Wanderers v Blackpool

[TANGODANCER]

Was the pretty average first 45 minutes and the absolutely dire (from our point of view) first half of the second half worth the fantastically thrilling comeback?Probably just about! The last 15 minutes were simply breathtaking and our two goals, well every week we seem to be scoring better and better and better goals.

Lets be fair balance of the game, Blackpool deserved the points, but you can't take away what we did to them in the last 15 minutes, where we absolutely destroyed them, but had DJ Campbell finished properly we're have been dead and buried before them.

Mark Davies had a great game especially last 20 minutes. But lets not kid ourselves, we missed Holden massively. Blackpool at times went straight through our midfield and Holden usually stops that happening. He also keeps the ball moving and ticks our game on, something we didn't do until the last quarter of the game.

Its nice to see Mark Davies once again show his potential.

Kevin Davies was dissapointing by his own standards, Jussi fecked up for the first goal IMO and the second was a horrible mess.

But overall what is there to complain about? Thrilling game, superb goals and attacking football all round. Happy days.

Not sure a Whites fan can say anything but yes to that. Blackpool are no duck eggs and came for the win. Both their goals had an element of help from us, but they were knocking hard on our door. We can't rule the roost every game, especially against good sides and the spirit and don't give up factor almost resulted in a win. Petrov's free kick was only inches away and we had a few blocked on the line .

[Prufrock]

i underestimated the weather, never been so cold at the game before!!!

Nothing much to add that hasnt already been said, except that FiO talks absolute shit. actually many of the comments from during the match were laughable - i hope nobody does a 'tw spy' on us. Thankfully bish was around to maintain the order.

We didnt miss Holden, it was always gonna be a cheap shot observation to say we did, Mavis filled his boots impeccably throughout - Coyle gonna have a dilemma on his hands when stu is fit again. agree Muamba hasnt been great but id hate for him not to be in the side.

I thought it was a great game actually (from what i saw in between sporadic trips to the hand dryers for a warm) was still enjoying it at 2-0 down, probably because i honestly always felt we were gonna get back into it! if Petrovs free kick at the end had gone in i might have cried!

Blackpool fully deserved of the points also and are definitely one of the better sides ive seen this season.

2k empty seats were in the west upper.

Agree with most of that but can't agree we didn't miss Holden, it isn't a criticism of Muamba, and certainly not Holden, but he is key to the quick tempo central stuff. As good as MD was, he doesn't offer much defensively, nor does he show for the full backs. The amount of times Robbo or Ricketts got it in the first hour, looked towards central midfield, where Moo doesn't want it, and MD had broken forward, and had to go back to Jussi. Holden is the link, and I think today proved his importance as much for not being there, as other games have where he has. I think Blackpool deserved all 3 today, but with Holden I think we'd have won. He isn't Messi, but he is really important to how we play atm.

[FaninOz]

Nothing much to add that hasnt already been said, except that FiO talks absolute shit.

OK what did I say that anyone else hasn't said, I only made two posts one at half time and one at full time.

Poor performance, very little energy or commitment from our guys. We are missing Holden, but M Davies is far from being our worst player. We just aren't passing and controlling the ball well at all, too many aimless high balls which K Davies isn't winning and I agree that Muamba looks a bit lost without his normal midfield partner.

Soft goal from a back header which just went in, but they have had all the best chances. If Coyle can't lift the spirits and energy levels of the players we will get nothing from this game. A typical Bolton game really, losing to a team that we should be beating after four good previous performances. But why am I not surprised, its been a very long time since we won three premiership games on the run.

After winning 3 and drawing one of our last four games and sitting 5th in the league why shouldn't we expect to beat Blackpool at home? Their first goal was a soft one and it is a very long time since we last won 3 on the trot!

Lucky draw in the end from one excellent strike and one beautifully created goal worthy of any team, including Real and Arsenal and anyone else you can mention. But Blackpool should have been out of sight by then as they missed a few sitters today.

But when you look at the way we played for the last 20 mins why oh why did we play so poorly before then? Yes we were in control for the first 25 but we werent playing well even then. Also their two goals were very poor ones to give away for a defence which is so tall and so called strong to give away two glancing headers is very poor.

