clock instead of 3. Guess that 3 hours rest would have made all the difference.

[Prenn]

Liverpool a week on monday.

Isn't it typical that we go to play them just as Micheal Owen starts banging them in again? I hope he gets a hattrick on sunday followed by a hamstring injury.

I also wonder how the FA can justify 1 game in a month for Bolton? Who needs a winter break?

[frightwig]

I haven't seen Bolton play before this season (if at all), but the game just happened to be on ESPN here in America. Knowing that Utd. is a powerhouse team, it was surprising to see how much Bolton controlled most of the game and had so many good opportunities to score. But then, I hope it's not rude to say, the Bolton players seemed to lack the skill to finish. So many close opportunities, gone by the wayside....

If you don't mind my asking, is this the usual problem for Bolton? Do they just lack top players at the forward spots?

Well, it was fun to watch Okocha. And Campo was always good for a laugh. (I don't know, maybe it wasn't his day.)

Sorry the game got away at the end. You had the scum for 88 minutes. Better luck the rest of the season....

[Prenn]

Originally posted by frightwig
I haven't seen Bolton play before this season (if at all), but the game just happened to be on ESPN here in America. Knowing that Utd. is a powerhouse team, it was surprising to see how much Bolton controlled most of the game and had so many good opportunities to score. But then, I hope it's not rude to say, the Bolton players seemed to lack the skill to finish. So many close opportunities, gone by the wayside....

If you don't mind my asking, is this the usual problem for Bolton? Do they just lack top players at the forward spots?

Well, it was fun to watch Okocha. And Campo was always good for a laugh. (I don't know, maybe it wasn't his day.)

Sorry the game got away at the end. You had the scum for 88 minutes. Better luck the rest of the season....

Yes, that is the problem with Bolton and has been all season. We'll create loads of chances and score very few, when we lost 3-0 to Leeds in december but managed 18 shots at goal, 11 on target. You have to look no further than our strikers to see why. Ricketts (6 goals, 3 pens) hadn't want to play for Bolton since at least the closed season so he put no effort in (until the transfer window), good riddence to him. Pedersen (4 goals) works hard but has a piss poor first touch and his finishing ability is lacking. Holdsworth (0 goals) had been past it for 5 years (gone to coventry now). Facey (1 goal) is really untested at the top level and is returning from a serious illness, he may be part of the solution. Likewise Walters (0 goals) who is on loan to Hull is a tremendous prospect. He scored 2 goals for Hull yesterday and hopefully his time there will give him enough experience to come back and challenge for a first team place.

Our fate is pretty much in the hands of our loan signings. Salva Ballesta from Valencia and top scorer in La Liga 3 seasons ago. He's made two cameo appearances and works hard, he definately has the potential to be the guy to put the ball in the back of the net. The only concern is how quickly he can adapt to the English game. Also signed is Frenchman Pierre Yves Andre, he's fast with Champions League experience but he is not a prolific striker, he's more likely to create chances.

Bolton are mid-table Premiership quality in every department except one, up front where it matters.

And Campo is known as 'clown' for a reason ;)

[frightwig]

Why do you think Bolton has a problem signing or developing good strikers? Is it just money? Do top scorers shy away from teams up North, unless it's Utd. or Liverpool waving the checkbook at them?

I notice Bolton has a shiny new stadium. Has that helped attract a better class of player to the club?

How did Mendy come to Bolton?

Thanks for the reply....

[Prenn]

Originally posted by frightwig
Why do you think Bolton has a problem signing or developing good strikers? Is it just money? Do top scorers shy away from teams up North, unless it's Utd. or Liverpool waving the checkbook at them?

I notice Bolton has a shiny new stadium. Has that helped attract a better class of player to the club?

How did Mendy come to Bolton?

Thanks for the reply....

Well let's get one thing out of the way, a team like Bolton can't afford the likes of a Van Nistlerooy or Henry unless there's a hell of a lot of luck involved. It is money, plain and simple. We don't have £10 million to spend on transfer fees. :(

Is it possible to devlop a good striker in the Premiership? Unless you have a prodigy (Owen etc) I don't think so, they have to gain experience and the vast majority aren't going to score goals while doing that. It's best to either loan them out to lower division clubs or buy the ready made article. It's too much of a risk to play a young striker with no experience, you could ruin their career and in turn their lack of goals could ruin your season. There' no time to bed in a youngster when you're fighting week in, week out against relegation.

So who do you buy? Do you risk buying the 25 goal a season first or second division striker who's untested at the top level and who'll you have to pay over the odds for (ie Bobby Zamora) or do you go abroad and get someone who's a top scorer in their league but has no experience of English football (Henrik Pedersen). Whatever way you're unlikley to sign anyone that's going to be your Shearer, Henry, Owen etc, at least not for a long while.

At the moment I think we're taking the right approach in signing players on loan because it means we can get quality that wouldn't normally be avaliable to us. We can get Ballesta on loan but we could never hope to sign him permanently.

Sam Allardyce has been a revelation a Bolton. He managed a major coup last season by attracking Youri Djorkaeff to the Reebok, along with German International striker Fredi Bobic and former French international defender Bruno NGotty. In the closed season he pulled off another major signing with Jay Jay Okocha which was partly influenced by the signing of Djorkaeff, it raised Bolton's profile. This in turn had a positive effect and we signed Ivan Campo from Real Madrid. We could sign Mendy for these reasons, he's on a season long loan to gain experience, I hope we can sign him permanently. We've been linked, realistically, with Julias Agahowa, Nigeria's lightning forward (a good friend of Jay Jay Okocha) and a famous Brazillian international who's name escapes me right now. Not to mention the fact that we'e signed three players on loan, all who have recent Champions League experience and have a very good pedigree.

I don't think Bolton's geographical position has much to do with our potential signings, we're just 10 miles from Manchester, if that. I don't think it'd be any easier for a London team like Charlton, who are a similar size to Bolton, to sign big name players.