At Home to Norwich...

[LeverEnd]

Hard work is one thing but they'll someone with leadership qualities as well. Strong personalities, not as many nice guys perhaps. Paddy McCarthy may be one. I'd try and find some nasty bastard to play at full back!

[DJBlu]

Have to say, with our penchant for giving late (and soft) goals away, three at the back is risky at best. Add to that how we never seem to spend the last quarter doing the pressing and the fact that we're now probably known in outer Mongolia as soft at the death, and we really need some changes somewhere. It's no longer a pleasure on match days. More a kick-in-the-teeth feeling. Our inconsistency is depressing.

so is our consistency - consistently throwing away points in the dying minutes...

Lenny said this week he's still mad-hot for 3 at the back...

With the right players it could work. The ones we have just aren't good enough for this system. Lennon has to accept responsibility for sticking with a system that they can't play.

8 games ffs. If you're going to settle for a draw then at least bring 1 more in defence.

What do we know though.

[TANGODANCER]

Have to say, with our penchant for giving late (and soft) goals away, three at the back is risky at best. Add to that how we never seem to spend the last quarter doing the pressing and the fact that we're now probably known in outer Mongolia as soft at the death, and we really need some changes somewhere. It's no longer a pleasure on match days. More a kick-in-the-teeth feeling. Our inconsistency is depressing.

so is our consistency - consistently throwing away points in the dying minutes...
Lenny said this week he's still mad-hot for 3 at the back...

Well, our inconsistency is being able to beat Cardiff 3-0 away and then throw away a point in the last sixty seconds at home. Why do we always seems to be defending at the death instead of doing what the opposition are doing to us and going for the winner? How many is that now, eight?

[Peter Thompson]

If the team played with Lennon's passion we would be fine - but Bannan & Le Fondre apart no one else plays like they really give a shite, shame about Ream as that's the best he's played for weeks and he's a good footballer but he can't keep making game losing mistakes.

is it just passion we are lacking - or are we lacking actual talent too?

Bish, its a fair point you make....we certainly lack talent, IMO we have 4 or 5 players who are nowhere near good enough to be in the starting eleven.

[TANGODANCER]

IMO we have 4 or 5 players who are nowhere near good enough to be in the starting eleven.

If you were talking about comparing them with Bolton sides of the past,P.T, I'd agree. In the present side they probably are good enough based on the fact that with our injury hoodoo they're the best we have. Bolton just aren't what they used to be. No money, massive debt, physio room full of crocks and 16000 for a home game (including 2,500 away supporters) tells a tale. Please don't say I should talk, I've done my whack in the past. Right now, we're the mighty fallen and the sooner we realise it, the better.

[Nicko58]

IMO we have 4 or 5 players who are nowhere near good enough to be in the starting eleven.

If you were talking about comparing them with Bolton sides of the past,P.T, I'd agree. In the present side they probably are good enough based on the fact that with our injury hoodoo they're the best we have. Bolton just aren't what they used to be. No money, massive debt, physio room full of crocks and 16000 for a home game (including 2,500 away supporters) tells a tale. Please don't say I should talk, I've done my whack in the past. Right now, we're the mighty fallen and the sooner we realise it, the better.

That's more or less the nub of it. For as long as they're the best that we can afford, they're good enough to be in the starting eleven.

[Peter Thompson]

IMO we have 4 or 5 players who are nowhere near good enough to be in the starting eleven.

If you were talking about comparing them with Bolton sides of the past,P.T, I'd agree. In the present side they probably are good enough based on the fact that with our injury hoodoo they're the best we have. Bolton just aren't what they used to be. No money, massive debt, physio room full of crocks and 16000 for a home game (including 2,500 away supporters) tells a tale. Please don't say I should talk, I've done my whack in the past. Right now, we're the mighty fallen and the sooner we realise it, the better.

It looked to me like 2,000 Norwich at the absolute max, if 2.5k then hats off but it didn't look like that many of them.

[thebish]

Norwich fans are notoriously small and skinny!

[TANGODANCER]

IMO we have 4 or 5 players who are nowhere near good enough to be in the starting eleven.

If you were talking about comparing them with Bolton sides of the past,P.T, I'd agree. In the present side they probably are good enough based on the fact that with our injury hoodoo they're the best we have. Bolton just aren't what they used to be. No money, massive debt, physio room full of crocks and 16000 for a home game (including 2,500 away supporters) tells a tale. Please don't say I should talk, I've done my whack in the past. Right now, we're the mighty fallen and the sooner we realise it, the better.

It looked to me like 2,000 Norwich at the absolute max, if 2.5k then hats off but it didn't look like that many of them.

You could be right. I did but go off the mic man.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Does three at the back need three centre-backs? Some of the best examples have had full-backs or even midfielders in there. England in Euro 96 had Psycho and G-nev either side of Adams; Liverpool have had Can there. If you get three "stoppers" in there they get very uncomfortable when they have to split wide, as inevitably happens when the oppo ping IT in behind your wingbacks.

As for getting another body in there when defending a lead (or draw) - presumably it becomes a back five, and then we're in dangerous Freedmanesque territory. In fact I reckon we've now thrown away more points under NL than the bogeyman, and for all the promise under Lennon thes only so often we can blame the players and await a revolution.

Interesting to see him say we made the changes - Danns for Eidur and Janko for Walker - to see the game out; the bench had some interesting options (Mavies, Rochinha) but not for this job or indeed for chasing the game - we don't have any other striker bar the three that started. Not saying that's NL's fault, because he's not playing with a full deck.

