Bolton Wanderers fan column: Burton and Birmingham await

I suppose that one of the benefits of this international break, one which has been magnified more so with the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as England boss, means that some of the attention has been taken away from Bolton and their result last time out against Aston Villa’s Under-21s.

Maybe the break and reset had been needed because, in all honesty, all of the added work on the training ground will be huge for the next three games as Ian Evatt watches on from the stands after being banned by the FA, alongside being hit with a hefty fine.

This came after a butting of heads with 25-year-old Shrewsbury defender Morgan Feeney. You can say what you like about Evatt’s actions and if he was justified or not, but I will just go ahead and say it was stupid and ill advised.

However, that has been and gone so let's not carry on talking about it. What it does mean is that amid a key run of fixtures (when are they ever not important?) Evatt will need to ensure his tactical plans against Burton, Birmingham and Peterborough need to be solid from the first whistle as he will not be able to influence this directly from the sidelines.

Does that matter too much? Or are the players in a place now that they know what to expect from their manager who has been at the club for well over four years? Every match will always require in-game tweaks and adapting to certain scenarios, but you can be sure that Evatt will be in the ear of Pete Atherton and company during the week.

I have said before how key these next few games will be as the teams Bolton face are all fighting at the top end of the table. The league form has improved over the last few weeks, albeit the slight setback against Shrewsbury in which some issues from set pieces reared their ugly head once more.

Evatt is hoping his players can work on those in order to minimise any repeat scenarios moving forward, but they may have to do so without Eoin Toal, who is fighting a battle to be fit after a head injury suffered whilst on international duty.

Everyone else has come through unscathed, with Josh Sheehan picking up a Player of the Match award for Wales. The midfielder is in a good vein of form right now after a mixed start to the season, and we all know that Wanderers are a better team when Sheehan keeps things ticking over in the middle of the park.

The Burton game is must win, while the Birmingham fixture on Tuesday is obviously much tougher. We all know that a few wins on the bounce means that the atmosphere suddenly changes to a much more positive one, as it always does whenever you get three points.

At least Evatt and I will both be watching from the stands on Saturday, so we do have that in common.

Winless Burton preface the biggest test of them all

By James Scott

A tough trip to St Andrew's awaits (Image: PA) After the disappointment in not being able to find a winner against Shrewsbury a fortnight ago, Bolton will come back from the international break without their manager on the touchline, and with the daunting prospect of table-topping Birmingham away at St Andrews on Tuesday.

The game against Burton provides an opportunity for Bolton to get back on track against the Brewers, who sit firmly in the bottom four without a win to their name. However, Wanderers boast some of the worst home form in the league – just one win all season when they dismantled Reading, mixed with disappointing draws with Wrexham and Shrewsbury alongside pitiful losses to Exeter and Huddersfield.

Wanderers must start fast and cannot afford to go one down early. Burton have been uncomfortable visitors to the Toughsheet for some time now, and Bolton must be aware of their gameplan should the Brewers go a goal up. With no Evatt on the touchline, much more of the responsibility will fall on the senior players in the Wanderers team to stay proactive and switched on throughout the entire 90 minutes.

Burton have conceded 11 in their last four league games, and Bolton have scored 13 in that same time period. Should Wanderers play to the level we have seen going forward in recent weeks, powered by Dempsey in midfield and Schon down the left, confidence could be improved going into the toughest challenge yet.

Defending set-pieces properly will be the key for Bolton over the next seven days. Both Burton and Birmingham will target this Achilles heel, as naivety has consistently taken over inside the 18-yard box this season. Wanderers were punished against Shrewsbury, and other teams in the division will be aiming to exploit this weakness.

This season, it is almost more comfortable watching this Bolton team have less of the ball, forcing them to be quick and incisive on the counter-attack. Dion Charles proved he is more than competent in this aspect of the game, firing in a wicked low cross for Northern Ireland team-mate Isaac Price to open the scoring against Bulgaria.

The players have the ability to play football at a fast and aggressive pace, and are capable of turning the Toughsheet Community Stadium into a fortress once more. A fast start and an early goal against Burton could help ease some of the inevitable tension in the ground, but a clean sheet and three points whilst staying switched on for the entire 90 minutes is the only way of going to Birmingham with some positivity.

Then the toughest test will await.

Stop the stop-start!

by Chris McKeown

I'm not a big fan of the number of international breaks. From my supporter viewpoint, it just makes getting stuck into the thick of it harder. Just as you are up to speed with the flow and match excitement - it comes to a grinding halt!

Although that’s my own perspective, I do think it potentially carries through to the club as well.

If a team is doing well, I don’t think you want to stop or take your foot off the gas. You’d want to keep up that momentum - like a high speed train wanting to reach its destination without pulling in at every station.

It’s akin to a boxer waiting for the bell to ring for the next round, to continue the fight, but being delayed, kept waiting like a caged animal. It  must be beyond frustrating!

Eventually, the impetus could start to wane and to restart that is a new battle in itself.

Now, if a team is struggling, some may welcome the break - a chance to reflect, reorganise and start to plan the resurgence. An opportunity to take a breath and take the scenic route to the destination, using all the time available to your advantage.

Giving certain teams a window to find an Achilles heel in upcoming opponents? Now, where do Bolton sit amongst all this?

