Bolton 1-1 MK Dons - Match Report Post #25

wanderlust wrote:But playing Derik at FB again. When will Parky let him have a go in midfield?
Still, it makes sense to go with two wingers.

What make you think Derik is right back? He's playing his usual back line of 4 with Taylor and Wilson as full backs.  I reckon we'll see Derik further forward.

we were hanging on at the end and we only had 10 men so a point is not too bad. More of a worry are the injuries to both full backs. Wilson pulled his hamstring i think so will be out for a while and we have no back up right back as Buxton is always injured

Only 1 shot on target all match is also a major concern

Report: MK Dons 1-1 Bolton Wanderers

IN BRIEF

Wanderers picked up a point away at MK Dons on Saturday afternoon.

The game was played in front of a record league attendance for the club, but they were silenced on the stroke of half time when Jay Spearing found the back of the net with a free-kick from distance.

But a goal from Kieran Agard after the interval ensured honours were even.

The Whites were also forced to play the final ten minutes with a man down when Lawrie Wilson limped off with an injury after Phil Parkinson had used all his substitutes.

TEAM NEWS

New signings Chris Long and Filipe Morais were in the starting line up alongside the returning Derik and Dean Moxey while Adam Le Fondre and Viv Solomon-Otabor were named among the substitutes as manager Phil Parkinson made four changes from the side that lost to Charlton Athletic seven days earlier. 

Tom Thorpe and James Henry dropped to the bench. Andrew Taylor was named in the original starting XI but was withdrawn prior to the start.

FIRST HALF

After a frantic opening spell which saw both teams win early corners, the tempo soon settled.

Stadiummk had a large crowd due to a free ticketing initiative to celebrate the town’s 50th year. Wanderers were backed by over 1,200 travelling supporters and played their role in a buoyant atmosphere.

The two new boys, Morais and Long, combined to create Wanderers’ first chance. Alnwick comfortably gathered a Dons corner and immediately dispatched the ball to Morais who broke into the host’s half. The Portuguese’s cross found Long whose glancing header went wide of target.

The move and effort sparked the visitors into life and they looked the more likely of the two to break the deadlock.

Ed Upson’s 20-yard free kick had Alnwick scrambling just after the half hour mark but the ball was just a little too high.

Vela had a great opportunity just before the half time break when the ball fell to him on the edge of the box. However, he was unable to control his volley and the ball sailed over Martin’s bar.

Wanderers had Mark Beevers to thank for maintaining the stalemate as the opening 45 minutes drew to a close. A last ditch challenge by the big centre-half as Harvey Barnes went clean through on goal.

But deep into injury time, the visitors took the lead in bizarre circumstances. Morais was fouled over on the far touchline. Spearing took the free-kick and his intention was simply to put it into the danger area. 

But somehow the ball curled beyond Martin and into the back of the net as it evaded touches from either team and nestled into the bottom corner to silence the majority of the crowd. 

Spearing and his team-mates ran the length of the field to celebrate in front of the travelling army.

SECOND HALF

Wanderers emerged from the dressing rooms with confidence which showed in their play. Morais, impressive in the first half, continued in the same manner, putting in dangerous balls from the left.

One such effort resulted in Madine heading just over while Morais was replaced ten minutes of the restart by Clayton.

The equaliser came just before the hour mark when Wanderers failed to clear their lines. The ball fell to Agard on the edge of the box and he rifled home through a sea of legs to give Alnwick no chance.

Wanderers made their second substitution with Viv Solomon-Otabor replacing fellow debutant Long.

The hosts were dominating possession and Parkinson made his final change on 79 minutes with Le Fondre coming on for Derik.

Wanderers changed shaped with Le Fondre partnering Madine in a 4-4-2 system.

The visitors were forced into playing with ten men for the final ten minutes with Wilson going off injured. Captain Spearing dropped to right back.

Wanderers were hanging on for the point as the Dons were sensing victory, but some last gasp defending and a solid display from Alnwick ensured that Wanderers went back to BL6 with a point.

FULL TIME

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Poor one dimensional performance, long balls aimlessly lumped up to an isolated Madine, Derik was sat deep with Spearing nothing coming through midfield. Long and Morais did okay, the other new signings didn't have enough time to make an impact.

No beer in the ground, bad day all round.

Might prove to be a useful point at the end of the season but a dismal performance to say the least. At least the freaking motorway was open all the way home.

