ANOTHER season filled with high expectations has been dramatically brought back to reality with an opening day defeat at the hands of our local rivals Burnley, writes Eddie Skelly of Horwich .

For me, the players looked as if they weren’t up for it.

The squad seemed out of sync with each other and lacked the creativity needed to create a solid effort on goal.

The bright period for the first twenty minutes quickly became a faded memory on the coach home.

The fans, who once again sold out and went home disappointed, were fantastic up until the second Burnley goal. Then the noise went down like a lead balloon and the boo boys did nothing but hinder the players confidence at the end of the game.

When people used to think of Bolton Wanderers , they thought of the tough tackling, no nonsense side that were stubborn and chased every ball and never gave up until that final whistle blew. Now, it seems like that desire has been lost and the result today was the perfect chance to show the players that the gutsy, no nonsense style needs to be embroidered into the new, more refined style that had graced the Reebok under the leadership of Coyle.

The Championship is a much tougher and ‘desperate’ league, where easily half the teams could have a chance of promotion.

If Bolton want to make immediate jump back up to the promised land, they’re going to have to find consistency and grind out the scabby wins that made the Whites the most hated team under Big Sam.

If we don’t, we could end up stuck in mid table mediocrity where the club and the fans don’t deserve to be.

Things can only get better, I hope…