Time to go

[BWFC_Insane]

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wa ... s_blunder/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If anyone needs convincing.

Criticising one of the clubs most loyal players in public.

Yes Gardner was a bit silly, but he hardly went and headbutted him. He was beaten and it was an instinctive reaction no doubt.

Sorry Owen but this is just not helping your case!

Worse still he's not only blaming Gardner, but the ref for sending him off!

FFS!

[Wandering Willy]

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wa ... s_blunder/

If anyone needs convincing.

Criticising one of the clubs most loyal players in public.

Yes Gardner was a bit silly, but he hardly went and headbutted him. He was beaten and it was an instinctive reaction no doubt.

Sorry Owen but this is just not helping your case!

Worse still he's not only blaming Gardner, but the ref for sending him off!

FFS!

Err - he's right though.

[keveh]

I've added a poll to the topic.

[BWFC_Insane]

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wa ... s_blunder/

If anyone needs convincing.

Criticising one of the clubs most loyal players in public.

Yes Gardner was a bit silly, but he hardly went and headbutted him. He was beaten and it was an instinctive reaction no doubt.

Sorry Owen but this is just not helping your case!

Worse still he's not only blaming Gardner, but the ref for sending him off!

FFS!

Err - he's right though.

Right to criticise a player for making a mistake?

Possibly.

But if he's going to do that, then he'll have a long long list every week to get through.

He's singling players out. And that is NEVER good.

[Sponge]

I've added a poll to the topic.

I answered "Maybe". Yesterday, I wouldn't have hesitated selecting in "Yes". Not sure what's caused me to soften my view. By Sunday, I might even believe we have a chance of winning...

[CAPSLOCK]

“Then we’ve switched off at a short corner and Darren Pratley gave away the penalty. Whether he was trying too hard coming back to his former club or not, he’s just got to stay up because there was no danger and the lad was going away from goal.

“We showed spirit to get a goal back and we felt there was an equaliser coming and threw everyone forward which left us open at the back and we paid a heavy price for that.”

So we make excuses for Pratley, who we owe nowt, yet make no such allowances for Gardner, who was also 'coming back'


And as for thinking we were going to equalise....fook me, you're easily pleased


Anyway, it seems NRC, at least, has got some bollocks and has spelled out a few things post match

[BWFC_Insane]

I've voted maybe, because as ever there is no point getting rid and not having a suitable replacement.

He's going to get longer anyways.

And I hope he turns it round. But the more I read and hear the less confident I am!

[Gary the Enfield]

I posted no.

However I have the same feeling I had when Megson was sacked after the Hull game. I fear if the groundswell of opinion goes against him, and if we fail to win at home against Stoke, he will be gone.

And it will be the right decision. We can't afford to be cut adrift which will start to happen if we lose on Sunday

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

From what I read on here, Coyle is too stubborn and he changes things every week. I'm at the stage of wanting to grab a few folks by the lapels and give 'em a good shake. As Caps notes, it seems Nigel Reo-Coker is too. Good.

A FURIOUS Nigel Reo-Coker read the riot act to Wanderers’ under-performing stars after their dismal 3-1 defeat at Swansea. The midfielder let rip in the dressing room after second-bottom Bolton suffered their eighth Premier League defeat in nine games.

A frank exchange of views took place following 10-man Wanderers’ abject surrender at the Liberty Stadium where Owen Coyle’s struggling side were ripped apart to remain stuck in the relegation places. A dejected Reo-Coker stormed off the pitch at the final whistle and, after getting changed, sat alone in the dugout while his team-mates boarded the coach.

And David Wheater admitted there were things that needed saying if the confidence-sapped club are to halt their alarming slump. “Nigel is a good character and he had a word in the changing room but that’s what you need sometimes,” said the defender.

“You need players to have a go at other players. You can’t be just friends with each other and let another defeat go – you need to say something. I can’t say [what he said] but a few players said a few things and it was right what the lads said. Sometimes it needs to be said.”

I've never been a fan of the phrase "back to basics" but it's needed. We need two defensive midfielders, because 4-2-4 is quite attacking enough, thank you. One of them should be Muamba; whatever Coyle's problem is with him, he needs to suck it up and swallow his pride or he'll be digesting a P45.

[Armchair Wanderer]

From what I read on here, Coyle is too stubborn and he changes things every week. I'm at the stage of wanting to grab a few folks by the lapels and give 'em a good shake. As Caps notes, it seems Nigel Reo-Coker is too. Good.

...

I've never been a fan of the phrase "back to basics" but it's needed. We need two defensive midfielders, because 4-2-4 is quite attacking enough, thank you. One of them should be Muamba; whatever Coyle's problem is with him, he needs to suck it up and swallow his pride or he'll be digesting a P45.

Fair play to NRC, as long as it's not the same as Robbo pointing and shouting

I think the reason he's swapped Muamba for Pratley is to try and keep the ball more, i.e. not keep giving it away. This is an honourable aim. As is, not playing for a draw, even away from home. However, back in the real world a couple of draws instead of losses would have been quite welcome. It should be about picking up as many points as possible, especially when we're in the bottom 3. I think maybe there is a place for Pratley in some situations, but there are also games where we need more steel in the middle.

[keveh]

I think the reason he's swapped Muamba for Pratley is to try and keep the ball more, i.e. not keep giving it away. This is an honourable aim. As is, not playing for a draw, even away from home. However, back in the real world a couple of draws instead of losses would have been quite welcome. It should be about picking up as many points as possible, especially when we're in the bottom 3. I think maybe there is a place for Pratley in some situations, but there are also games where we need more steel in the middle.