As I said earlier Mark Davies wasn't our worst player in the the first half by any means and finished up our best player, well worthy of that second goal. So on balance a well worked draw from a team that eventually woke up and pressed very hard after the first goal to save the game and scored an absolutely great creative second goal, with excellent ball control flicks and passes. But why oh why did we have to wait 85mins for it!!!

I'm sure that feels like a loss to Blackpool and a win for our guys. Very happy now

We were lucky to get a draw and didn't play well for a lot of the game, we did give away a soft second goal with K Davies pushing Jussi over. We did finish well and score two excellent goals.

The only thing I didn't say specifically was that Blackpool played very well but I implied that by saving that they should have been out of sight before we scored and that the result must seem a loss to them.

I don't see your gripe mate!

[Odelay]

That second goal is just plain ridiculous. Wenger would be jerking himself in front of his telly with that on loop.

[Odelay]

Even bloody sky getting lazy with Bolton now...

The Seasiders stormed into a two-goal lead at the Reebok Stadium with Ian Evatt and Luke Varney scoring from set-pieces, but Bolton fought back to draw following fine efforts from Martin Petrov and Kevin Davies.

It's just plain insulting to not credit Sparky Tanned Head with the goal.

[Lord Kangana]

FIO - why shouldn't we expect to beat Blackpool at home? Were you in remedial class or something? This is the Premier League, and more importantly they've proved themselves a decent side this season. We earned a fantastic point today against a team who have already caused more than their fair share of upsets, and are quite rightly going about earning their place in this division in a very professional manner.

Its days like today I wish I could have been at the Bok. Proper football day. Not footertainment. (TM KB).

[FaninOz]

FIO - why shouldn't we expect to beat Blackpool at home? Were you in remedial class or something? This is the Premier League, and more importantly they've proved themselves a decent side this season. We earned a fantastic point today against a team who have already caused more than their fair share of upsets, and are quite rightly going about earning their place in this division in a very professional manner.

Its days like today I wish I could have been at the Bok. Proper football day. Not footertainment. (TM KB).

I assume that you meant should by the way.

I believe that because of our recent performances and the way that we have been playing and "scoring goals for fun". If we had continued in that form we would and should have won. As it is we didn't, we underperformed for most of the game based on the high levels that that we have recently displayed.

Yes Blackpool have been playing well and they did that again yesterday but we didn't play with the same energy and commitment as we have been doing of late and we didn't play the passing game that has been so effective until it was almost too late. When we did in those last 20 mins we almost got a win from out of no where, if we had played like that from the start then we would probably have won. Particularly as the goals we gave away were in my humble opinion poor ones to concede.

[irie Cee Bee]

I have dreaded the day that we lose Holden through injury as he has been our lynchpin playmaker in our midfield who can also tackle. A rare combination.

Horrows upon horrors when I saw the team line up without him. I said to myself, now we will see what we will see. Could we still play the way we have been playing without him.

For me, we missed him.

Mark Davies played his best game in a Bolton shirt since his very first game for us, and finished off a beautiful move that had me salivating. But I tell you what, for most of the game, Blackpool dominated until Bolton's superb fitmess took over in the last 15 mins, as it usually does. With Holden, I doubt they would have opened us up so much with his tackiling and positional play.

How did we do without him ? Better than I thought we would, but will struggle if we are without him for a long spell. This is where we need to spend money on in January..a central midfielder who can pass and tackle. I don't think that we will be able to play 4-1-5 and come away with a result very often.

Having said that, it was a great point.

[2399]

(The match wasn't on Live) I woke up knowing the half time score and was looking forward to watching the second half.
I told my partner about the half time score and she then told me the result!
She knew because my soon to be 1 year old smashed the computer and loaded up the live scores page.

Great result though for 0-2 down.

[seanworth]

That game while disappointing we didn't get the win, showed once again that the boys have a never say die attitude this season.

Hats off to Petrov to come off the bench and bag another one for us. Also Mark Davies for such a gallant performance. A fantastic goal and a deserved reward for his efforts. Having said that I still prefer Holden in the side. I think his presence allows us to play the style of football we have been playing of late. Still it is a good feeling that we can have players coming off the bench able to establish their mark on the pitch.

[TKIZ!]

Whilst I agree that we missed Holden's verve in the middle, I also recognise that playing a 4-4-2 against what's essentially a 4-5-1 will get you into trouble. It happened the same against Birmingham, the 5 man midfield applies a bit of pressure and the 4 man midfield will suffer.

