Should I(E) stay or should I(E) go?

[GhostoftheBok]

Yeah, as it stands we need 4 strikers per game (typically 2 for 20 minutes). So a long term and a Saturday sickie and we're stuffed with 4.

I'm prepared to wait and see what the squad as a whole looks like, rather than saying "We have to get exactly this sort of player"; but it does seem to be hard to look past.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I'm not overly concerned that Nlundulu and Adebojeyo won't be fit. I'm at least somewhat concerned that Nlundulu won't be good enough.

CMG we may as well forget about for now, in terms of picking the 11/18 (sadly not in terms of wages). Cue "like a new signing" quotes around Bonfire Night.

Charles is a worry. His game relies on both a lot of short sharp sprints - more often defensive (pressing to set our tone) than attacking (pouncing on mistakes) - and an extraordinary amount of stamina for a striker. If he misses pre-season he won't have mucn in the tank and he may be prey to breakdowns.

That leaves us (albeit temporarily) with just Vic and Collins. Not a bad strike pair, some good numbers last season and you can imagine them dovetailing, but beyond that there's just the hope that Nlundulu isn't a dud and... Carty, well I think we're pushing it to hope he's a regular (sub) striker for a second-tier side.

As Ghost says, it may be a loanee - but as BWFCi always notes, they ain't cheap, and for every successful Sturridge there's a Gael Kakuta or a Ryo Miyaichi. Even so, I will be worried if there isn't a fresh face up top at season's start, especially given the potential for civil war among the fans if we don't start with a slew of Ws and an absence of Ls.

[Mar]

I'm not overly concerned that Nlundulu and Adebojeyo won't be fit. I'm at least somewhat concerned that Nlundulu won't be good enough.

CMG we may as well forget about for now, in terms of picking the 11/18 (sadly not in terms of wages). Cue "like a new signing" quotes around Bonfire Night.

Charles is a worry. His game relies on both a lot of short sharp sprints - more often defensive (pressing to set our tone) than attacking (pouncing on mistakes) - and an extraordinary amount of stamina for a striker. If he misses pre-season he won't have mucn in the tank and he may be prey to breakdowns.

That leaves us (albeit temporarily) with just Vic and Collins. Not a bad strike pair, some good numbers last season and you can imagine them dovetailing, but beyond that there's just the hope that Nlundulu isn't a dud and... Carty, well I think we're pushing it to hope he's a regular (sub) striker for a second-tier side.

As Ghost says, it may be a loanee - but as BWFCi always notes, they ain't cheap, and for every successful Sturridge there's a Gael Kakuta or a Ryo Miyaichi. Even so, I will be worried if there isn't a fresh face up top at season's start, especially given the potential for civil war among the fans if we don't start with a slew of Ws and an absence of Ls.

Some interesting points there. A new striker might paper over some cracks and give us hope. It's easier to find that hope in a pacey player but I suspect we'd be after a target man which may end up being labelled a lump which would further cause gripes

[TANGODANCER]

Some interesting points there. A new striker might paper over some cracks and give us hope. It's easier to find that hope in a pacey player but I suspect we'd be after a target man which may end up being labelled a lump which would further cause gripes

Kevin Davies was labelled a lump by some. Oh for such a lump right now.

[Mar]

Some interesting points there. A new striker might paper over some cracks and give us hope. It's easier to find that hope in a pacey player but I suspect we'd be after a target man which may end up being labelled a lump which would further cause gripes

Kevin Davies was labelled a lump by some. Oh for such a lump right now.

Maybe the term should be ineffective then.

I think we're definitely lacking a decent target man who can bring the others into play. Whenever we go long it seems ineffective unless we're running in behind.

That should be something the club can change. Jerome and JDB were big targets but neither really delivered on being that consistent out ball.

You're right. What a difference having an SKD type would do to our options.

[Hoboh]

Some interesting points there. A new striker might paper over some cracks and give us hope. It's easier to find that hope in a pacey player but I suspect we'd be after a target man which may end up being labelled a lump which would further cause gripes

Kevin Davies was labelled a lump by some. Oh for such a lump right now.

Maybe the term should be ineffective then.

I think we're definitely lacking a decent target man who can bring the others into play. Whenever we go long it seems ineffective unless we're running in behind.

That should be something the club can change. Jerome and JDB were big targets but neither really delivered on being that consistent out ball.

You're right. What a difference having an SKD type would do to our options.

You'd need people who could actually find him first.

[TANGODANCER]

Kevin Davies was labelled a lump by some. Oh for such a lump right now.

You're right. What a difference having an SKD type would do to our options.
[/quote]

You'd need people who could actually find him first.
[/quote]

Jussi never had that much trouble.

[BWFC_Insane]

SKD would in an Evatt side spend the whole time watching the ball go sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards, stand on the ball, look, back, side, back side…

He’s probably get so bored you could put a little seat for him on the halfway line with a good book to read.

[boltonboris]

SKD would in an Evatt side spend the whole time watching the ball go sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards, stand on the ball, look, back, side, back side…

He’s probably get so bored you could put a little seat for him on the halfway line with a good book to read.

To be fair, when Davies played for us, he wouldn’t have gotten a kick at any other premier league side. He was perfect for us at that time

[irie Cee Bee]

Davies would not make this team, as good as he was, based on how we play and what we want our strikers to do currently. Charles, Ade, Collins, Dan would all be ahead of him in his prime if he was on the roster today. How many of us disagree?

