Lies, damned lies and now the damned tics. Wigan (H) Saturday 12.30pm

[Harry Genshaw]

God, I hate this fixture. Any time or faith Evatt has retrieved these past few weeks, all rests in the balance this weekend. That first thumping a few years back could be excused. The last one couldn't. Another, given the current circumstances for both clubs, would surely see processions and pitchforks ablaze, demanding Ian's immediate removal (& execution)

It won't be pretty, probably nerve wracking too. Narrow Wanderers win I reckon.

[sonicthewhite]

It's about time we consigned this particular hoodoo to history by throwing the feckers reet off the end of that crappy pier of theirs! I really hope we smash them. Then again I think that every time and the result always lets me down

[The_Gun]

I sincerely hope that our players don’t overthink this one and treat it like any other game. The ticks are hovering one point above the relegation zone and their three fans seem to be restless. We have a great chance on Saturday to hurry them back towards their natural habitat in non league.

Baxter

Jones Santos Johnston

Matete Thomason

Tutu Lolos Schön

Charles Collins

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I have a horrible feeling we are due a calamitous error from confusion/space arising from an inverted wingback

[truewhite15]

Have to win this one. Have to. Nothing else is acceptable.

[officer_dibble]

Anything less than a win and I want Evatts head hanging from one of the floodlights!

A convincing win and he gets some of the credit he has lost this season back - say for example a 5-0 might expunge the embarrassment at Stockport.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

A convincing win and he gets some of the credit he has lost this season back - say for example a 5-0 might expunge the embarrassment at Stockport.

*some of*. I quite agree.

Here's an unfortunate rule of thumb: A win against Wigan never gains a manager as many kudos points as a loss to Wigan costs him.

It's felt most keenly against them, but do we really think that beating Blackpool at home in two successive seasons makes up for the 4-1 loss there? Would beating Stockport 5-0 at home make up for losing 5-0 there? Maaaaybe, just maybe, winning 4-0 at Huddersfield would make up for losing by that score at home...

but then...

It's not just the scores, is it? The losses in derbies key in to the narrative that we lose the "big games". It's always been slightly unfair - we didn't bottle promotion from the fourth, we got to the cup final when some predicted an Accrington Armageddon, we hammered Plymouth in the cup final, we got through the play-off semis last time - but there's definitely been some truth to it (starting with Exeter at home in the fourth), and sad fact is we remember the bad times more clearly than the good.

Thought experiment 1. Say we did win 4-0 at Huddersfield, finished 3rd, got them in the play-offs. Would we imagine Evatt truly has Duff's number? Or would we fear it'll happen again?

Thought experiment 2. Say we beat them and go up in the play-offs. Would that Wembley win be mentioned as often as Oxford? Or would, when we inevitably lose two Championship games on the bounce, the "he's hit his ceiling" narrative kick back in again?

As I say, trust is hard to win and easy to lose. It's particularly hard to win back. Beating Wigan in December would be a good start but it'd be far from the end of it.

[TonyDomingos]

"Pies, damned pies" surely?!

[sonicthewhite]

Seems that Evatt is intimating that JDC will start;

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... tic-clash/

[officer_dibble]

Seems that Evatt is intimating that JDC will start;

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... tic-clash/

That will be popular.

[DJBlu]

Seems that Evatt is intimating that JDC will start;

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... tic-clash/

That will be popular.

“We asked him for some honesty and he put his hand up to guard against that injury. We will see how he recovers but he is progressing all the time."

“I think everyone is starting to get excited about what he can do and what he can bring, which is great, but we just need to err on the side of caution really.”

If this is the case then he needs to be managed. He might also be bluffing.

I really feel JDC needs to give us the performance of the season if he's starting as this lad will be a shoo-in for a start when fully fit.

[Mar]

The shout for JDC starting may very well be down to protecting Osei-Tutu or at least playing mind games against Wigan.

I'm sure if we played Tutu and ended up having him get injured due to a bad tackle then that would have a bigger impact than him just missing the Wigan game.

That being said, the best way to win this match is with Tutu and given our previous two matches at home against Wigan, we could certainly do with our best players out there.

It feels like a scrappy win over Wigan won't do. It feels like we need to go out there and give them a good pasting.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I'm in two minds over Tutu. He's a potential matchwinner - two assists in the last two games - and conversely, JDC is willing but limited. (That said, JDC also assisted in two successive games last month - Fleetwood/Blackpool - and indeed he'd provided the last assist before those, at Stevenage.) So I'd rather have him do the first 60 rather than the last 30, especially as us getting in front early would reeeeally help the atmosphere.

However, as noted, if he breaks down and is banjaxed for the very full month to come, we'll be shaking our fists.

[officer_dibble]

Our issue is our slow starts in games. We’re playing a poor team at home - I’d start Williams and Schon if Tutu is being a fanny. Cogley more often than not wastes possession in the attacking third. We need to be going at these from the off.