I'm glad Owen came out and said he was prepared to lose 4 or 5 to chase the game, it shows he has the same belief that the team do. It's not good for your nerves though.

Ol' Tan head looked well worth the £1m we paid for him.

[bristol_Wanderer3]

You have to be impressed with our squad. Petrov, Klasnic have been top (as in CL level) quality players, and it shows when they come on. Steinsson marked wonderkid Bale out of the game a few weeks ago and is on the bench. Sean Davis, Garnder, Holden were out injured. Our best 19-20 players are starting to look as good as anybody's outside the current top 4/5. The way OC has us playing, our squad is certainly comparable in quality with the likes of Villa and Everton, perhaps a bit behind Spurs, but IMO slightly ahead of Liverpool's (the only issue being we can't match the quality of Gerrard and Torres but take them two out and it isn't even close). We are genuine UEFA contenders!

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Certainly raises some questions about the team for the city game.If Y Toure is available they may play 5 in midfield.I'd expect Steinsson to come back in and Holden(if fit).For all Mavis brilliance yesterday I can't see him starting against city.We really need to match them physically at least for the 1st hour.Last half hour we can pick from Petrov,Rodrigo,Mavis and Klasnic as we take the initiative and go for the kill

[RobbieSavagesLeg]

I had a good feeling about this. Until I saw Holden wasn't named. Mavis made a good account of himself though, kept busy, can run with the ball, pass, and as it turns out - shoot! Holden back next week if fit please.

Very happy about the comeback, that shows super strength of character what, what?

For a 'Spanish Wunderkid', I really don't think much of Moreno, he lost the ball or didn't give it early enough a couple of times yesterday - time will tell.

I'm really glad we've got good cover in some key positions - Striker, Centre Mid, Flanks, Centre Defence, Keeper.

Before the match I wouldn't have taken a draw, between 25 mins and 75 mins I would've given up my pastie barm for a draw.

Good attendance, not sure why folks wear only a shirt though, saw a few shivering blue hands come 5pm.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Moreno's looked pretty sharp to me whenever I've seen him.Certainly provides momentum and I thought he did look to pass early.From what I've seen he is quick ,can go past people and has his head up.

[hisroyalgingerness]

It's really easy to say that we missed Holden. The fact was, Muamba didn't show up. It's not a reflection on the Mark Davies performance for me.

Granted not being as match fit as he might Davies didn't get as close to his midfielders as Holden did, but it was more that Fab wasn't as aggressive and determined in the middle of the park.

Other reason maybe that Holden and Fab have built up a good understanding and know each others game a bit better - certainly if you watch Holden's goal v Wolves Fab's the first one over to contragulate him.

[bristol_Wanderer3]

Moreno's looked pretty sharp to me whenever I've seen him.Certainly provides momentum and I thought he did look to pass early.From what I've seen he is quick ,can go past people and has his head up.

I agree - he looks very promising to me, seems able to take players on, make a final pass, and has an eye for goal, certainly a worthy part of our excellent squad, and I am sure will be great cover for CYL before the season is out. I hope we can get him permanently.

[officer_dibble]

On a just looking at the scoreline basis it's disappointing not to beat Blackpool. But to come out of a game where we were outplayed for lots of it...and considering some other results yesterday (evertons and sunderlands) we did well to get the point. We are showing some strong battling qualities. The kind we haven't seen for ages in tbc (time before coyle)....

Two belting goals though from our lot. Very poor goals to concede...Jussi at fault again

[keveh]

Unfortunately I missed the game on Saturday (no the third I've missed, grrrrrr!) but what I enjoyed seeing on MotD is that when we did score we didn't overly celebrate, just grabbed the ball and ran back to the centre circle.

You could see that the players weren't messing about, they were up for scoring as many as they could.

[RobbieSavagesLeg]

Two belting goals though from our lot. Very poor goals to concede...Jussi at fault again

For the first goal I was watching him: just before the kick was taken he was harrying with their short-arse forward. As it was struck he elbowed him in the back of the head, and was concentrating on that rather than the ball. He really should be concentrating 100% on the ball at all times, not nudging people. Second goal at the other end to my seat so can't comment.

Either way they were both avoidable. Once bitten twice shy.