Pointing the way. Stevenage at home Sat, 3rd May 3-0'clock

[Mar]

So much positivity in the rest of the teams playing for the club. Hopefully that'll set a better tone for next season.

[BWFC_Insane]

Compare and contrast with Forino fronting it up and accepting the failures. I like Thomason a lot but this just reflects the complete lack of real drive and intensity in this group.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... stevenage/

[Bertie Wooster]

Compare and contrast with Forino fronting it up and accepting the failures. I like Thomason a lot but this just reflects the complete lack of real drive and intensity in this group.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... stevenage/

Just more hot air, same talk just a different day from Thomason. We need a new captain / leader on the pitch next season if promotion is the aim - IMO we need a more experienced captain / leader, a new voice etc.

BTW I suspect that the physical attendance tomorrow will be quite low, quite a few regulars not going - me included. The end of season walk round will be interesting, I can't see many staying for that !

[BWFC_Insane]

Compare and contrast with Forino fronting it up and accepting the failures. I like Thomason a lot but this just reflects the complete lack of real drive and intensity in this group.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... stevenage/

Just more hot air, same talk just a different day from Thomason. We need a new captain / leader on the pitch next season if promotion is the aim - IMO we need a more experienced captain / leader, a new voice etc.

BTW I suspect that the physical attendance tomorrow will be quite low, quite a few regulars not going - me included. The end of season walk round will be interesting, I can't see many staying for that !

‘Nobody can say we’ve not given everything’ is a ridiculous thing to say after this season. Forino said the opposite - people need to look themselves in the mirror. Mentality of Thomason maybe reflective of past few years but anyone who thinks that isn’t a problem….not sure where to start. You don’t build winning teams with that attitude.

[Worthy4England]

Can't get too excited over this. It's not that long ago that our Manager was saying what a great squad he'd inherited. Thommo is a young lad, I think maybe thrust into captaincy when the elder statesmen didn't look to have much about them on that front, in a shit season and some very trying circumstances. I'm not generally into 30 year apologies, outside of the odd world war, we need to move on not back.

[Prufrock]

Aye, can we at least wait until the last game is over before he subject every column-padding flotsam interview to an A-level English close reading?

[TANGODANCER]

One way or another, This is the dawning of the (Steven) Age of a year for us. In Astrology, a time of great positive change and harmony, or as the band 5th dimension had it: When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

Back to the present: Attendance-wise, I think the lowest crowd of away supporters I can remember (personally in the modern era)) was Lofty the Lion giving it "We will, we will rock you" to an almost empty Embankment end for a chilly mid-week night match against Wimbledon; probably about 800 or so. Not sure of the crowd mood for this end of less than satisfactory year. Predicted lovely day might just magnetise a better than hoped for attendance from the Supers ,at least from the finance department, but as ever, Que Sera Sera.....

[Armchair Wanderer]

One way or another, This is the dawning of the (Steven) Age of a year for us. In Astrology, a time of great positive change and harmony, or as the band 5th dimension had it: When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

Back to the present: Attendance-wise, I think the lowest crowd of away supporters I can remember (personally in the modern era)) was Lofty the Lion giving it "We will, we will rock you" to an almost empty Embankment end for a chilly mid-week night match against Wimbledon; probably about 800 or so. Not sure of the crowd mood for this end of less than satisfactory year. Predicted lovely day might just magnetise a better than hoped for attendance from the Supers ,at least from the finance department, but as ever, Que Sera Sera.....

To be fair to Wimbledon they have been messed about a fair bit over the years. Their home attendances weren't great at Selhurst Park, but that's also not in Wimbledon.

The weather was great for the ladies' last day. If I only go to one home game in a season it tends to be the last game (almost guaranteed not to be too cold) but I can't make tomorrow.

Interesting dead rubber. They've tended to play better when they have no pressure (the win vs Birmingham, for example) so maybe as there is no pressure for the team at least they might do ok. Individual players may/may not have pressure for them to perform individually. I guess the thing in the BeN about informing their players their futures at the club before the game is another attempt to take the pressure off.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I guess the thing in the BeN about informing their players their futures at the club before the game is another attempt to take the pressure off.

Huh?

“I haven’t had those conversations with the individuals who are out of contract yet,” Schumacher told The Bolton News. “But I will on Monday and I’d said that to them weeks ago, I want to get the last game of the season sorted and then deal with that.

“Once we are done with Stevenage and the weekend, then I will sit down with the players and with the staff and review everything we need to review, have that discussion.”

[TANGODANCER]

If I were a player I'd be a bit tempted to feel under more rather than less pressure after that statement. Sort of waiting for the jury's verdict. Maybe he thinks this last game will decide some issues; I very much doubt that. Personally, I think that at this moment, Schumacher is as much walking a tightrope as the players.

[irie Cee Bee]

I hope we can signoff with a win. Cogley and Johnson back for this one but I would not throw both in given how well Inwood did. One change to the starting lineup for me. Cogley replacing Jones who should be brought on later in the game for his farewell.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I hope we can signoff with a win. Cogley and Johnson back for this one but I would not throw both in given how well Inwood did. One change to the starting lineup for me. Cogley replacing Jones who should be brought on later in the game for his farewell.

I can see the sense in all that, but it depends whether SS wants to play a back four – which IMO suits Cogz but possibly not so much the three left-footed options (Johnston, Murphy, Inwood).

If he did go back-four, I might be tempted to give George Johnston a go at LB to see if he fits there, because I'd be less certain about him as one of two centre-backs. I'm not entirely confident he would work as a full-back, but we need to do the squad audit as comprehensively as possible to avoid guesswork.

