Two,two the Lillywhite boys.....

[Lost Leopard Spot]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Bolton manager this universally unpopular. Find one fan who wouldn’t sack the dinosaur!

I could name five, off this site alone...

Go on then, hands up all of you!

Come on then: Prufrock, BWFCi, et al, stick your hands up!

[dave the minion]

Here.

I still am not convinced there’s a better realistic alternative out there.

All that happening is we’re being found out for what we are - a league 1 side who got lucky to go up and got luckier to stay up.

With the players we’ve got this really is our level and anyone who thinks otherwise needs they lie bumps feeling.

Ameobi is probably our best player and he’s just not good enough. A Newcastle friend of mine said he wasn’t championship standard when we first got him on loan. And do you know what? He isn’t: and yet he’s the best of a bad bunch.

I still think that it isn’t Parky’d fault we’ve no money. It’s not his fault we have to scrape the bargain basement for transfers. And it isn’t his fault when these players aren’t up to the artificially high level some expect of them.

Yes he has many faults and a lot of the criticism levelled against him is probably valid, but give. The circumstances and what he’s had to work with I still think he’s done a great job.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he walked though to preserve some dignity, and irrespective of what I think or ka thinks or anyone, he has lost the fans to such a degree his days must surely be numbered....

[nelson66]

i think hes dogshite.... sack the cnut ...

[TANGODANCER]

Genuine questions:
"Man for man" how much worse are we than the rest in this league?
We're either, (based on our position) lucky to be here at all, or in need of a serious change of tactics. This has to be managerial failings to consistenly lose games by the same weary game of two halves (sometimes). Teams play us to win and take points. No one is afraid of us...that's no one.

If Sammi, Magennis, Vela, Donaldson etc, etc, aren't good enough, then we'll go down. Our record shows this as a feasible option. indeed totally likely. You just cannot be this bad and expect to win. We just don't seem to have any fight in us.

The tired and frustrating damage limitation first half play has to be a wrong, wrong tactic and again that's down to the manager. Second half today we came to life for a spell and even scored a late goal. That said, how can our strikers do their job if all they get is hopeful ariel wallops and no support. I've supported Parky all along because he's hardly had the best of anything to work with, but we're not even at the races week after weary week. Something has to change...a regular best team might even help, though even that's debateble as the life's been sucked out of the club. Business, management, agents and ownership are all we hear and the main priority, the very reason for our existance, football, seems of least consequence.

[Jugs]

We show the opposition too much respect and that's the biggest issue for me. We have no balls. We sit back, invite pressure. We're weak and submissive.

Yes, we're not as talented as a lot of teams in this league. But we're not totally shit, or at least we weren't back at the start of the season. Cup games show that worse teams can give better teams a bloody nose - see Barnet and Newport in recent weeks - just by raising their game, showing some balls and having a go. We literally NEVER do that and it comes down to the one thing I've mentioned before on here - mindset. For me, our mindset is all wrong, all the time. We constantly say to the opposition from kick off 'go on, show us what you can do.'

What fan wants to see their team submit like that every week?

[TANGODANCER]

W.T.F was Josh Magennis doing defending so often first half? I know we have to defend, but....how on earth can he or donaldson be expected to score when in our own box blowing bubbles out of it.

[dave the minion]

Genuine questions:
"Man for man" how much worse are we than the rest in this league?

Honest answer? I think a lot worse. Look at our squad and where they've come from - most of our signings are gambles from lower leagues who aren't proven at Championship level, has-been journeymen whose best days are behind them, or cast-offs that can't get into the teams of our rivals.

I don't want this to be harsh on the team, but how can we expect to compete when this is where we have to shop. Many other teams in this league are have multi-million pound strikers and players of decent pedigree - to be completely honest I'm surprised we've held our own as much as we have this season and stayed in nearly all the matches we've ended up losing.

This might be a bit defeatist, but the pure and simple facts are that the lack of decent transfer activity over the past 5 or 6 seasons, plus having to ship out any decent prospects as soon as they prove their quality, is coming back to bite us. I'm amazed we've kept the wolf from the door for as long as we have.....