Up to a few weeks ago, we fell into the struggling team category. Some may say, despite the unbeaten league run since the the last break, that we are still very much on the precipice of success or unfulfilled promise.

I’m not sure the break helped us at this time. For me, (ignoring the Villa U21 result) the three league wins and comeback against Shrewsbury, despite a shaky start, pointed at momentum turning in our favour.

The stoppage, I feel, left us in no man’s land - unsure what to feel or wondering which direction we will head in come the restart.

I think the next month will be telling. Going on a run of wins and good performances now, with the fixtures ahead, would be an enormous boost for supporters and surely add extra belief to the players and Ian Evatt to see Bolton amongst the top six come the next international disruption.

To go the opposite way doesn’t bear thinking about.

So it’s with anticipation and a touch of unease we begin again. Let’s hope by the time Bonfire Night arrives, we’ve not fizzled away but set the league alight!

Break, Breathe, Reset

By Becca Ashworth

Wanderers were undone by set plays against Shrewsbury (Image: CameraSport - Alex Dodd)

Usually, I dread the international break. A week in a Bolton Wanderers drought, pausing the excitement of the season and dragging us behind into the dreaded “games in hand” territory. 

This time round, however, I’ve almost felt grateful. Things have been getting out of hand and it’s starting to seem like an international break now may offer us the perfect opportunity to rest and restart.

Indeed, Evatt has slightly longer than the break to reset, with his touchline ban keeping him sidelined for a few weeks. Granted, I wish he’d taken a breath to reset before the confrontation that saw him banned, but any breathing time ought to be good for him.

There’s plenty to ponder: the inconsistency in results, the regularity of injuries, and, crucially, his own mindset. Over summer, he seemed to have used the break for a hard reset, but nothing has quite slipped into place recently. Rather than a hard reset, I hope he uses this time to do a softer reboot – to switch on and off again – and get the old, effective system back up and running once more.

Still, I’m not entirely convinced the break will be a good thing. I still am gravitating towards my tendency to look sceptically upon it, particularly due to our inconsistencies in performance. We’re a team that hasn’t settled into a rhythm – one that is screaming out for regular gameplay to restore some semblance of consistency. I would hope to be seeing more steady results by now, so the sudden jerk of a break scares me, as it threatens to disturb the early foundations of progress since the start of the season.

The break, however, does offer alternative methods to develop a rhythm. Our defence on set pieces has, so far, been ineffective at best, woeful at worse. I would hope that this has been a key recent focus. Likewise, it is a chance for the majority to regroup, to build their relationships on the pitch, and to practise tirelessly.

For those called to international duty, there have been some real confidence building performances. Sheehan put in a man-of-the-match performance for Wales and Charles was given a callout on the Northern Irish team socials for his assist and excellent performance throughout.

Of course, talking about the excellence of both to Wanderers fans is preaching needlessly to the choir, but such success on the international stage should be a real confidence boost. Hopefully, this is confidence they can take back and share with the team, who have, so far, seemingly been lacking confidence in their match-winning abilities.

Time will only tell the effect of the international break on our forthcoming games. However, this break has shown me that having a week to take a breather isn’t such a bad thing after all. That said, hopefully our results going forward will be positive enough that I’m back to dreading the international break the next time it rolls around.

Two games, same goal

By Lee Sidebotham

It’s ironic really, we could suddenly find ourselves in the play-off places if we win our next two games.

I think most of us would have taken at the start of the season. However, those two games couldn’t be more different. Here’s how I would approach them.

The Brewers haven’t won a game in the league so far and are currently sitting in 23rd. This, despite seemingly bringing in a completely new team over the summer. Make no mistake about it, it’s a game we should and must win. But we also said that going into the Shrewsbury game a couple of weeks ago and that didn’t exactly go to plan. Just like Shrewsbury, it could turn out to be a banana skin of a game.

I suspect we’ll have most of the possession and they will stick 11 men behind the ball at every opportunity. I’d start Matete who can bring the ball forward and allow more space for Sheehan and Thomason either side of him.

We must be proactive rather than reactive if we can’t seem to find that winning goal in a crowded Burton box. Let’s bring on our subs early and not be afraid to go for broke. But most importantly, we need to be more ruthless in front of goal. It’s the single biggest thing that has been letting us down so far this season. Let’s be more expressive in front of goal and shoot on sight. We know our front players have the shot and accuracy to do it, so give the permission to have a go.

Birmingham, on the other hand, haven’t stopped winning this season (besides a Nathan Jones masterclass when they came up against Charlton). That makes me feel a bit better about the defeat at The Valley back in August.

Birmingham will set up and play exactly how they want to, there’s no doubt about it. We won’t be dictating play like we’re used to so much. Let’s learn from the games against the likes of Arsenal and not play out from the back or play with a high line. I’d start Collins and McAtee and aim to play on the break. I would swap out Matete and bring Dempsey back into midfield in that playmaker role. For me, he’s been our best player so far this season.

Then, I’d also look at putting in Williams over Schon, if he’s fit anyway enough anyway. We need that added strength with the likes of Keshi Anderson and Jay Stansfield running at us on the left-hand side.

I’m confident enough to say that if we setup the right way and take our chances, we can beat any side this season. But that 'if' has only got bigger as the season has progressed. I guess only time will tell if we’ve learned anything from them.