The unguarded moment. At Home to Shrewsbury Sat Oct 54th 3'0 clock

[TANGODANCER]

Just the time to be awake and not take anything for granted. The Shrews are propping the league up and having a tough time of things, but feeling sorry for them could be fatal. Wish them well, but no charity needed. "Many a slip" etc and bananas are fine with custard but beware the skins as they are always dangerous. Every team is a Birmingham and we have ground to make up. Forward march then, a clean sheet and a couple of goals.

[boltonboris]

We should be going for the jugular here. I get the "be patient" approach sometimes, but at home, we should be out of the traps from the 1st second and making these think "shit, here we go"

I'm not saying we need to score straight away, but we need to on top of them. They'll try every trick in the book to try and stop that though, so its important the fans stay with the players.

3-0 Bolton

[Prufrock]

Similar vibes to the Carlisle banana skin last year, but without the big crowd.

Absolutely agree. Out the traps keep the intensity up. Think the investment in the front line should pay dividends, anyone of the four has a case to start, so they need to perform. Dion had the bit between his teeth when he came on.

I think McAtee and Charles will be the most common, but the other two are more than capable of fighting their way in.

[boltonboris]

Been thinking about our front 4 and there's a few question marks over the partners with Vic involved for me. Probably due to lack of opportunities, so time will tell. However I think we know the below

Collins + McAtee = Can work well
Collins + Charles = Can work well
Charles + McAtee = Can work well
Charles + Adeboyejo = Can work well

Collins + Adeboyejo = Memory escapes me, but I don;t remember it ripping up trees
McAtee + Adeboyejo = Can this work?

I think McAtee has the energy and ethusiasm to work with anyone
I think Collins has the ability and guile to work with anyone
I think Charles has the instinct, movement and directness to play off and around all of them.

Question mark is Vic in my personal opinion. Can he strike up a good partnership with Collins, or McAtee?

[boltonboris]

Basically, what I'm saying is that injuries notwithstanding, I expect him to have the least number of minutes out of the 4...

[BWFC_Insane]

If we are getting the ball forward more quickly then I think Vic will work with anyone who runs in behind. I’d suggest McAtee and him should be fine.

Less sure on him and Collins simply because I feel they do different roles but maybe want to operate both with a partner running in behind dragging players off them deeper.

[GhostoftheBok]

We just need to go out and get after them from the off, as we have been since the Huddersfield debacle.

That needs to be the attitude in every game and if we get at Shrewsbury we will mince them.

Any of the front 4 will be fine. I think it'll be Vic and Charles again, but I've no issue with any of them playing.

The reality is we have lots of good players all over the park and any of them would get in the Shrews 11, so whoever we put out will have the quality to impact the game. Winning or losing will be about how the manager sets us up and the attitude of the players.

[officer_dibble]

I think McAtee / Charles start. Other than that, same again.

[Mar]

I'd keep the Charles - Adeboyejo partnership going.

Just because McAtee is scoring doesn't mean he should be selected ahead of other things that work well for us. Likewise with Charles. All about good rotation. Their strike partners have been working well alongside them and were reaping the reward. No need to switch for the sake of two goalscorers together mean more goals. Different roles to help set things up.

As much as I'd like us to go out there and smash them I'd much prefer us to focus on keeping the intensity that has worked well for us recently.

Get a three goal lead and see it out with a clean sheet. We don't need to get carried away with high score lines which bring us back down to earth when we get humbled. Let's do the professional job and see the games out.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I like both partnerships but I think Shrews and Villa kids might be a good time to try the other ones. Assuming Dion gets a Norn Iron call-up he should start Saturday, with McAtee; then Collins/Vic on Tuesday.

If we can prove all four combos work then we’ve got a hell of a hand to play.

[TANGODANCER]

I'm still of the feeling that I.E. tends to think of saving Charles for the tougher games. Who partners him can be a bit of Hobson's choice without a set in stone answer. I know that the phrase rock and hard place has been used by a few on here, but the fault of that is fortune rather than definitive and not always Evatts fault, because the unpredictability of the opposition form is always the
fly in the ointment. I think maybe we spend a bit too long on "what if?" instead of just playing good football.

Back to strikers, I think he'll stay with McAtee and Collins to start this one, but as ever, it's pure guesswork. As much depends on defence as attack and the form of one can decide the other. Best to stick with COME ON YOU WHITES...and hope for the best..Go get em..

[BWFC_Insane]

We are in a good place in forward areas. Four strikers of quality who you can perm any two from and put a decent partnership out. Some might be more obvious than others but still. Collins hasn’t got going as much as the others now McAtee has got going but that’s fine. We can have a different one in peak form through the season to alleviate pressure on one.

Then we have Lolos and CMG coming back - not sure exactly where they’d play but they offer options.

Then midfield we have Dempsey, Thomason, Sheehan, Arfield and Matete with one assumes on occasion Lolos in there with them too. Feels better as I’m very unconvinced that Arfield or Dempsey are front three players at all but both have the ability to do a job deeper.

Numbers wise we are fine in those areas. The concern is how injury prone across the wing backs and centre halves we seem to be. And how light in number we currently are.