I still don't blame the manager though - especially as if you believe the rumours he's worked wonders to ensure the club still exists at all...

[dave the minion]

W.T.F was Josh Magennis doing defending so often first half? I know we have to defend, but....how on earth can he or donaldson be expected to score when in our own box blowing bubbles out of it.

he's the only one who knows how to head a ball, so probably just as well he was....

[dave the minion]

Genuine questions:
"Man for man" how much worse are we than the rest in this league?

Honest answer? I think a lot worse. Look at our squad and where they've come from - most of our signings are gambles from lower leagues who aren't proven at Championship level, has-been journeymen whose best days are behind them, or cast-offs that can't get into the teams of our rivals.

I don't want this to be harsh on the team, but how can we expect to compete when this is where we have to shop. Many other teams in this league are have multi-million pound strikers and players of decent pedigree - to be completely honest I'm surprised we've held our own as much as we have this season and stayed in nearly all the matches we've ended up losing.

This might be a bit defeatist, but the pure and simple facts are that the lack of decent transfer activity over the past 5 or 6 seasons, plus having to ship out any decent prospects as soon as they prove their quality, is coming back to bite us. I'm amazed we've kept the wolf from the door for as long as we have.....

I still don't blame the manager though - especially as if you believe the rumours he's worked wonders to ensure the club still exists at all...

Apropos of nothing, did anyone see the warm up before the game. Whilst the defenders were being put through their paces heading and clearing long balls, the mids and strikers were on shooting drills: it was scary how few of the shots actually went in...... If we can't trouble the goal in a simple warm up drill without defenders putting pressure on, what chance do we have in an actual match...

[TANGODANCER]

Not a case of blaming the manager personaly, Dave. I'm sure he's no happier than we are. It just doesn't seem he ever lets a side settle and his changes and systems simply don't work. If they did we wouldn't have lost week after week after week. We had one brief spell in one match, then back to climbing upwards. Something just has to change. It may even be too late already....

[TonyDomingos]

Soooooo, I'm fed up with this season and our death by a thousand cuts. I accept relegation. And I don't for one minute think anyone will buy us. There: I've said it.

[DJBlu]

W.T.F was Josh Magennis doing defending so often first half? I know we have to defend, but....how on earth can he or donaldson be expected to score when in our own box blowing bubbles out of it.

Instructions from PP. Not 1 man left up top.

[Jim_McDonuts]

I'm a Wanderer, no choice, can't help it.

Football is fuc*ing ruined for me atm -this cabal of basta*ds have to go.

[Leyther71]

Not been on here in years...

The game plan is... sit back and attempt to kill the game. This game plan remains in place if we are 1-0 down or 2-0 down (only changing in the last 3-4 mins).

There is no attempt to score goals, none at all. We are hoping that a ball may drop kindly in the box - we are expecting luck. Simple as that. If by chance the ball does drop and we take the lead, we seem to concede within the next 5 minutes - because the tactical response is to sit even deeper.

A team as negative as us should able to defend set pieces and should threaten with any attacking set pieces. We are awful at both.

Parkinson seems to either think that these tactics will eventually come good (I cannot believe he is that blind to the evidence) or he is protecting his future reputation by keeping it 'close'.

The players know the tactics are crap. You can see it in their body language - there is so little energy compared to other teams. They know they are being sent out with tactics that give them a 1 to 5% chance of winning. Look at North End yesterday. They are mid table, and have been in the lower reaches for most of the season, yet they buzzed around the pitch for 90. We look pedestrian and inept in the bloody warm up.

There is no massive gulf between the top of League 1 and the bottom half of the Championship - that is a myth. Sheffield United and Millwall both coped very well last season. Blackburn are doing ok this season. Wigan and Rotherham are finding life a bit tougher, but neither look out of their depth.

There are mitigating circumstances for Parkinson, there has clearly been chaos behind the scenes at times. But he is now riding his luck, in that we clearly can't afford to make a managerial change. No club would keep a manager in position on this run of results. This is not sleepwalking to relegation - this is a full on sprint.

If a takeover doesn't happen and he stays in charge we will be lucky to get to 30 points. I can't see us winning another game.

[TANGODANCER]

Good to see you back Leyther and your points are all spot on....