I'd use the Clough money to fuck Parkinson off, he's a poor mans Dougie Freedman, one dimensional, no plan B, poor use of substitutions, and anybody who thinks Madine should be first name on the teamsheet needs sectioning, get Gary Rowett in.

Give over Martin he's had his hands tied behind his back from day one, no money to buy players, had to bring in frees and loans and still had us in the top two or three for nearly all the season - give the bloke a chance for Christ sake.

As for the match, 29 seconds of highlights here - can't have been much of a game then!

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Sluffy I'm all for giving a manager a chance, but this fella is Freedman MK2, he has no plan B, he persists with Madine who in terms of the team adds the best part of fuck all, his subs are not game changing, other managers have sussed his gameplan out and set their teams out to counteract it, which is why we are on the slide, Gillingham aside when have we looked comfortable in any game?

If we persist with him we'll be lucky to reach the playoffs.

MartinBWFC wrote:Sluffy I'm all for giving a manager a chance, but this fella is Freedman MK2, he has no plan B, he persists with Madine who in terms of the team adds the best part of fuck all, his subs are not game changing, other managers have sussed his gameplan out and set their teams out to counteract it, which is why we are on the slide, Gillingham aside when have we looked comfortable in any game?

If we persist with him we'll be lucky to reach the playoffs.

Careful what you wish for Martin, we are not exactly a great catch at this moment are we, we are third in the league we would have took that in May.

Funny how from a fans perspective nearly every manager is not tactically aware or has no plan B, usually coming from someone who last broke sweat in 1980(not you Martin in general)

It's a bit soon to be getting rid of the manager, but it's true he seems to have one way of playing and won't change it for anyone or anything.

Just like Freedman and Lennon before him, he seems intent on fitting the players into his system rather than finding a system to suit the players.

I feel sorry for Madine, he gets pisspoor service and is often left isolated. But I'm tiring of this unwritten rule that BWFC must play with a target man. I'd much rather see ALF paired with Clayton or Long in attack.

Something needs to change, we have become predictable and that makes it easy for the opposition to set up against us.

wessy wrote:Funny how from a fans perspective nearly every manager is not tactically aware or has no plan B, usually coming from someone who last broke sweat in 1980(not you Martin in general)

How dare you generalise.

I break sweat every single day, people are in awe of my fitness levels.

MartinBWFC wrote:Sluffy I'm all for giving a manager a chance, but this fella is Freedman MK2, he has no plan B, he persists with Madine who in terms of the team adds the best part of fuck all, his subs are not game changing, other managers have sussed his gameplan out and set their teams out to counteract it, which is why we are on the slide, Gillingham aside when have we looked comfortable in any game?

If we persist with him we'll be lucky to reach the playoffs.

I wouldn't go as far as that and I agree with Sluffy that he's had his hands tied financially, but he does have the power to change the system and despite having new players with different skills sets to work with it's clear that he is persisting with the same format - despite the fact that teams have worked us out and we are likely to find it increasingly difficult if he doesn't mix it up a bit.

Earlier in the season it was fine as we were keeping clean sheets and scraping a lot of results on the back of solid defending, but after getting only 1 point in January and no sign of a system change Parky is starting to look one dimensional.

There is an alternative to Madine. He could play ALF or Long up the middle and try to pass the ball along the ground instead of humping and hoping. With three new wingers, it must be worthwhile trying a bit of pace, movement and guile rather than trying to batter the door down all the time - which clearly ain't working.

I think next home game we should start with ALF and Madine or Clayton up front, Madine gets a lot of stick but he gets little support and even less service from wide areas, if we insist on playing long up to him then either play two up top or push the midfield higher to pick up any lay offs. Otherwise leave Madine on the bench and play ALF and Clayton and play more on the deck.

NickFazer wrote:I think next home game we should start with ALF and Madine or Clayton up front, Madine gets a lot of stick but he gets little support and even less service from wide areas, if we insist on playing long up to him then either play two up top or push the midfield higher to pick up any lay offs. Otherwise leave Madine on the bench and play ALF and Clayton and play more on the deck.

Therein lies the problem, Parkinson doesn't know how to play on the ground football, he's a hoofball type of manager hence the reason Madine starts every game, Parkinson as I said previously is a limited manager with little knowledge of how to change a game, get Gary Rowett in, he may not get us up this season, but we'll stand a better chance next season.