[boltonboris]

Charles starts in the league for me at the moment. Top scorer. Keep his eye in. Rest him on Tuesday

[Worthy4England]

We are in a good place in forward areas. Four strikers of quality who you can perm any two from and put a decent partnership out. Some might be more obvious than others but still. Collins hasn’t got going as much as the others now McAtee has got going but that’s fine. We can have a different one in peak form through the season to alleviate pressure on one.

Then we have Lolos and CMG coming back - not sure exactly where they’d play but they offer options.

Then midfield we have Dempsey, Thomason, Sheehan, Arfield and Matete with one assumes on occasion Lolos in there with them too. Feels better as I’m very unconvinced that Arfield or Dempsey are front three players at all but both have the ability to do a job deeper.

Numbers wise we are fine in those areas. The concern is how injury prone across the wing backs and centre halves we seem to be. And how light in number we currently are.

Not just a little concerned about leaky defence? You can get away with letting in 2 when you have 4 on the board, but you don't want it happening when you only have 2 or less on the board, in a tighter game. Here's our current rap sheet.

Wrexham - H - 2nd - League goals 14 - conceded 0
Exeter - H - 10th - League goals 9 - conceded 2
Reading - H - 12th - League goals 12 - conceded 2
Charlton - A - 13th - League goals 9 - conceded 2
Hudds - H - 15th - League goals 12 - conceded 4
Northampton - A - 19th - League goals 10 - conceded 2
Orient - A - 20th - League goals 9 - conceded 1, Baxter probably our MOTM
Crawley - H - 21st - League goals 5 - conceded 0

If we look at the teams who have scored more than Wrexham, there's Brum, Mansfield, Blackpool, Barnsley, Wycombe, Peterborough - we've hardly played anyone properly firing yet and have leaked 13 goals - outside the bottom 3, there's only 3 other teams worse than that.

[TANGODANCER]

Weather forecast says big winds tomorrow. Might have some effect on balls in the air. Same for both, granted, but worth keeping in mind. Caution be my friend..

[Spartan2]

Would really like CMG to have a go at RWB, might not be his preferred position but his ability to run at and beat people will open things up on that right hand side. Not to replace Cogley per se, but at least give him a break and add a different option in that area at least until Tutu is fit. Alternatives are Dempsey's position which I can't see really or a fifth striker? seems pointless to me, unless 1 of the 4 gets injured.

[Worthy4England]

Would really like CMG to have a go at RWB, might not be his preferred position but his ability to run at and beat people will open things up on that right hand side. Not to replace Cogley per se, but at least give him a break and add a different option in that area at least until Tutu is fit. Alternatives are Dempsey's position which I can't see really or a fifth striker? seems pointless to me, unless 1 of the 4 gets injured.

Maybe somewhat unpopular, but I'd be happy with Demps in my corner. Underrated IMO.
Not many others, I'd go "thank fcuk" abouf.

[Mar]

Would really like CMG to have a go at RWB, might not be his preferred position but his ability to run at and beat people will open things up on that right hand side. Not to replace Cogley per se, but at least give him a break and add a different option in that area at least until Tutu is fit. Alternatives are Dempsey's position which I can't see really or a fifth striker? seems pointless to me, unless 1 of the 4 gets injured.

Maybe somewhat unpopular, but I'd be happy with Demps in my corner. Underrated IMO.
Not many others, I'd go "thank fcuk" abouf.

I understand the desire to go with CMG at RWB as an additional option. It's considerably a decent attacking position given how much utility its brought us in the past. CMG looks like he's got all the attributes for it and has seemingly played there for us in the past, so it's perhaps the cover we need.

With Dempsey's form it's hard to see him dropping out of the squad, and Lolos' return that would have us with a CAM and a backup already sewn up. The only change would be how do we see the rest of the positions being covered. Tutu would've been the obvious RWB choice, but that's not the case, Williams maybe more familiar with covering that position but i'd see him as LWB primarily rather than RWB, so it seems horses for courses as far as picking one of those.

I'd not be quick to rush CMG into a demanding position. Long term injury does him no favours having to cover JDC's role. CAM might just be more relaxed late in the game.

[TANGODANCER]

Maybe somewhat unpopular, but I'd be happy with Demps in my corner. Underrated IMO.
Not many others, I'd go "thank fcuk" abouf.

Agree totally with Dempsey. He's a talented footballer and nobody is 100% perfect. He's quick-thinking and capable of being the difference at the right times. As ever, Que Sera..

Dan Barnes (Bolton News) is predicting a 3-4-1-2 with Dempsey running behind Dion and Vic.

[BWFC_Insane]

Would really like CMG to have a go at RWB, might not be his preferred position but his ability to run at and beat people will open things up on that right hand side. Not to replace Cogley per se, but at least give him a break and add a different option in that area at least until Tutu is fit. Alternatives are Dempsey's position which I can't see really or a fifth striker? seems pointless to me, unless 1 of the 4 gets injured.

I think the issue is as outlined already is the amount of running the position demands.

It would be nice as you say if he could play there when conditions allow to give JDC a rest but also improve our attacking play down that side.

However I feel the way we are playing now we could very easily shift into a back four and put Schon onto the left of midfield in a 442 or 433 that would create the option for CMG to play out wide. Again not all the time but in some games - I think it would give us a new dimension and option and Schon would be a good balance down the left as a sticker type of wide player.