I think your logic for Pratley being in there is spot on, as well as the reason why he shouldn't be in there at the moment.

I actually liked Pratley at first, he seemed to cover a lot of ground and was doing well breaking play up, but as the season has gone on he is just on a constant slump. However I do think he's being made out as a scapegoat, just as Robinson has been at times in the past. The fact is that the team as a whole are poor, there's not one player putting in a shining performance that stands out above everybody else's.

That's why I don't think Coyle should go just yet, we need to get through this as a team and I'm not sure getting rid of the manager would do much good right now.

I did answer maybe to the poll though, if things are still as bad at the end of November than we need to get somebody in who can assess the situation and then do what the need to in the January transfer window. Not that they'll have s Scrooge McDuck pile of money to use.

[plymouth wanderer]

voted no

reo-coker for captain he's the only one with the bollocks

let's hope they have got it out of there system

i know weve played all the big boys but i think stoke will be the hardest game of the season so far mentally and physically

[Armchair Wanderer]

i know weve played all the big boys but i think stoke will be the hardest game of the season so far mentally and physically

Lambs to the slaughter!

On the one hand I actually quite like OC and want him to turn it around, and on the other if we keep going like this we'll be down. We should be having a go at Stoke at home and at least getting a draw, or maybe edging a tough game and getting all three points. But if we can't give Sunderland or Norwich a game I don't think we'll get anything.

Then you have West Brom away, more chance of getting something there imo.

Then Everton at home, another tricky, well organized side that's not going to make it easy for us. First home win of the season?

[P.O.S.]

You know, I used to hate it when Allardyce used the term "back to basics" when we were trying to come off a bad run of form, and I used to hate more when Megson used terms like "circling the wagons" but, right now...

[BL3]

I think we should get back to basics and start circling the wagons.

[BL3]

See, a friend of mine that works for the club, when asked about Coyle, told me, and I quote "He's as stubborn as a mule and that'll be his undoing".
I think this is probably best displayed by his insistance on playing Pratley every week, as if to justify his decision to bring him in. If 20,000 of us can see that he's 'at best' a Championship player (read also; Eagles, Christopher) why can't / won't Coyle?

He's changed the formation. He's dropped Kevin Davies. He's recalled Wheater. How does that make him 'stubborn'? He's done pretty much everything he can do with the players at his disposal. It's time some of those players started performing.

Yes, and still stubbornly accomodates shite players like Pratley and Eagles who he won't admit simply aren't up to it.

So who does he play instead of Eagles then? Muamba and Mark Davies haven't exactly staked a claim to start instead of Pratley.

[BL3]

i think stoke will be the hardest game of the season so far mentally and physically

Stoke play twice this week, including a trip to Israel on Thursday...

[as]

Our midfield is embarrassing, other teams can literally walk from defence to attack without a f*cking tackle being made. It happens every fecking game too. And at the weekend we play Stoke 'the new Bolton', a team who fight, get stuck in and have a gameplan they stick too.

I fear the worst, another loss and Coyle has to go, I couldn't care less about the 'who replaces him' brigade banging on.....how can you stick with a manager who DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING???? This was supposed to be Coyle's first proper season in charge, and it's even worse than under Sammy Lee

Pratley is fecking gash and needs dropping, ditto Robinson (I'd sooner we stick an academy player in after watching another joke of a performance v Swansea, he's forgot how to fecking play the game), Eagles isn't a PL player and never will be.

Oh, and if Super John writes another 'lets not blame anything on Owen Coyle' piece in the BN, he can feck off too!

[Wandering Willy]

I voted no. As i see it, we have had 5 fixtures that we could realistically expect something from:

1. QPR (a) - won
2. Norwich (h) - lost - player sent off.
3. Wigan (a)- won
4. Sunderland (h) lost
5. Swansea (a) lost - player sent off.

With the exception of the Sunderland game, we have been in everyone of these games. The players have looked up for it in terms of effort but there's no doubting we lack some quality. We are missing our arguably 2 best footballers in Lee and Holden and have had what I believe is an extraordinary bad run of luck with dismissals.

It seems that there those who are looking for any stick with which to beat Coyle - I even seen it written that the fixtures we were dealt early on is no excuse. This seems nonsense to me but more so the suggestion made on here that "we should forget about having players getting sent off" is astonishing. The best team in the league had a player sent off and lost 6-1 at home. I'm not having it that it makes no difference.

Granted, it could be argued that players being sent off is down to the manager but I don't buy into that - players are professionals and should act accordingly. Ricky and Ivan I'm looking at you.

Coyle has made the changes that many on here demanded, particularly Wheater for Knight and Gardner for Robbo (both dismissed on their first starts) so I'm not sure what else he can do. He's been dealt a pretty weak hand all in all given the fixtures, injuries and sendings off.

I am as upset as anyone with our form and league position but I see no value in changing a manager who has delivered in the past. Given what he has had to deal with I don't think there is a realistic replacement out there that would have done or will do any better with our squad and circumstances.

[BWFC_Insane]

I wonder how long the fixture card is going to be played for? When we are in the championship, league one?

Fact is we've played the three promoted teams and managed one PPG against three teams we have to target for points.

Keep burying your head in the sand if you like, but we can't afford to sleepwalk to relegation and oblivion!