Cheltenham 1-0 Bolton

Another away trip and finally we're playing a team in the bottom 4 although I reckon Cheltenham are more like a mid table team who have had a tough start and who should survive this season no problem.

They've been close in every league game they've played this season:
A narrow 2 - 3 home defeat to Posh (6th) after going 2 up
A narrow 1 - 2 home defeat to Oxford (11th) having led in a feisty match with 2 sendings off
A 1 nil away win at Exeter (7th) - smash and grab as they were battered
A 0 - 0 away draw at Fleetwood (15th) in a bad-tempered stalemate
A 0 - 2 home loss to Pompey (2nd) - although they had their chances
A narrow 1 - 0 away defeat to Barnsley (10th) - they were poor
A 2 - 2 away draw at Vale (17th) with a late equaliser

They can compete - and have run the "top 10" teams close, so their position belies their strength IMO.
Cheltenham seem to start really well - which could be problematic for us as we tend to start slowly.
They have lively strikers in Nlundulu and Alfie May - although May isn't firing on all cylinders yet this season, much like our strikers.
They are big, strong and athletic as we know from our previous recent encounters with them.

This is not a game for complacency based on their (false IMO) league position - it's probably going to be a battle and I'd be inclined to start both Thomason and MJ and worry about amping up the creativity later in the game, but I've given up trying to second guess Evatt's starting selections.

It will be close but I'm hoping that we get the performance and tactics to do the job.

1 - 2 away win hopefully - the same result we achieved at the Jonny Rocks Stadium when we were in top form at the end of last season (they drew 2-2 at our place)

I think we'll win this, they've started slowly and we should have too much for them. I'm going for a 2-0 away win.

This is the sort of game we should win if we have any aspirations of finishing in the top half.

But, of course, it's just the sort of game we regularly lose.

If Cheltenham have done their homework they'll make it a battle, and for that reason I'm going to say 2-0 home win.

Cheltenham fans prediction league going with a mixture of home wins and draws with only 1 entry suggesting an away BWFC win - I get the impression that they feel Cheltenham are due to come good.
Most reckon Alfie May will score.
Hopefully we'll be too good for them and we cope with their direct approach.

Had a quick look on the Robins Nest site today. They seem more interested in Morecambe than Bolton.

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They've got Nlundulu on loan from Southampton - he's big, quick and he's going to be a real test for Santos.

Crikey, if we’re worrying about not beating the Cheltenhams of this world then we’ve no right considering we’re promotion contenders. Of course we should beat them because we’re a much better team. Whatever team IE puts out we should be far too good for them and I’m hoping for once that our strikers finally find their shooting boots but frankly I don’t care who scores as long as we will. I think we will and comfortably so I’ll go for 0-3 to Wanderers.

They are considering cancelling this weekend's games as a mark of respect re the Queen's passing.
Friday's games already cancelled and a decision will emerge soon on the others. Here

There is also the possibility of cancelling the weekend of the funeral.

Bit of a debate going on the Cheltenham fans site as to whether sport should be cancelled.

Tell it to all the thousands of people who depend on these games for their income - little business around the grounds, hot dog sales, even pubs - all lost income.
I'd bet money if asked the Queen would tell them to continue on as per usual.

terenceanne wrote:Tell it to all the thousands of people who depend on these games for their income - little business around the grounds, hot dog sales, even pubs - all lost income.
I'd bet money if asked the Queen would tell them to continue on as per usual.

???

The games will all be played - just not on the date is says in the fixture calendar.

Ok maybe a midweek game might not be as profitable than a Saturday game but I don't think any business will build their economic dependence just on one match being played on one specific date.

Sluffy wrote:

???

The games will all be played - just not on the date is says in the fixture calendar.

Ok maybe a midweek game might not be as profitable than a Saturday game but I don't think any business will build their economic dependence just on one match being played on one specific date.

They could have been called off due to snow and ice. It's a one off and is a minor inconvenience at worst.

boltonbonce wrote:
They could have been called off due to snow and ice. It's a one off and is a minor inconvenience at worst.

Minor inconvenience at wurst!

It's not minor if you are  that famous hotdog WURST seller and you are travelling from Munich.

Cajunboy wrote:
Minor inconvenience at wurst!

It's not minor if you are  that famous hotdog WURST seller and you are travelling from Munich.

Sorry Cajun. I forgot about him.

I fail to see how preventing millions of football fans around the world from watching the Prem league is a sign of respect. Considering 99% of all other events will go ahead as per usual. Also, most people who work on the weekend will continue to work. Black arm bands and two minutes of silence would be enough IMO.

I think this is a big match for Bolton tonight, more so than Lincoln at home on Saturday where 3 points were  expected.To challenge for automatic promotion the club wlll have to win more than 1 of every 4 away games as it has done so far this season.Hopefuly it will be 2 wins from 5 later tonight

Nice to see the mods are on the ball as usual. One job, one fecking job!

This is just the sort of game we are experts at losing.

2-1 to Cheltenham.

Can’t see a problem in this one if we turn up as we have been doing and especially if Alfie May is missing as expected. They are apparently awaiting a scan but it is still swollen so I can’t see any way he’ll be risked. Their main hope of scoring is probably via their long throws which come in from both sides but our defence looks much stronger this year and I think we’ll hold out. On that basis Evatt may decide to start with Bod rather than Kachunga, although to be fair to Kacha he’s been superb on the forward press with Dion, so who knows? One change I do expect is in midfield for Lee but other than that I suspect any wider switches might be saved for Saturday which should be slightly easier. Either way I expect a comfortable win so I’ll go 0-2 for Wanderers with another clean sheet.

Whitesince63 wrote:although to be fair to Kacha he’s been superb

Yeah, let's pick someone who can run about a bit over a proven goalscorer.

Kachunga - 7 games , 0 goals

Bod - 30 minutes, 1 goal