Bolton 2-3 Leeds

First match of the season.

Ameobi already out injured for 6 weeks

Typical Bolton, eh!

Come on you whites!

Leeds fans aren't happy with their team sheet. Let's gave em!
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Gave em What?

Come on you Whites!

y2johnny wrote:Gave em What?

Should have said have* But think Darby has read this and gave them fucking everything. He is shite, can't be starting the next game!

Absolutey fucking shite!

Fuck off Parkinson, that was fucking embarrassing. I've seen more steel in a fucking girls under 8's team.

I've been telling you all fucking Summer that if you're going to let Spearing go you have to find a suitable (and hopefully better) replacement. He was shite, but at least he got stuck in and had a voice on the pitch.

The midfield of Karacan, Vela and Cullen would have been strengthened with the signing of Rylan Clark-Neal or Elton John for fucks sake. Absolutely embarrassing. No Bolton midfield should ever contain so many tarts.

Vela, for fucks sake, did someone tell you to hit the first defender with every single free kick? His injury at the end could turn out to be a blessing if it forces Parky to sign a proper midfielder. Stig Tofting would be my choice.

Cullen? Are you serious? Clearly signed to play the Mark Davies role i.e. fucking anonymous. Absolutely fucking crap. Why do we keep signing players that are scared of the ball?

Karacan? Kara-fucking-can't. Did he even touch the ball? Played 64 minutes too many.

Oh and the fucking defence! A Darby in defence? All of a sudden it was 1993 again and Julian Darby was picked to mark Stan Collymore. Today was just as bad. Parky, this is what you get for signing League 1 rejects. They have been released for a fucking reason!!

Dervite, please change your name to Dershite. Parky, I told you he would be a fucking disaster at this level, but you gave the fuckwit a new fucking contract!! Fuck off.

Anthony Taylor, you were just about the only player to come out of the game with any credit. Fair play to you.

Madine and Le Fondre both managed to score without the team creating a single chance which is pretty fucking lucky. Credit to Le Fondre for his effort, but we need pace, Armstrong looked a better bet and he only played for 10 minutes. Madine? Went through 90 minutes without getting a hair out of place, quite an achievement. Some half decent headers won, but you just feel he could try so much harder.

It was a terrible performance with some terrible players. Until we can hold onto the ball for more than half a second we are fucked, we will be down by January. It's a long time since I have been so pissed off at a match. Yes, we're skint - but there are still players out there who can hold onto a ball and pass it 2 yards. Like my Grandad.

Parky out.

Darby is shite

Predictable problems and a reality check at fortress Macron but TBH they did better than i expected, however we just weren't a consistent goal threat. Worryingly the defence was a problem largely due to the wing backs dropping in to make a back 5 and then not holding the line/playing their strikers onside. That said if the defence can get back to something like it was last season we might just have enough to win enough points over the course of the season to survive, but I do think we need something better up front than pinging it to Madine every time.
Any update on the Vela injury?

wanderlust wrote:but I do think we need something better up front than pinging it to Madine every time.

Won't happen. He's made it clear that it's his one and only tactic. He'd be better leaving Alf on the bench and picking that 100 year old striker we got from Bristol City.

Nothing very exciting from the new signings, nothing reassuring from any of the reliable players of last season, nothing really to suggest this side is any stronger than the one that was relegated two seasons ago. I do think 2-3 paints an unrealistic picture of the sort of season we're in for. I mean it was a quite entertaining match considering how poor we were going forward.

There was definitely something a bit too good to be true about last season, and this match certainly felt like a reality check. 

I don't think Parkinson's got it easy. When we were relegated to this division everybody thought we'd go straight back up, but six years on even the "small fish" in the pond can afford £5m here and £2m there, which is £7m more than us. 

That said, we might actually give ourselves a chance of staying in the division with a bit more willing to mix up the style a little. A bit of passage through midfield wouldn't go amiss for example.

I enjoyed todays game. Madine played really well as a target man laying the ball off and I felt at times we put them under a lot of pressure pumping the ball into the box. It was obvious Leeds had more class and speed than us, but there was only one goal in it and we had a chance of coming away with a point right up to the final whistle. I think it's very early days yet. Parkinson seems to have a way of making something out of nothing and we all know he has nothing in the bank. Given the resources we have, I can't think of anyone who would make a better job of it at the moment.

standishfirsttrombone wrote:Madine played really well as a target man laying the ball off and I felt at times we put them under a lot of pressure pumping the ball into the box.

Welcome to the site.

I don't think we created enough - yes we put a lot of long balls into their box but Madine's flicks tended to end up at the feet of a Leeds player.

While I didn't expect to beat Leeds, I don't think this one dimensional long ball will work at this level - and with a midfield that seems devoid of the ability to hold and pass the ball, I can't see any plan B.

I think we may need to look at different partnerships upfront.  Mix it up but i thought we did quite well today.  Darby wasnt great  (has anyone mentioned that by the way) but the "offside" goal which wasnt offside was basically all yhe other players where in sync and he wasnt.  It will come.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.


Madine was brilliant up until about the hour mark and then ypu could see his frustration, same with Vela.

We missed morais.  Ameobi and pratley  could make a difference too.  Wasnt a huge embarrassment like some are making out.  Anyone would think we are on game 45 of 46 instead of game 1 of 46.  Get a grip.

Match highlights - 5 minutes worth!

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Oh and a bonus video if you haven't seen it already - Luton 8 - 2 Yeovil

(Yeovil led 1-0 by the way!)

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Early days. Morais and Ameobi will eventually add a bit of creativity when they return. People are criticizing an ineffective midfield. They were ineffective largely because every time we get the ball we just launch it from the back. Hoofball won't get us very far in this division. Armstrong is a livewire and should be starting instead of Alf in my view. A poor performance but I'm not too downhearted. Match 1 of 46.

Does anyone have the number for Tyrone Mears?

Poor first half and our defence was all over the place which was strange considering Darby was the only new player. He was poor though and i was surprised to see him start. he isn't a wing back thats for sure, he didn't get forward and looked hesitant at the back. We need Morais back and quick.

I thought Madine was outstanding today as well, he won everything in the air but we were very direct today, too direct in my opinion. We have to mix it up a bit more.

Just to put things into context for this game and the season ahead -

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