[LeverEnd]

I've just seen the goals. Appalling winner to concede. Jerome murdered Ream in the air, but this can happen and at least he put a challenge in. Dervite had a man covered, Feeney had the wide man covered and that useless tw@t Moxey was just wandering far too wide, watching the ball as Hooper ran through a big gap in the middle. Bogdan very indecisive too, just stood there rather than try to claim it after it bounced. One cock-up too many for Moxey, with very little in the plus column. That's one lesson Lennon can take from today.
No one from midfield tracking his run either, just ambling behind him. He looked like he really wanted it. Ours didn't.

[bobo the clown]

Oh ... before I forget. What a preening cocktail that referee was. It really was all about him. Roger Kirkpatrick will be spinning in his grave.

[Harry Genshaw]

I've just seen the goals. Appalling winner to concede. Jerome murdered Ream in the air, but this can happen and at least he put a challenge in. Dervite had a man covered, Feeney had the wide man covered and that useless tw@t Moxey was just wandering far too wide, watching the ball as Hooper ran through a big gap in the middle. Bogdan very indecisive too, just stood there rather than try to claim it after it bounced. One cock-up too many for Moxey, with very little in the plus column. That's one lesson Lennon can take from today.
No one from midfield tracking his run either, just ambling behind him. He looked like he really wanted it. Ours didn't.

From my only view of it I would agree re Bogdan. The ball and anything in its way appeared to be there for the taking.

[Prufrock]

I'm a bit concerned he doesn' t know what to do. Not particularly impressed with that statement at all. It's beyond embarassing now.

He does know what to do....

Nothing to worry about with NL he knows what's required and will sort it during the close season, the question is though is can he bring in enough quality to improve us enough to enable a top 6 challenge - as we need 4 or 5 better players not 2 or 3 which is a very big ask and I think it may be the season after the next before we are ready for a promotion challenge.

He knows now which players he can rely on and which he can't, the reason we keep conceding late goals is that we have too many mentally 'weak as piss' players. He needs to build 'a' team spirit and bring players in 'who will physically' run through a brick wall' for the team, players with character - Bannan & Le Fondre have that mentality, they work there socks off but sadly the majority of the rest on display today do not OR perhaps are simply just not good enough at this level and we / I expect too much of them.

I'll say it again as its well deserved Bannan was fcuking class today - simply outstanding IMO

Not quite the point here, I know, but what on earth do you think quotation marks are for?

[CRFC]

One win, finally showing good form and finish does not a season make. The lads still have a job to do and if they play like they did on Monday, and the defenders don't shit the bed again, we squeak out a win.



If we win 2-3 of the last 5 it represents "hope" for next year.
If we win 4 of the last 5 it strongly hints that NL's on field philosophy is beginning to take hold in his players.
If we win all 5, it's fcuking awesome: It will take both Management smarts, coupled with player on field smarts (and a little bit of luck that is created by hard work) to accomplish this. I think it's possible. Forget the entire season prior. It's now a 5 game season for me.

I won't be happy unless we win all 5.

Prepare to be unhappy then !

Touche my friend. Touche.

[CRFC]

Look, it's not LENNON who has the issues, it's the squad he's been saddled with. A manager can't physically work the ball on the pitch. It's the players that have to do it. If you or I were playing, our manager could be a fcuking Rhodes Scholar in Football, we would suck shite. The players either don't have it, or aren't getting it, or just aren't ready for this level. Either way, a wholesale restructuring needs to happen. Lennon took Celtic, with an operational budget far smaller than BWFC to a steady place in the SPL. If he can do similar with BWFC, he's a fcuking genius, in my opinion. Stop pissing on the Manager. It isn't him that's the issue. It's the players.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Just watched the winner a few times. Long ball completely bypasses our midfield, with Danns and (I think) Eidur nearest but trotting back. Ream is alert to the danger and calls for the ball but he's standing underneath it whereas Jerome has a two-yard run-up for leverage. Moxey is only five yards from Ream (as is Dervite: their starting positions aren't disastrous) but he's running backwards rather than covering round to negate Hooper, who cleverly runs between Ream and the occupied Dervite (marking Grabban). Hooper does very well but neither Moxey not Bogdan make his life as difficult as it should be - they both hesitate, either wary of the other or simply frozen in the headlights.

[Prufrock]

Look, it's not LENNON who has the issues, it's the squad he's been saddled with. A manager can't physically work the ball on the pitch. It's the players that have to do it. If you or I were playing, our manager could be a fcuking Rhodes Scholar in Football, we would suck shite. The players either don't have it, or aren't getting it, or just aren't ready for this level. Either way, a wholesale restructuring needs to happen. Lennon took Celtic, with an operational budget far smaller than BWFC to a steady place in the SPL. If he can do similar with BWFC, he's a fcuking genius, in my opinion. Stop pissing on the Manager. It isn't him that's the issue. It's the players.

[Bruce Rioja]

Dean Moxey was at the driving range on Friday. I had a half a mind to tap him on the shoulder and say "I see that this is something else that you're fecking shit at, too".

[Hoboh]

Dean Moxey was at the driving range on Friday. I had a half a mind to tap him on the shoulder and say "I see that this is something else that you're fecking shit at, too".

Or better still, just fcuking whack him wit a 9 iron or something!