Evatt would have to change his system to bring him in.

[BWFC_Insane]

SKD would in an Evatt side spend the whole time watching the ball go sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards, stand on the ball, look, back, side, back side…

He’s probably get so bored you could put a little seat for him on the halfway line with a good book to read.

To be fair, when Davies played for us, he wouldn’t have gotten a kick at any other premier league side. He was perfect for us at that time

He was signed by Southampton as an expensive ‘tricky winger’. Haha. He’d played up front a few times but it was Allardyce who spotted him and his ability to be a ‘target man’.

I think that was another underrated Allardyce thing. He spotted stuff that others missed. He played a load ‘out of position’ yet ended up converting them.

We played a few (maybe more) top flight games with Henrik Pedersen at left back. Somehow he found ways to make it work.

[boltonboris]

And made Ricardo Gardner one of the best out and out left backs on the planet for a while, too

[boltonboris]

Also, I don't necessarily think he had an 'eye' to spot things... I think it was a case of him being revolutionary with statistics / data points etc.

He knew what the positions needed and he was able to use data and analysis to know which player could do what and to what extent.

People call him a dinosaur and a one-trick pony etc, but for a while, he completely changed how English football was done in the boardroom and at the training ground. .

[BWFC_Insane]

Also, I don't necessarily think he had an 'eye' to spot things... I think it was a case of him being revolutionary with statistics / data points etc.

He knew what the positions needed and he was able to use data and analysis to know which player could do what and to what extent.

People call him a dinosaur and a one-trick pony etc, but for a while, he completely changed how English football was done in the boardroom and at the training ground. .

True there. Not an eye but an ability to use information to understand how players could be utilised.

Gardner the most obvious example. Nobody had him at left back but he had an amazing career there and I think it was his best position. Of course it coincided with the pacy attacking full back role entering the English game!

[Worthy4England]

Also, I don't necessarily think he had an 'eye' to spot things... I think it was a case of him being revolutionary with statistics / data points etc.

He knew what the positions needed and he was able to use data and analysis to know which player could do what and to what extent.

People call him a dinosaur and a one-trick pony etc, but for a while, he completely changed how English football was done in the boardroom and at the training ground. .

True there. Not an eye but an ability to use information to understand how players could be utilised.

Gardner the most obvious example. Nobody had him at left back but he had an amazing career there and I think it was his best position. Of course it coincided with the pacy attacking full back role entering the English game!

I'm thinking the two things together reinforce the "opinion?"

I think this, and when I look at the data, I still think this...

Unfortunately we have too many people who just look at the data and think the answer is "x" - see the data. A lot of it is imprecise, so you gotta start with a point of view.

Data is supportive (or not) but not determinative. We have way too many Champ Mans...

[BWFC_Insane]

Also, I don't necessarily think he had an 'eye' to spot things... I think it was a case of him being revolutionary with statistics / data points etc.

He knew what the positions needed and he was able to use data and analysis to know which player could do what and to what extent.

People call him a dinosaur and a one-trick pony etc, but for a while, he completely changed how English football was done in the boardroom and at the training ground. .

True there. Not an eye but an ability to use information to understand how players could be utilised.

Gardner the most obvious example. Nobody had him at left back but he had an amazing career there and I think it was his best position. Of course it coincided with the pacy attacking full back role entering the English game!

I'm thinking the two things together reinforce the "opinion?"

I think this, and when I look at the data, I still think this...

Unfortunately we have too many people who just look at the data and think the answer is "x" - see the data. A lot of it is imprecise, so you gotta start with a point of view.

Data is supportive (or not) but not determinative. We have way too many Champ Mans...

True again. Data tests a model it doesn’t tell you what the model is or should be!

[Worthy4England]

Some interesting numbers in BEN's "annual poll"...think it's probably a bit more reflective of feeling round the fanbase just because of sample size. Football management performance rated 6.7/10 (vs 8.7 last year). If ~40% of the votes were above 8 and he's at 6.7 there must be a pretty decent chunk of low numbers...

44% don't think we're certain of top 6 - which I think might be down to the question...

Most folks think he's got decent backing...

Style of play was also interesting with more people being positive about it (but still less than half) and ~30% being negative towards it...

[officer_dibble]

BN put a fairly positive spin on it in their article didn’t they? But I think that chunk of supporters unhappy is big enough to be loud enough at the signs of problems next season. I wouldn’t put a tenner on Ian finishing the season in charge. I sort of hope we get a tough run of games at the start - show us what you have got and if it’s not going to work we can change then, rather than when it’s too late! Assuming we don’t storm the league from the off

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Interesting:

"Wanderers are preparing to shake-up Ian Evatt’s backroom team in their bid for success in League One next season. The Bolton News understands there will be a number of changes behind the scenes in pre-season, including the appointment of a new member of first team coaching staff."

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... ub-review/

[BWFC_Insane]

Some interesting numbers in BEN's "annual poll"...think it's probably a bit more reflective of feeling round the fanbase just because of sample size. Football management performance rated 6.7/10 (vs 8.7 last year). If ~40% of the votes were above 8 and he's at 6.7 there must be a pretty decent chunk of low numbers...

44% don't think we're certain of top 6 - which I think might be down to the question...

Most folks think he's got decent backing...

Style of play was also interesting with more people being positive about it (but still less than half) and ~30% being negative towards it...

Given the way people tend to score such scales if a manager isn’t hitting 7 as an average then that’s bad news.

Be interesting to see what the 90% percentile average looks like.