[Harry Genshaw]

Here.

I still am not convinced there’s a better realistic alternative out there.

I'm almost incredulous at this.

The mood around the club and the current and potential future supporters that we're losing demands a change.

Nobody disputes Parky has worked in exceptionally difficult circumstances but he's not helping himself now.

These are his players. Little, Ozthumer and until yesterday Magennis, were players he wanted and has since marginalised.

His inability to make use of talented players that aren't 6ft 3.

Our total ineptitude at set pieces.

Our inability to create chances week after week after week.

The lack of 'gamesmanship' in the team, where players meekly accept the refs decision, or don't unsettle the opposition.

The lack of movement across the whole side.

These are all things Parky and his staff should be having an influence on. There are posters on here that have stopped going due to his stone age football. The missing season ticket holders around me each Saturday are increasing. I'm almost at the point myself when I seriously can't be bothered to do the walk to the ground to watch the same pitiful rubbish.

This is the worst side I've seen in over 40 years of watching them and come June if PP is still there I certainly won't be buying another season ticket. We have to get rid.

[Jugs]

Agree with Leyther’s points

Parky’s teams don’t even attempt to briny any joy to the fans anymore, there’s absolutely no point going to any more games until next season as I see it

[officer_dibble]

Fair play Dave for being the only one of the 5 (!!) standing up for him. Respect your view.

For me the only thing Ken is doing is extending Parkys pay from this club - and making sure he doesn’t have to pay it. I suspect he hasn’t paid the bonuses from last season either.

I’d swap him for anyone on this planet other than Owen Coyle! Players don’t believe him, anyone else would be a better bet now.

[Hoboh]

No blame to Parkinson?????

Fcuk me!!! and I think some on another issue are deluded and blind.

He;s garbage and clearly the only option Ken would pay for, the worst manager in the league, the comments of the Bradford fans keep coming to mind when he left them, streaky, boring, clueless, with on good season in him, sounds like a fair assessment.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

It's a very sad situation.

Parky did well to turn us round and take us back up – in the situation he took over, the wrong manager could easily have failed badly. Most on here felt us more likely candidates for relegation than promotion. Even had we reached the playoffs without going up there'd have been some savage cuts and it would have been difficult to bounce back at all.

Also, some credit is deserved for staying up last season despite ongoing car-crash finances only partially ameliorated by the classic move of selling your most effective striker two hours before the deadline. But last season was a deathly struggle, with a sub-1ppg return which would have seen us relegated by miles the previous season. We were saved by that almost supernatural final five minutes; a more accurate reflection of our season would have been that pitiful genuflection at Burton.

At that point I loudly gave up on survival and quietly a part of me gave up on Parkinson. Unlike many a he'll-do talentspotter I didn't know who could give us more chance of getting back up, and anyway there's rarely any point in rabble-rousing over a failing manager. Anderson was always highly unlikely to turf a manager who seemed content to put up with him and sometimes achieved results over the expectations and against the odds.

And so to this season. Parkinson has tried to vary the style of player coming in, and has once again been severely handicapped by both finances and the chairman. But he's also displayed little faith in his new players. I still maintain that tweaking the personnel and formation is no bad thing in a losing team - hell, Fergie rotated constantly when they were trampling the Premier - but there seems no grand plan in place, and it's sometimes more about having to drop players than promote them. Which partly comes back to our pauper's paucity – I mean, our only senior strikers are Donaldson and Magennis, FFS – but also Parky's dipping confidence in his own men and means.

But what makes it especially sad is that Anderson isn't going to sack him - why take on the cost? - and Parky is almost certainly too proud to walk away. Sadly, the same can't be said of the paying punters. I can't blame anybody for not going; I can't blame anybody for not renewing next season.

As Ken proved by turfing Lennon within days, a new owner may well want a new manager; certainly Parky's second-tier CV doesn't scream saviour. Obviously the 'English' consortium seems to have Warburton – now there's a name that rings down the ages - lined up immediately. The 'Russian' one will probably have its own ideas too. But once again, what happens on the pitch and in the dugout matters little compared to the cluster-f*ck up in the West Stand.