Man Citeh thread

[BL3]

Which is fine, but has what you've seen since end March onwards convinced you it can be achieved next season?

We got 46 over the course of the season, that's the only thing that matters, not when those points were accumulated. Most seasons that would be a fairly comfortable mid-table finish. We've had relatively little to play for since the F.A. Cup semi-final.

[Gaz Tomorrow]

Am I the only person not particularly arsed where we've finished? It's been plain for all to see that we've improved from last season. The final league position is unfortunate, yes. As were the final 5 games, and the 17th of April. Have we improved? Well, under Megson, we'd never have got anywhere near Wembley. We were never even dreaming of Europe under Megson. If we take off the angry-specs, I think most people will realise this.

We've got an awful lot to build on for next season. There are things we need to improve on, yes, and things that need to change, but we're in a fantastic position, with our manager and the players we have, to make those changes and improvements. I think our fans are getting, if it's possible, more and more fickle as the years go on. I've never seen so many people leave before a lap of honour. We actually played rather well today.

If you can see it threw rose tints then i'm pleased for you but I think rather than 'realising this' most of us will just feel even more deflated. I think the biggest problem is the loss of money from the places we have dropped. Not only do we have a mounting debt, but survival next season is dependant on rebuilding - which is unlikely to happen in a massive way, and has now just been made a hell of a lot harder with the places (and therefore money) we've lost today.

I'd contest that, rather than me seeing it through rose tints, you're looking at it through darkened glasses. Is misery the primary emotion of your average Bolton fan? Really?

Yeah, dropping the money from places is a bit of a kick in the knackers, but Eddie Davies isn't bankrupt, and he's a Bolton fan - therefore, we have as much money as he's willing to give us.

So as proved by previous transfer windows with the exception of Elmander, we have feck all to spend. I'm pretty sure Coyle has conceded we are in the bottom 3 teams in terms of spending power. Davies being a Bolton fan is irrelevant as the club is first and foremost, a business.

[Gaz Tomorrow]

Which is fine, but has what you've seen since end March onwards convinced you it can be achieved next season?

We got 46 over the course of the season, that's the only thing that matters, not when those points were accumulated. Most seasons that would be a fairly comfortable mid-table finish. We've had relatively little to play for since the F.A. Cup semi-final.

Which, seemingly, makes you as apathetic as some of the players.

[CAPSLOCK]

We've had relatively little to play for since the F.A. Cup semi-final.

Cept 5 million or so

Y'know, 5 freebies on 20k a week, or one one and a half Petrovs

Today aint a problem to me

Two goals worse than City is nothing to be ashamed of, but one good month in a season aint bunting out time, either

[Tombwfc]

That's pretty complacent. Stand still you die.

We've got more points this season than we did last season. In fact we've got more points this season than we have for the last three seasons. We're not standing still, we're moving forward.

A different set of teams though. Your league position is relative to the teams that we're in that league in that particular year. Of the current crop, we're 14th best. The fact that 10 years ago we might have finished 11th on that points total is largely irrelevant.

I'd say it was progress, given we never looked in danger of being relegated, but slight progress. A massive missed opportunity though.

[Whookam]

it only takes one defeat instead of a win for that 42 to become 39. At that point the margins are very, very fine.

So now you're quoting a hypothetical points total that's lower than the points total we actually achieved and then deducting points from it?! We didn't get 42 points, that only happened in your head.

Funnily enough these 'very, very fine margins' only ever seem to figure when we're talking about the worst case scenarios. If we hadn't conceded a last minute equaliser at home to Sunderland, we would have finished in the top half.

Fine, stick your head in the sand.

[enrdentw]

Can someone update me on how we played today?

Did Vela get a run out?

What was the approximate attendance?

Did Citeh sell out the full south stand?

Man of the match/Best Bolton player?

How was the lap of honour?

I have a season ticket but really couldn't justify the 240mile round trip for this one today. I stayed at home and watched the survival Sunday. It was a really bitter pill to swallow when I saw us in 14th in the final standings. Onwards on upwards.

In Owen we trust!

[Turkish Trotter]

it only takes one defeat instead of a win for that 42 to become 39. At that point the margins are very, very fine.

