Bolton boss on why Chris Doidge sat out at Boro and Ipswich

The Welsh striker, signed from Forest Green, has sat out the last two games after making his debut at the University of Bolton Stadium in the 2-1 defeat against QPR.

But Parkinson insists Doidge will soon be back in the mix, seeing clear signs on the training ground that the 26-year-old is adjusting to life at Championship level.

“Chris has played the full 90 against QPR, which was a big ask of him,” explained the manager. “He was fatigued after the game as you’d expect.

“I then had a choice between him or Clayton Donaldson at Middlesbrough and I thought if we got an injury in the early part of the game it might be a big ask for him to go on at that stage.

“Chris is a bit like Erhun Oztumer, he’s feeling his way in. He’s a terrific player and he gets goals all the time in training.

“When you get players who come up from Leagues One and Two – you don’t just flick a switch and adapt. It can sometimes be a case of getting up to speed in training and the better quality players.

“I still firmly believe Chris Doidge will be a good signing for us.”

Source

The fact that he's having to state publicly that he believes Doidge is a good signing is perhaps an indicator that there are doubts as to whether he'll make the grade. Otherwise why bother making the point?

Because he's heard so many fans expressing their doubt, and he needs to bolster the player's confidence.

It was a strange signing.He clearly wasn't one of our top targets of the summer and then out of the blue we paid a similar fee to the one Sunderland paid for Charlie Wyke.After one game of his Bolton career, Parky then drops him behind Magennis and Donaldson for a place in the team
It's possible to find a gem in the lower divisions as Big Sam did with Michael Ricketts but i think Doidge had been knocking around long enough in the Conference and Div 4 to have been discovered by now if he was a special player.One of the seasons he was top scorer at Forest Green he was about 15 goals behind a lad at Dover who got a move to Peterborough and didn't make the grade there
Mind you, playing up front for Parky's Bolton is a very tough ask for a rookie.He was asked on his debut to be the target man in a 4-5-1 with 3 defensive midfielders, even Ricketts would have struggled.

Parky wrote:“Chris has played the full 90 against QPR, which was a big ask of him,” explained the manager. “He was fatigued after the game as you’d expect.

Embarrassing. He had a full pre-season with Forest Green and played every game before signing for us. He should not be "fatigued" after one match or do they not play 90 minutes in League 2?

If I was the player I would not be thanking the manager for this statement.

Odd statement really, almost what my mum would call "Damning with faint praise" rather than a full blooded sign of support. Personally I think Doidge may be struggling with the faster pace of the Championship and the fact the setup here is much more defensive than he played in at Forest Green. I still think the ability's there but will he be able to use it to its fullest? I'm not so sure given how defensively Phil seems to set up.

I was thinking the same with him coming from a couple of leagues below up to the Champ and it being a faster pace.

He just needs a bit of time for him to get up to speed I reckon before we see his full potential.

It isn't faster in the Championship, there's just more quality.