[Harry Genshaw]

It feels like a scrappy win over Wigan won't do. It feels like we need to go out there and give them a good pasting.

Oh it will.

Just win.

Owt more than 1-0 would be a lovely bonus.

[The_Gun]

Our issue is our slow starts in games. We’re playing a poor team at home - I’d start Williams and Schon if Tutu is being a fanny. Cogley more often than not wastes possession in the attacking third. We need to be going at these from the off.

I’d say JDC is 90% likely to start.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Our issue is our slow starts in games. We’re playing a poor team at home - I’d start Williams and Schon if Tutu is being a fanny. Cogley more often than not wastes possession in the attacking third. We need to be going at these from the off.

Agree that poor spells are bad, and when they're at the start it renders us particularly vulnerable. What we don't want is three hundred pie-fans singing "It's happening again".

I agree that Williams is an option, especially if we're persisting with inverted wingbacks. Williams and Tutu are the best at being able to "go either way" so it would be good to have at least one on the pitch at all times. But as The Gun says, JDC is likely to start in this must-not-lose game.

It feels like a scrappy win over Wigan won't do. It feels like we need to go out there and give them a good pasting.

Oh it will.

Just win.

Owt more than 1-0 would be a lovely bonus.

A 1-0 win would do for now. A big win would help reclaim some trust (but still not all IMO)

[officer_dibble]

Our issue is our slow starts in games. We’re playing a poor team at home - I’d start Williams and Schon if Tutu is being a fanny. Cogley more often than not wastes possession in the attacking third. We need to be going at these from the off.

I’d say JDC is 90% likely to start.

I completely agree.
It’s one of my differences with this manager.
JDC is a good right back for a league one side. He’s hard working, doesn’t shirk. Were we playing a formation where he had a wide attacker in front of him I suspect he would work well and provide and overlap as he has a great engine.
What he can’t do on a consistent basis is create space and cross. It means all our attacking of any meaning goes down the other side. It’s a bit limiting.
The thing I find strange is in signing Tutu Evatt clearly gets that. And I understand he can’t break the lad. But if he’s really that breakable was he the right signing in the first place? And is there a formation change we could make to not make us as reliant on poor old Josh and his limitations? This is where his lack of Plan B shows up.

For me the worst thing that can happen is we concede in the first half, as we have been doing, without scoring. Fans will turn, theirs will milk it and it’s a self fulfilling prophecy. Start on front foot and score once, a second will come!

[The_Gun]

Our issue is our slow starts in games. We’re playing a poor team at home - I’d start Williams and Schon if Tutu is being a fanny. Cogley more often than not wastes possession in the attacking third. We need to be going at these from the off.

I’d say JDC is 90% likely to start.

I completely agree.
It’s one of my differences with this manager.
JDC is a good right back for a league one side. He’s hard working, doesn’t shirk. Were we playing a formation where he had a wide attacker in front of him I suspect he would work well and provide and overlap as he has a great engine.
What he can’t do on a consistent basis is create space and cross. It means all our attacking of any meaning goes down the other side. It’s a bit limiting.
The thing I find strange is in signing Tutu Evatt clearly gets that. And I understand he can’t break the lad. But if he’s really that breakable was he the right signing in the first place? And is there a formation change we could make to not make us as reliant on poor old Josh and his limitations? This is where his lack of Plan B shows up.

For me the worst thing that can happen is we concede in the first half, as we have been doing, without scoring. Fans will turn, theirs will milk it and it’s a self fulfilling prophecy. Start on front foot and score once, a second will come!

Yep, I think most of our fans are on the same page regarding JDC. If we played a 433 he’d be a great option playing behind Tutu or maybe CMG. Alas, I’ve given up on us ever seeing four at the back again under Evatt.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Alas, I’ve given up on us ever seeing four at the back again under Evatt.

Which is understandable but odd, considering one of the very very many things that Evatt has said is that he prefers a back four.

I agree JDC would be a great overlapping RB because he's got the energy to create an overload (which oppo defenders couldn't ignore) and then get back again. Problem is, there's nobody similar on the other side. Williams could do it for a bit but neither he nor Schön is a LB or would claim to be.

I still wonder whether Johnston could do that job - he may not be a lungbuster like JDC but he's a savvy player who reads the game well and can also pick a pass. He's not a LWB but he may make an overlapping LB. He's also the self-improving type, so I'm sure he'd work overtime on his stamina if need be. (Minor personal view, won't be provable or disprovable for years on end: George Johnston is IMO the current Wanderer most likely to become a manager.)

And looked at the other way, Johnston's lack of height renders us vulnerable if he's one of two centre-backs - which might be one of the reasons Evatt has been reluctant to switch. Playing him LB means we can have say Santos & Toal (or Forino) as centre-backs.