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Match day thread: Bolton

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  • Yes, I was there in the FA, certainly in the first half I thought Bolton looked like a Championship side except their finishing. We grew stronger as the game went on.

  • Well we won and another massive scalp for the mighty Wycombe. What a team!!!

  • We had 2 spells, and not short ones, where we absolutely battered them. Their 17 was so desperate all he could do was foul and was lucky to be on the pitch. With 10 to go they went all in and resorted to long balls and long throws. And I’m guessing this last 10 is the abiding memory for fans and their manager, because the we deserved the win. No doubt.

    In Wing we have a player who can make things happen from outside the box and it’s been a long time since we’ve had one of those. Makes the opposition think. Hanlan was a massive threat, just a click away from having an end product but he did the job of rattling Santos from start to finish. And that was the key, we made them look poor at times. They were not poor, we forced them into errors and mistakes. The audacity.

    Two Saturdays in a row I’ve had panic attacks for 90 minutes followed by a wonderful evening. Who’d be a football fan?

  • Well the Bolton manager came out with the usual salty comments mixed in with a back handed compliment. I agree with him that it was a penalty and would have been severely miffed if the roles were reversed, but as for the last 20 minutes we were on top comment. What can you say other than "I wouldn't want to watch that every week. All they did was punt/throw the ball into the box hoping for the second ball. Now, where have I heard that before? 🤔

  • The ref didn't seem to mind a bit of "strong" play at times, Hanlan being manhandled, their multiple foul guy etc, so I wasn't surprised he didn't give that pen. It happened really fast and I'm not sure you could be certain it was more "shove" than "levered off" type strong defending at that speed.

    Thankfully it went our way!

  • Also great to see Tommo on the bench and on his way back. 👍

  • Not a great interview from the Bolton manager. I'm starting to wonder what manager's mean by the "you know what you're going to get" comments? They never elaborate, it's become a cliche. An excuse manager's give that's never scrutinised. If I was interviewing I'd follow up and press them on what they mean and if Wycombe are so predictable, why they didn't prepare accordingly. Presumably they didn't know what they were going to get when failing to deal with our short corner routine?

    Fair enough, he thinks they should have had a penalty, but suggesting Wycombe get away with things because Gareth's a nice guy is just ridiculous! The penalty we got at Port Vale, was our first in well over a year. And the league table might be looking rosier for us had Vokes not had 2 perfectly good goals ruled out in successive home games in October. We've had decisions for and against us this season, as happens to everyone.

    Opposition manager's are doing us a huge favour by these post match comments, GA must love it when they come out with these tired excuses. He learns from defeat in a way so many others seem reluctant to.

  • Well, I made it to row D seat 66 in the Frank Adams stand, suitably refreshed with lager and crisps, looking forward to what some on here have described as 'a sport with finesse', as opposed to Rugby, allegedly the beautiful game's ugly sister.

    I was also told to expect lots of balls hoofed high and far, and I wasn't disappointed. But it seemed to me that Bolton were relying on 'hit and hope' more than Wycombe. Apart from the scare when the ball hit our crossbar, Wycombe seemed to be the team with greater energy and ambition, and the strike from Lewis Wing on 53 minutes was an absolute cracker - from wide out on the left, he would have had a very narrow window into which to shoot the ball, but did it perfectly past the keeper and inside the post. It came from a short corner, and looked like a rehearsed training ground move.

    It seemed to me that Bolton became more rattled and desperate as the second half wore on, and them trying to play Wycombe's robust style of play was only ever going to produce one winner, although Max Styrek had to pull off a superb save near the end to deny them nicking a late equaliser.

    I thought Sam Vokes was pure class, although he should have put in that cross at the end, and Joe Jacobson, who is almost as old and slow as me, is still a rock in defence.

    I didn't want to jinx it by saying this in the build up thread, but in the infrequent times I've seen the Chairboys play, I've never seen them lose. This includes the 1975 FA Cup 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough at Loakes Park.

    One gripe, which applies to all football: Why don't they do what other sports do, and get the ref to signal stop the clock when there's an injury? That way, fans would know time is up when the clock hits 45:00, rather than have an arbitrary and random number of minutes added on.