So now you're quoting a hypothetical points total that's lower than the points total we actually achieved and then deducting points from it?! We didn't get 42 points, that only happened in your head.

Funnily enough these 'very, very fine margins' only ever seem to figure when we're talking about the worst case scenarios. If we hadn't conceded a last minute equaliser at home to Sunderland, we would have finished in the top half.

Agreed, and if we hadn't conceded last minute at Old trafford and hung onto our lead at Blackpool and other stupid IFS, we could have made the Champions League.
Lets all get real, we got 46 points over a good season, (apart from the end) and finished a dissapointing 14th.

[BL3]

The fact that 10 years ago we might have finished 11th on that points total is largely irrelevant.

Almost as irrelevant as extending the season to 46 games or pretending that we got 42 points instead of 46.

[seanworth]

Right now I am not that concerned about next season. I will wait to see who we sign, and pray that Holden can come back as strong as ever. We certainly need a few more players and in key positions but I also think that plenty will be available. Many teams are in financial problems with lots of constraints, much like ourselves. Expect it to be cheaper and easier to get players this summer relative to a couple years ago. Was a disappointing end to the season, but really didn't expect it to end well when both Holden and M. Davies went down to injury so much less disappointed than many of the others on this board.

[Mar]

This is the difference for me. We're disappointed to get 14th. Previous seasons we'd've been ecstatic to have survived. Thats progress in itself.

[CAPSLOCK]

so much less disappointed than many of the others on this board.

You're not chucking 100 quid at tickets to see the games

[Tombwfc]

The fact that 10 years ago we might have finished 11th on that points total is largely irrelevant.

Almost as irrelevant as extending the season to 46 games or pretending that we got 42 points instead of 46.

I agree totally.

[seanworth]

so much less disappointed than many of the others on this board.

You're not chucking 100 quid at tickets to see the games

Cheers for clarifying that for me.

[scotty]

Am I the only person not particularly arsed where we've finished? It's been plain for all to see that we've improved from last season. The final league position is unfortunate, yes. As were the final 5 games, and the 17th of April. Have we improved? Well, under Megson, we'd never have got anywhere near Wembley. We were never even dreaming of Europe under Megson. If we take off the angry-specs, I think most people will realise this.

We've got an awful lot to build on for next season. There are things we need to improve on, yes, and things that need to change, but we're in a fantastic position, with our manager and the players we have, to make those changes and improvements. I think our fans are getting, if it's possible, more and more fickle as the years go on. I've never seen so many people leave before a lap of honour. We actually played rather well today.

If you can see it threw rose tints then i'm pleased for you but I think rather than 'realising this' most of us will just feel even more deflated. I think the biggest problem is the loss of money from the places we have dropped. Not only do we have a mounting debt, but survival next season is dependant on rebuilding - which is unlikely to happen in a massive way, and has now just been made a hell of a lot harder with the places (and therefore money) we've lost today.

100% agree with this. To miss out on £3.5m/£4m that we could have got with just a couple more points is very dissapointing for me. And to say, 'its alright Eddie Davies will stump up some more cash' is completely the wrong attitude. The club has got to become self sustaining (or at least within the odd million of doing so) We can't afford to keep losing 34million quid every year. Thats not to mention the effect finishing 14th has on attracting/retaining players.

So how do we view the season as a whole? Well it could have been one of THE great BWFC seasons, a chance to show everyone that Bolton can finish in the top 7 or 8 without Big Sam, a chance to show how much we have progressed under Coyle but at the moment with the last 5 or 6 weeks fresh in my mind I feel a bit upset with how the season has petered out. The performances since the victory against West Ham have been well below par and our away form remains a big worry. We all know the problem areas, and I'm sure Coyle does too and he'll be working hard to address them. This transfer window is crucial for the club and I expect there will be a lot of ins and outs, which makes missing out on that merit money from the Premier league even more frustrating.

How will I look back on this seaon in a couple of years time? Probably with a great deal of pride and enjoyment because there have been an incredible amount of highlights... the Spurs, Newcastle, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Wolves (away) Birmingham (away cup) games were fantastic and if we only lose 4 home matches next season I'll be a very happy man. Just a shame that the performances in the last couple of weeks have put a dampner on things.

At the end of the day, its all part of being a Wanderer - it'll be an interesting summer but come the first day of next season I'll be there.

