Plymouth 2-0 BWFC

Argyle sit one point and a couple of places ahead of us in the table and goodness knows where they'll be in May, but they're in decent form now and games against form teams didn't go well for us last season so it will be another chance to see if we can remedy that.
From what I've seen of them so far this season (match highlights ) and talk on the fans' forums, they are pretty much the same old Argyle from last season who finished just outside the playoffs in 7th and beat us home and away - but have added some talented loanees including Azaz from Villa and Mumba from Norwich.
Last season's top scorer Ryan Hardie (19 goals) is still there, but was dropped from their last game after they got battered by another good team Charlton in their only slip up so far this season having had a player sent off late in the first half.

Not sure how this one will go, but we must surely improve on the 3 nil drubbing we got last time we went to Home Park. Plymouth are definitely aiming for promotion and have a fair bit of quality about them these days, so we'll need to be on top form to get anything from the game.

My guess 1 -1.

I suspect an absolute dicking, this is just the sort of place where our lack of a solid defensive midfielder will cost us.

3-0 to Plymouth.

A draw would be a decent result i think so i'm going 1-1.

I hope they've recovered from chasing Villa round second half as otherwise it could be a long afternoon.

2-0 win. Back on track. You heard it here first.

I couldn’t help noticing that Shazza arranged for Rick Parry to sit next to her on Tuesday. It can’t do any harm to have the EFL boss on your side.

I expect she might be rubbing  shoulders, so to speak, with Simon Hallett today. She could learn a thing or two from the Pilgrims owner.

Five changes from Tuesday night.
Elias Kachunga leads the line with Dion Charles.
Kieran Lee retains his place in midfield.

The Wanderers team to face [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] at Home Park this afternoon: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Afolayan left out in favour of Kachunga?
He’s not been at his best but……….

Kachunga??

Evans out!

And so close to transfer deadline day!!!!!

Again, it's very easy to predict the teams who will beat us. I thought Plymouth were awesome last year and I was surprised that they didn't go up. Unless we strengthen the squad this lot will finish above us:
Peterborough
Wednesday
Portsmouth
Ipswich
Plymouth
Derby
Wycombe
MK Dons

Well that was a resurgence of some old familiar problems.
Missed header from Johnston and a poor tackle from Santos - focusing on getting across the man instead of the ball - gifted them a goal totally against the run of play.
A second goal on the break that should have been covered.
Missed chances in both halves.
Not enough chances for the possession we had.
Worst of all was the doing the basics - poor touch and wayward passes - especially the final pass cost us dearly.

We're looking like a mid-table team.

No need to panic but I am lowering my expectations for starters. Although we were the better team for portions of the game, we are missing somat - not sure what at this point. 
Sadlier had two shots a Brillant pass within 5 minutes of coming on - just saying.

Some poor decision making again on and off the pitch. Evatt should have made changes at HT, and left the changes too late.
Instead of making changes in an effort to win the game, we were reduced to making subs in an effort to save it.

SIGN A FUCKING DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER YOU BELLEND.

Was Evans taking the piss with that team selection today? No defensive midfielder away at a promotion contender? Williams might not be great but he's better than nothing. And nothing is exactly what we had, and got.

And Kachunga up front? The mind boggles. Few things unite Bolton fans, but Kachunga being crap is definitely one of them. The manager is, sadly, the only one who rates him.

Just fuck off Evans. Get back to 4-4-2 with Dapo on the wing and Kachunga in the stands.

We're not getting anywhere near the top 6 this year, but I'd at least like to have a go with our best team on the fucking pitch.

Evans out.

Early days, have faith, things will improve.

Evans in!

I think it's mostly the standard of the players rather than the manager that is the issue here, Bruce Rioch wouldn't be getting this squad into the top two, but then again Mr Rioch probably wouldn't have taken the job on this budget.
Having watched the unconvincing win v Morecambe and deseveed defeat v Sheff Weds, i didn't think a defensive midfielder was a top priority, the main issues are that midfield lacks creativity and the forwards aren't good enough.
It can only be remedied by payng higher wages for a couple of better players And then there is the problem of the club captain having 3 nightmare Saturdays in a row, but at this point I think central defence is less of a concern than central midfield and the strikers.

Growler wrote:I think it's mostly the standard of the players rather than the manager that is the issue here, Bruce Rioch wouldn't be getting this squad into the top two, but then again Mr Rioch probably wouldn't have taken the job on this budget.
Having watched the unconvincing win v Morecambe and deseveed defeat v Sheff Weds, i didn't think a defensive midfielder was a top priority, the main issues are that midfield lacks creativity and the forwards aren't good enough.
It can only be remedied by payng higher wages for a couple of better players And then there is the problem of the club captain having 3 nightmare Saturdays in a row, but at this point I think central defence is less of a concern than central midfield and the strikers.

Sorry Growler I wholeheartedly disagree with most of that.

True, the standard of the squad isn't great (although it was Evans who signed them) but at least give yourself a chance by picking your best team and formation. Dapo was our best player and most likely scorer when playing from the wing and cutting in, but Evans has moved him to striker and then the bench. It's like Pep moving Haaland to the wing or Klopp making Salah centre forward. It wouldn't happen because it's absolute nonsense.

As for the defensive midfielder, show me one team in the last 10 years that's won promotion from League 1 or 2 without a defensive midfielder. You won't find any. I tell you now, if Evans had signed a decent defensive midfielder in the Summer we'd be a much better team.

As for picking Kachunga? Nothing really needs to be said that everyone isn't thinking.

According to the stats we were the best team yesterday - which means nowt of course.
I agree that playing our best team with players in their correct positions would be grand. Further it might gel that combination together, stop chopping and changing and therefore get us over the line - remember its small margins. 
Only six games in but the favored teams are already above us - Portsmouth and Ipswich are two full games ahead. The point is That even at this early stage the teams who are favored are where they are supposed to be - we are in catch up mode already. As I said before maybe that supercomputer knows somat.