18-01-2015, 20:22
Bubbles Burst
From talk of the Playoffs last week to talk of wholesale clearouts today.
As usual with Wednesday, when things seem bad, they are never really that bad and when they seem good, they are not really that good.
Yesterday we started sloppily & with no purpose to our play. This is far from the first time this season that we have started poorly. Lee's pass to Maghoma was suicide and we were punished. Dielna dithered and we were punished again.
Bolton were far better prepared for the contest. Neil Lennon's dossier policy showed as every Bolton player knew what we were going to do plus playing three in CM meant they controlled the match.
The first half had little positive to note. Maguire again proved a great penalty taker after he was fouled. There was one clever corner routine with two false runs allowing Maguire a shot from 25 yards. That was it.
In the second half we were much brighter with Maghoma switched to CM, cutting through the Bolton defence time & time again. Maguire looked much more inventive. It was little surprise when a substitution came but it was a shock that Maghoma departed after his best 20 minutes at home this season. The result was that we lost our momentum apart from one run by Hutchinson.
Hutchinson showed that he has learnt little from how he got himself injured earlier in the season by throwing himself into tackles recklessly. First time he got a warning, second time he got a yellow card & third time he got a red card. He may have got the ball but leaping through the air like that often gets a straight red card.
We had a final flurry with Nuhui hitting the bar & May wrongly flagged for offside when he headed in the rebound. Dielna had a brilliant shot tipped on to the bar in injury time.
Westwood - 7 - two more brilliant saves
Palmer - 6 - kept his flank tight
Lees - 6 - a couple of lapses
Loovens - 6 - two misplaced headers
Dielna - 5 - mistake for second goal
Maguire - 6 - good second half, won & scored penalty
Semedo - 6 - struggled first half, better second half
Lee - 5 - never in game, at fault for first goal, took yellow card for team
Maghoma - 7 - great second half, took yellow card for team
Nuhui - 4 - hit bar but otherwise poor
May - 4 - made runs, robbed of goal by poor linesman decision
.........................................................
Helan - 4 - barely involved
Hutchinson - 3 - brainless, clear red card
Baker - 6 - late chance blocked
Bolton were maybe a bit lucky that Pratley didn't get a red card for a double yellow but his second offence wasn't as violent as Hutchinson's.
We were out thought tactically & we didn't have any drive in the first half. This has been the cause of many dropped points at home this season. It was made worse this time because of individual errors.
Our season looks as though to will end by early March with mid table assured. Our only goals at home since November have been penalties and we lack the guile to break down solid defences. Ten days break to maybe bed in a new system.
From talk of the Playoffs last week to talk of wholesale clearouts today.
As usual with Wednesday, when things seem bad, they are never really that bad and when they seem good, they are not really that good.
Yesterday we started sloppily & with no purpose to our play. This is far from the first time this season that we have started poorly. Lee's pass to Maghoma was suicide and we were punished. Dielna dithered and we were punished again.
Bolton were far better prepared for the contest. Neil Lennon's dossier policy showed as every Bolton player knew what we were going to do plus playing three in CM meant they controlled the match.
The first half had little positive to note. Maguire again proved a great penalty taker after he was fouled. There was one clever corner routine with two false runs allowing Maguire a shot from 25 yards. That was it.
In the second half we were much brighter with Maghoma switched to CM, cutting through the Bolton defence time & time again. Maguire looked much more inventive. It was little surprise when a substitution came but it was a shock that Maghoma departed after his best 20 minutes at home this season. The result was that we lost our momentum apart from one run by Hutchinson.
Hutchinson showed that he has learnt little from how he got himself injured earlier in the season by throwing himself into tackles recklessly. First time he got a warning, second time he got a yellow card & third time he got a red card. He may have got the ball but leaping through the air like that often gets a straight red card.
We had a final flurry with Nuhui hitting the bar & May wrongly flagged for offside when he headed in the rebound. Dielna had a brilliant shot tipped on to the bar in injury time.
Westwood - 7 - two more brilliant saves
Palmer - 6 - kept his flank tight
Lees - 6 - a couple of lapses
Loovens - 6 - two misplaced headers
Dielna - 5 - mistake for second goal
Maguire - 6 - good second half, won & scored penalty
Semedo - 6 - struggled first half, better second half
Lee - 5 - never in game, at fault for first goal, took yellow card for team
Maghoma - 7 - great second half, took yellow card for team
Nuhui - 4 - hit bar but otherwise poor
May - 4 - made runs, robbed of goal by poor linesman decision
.........................................................
Helan - 4 - barely involved
Hutchinson - 3 - brainless, clear red card
Baker - 6 - late chance blocked
Bolton were maybe a bit lucky that Pratley didn't get a red card for a double yellow but his second offence wasn't as violent as Hutchinson's.
We were out thought tactically & we didn't have any drive in the first half. This has been the cause of many dropped points at home this season. It was made worse this time because of individual errors.
Our season looks as though to will end by early March with mid table assured. Our only goals at home since November have been penalties and we lack the guile to break down solid defences. Ten days break to maybe bed in a new system.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.