[wanderers_on_tour]

Can someone update me on how we played today?

Did Vela get a run out?

What was the approximate attendance?

Did Citeh sell out the full south stand?

Man of the match/Best Bolton player?

How was the lap of honour?

I have a season ticket but really couldn't justify the 240mile round trip for this one today. I stayed at home and watched the survival Sunday. It was a really bitter pill to swallow when I saw us in 14th in the final standings. Onwards on upwards.

In Owen we trust!

No he didn't, had we not used all 3 subs once sturridge had been sent off i imagine he might have just to pack the midfield.

Attendance was 26,000 and sumat.

Citeh sold out the south stand, great fans imo. The poznan during 0-0 got a strange ovation from the Bolton fans after charlie corner had a go at there own.

Man of the match - Jussi, very unlucky with the goals, made some vital saves especially at 0-0.

Good lap of honour, Holden and Alonso both involved which i was surprised about. Elmander didn't bother himself...players didn't half leave us waiting though. Owen looked quite pleased, got a wonderful reception and a fair few chanting his name...Sturridge also had a smile on his face despite everything.

[hisroyalgingerness]

Sturridge at 0-0. My word. When he broke we were 2 on 2 at the back and he was covered. If he'd have put a ball over to Lee.... oh my word. THE MARGINS

[wanderers_on_tour]

If we had played with the same spirit and tempo we did today against Sunderland,Blackburn,Fulham etc. we would have finished in the top 6/7..and comfortably so..for that i'm pretty disappointed. However we have had a lot of injuries/and a fair bit of bad luck and seeing what has happend to teams like Birmingham puts it all into perspective, not saying I have my rose tinties on and everything is fine and dandy but its..alright i guess?

The debt will also cast a shadow on what ever place we finish in the league, this makes the pain of today even more hard to take. I feel we really need to sell cahill, preferably in a swap deal for a direct replacement plus a bit of cash to rebuild. He's a great player, but a bit of a luxury, and despite Knight getting a lot of flack in recent weeks I don't think Cahills forward run's help the lad out too much, especially without a holden/muamba combo to take some of the defensive flack. In an ideal world it would be something like cahill to city for boyata, wright-phillips and a few mil, but even by Citeh's standards that might be stretching it. Anyway, that's for another day bit of a anti-climax to the season but we're safe, comfortably so, and have been all season. Maybe next year we can be a little more consistent and shoot for that top 10 place.

[BWFC_Insane]

14th. Well it was predictable. We were pretty shite yet again. Did Citeh break sweat? Did they need to.

Not sure there is a lot that can be said. At close of play we're no better off than last season. And we're worse off than 2 seasons ago by one place.

Thats the final result, and to be honest right now I'm not interested in much else.

We've stayed up so the season has been a success. As have the previous 10 every single one of them. But for me there is very little evidence that we aren't going to have a very difficult time this summer to move the club forwards. Too much to do and not enough has been done. Alonso, Petrov, Blake have not moved us forwards.

Overall satisfied with the season but unhappy that we're no further forwards!

[Tombwfc]

Can someone update me on how we played today?

Did Vela get a run out?

What was the approximate attendance?

Did Citeh sell out the full south stand?

Man of the match/Best Bolton player?

How was the lap of honour?

I have a season ticket but really couldn't justify the 240mile round trip for this one today. I stayed at home and watched the survival Sunday. It was a really bitter pill to swallow when I saw us in 14th in the final standings. Onwards on upwards.

In Owen we trust!

No he didn't, had we not used all 3 subs once sturridge had been sent off i imagine he might have just to pack the midfield.

Attendance was 26,000 and sumat.

Citeh sold out the south stand, great fans imo. The poznan during 0-0 got a strange ovation from the Bolton fans after charlie corner had a go at there own.

Man of the match - Jussi, very unlucky with the goals, made some vital saves especially at 0-0.

Good lap of honour, Holden and Alonso both involved which i was surprised about. Elmander didn't bother himself...players didn't half leave us waiting though. Owen looked quite pleased, got a wonderful reception and a fair few chanting his name...Sturridge also had a smile on his face despite everything.

Elmander was there.

Sturridge probably wouldn't have got sent off if he would pass the fecking ball.