  • Both sides created good chances. Thought Bolton had the better of the first 15 mins or so and then it evened out as we started to impose ourselves. We looked most likely to score as the first have proceeded and again threatened as the second half started. Towards the end of the game they threatened from long throws and set pieces - ball bobbled around in our area uncomfortably a few times but Max was rarely tested except the late save. No way were they a class above nor could they have been out of sight by half time.

  • Opposition managers going with the ‘knew exactly what we would get from Wycombe’ bullshit. And yet mate you are not a good enough coach to do anything about it. Pathetic. Show some class. All you had was a freak show throwing the ball in from anywhere in their half at the end. Couldn’t watch that every week

  • I can imagine Randell Williams back at Wycombe one day.

  • Glad you enjoyed the game @bargepole

  • Once again an opposition manager refuses to give any credit to Wycombe despite ‘knowing exactly what you are going to get’ from our team. I think we have got under the skin of so many of our rivals that we’re almost a goal up before a ball has been kicked. Long may it continue.

  • Just seen that it's the first time we've ever won 5 straight in the third tier

  • I mean, there are certain things that I "know what I'm going to get" when I watch Wycombe. An exceptionally well organised team, with players who know precisely what their jobs are. A team who can adapt to challenges and can change their game depending upon the opposition they're facing. A side with multiple attacking threats and skilled players who can score goals from a variety of sources. A team who'll give their all in each and every game and believe they can win. A team that of course do play poorly and lose from time to time, but will not look for excuses, but look to learn and improve.

    I wonder if that's what opposition managers mean? Or are they too lazy, or too arrogant to prepare their team properly when they play Wycombe?Because that's how it comes across when resorting to cliches when trying to explain away a defeat, rather than praising the opposition, accepting the defeat and telling their club's fans that they'll look to learn and improve from a defeat.

  • We're by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen

  • edited February 2023

    The cliche from opposing managers is simply to act as though they beat themselves, rather than us beating them. That way they don't have to eat as much humble pie, because it was all in their hands, as we were a known quantity.

    My four year old girl has better psychological ploys.

  • It might change when Phil does his opposition views montage, but I’ve been so impressed by the sensible posts I’ve read from Bolton fans on Facebook. They really are a classy bunch as they also showed with the impeccable silence in memory of Brian Lee.

  • Bolton are up there with Bradford and Wednesday in my favourite opposition fans league.

  • What a contrast from Derby to Bolton as far as fans, in the space of a week!

  • Bolton fans are generally very knowledgeable and humble. They are amongst the best fans in this league. Maybe their manager needs to take in some of their comments instead of behaving like a spoilt child.

  • edited February 2023

    Evatt just comes across as a bit of a knob. He's a good coach and he might well get them promoted this season, but the upward trajectory will slow eventually - and if this is how he reacts to a minor setback in an otherwise excellent season then, well...

  • I thought Bolton was a big strong team and you can see why they scored 10 in the last 2 games. They bully teams and they didn't expect Wycombe to give it back to them. A great bit if class for the goal. Strong defensively from front to back and a team that will run through brick walls for the manager. Keep plugging away and we will be in the play offs

  • Think that may be the issue as far as opposition managers are concerned. This preconceived idea that we are just strong armed long ball hoof merchants, hence the continual comments the "you know what you're going to get". Maybe, they can't be bothered to do their homework properly then suffer the consequences. The Bolton manager clearly expected those tactics and set up his side with some huge players, (can't remember seeing so many in one side before), then was surprised that after the first 20 minutes or so how we played through them a lot of the time. After all, it's not as if GA hasn't told everyone multiple times in pre & post match interviews this very point. 🤷‍♂️

  • edited February 2023

    My wife kindly gave me these very comfy bamboo socks for Christmas. I've worn them for each of the last 5 games.

    🤔

  • I love listening to the opposing managers who every time say they know what to expect when they come to Wycombe. Well if you know what to expect, why can’t you plan to combat it. Have to say Evatt came up with an amazing excuse. Because Gaz is a nice great guy, his teams get decisions they shouldn’t.

  • The montage wouldn't be ready until the middle of next season.

  • By that logic Derek Adams must be the greatest manager ever. His teams all start with an amazing disadvantage with the refs

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