Bolton Wanderers v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Chris Smith]

Defending has been a problem all season but that has been made worse by injuries and suspensions. It's no coincidence that results improved after Christmas when we able to play a more settled back 4, it wasn't perfect but it was better. A cobbled together back line today and it cost us.

The criticism of Young today is completely misplaced, he found Bent countless times with through balls that he wasted.  Shite penalty mind.

[Risso]

Just got back.  We should have won that, certainly shouldn't have lost, but our defending was criminally bad.  Downing was a complete fanny again, and I couldn't see the point in bringing on petrov when he did.  Thank god he chucked the FA Cup tie, today really made up for it.

[pauliewalnuts]

He isn't a magician, he can't make Friedel younger, he can't put the sitters away and he can only work with what he has.

Yep, so what's he been working on with the defence?

Are you being sarcastic?

Our defence is injured, we had full backs at centre back and reserves at left back, it was a make shift defence.

As much as we all like Clark he isn't top notch yet, Baker is average, Young is not a CB and Walker is very attacking and our keeper is shite.

No, I'm not being sarcastic - what has he done with the defence? What work has he done with it? The same players, by and large, who were solid last season and the season before, so what work has he been doing with what he has there?

My point is that we were shit defensively and had exactly the same weaknesses WITH our best players available.

Have you seen much of Richard Dunne this season? He's hard enough to miss, and fuck only knows how big he'll be after a four week lay off.

I'm happy to credit Houllier where I think he's done good work, and I spend enough time on here doing precisely that, but our rank cluelessness at the back, which has degenerated now to the point where conceding a corner is like conceding a penalty, has been there all season, and wasn't just something new which came out of today as we had injuries.

Incidentally, Luke Young was originally a centre back. He's hardly a newcomer to that role.

Luke young was actually ok today.

The point is last season we sat back and had 10 men behind the ball and counter attacked, we are now alot more open and creating alot more.

What do we do differently to last season? Have we gone from zonal to man marking or visa-versa? (that's a genuine question)

Houllier can't help that Dunne was shocking and overweight, or that Collins hasn't performed aswell.

We are improving step by step, maybe the defence will be improved come the summer.

We seem to be engaged in some half arsed form of zonal marking nowadays.

Our counter attacking style of play of last season doesn't really have a lot to do with the way we defend corners, though, does it?

As for Richard Dunne - no, he can't help the fact that Dunne returned from the summer looking like the fat bloke you see in the local every night of the week, you're right there. The fact he still looks like that seven months later, though, that's a different matter.

[ktvillan]

The worst thing is a win today would have seen us virtually safe and we threw that opportunity away. With West Ham and WBA winning it has dragged us right back into the shite.  We may need to rely on Blackburn and Blackpool being worse than us for the rest of the campaign.  The Wolves match is massive now, fail to win that and I honestly fear we could be toast come May. 

[mattjpa]

I am so tired of reading posts from people knee jerking, blaming houllier for bad luck and poor finishing, having a go at randy a few weeks after he has just smashed our transfer record. Sometimes you have to sit back and say it just wasnt our day....the media is unanimous in saying we deserved to win.

the night is darkest just before the dawn. see you all in two weeks
UTV

[madirishvillain]

I am so tired of reading posts from people knee jerking, blaming houllier for bad luck and poor finishing, having a go at randy a few weeks after he has just smashed our transfer record. Sometimes you have to sit back and say it just wasnt our day....the media is unanimous in saying we deserved to win.

the night is darkest just before the dawn. see you all in two weeks
UTV

"it just wasnt our day"

thank fuck for that, we will be okay now


cheers mattjpa

have a look at the table

just the one day?

[Blackcountry Villa]

I am so tired of reading posts from people knee jerking, blaming houllier for bad luck and poor finishing, having a go at randy a few weeks after he has just smashed our transfer record. Sometimes you have to sit back and say it just wasnt our day....the media is unanimous in saying we deserved to win.

the night is darkest just before the dawn. see you all in two weeks
UTV

So has it just 'not been our day' every other time this season then? It happens far too often to just blame bad luck and say it wasn't our day. We're a piss poor side with a piss poor manager and the only way we'll stay up is by being less shit than the other relegation fodder.

[ktvillan]

However well you play, you don't deserve to win if you miss several sitters and repeat defensive errors that have cost you before.  You get exactly what you deserve, and we did today.

[Bottom Right 89]

Don't know why anyone is surprised by today - look at the date! we never win in March and we always struggle at Bolton, add the patched up defence and this was a home banker.

True about March, but we havent lost at Bolton (in the league) since 2002.

Cheers Charlie nothing like doing your homework before launching one on heroes is there? ironically 2002 is about the last time I went there - after the 5 minutes of James Brown and flag waving every time they score I just thought never again.

[Dave Cooper please]

I still don't get what Geoff bloody Capes has anything to do with it.

Capes would get Ashley Young into a bear hug, or perhaps a half-nelson, while someone who can strike a dead ball takes our free kicks / corners. It's the only way we can stop him.

Yep, on reflection I'm with Jimbo.
Geoff Capes alongside Clark at centre-half (okay, so we could never play the offside trap), and he pins Young to the floor whenever we get a free-kick in a promising area.
ARE YOU LISTENING HOTLIPS?

[Pete3206]

People blaming Houllier for the result today are fecking clueless or just too wrapped in their emotion to know better. We had the chances, when leading, to put the game firmly to bed. We didn't which then invites pressure on a very young and shaky defence, which to top it culminates in us missing a penalty. Stomping feet at the manager is simply futile, and the players need to take a bit of flak, Friedel as the experienced man does nothing to inspire in goal, while Young insisted on taking the pen when Bent and Reo Coker tried to dissuade him.

Might take a week or so away from the site, as the hysterics will start now about GH and be so boring.

I am fecking clueless.

Me too,fecking fecking clueless

Add me to the fecking clueless club.

[tarzansbrother]

fuck off Randy and your mates

you only have to look at this site when "the general" fucked off when results werent going our way

The general did not 'fuck off,' he was advised by us to leave for a while. If you could point in the direction of someone who will pay back the £250 million he has invested and provide a written guarantee of eternal success, I'm sure Randy will look upon your request favourably.

The way its looking I would rather have someone who hadnt invested £250m and hadnt employed  this French idiot.

[TonyD]

2 points ahead of West Ham, a team who were racing certainties to go down  -  ffs, this is going to the wire.

I think this is a good measure of exactly what GH has "achieved" this season. And to think that you are considered feckin useless if you question GH.   
Funny world.

[lovejoy]

Frankly its the fact that we often seem to play the better and still lose that worries me the most. A lot of ruvbbish was thrown at Houllier just after he joined but he has been here for 6 months now and spend £30m+ in the transfer window and we're 3 points off the drop. If its not his fault whose is it?

[Dave Cooper please]

Apparently, on average, one goal is scored for every 60 or so corners conceded.

Reckon we're anywhere close to that?