Bolton Wanderers v Exeter City Matchday Thread

[SEA Grecian]

I see they had Matt Gilkes in goal today. Christ, how many more times is he going to crop up against us? I see he's 38 now.

I'm not sure he'll enjoy the highlights; he was flat-footed and barely moved for both our goals.

 

[SEA Grecian]

We've all complained at times about Exeter being too defensive and having every player back for corners yet Bolton went to the opposite extreme and left two players upfield to defend this free-kick in the last minute of the game. The inevitable result was that there are 5 Bolton players and the keeper in the box to defend against Exeter's 7 and Pierce is left unmarked.

 

[Red Devon]

Didn't think much to the starting line-up this afternoon. McArdle looks after Hartridge well and in in a must win match,I couldn't see past a back 3 to stop Bolton. First 15 minutes we struggled,but once Bolton scored,they took their foot off the gas.The defence played well after that.There were mistakes by players,but they made up for it with good interceptions and tackles to get the ball back.

First half,our wingers weren't in the game.Willmott carried on like it and was correctly replaced by the reliable Sparkes who should start every time.Williams was different. Reluctant to get stuck in during the first half.Was tackling and beating defenders through out the second half.Took his goal well and could have had a second if he had been more selfish.Disappointed to see him subbed.Taylor looked exhausted when he came off.Covered the entire pitch several times over,but Atangana did well when he came on.Should have scored,but the shock of being on the edge of the penalty box got to him.

Bowman did his job,could have had a couple of goals on a luckier day.Jay was too selfish at times.Football is a team game,you need to look up and see where your team mates are.Getting to 20 goals is affecting his game.

A good performance.Its matches like these where you find out which players have the right attitude to make them worth retaining next year.

Williams seemed to get his Mojo back in the second half, MJ should have let him have a go at that free kick on the edge of the box near the end he looked like he really fancied it.

 

[Red Devon]

We've all complained at times about Exeter being too defensive and having every player back for corners yet Bolton went to the opposite extreme and left two players upfield to defend this free-kick in the last minute of the game. The inevitable result was that there are 5 Bolton players and the keeper in the box to defend against Exeter's 7 and Pierce is left unmarked.
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Williams goal reminded me of Harley’s at Torquay in the playoffs and will all know what that kickstarted

 

[east_mid]

The free kick from Sparkes was right on the money.Could easily have hit the first man or landed in the keepers hands.

 

[Pobbop]

So weird started the season desperately hoping we'd avoid the play-offs, now desperately wanting them. The fact that in both this and the Grimsby match I'd given up on them at points, now makes it seem an exciting opportunity, in previous Legue seasons we were disappointed to end up in them, this time we might be energized, who the **** knows, bring it City, season down to the last game as so many times under the Trust, compared to before when seasons had ended early for so many reasons in a pfft, for at least a dozen games.

 

[Stuck in Crawley]

It's not our only hope, but it's probably our best hope.


It is 'the hope' that is killing me!

 

[i8cornwall]

It's not just the number of signings but the fact that the likes of Sarcevic and Doyle must be on very decent wages and it's not clear to this distant observer how that can be sustainable when there's been no proper income this season. It reminds me of the Swindon fans last season who were convinced they were promoted because of the genius of Richie Wellens and refused to acknowledge how much money they had spent.

Doyle and Sarcevic signed pretty much because we offered them long term deals, Doyle has a rumoured 3 year deal which no one else offered him, again I'm not disagreeing that both are probably on decent wages within the confines of the embargo but for people to say we have splashed the cash is simply wrong nor would I put our promotion push down to evatt being a genius as like Matt Taylor he is a relatively new manager and makes mistakes.

The new owners aren't short of money, all creditors are paid off from going into admin and club staff are paid on time. They'll spend money yes but it won't be in a FGR or Salford way, we sold close to 5k in season tickets last summer so I've no doubt once fans are back that we'll be close to that again.

 

[StroudGrecian]

It's not just the number of signings but the fact that the likes of Sarcevic and Doyle must be on very decent wages and it's not clear to this distant observer how that can be sustainable when there's been no proper income this season. It reminds me of the Swindon fans last season who were convinced they were promoted because of the genius of Richie Wellens and refused to acknowledge how much money they had spent.

There's been no proper income for most clubs this season. A better comparison perhaps is Swindon now with Bolton in 2019 - the Trotters appear to have solid financial backing in place now, whereas the Robins are in really deep trouble.

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/19244300.swindon-town-ownership-wrangle-back-high-court/

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

I just love this..

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1388768829317210115