And judging by our transfer-thread poll (small sample but intriguing) a lot of people see Johnno as expendable – he's had 8 'keep' votes compared to leader Morley's 22, while his potential rivals for the two centre-back positions all have many more votes - Toal 20, Forino 19 and Forrester 18. This ain't a popularity contest but it feels like a lot of folks are wondering where Johnno fits in.

[jmjhb]

What's Schuey working the Bank Holiday for? I'm sure as heck not.

He is paid a lot more than me though.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

What's Schuey working the Bank Holiday for? I'm sure as heck not.

He is paid a lot more than me though.

I believe the term is "Let's Crack The F*ck On."

I imagine Monday will be mainly about telling the players with lapsing contracts whether they're to be retained or released. In three senior cases (Santos, Geth, Coleman) that's fairly obvious. Baxter is a more complicated one but he will be told whether he's being offered terms, and if so what they are.

Schuey may (but may not) also be talking to youngsters with lapsing contracts, especially the ones bordering the first team. To the best of my knowledge, those on lapsing pro deals include Luke Hutchinson, Luke Matheson, Max Conway, Elis Litherland and Ben Andreucci, with us holding extension options on the latter three whether they like it or not. Not sure about Noah Halford, Trevon Bryan and Sonny Sharples-Ahmed.

It doesn't have to happen on Monday. Unless they're in the playoffs, clubs usually have to tell the EFL (but not the public) by the third Saturday in May which of their players they intend to offer new terms to, and which they will release. However, several clubs make a point of cracking on, especially if their seasons haven't ended well.

We might not get a full public announcement on Monday, but these days details leak out via social media and favoured journalists.

[Worthy4England]

What's Schuey working the Bank Holiday for? I'm sure as heck not.

He is paid a lot more than me though.

Save a couple a journey on Tuesday, maybe?

[Armchair Wanderer]

I guess the thing in the BeN about informing their players their futures at the club before the game is another attempt to take the pressure off.

Huh?

“I haven’t had those conversations with the individuals who are out of contract yet,” Schumacher told The Bolton News. “But I will on Monday and I’d said that to them weeks ago, I want to get the last game of the season sorted and then deal with that.

“Once we are done with Stevenage and the weekend, then I will sit down with the players and with the staff and review everything we need to review, have that discussion.”

Fair enough. There was a headline along the lines of telling them before on my feed but I didn't click through, either I've gone crazy, or a someone put up the wrong headline. I think I'd probably tell them beforehand but there are pros and cons.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Fair enough. There was a headline along the lines of telling them before on my feed but I didn't click through, either I've gone crazy, or a someone put up the wrong headline.

Cheers AW - wondered if you'd seen something different.

It would not surprise me at all if the wrong headline had gone up. The recent headlines on the website - which are not written by Marc (or Dan Barnes) - have become frequently awful. Right now one of them on the Wanderers hub page says 'It's what is comes down to' and another, when you click through, claims Schuey 'wants Stevenage win in season finale', which would seem counter to his job description.

[Mar]

I hope we can signoff with a win. Cogley and Johnson back for this one but I would not throw both in given how well Inwood did. One change to the starting lineup for me. Cogley replacing Jones who should be brought on later in the game for his farewell.

I can see the sense in all that, but it depends whether SS wants to play a back four – which IMO suits Cogz but possibly not so much the three left-footed options (Johnston, Murphy, Inwood).

If he did go back-four, I might be tempted to give George Johnston a go at LB to see if he fits there, because I'd be less certain about him as one of two centre-backs. I'm not entirely confident he would work as a full-back, but we need to do the squad audit as comprehensively as possible to avoid guesswork.

And judging by our transfer-thread poll (small sample but intriguing) a lot of people see Johnno as expendable – he's had 8 'keep' votes compared to leader Morley's 22, while his potential rivals for the two centre-back positions all have many more votes - Toal 20, Forino 19 and Forrester 18. This ain't a popularity contest but it feels like a lot of folks are wondering where Johnno fits in.

Injury plays a big part.

Jonno of last season isn't as good as Jonno of old. Missing a season out and coming back to a mess hasn't done him any favours.

There may be a player still in there but it's hard to tell with the disorganisation. Has he been a contributor or a victim of our issues.

I'm keen on keeping him around to find out. Back from injury and chucking himself straight into meaty tackles certainly showed he'll not shy away from tackles.

[Worthy4England]

Been a while since reaching this point in a season thinking "thank fcuk that's over." Compared to some of the recent thank fcuks, this is a less existential thank fcuk. In 4 months, I think we'll know a lot more about our new gaffer.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Injury plays a big part.

Jonno of last season isn't as good as Jonno of old. Missing a season out and coming back to a mess hasn't done him any favours.

There may be a player still in there but it's hard to tell with the disorganisation. Has he been a contributor or a victim of our issues.

I'm keen on keeping him around to find out. Back from injury and chucking himself straight into meaty tackles certainly showed he'll not shy away from tackles.

I can see this point of view and I have a lot of sympathy for Johnno. I like him as a player and he seems like a great bloke - I'd say the most likely of this lot to make a successful manager.

However, nobody has played more minutes for us this season than him. If he plays the 90 today he'll tick over the 4,000-minute mark; last season, only JDC and Toal reached that. Year before that, it was only Traf and Bradley. How long can he be said to be feeling his way back in? At what point does an injury in summer 2023 stop being mitigation?

The general collapse of the defence is a fairer question, and TBF you ask if he's been a contributor or victim. I wouldn't squarely point the finger at him and him alone, but if (1) the defence needs a reboot (2) we need a general back there (3) we're looking to play a back four and (4) everybody else is staying, aren't we getting too thick on the ground in what Schuey notes is a big squad?

I like Johnno, I really do, but I fear he's far better in a three than a four. I don't want to hound him out and that's why I'd like us to try him at left-back. Otherwise he's starting to look square peg.