10 points off the playoffs-not impossible.

  is it?

You could have asked this before the game when it was 13 points and the answer would have been the same.

Not impossible by any stretch.

The maths has never been the problem. It's always been about quality and consistency.

Wouldn't it be funny if we go into the new year with a fighting chance.

scottjames30 wrote:Wouldn't it be funny if we go into the new year with a fighting chance.

No it would be great, probably what we expected at least at the start of the season but given that awful start we had to be in touching distance of the play offs in January would be fantastic now. Here's to hoping it happens.

You never know guys!

As they say, it's not over till the fat lady sings!  

I have a feeling that our home form could be our achilles heel this season. The crowd at the Reebok are a little fickle at times, but if you go to an away game, the difference between the Bolton fans at the Reebok and the Bolton travelling fans is amazing.

Next up millwall at home, must win if we have any ideas of promotion. After that it's two away games at Watford and Middlesbrough.

If we're still unbeaten after the Watford and Boro games I'll be pleased. Getting that first home win against Millwall is absolutely crucial.

Winning today doesn't take away from the dreadful tac;tical decisions DF has made so far this season. Who knows, he may have had some game-changing thoughts, but under certain conditions I have no doubt he will revert to form. The Millwall game will be interesting to watch, and as Boggers says, its a must win. for the tactics, as well as the points.

I'm not getting my hopes up to be honest, I did after the Birmingham game and the next two home games gave me little confidence.

However a win against Millwall would make the next 2 away games pretty interesting.

If we can beat Millwall then football is mental .

Ha ha, you bunch of fickle wankers. One victory doesn't change anything. We were playing Bournemouth and won through a mis-hit shot that my Gran would have stopped and a deflection.

I love the interview the BBC showed with Dougie on telly last night, the first thing he said was "we got our tactics right" trying to take credit. Does he ever say "we got our tactics wrong" when we lose?

Wanker.

Haha that made me smile to be fair, gave himself a big pat on the back. Fair enough to him for taking some credit considering the criticism he gets when we don't win a game, and clearly he needs to point out the obvious to fans like you who refuse to recognise any positive things he does at the club. 

As Hipster says most of his critics attitude is that we win in spite of him and lose because of him, which is of course laughable.

It's bloody Bournemouth, with the players we have we should be given those southerners a good twonking. Even with Freedman's pathetic defensive tactics, we should win that game.

kennster wrote:It's bloody Bournemouth, with the players we have we should be given those southerners a good twonking. Even with Freedman's pathetic defensive tactics, we should win that game.

Although you're on the wind up I do think this highlights a problem with fans expectations, Bournemouth are a decent side who have started the season well particularly at home. We've started poorly and although you say the players we have should be tonking them, over the past few seasons there's been little to suggest they're actually capable of doing so. 

At the moment we get results by hard work and grinding them out, we're missing a 'star player' who can unlock defences, if Chungy plays like he did yesterday every week then he can help as can Mavies if he gets fit and back to his best.

Call me cynicla if you like, but Chungy and Ngog's sudden stepping up to the plate feels a lot like getting ready for the January window.

Was thinking the same thing Glos, both are out of contract in June I think and I've never thought either would be up for signing a new one. 

January will probably be our last opportunity to get something for them.

Bloody Hell! Ok it was a win that most of us could only hope for - and certainly didn't expect - but to start talking about the playoffs is a bit premature.
The tactics point is telling though.
Employing Ngog as a box-to-box midfielder and then subbing him when he was knackered was a masterstroke IMO. Noticed that Pratley wasn't around to do it - is he injured?
Ngog was effective at both ends of the park which was a revelation.
However...
it looks like the "containment" business is back on the agenda which is a worry. Hard to slag it off seeing as last season it took us on a decent run, but I still have trouble getting my head around a tactic that involves giving up possession, sitting back and absorbing pressure for the majority of the game and looking to score on the break. OK Beckford has a bit of pace up front but he's a lot better at running on to passes on the ground than holding it up and waiting for support.
That said, Dougie has tried to get them playing like Arsenal and this squad clearly doesn't have the skill to retain possession for long periods so I guess there's little option but to focus on not conceding.
If this is the way forward until we get talent back from injury or emerging youth coming through (nice to see Sanmi getting a runout BTW) then we're in for a very nervous ride.
Playoffs? I'm more concerned about putting a bit of distance between us and the relegation zone for now.

Hello all. 

Yes it's too early to start talking about playoffs or promotion BUT it seems with some of our posters Dougie is damned no matter what he says or does. Just for once instead of trying to be filled with gloom and moaning that it was "only" Bournemouth and the goals were rubbish and we are useless and everything we do is wrong can't we just accept that yesterday we played well, really well, beat a team who have a superb home record and we did it without conceding a goal. For crying out loud from certain posts on this very thread you'd think we just got relegated. 

I've got a hangover but even I don't feel as bad as some you seem to feel. We won, we kept a clean sheet away from home, we're UNBEATEN in six games and we looked (from the highlights I've seen) to be a far better outfit than the mob that looked so dreadful against Ipswich last week. 

All this talk of shop window for January and flukey goals is hacking me off. I don't normally get mad on here but for crying out loud show a LITTLE bit of happiness will you? I think there are real reasons for hope and if I'm wrong then so be it but to come on here condemning everything after a win seems insane. Dougie gets the blame when we lose or draw and yet it seems he isn't entitled to any credit when we win! Hypocrites, plain and simple. If he's to blame when we don't win then he's responsible when we do. If he has nothing to do with it when we do win then it can't be his fault if we don't. You damned well cannot have it both ways. 

If you don't like what I just typed then tough, I don't care. We're all supposed to be Bolton Wanderers fans and if all you want to do is look for reasons to be negative then frankly I feel sorry for you and think you're a little bit pathetic. I agree there are times to be negative but the day after a good and frankly unexpected win away from home is NOT one of them.

BUT it seems with some of our posters Dougie is damned no matter what he says or does.

You're right about this, posters like Whittam, Kennster and Whitesince63 refuse to recognise the positives and try and twist everything that comes out of the club in a negative way. That's part of Nat's online persona to be fair and I don't know Kennster particularly well, but Whites seems to be genuinely like that! Even inventing a situation with Marcos Alonso to criticise Freedman for.