All Square at the Macron
Article by Alan HoughtonClick here to follow e-Bolton Wanderers on Twitter!
Opinions are deeply divided on Dougie Freedman and the first two performances have only given fuel to the anti-brigade. The hammering at Watford and the struggling win over Bury in the Capital One Cup did him no favours. The jury is still out on him and he desperately needs a good start. It was in this atmosphere that we assembled in the Fanzone for the pre-match debate and witnessed the reincarnation of the delightful Reebok Rebels as the White Diamonds. What really lifted the spirits was watching Swansea beat Manchester United in the early kick-off.
The Lower North stand concourse has had a facelift with murals of past heroes like John McGinlay and Kevin Davies and prematurely Tim Ream. There’s a big screen showing videos of past glories, which only reminds us of what we are missing and a DJ walking about trying to whip up an atmosphere.
For our first league match at the Macron, Nottingham Forest brought a good following, which contributed to a great atmosphere. We welcomed back Joe Mason on a season long loan from Cardiff City and he set the stadium alight with a well taken goal in the fourth minute. He got on the end of a superb free kick from Jay Spearing. The first half was a cracking match with both teams going at it. Neither defence looked comfortable and Adam Bogdan earned his keep with a great double save. Forest equalised through Britt Assombalonga but we came straight back through David Wheater, when he took advantage of some slack Forest defending. Everybody seemed to leave it for Wheater to tap it in. Jay Spearing conceded the penalty for Forest’s and Britt Assombalonga’s second. I have no arguments with the penalty.
After the break, both teams tightened up and we yielded a lot of possession, although we didn’t look like conceding and we could have won it when Craig Davies missed a glorious chance when he headed over from a great cross by Kevin MacNaughton, on one of his rare forays forward. The defence looked more solid with David Wheater outstanding. The second half was best summed up when someone shouted “Come on Bolton, you can’t do anything without the ball!” Another fan countered “Steady on, we’re not doing much with it!”
This was a better performance, full of spirit against a team charged up by Stuart ‘Psycho’ Pearce. There’s room for improvement but these are early days. Forest are one of the fancied teams and they do not have the financial restrictions which we have. A draw was a fair result and they were far from impressive.
There’s talk of another couple of players coming in, probably on loan, to bolster the attack. Mark Davies is still a worrying absentee. Players are getting their form together after the close season break. It takes time to settle into a new season. The Championship table is looking rather strange at the moment with Millwall top and Brighton and Wigan near the bottom. I prefer to look at the table after about ten matches to get a fairer assessment of how the season is going. Ultimately it is the table after forty-six matches that matters. However it is important that we get the first league win of the season sooner rather than later, hopefully on Tuesday night against Middlesbrough. There was not much difference between the top and the bottom teams in the Championship last season and I do not expect it to be any different this year. Most teams are capable of beating each other. There is no elite top six like there is in the Premiership. Confidence and taking what chances come your way are the keys to success.
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