MATCHWATCH : Bolton Wanderers (a) sponsored by the need not ot lose

[CountryRoyal]

HNA?! Went into meloltdown

[Sutekh]

Hobbs was only 6 foot plus in a bright white shirt, how on earth were they meant to see him?

[Snowflake Royal]

Oh dear. That was nearly good wasn't it. You gotta laugh though.

What was it? 65% possession and the Beeb notes Martinez made a string of good saves to keep us in it and we had less shots on target than Bolton despite the domination. Still can't play
out a lead.

No major damage done to our chances points wise. But that's gonna hurt.

Gomes now one win from 7/6/4 depending on how you want to look at it. Not looking great.

[sandman]

Loader is phucking awful. Should be nowhere near the first team when we're in a relegation battle.

Hi Alfie.

What are your opinions on senior players like John Swift, who missed a sitter and the rest of them who failed to wrap up the match several times before Loader made a mistake in the 92nd minute?

[Old Man Andrews]

So many people who only come on here to whinge crashed the site last night then, they literally just log in to moan. We are still in touch, we have our fate in our own hands and we have plenty of winnable games coming up. It is nowhere near time to panic yet and we have to take heart from what was a very good performance for 88 minutes. We reverted to type 88 minutes onwards and our mental fragility came to the fore, it takes time to get rid of that and way longer than the 7 league games Gomes has been in charge of.

Lighten up and get to the Villa game this Saturday with a positive attitude! We saw what happened at the Forest game when the crowd got behind the team and we need a repeat this weekend.

[leon]

Last night was a good example of why I hate this team. Pathetic.

[Zip]

Last night was a good example of why I hate this team. Pathetic.

+1. Fuming. That was Bolton’s third games in eight days. Our lot should have been really fresh.

[Stranded]

Oh dear. That was nearly good wasn't it. You gotta laugh though.

What was it? 65% possession and the Beeb notes Martinez made a string of good saves to keep us in it and we had less shots on target than Bolton despite the domination. Still can't play
out a lead.

No major damage done to our chances points wise. But that's gonna hurt.

Gomes now one win from 7/6/4 depending on how you want to look at it. Not looking great.

Martinez made one worldy from a speculative hit and hope that if it had gone in would have been goal of the season beyond that, one routine save from a long range hit and maybe one that he palmed away but was also routine - none of the Bolton chances were anything to cause any concern. So not quite sure where the Beeb is coming from there.

As for us, we played some excellent football at time, the way we played out of the press and then broke into space was a joy to see a Reading team do but the issue remains the final ball or finish. There were multiple occasions when we were breaking at pace but the wrong pass was chosen or the right pass overhit. We were so good at getting out of the press last night that Bolton stopped doing it as we were cutting through them too much.

I still don't know how Swift hasn't scored that header - 6 yards out, all he has to do is hit the target - it is misses like that that mean we are where we are and many more like that will mean we stay there. One cleared off the line and Aluko was unlucky that the defender just managed to get a slight flick to the ball else that was in the corner.

Oliveria was superb, lead the line excellently and if he were a little sharper then the chance he had to make it 2-0 would have nestled in the corner. Hopefully his muscle strain is just from a lack of minutes and he'll be good for the weekend.

There is no way we should have conceded last night and we need to get into our heads that from 88 mins if the ball lands at your feet around our box, just get it away unless a clear, safe pass is on. Gomes also has to find a way to get 95 mins of concentration into these players, the equaliser was a depressingly easy goal to concede.

At times, that match felt like a cup tie where a lower league team is at home, the opposition are just better but they are hanging on my the skin of their teeth - getting the odd chance but nothing that is likely to lead to a goal but still having the hope that they may nick something. The did.

This game and the one at Rotherham are the games that will kill us. Just taking these 2 games in to account, if we had managed to see out injury time then the table would look like this, this morning:

21. Reading 28pts
==============
22. Rotherham 24pts
23. Bolton 22 pts

We'd all be feeling a bit happier today.

As for Gomes, I'm not sure he's doing anything wrong - that performance was more than enough to win that match and we are honestly playing some really really good football - what is hard to countenance for is players missing sitters and defences switching off - he can and must try and find a way to improve both (sports psychology maybe) but if a player then plants a simple header wide or someone ignores the 6ft 4 giant lumbering into your box, not much that can be done.

[Gunny Fishcake]

How in gods name did we get that penalty ?

[Old Man Andrews]

How in gods name did we get that penalty ?

It is mainly because the referee awarded us it. Hope that helps.

[Stranded]

How in gods name did we get that penalty ?

There is a touch that knocked him off balance. I would be pissed if it had been given against us but it was a penalty.

[URZZZZ]

Obviously he's come on in the 90th minute but I just don't see why Loader is playing still. It really won't help his confidence if he's continuously picked, he's now trying too hard to score, aka Vydra, and you can see him panicking when in good positions, like at Old Trafford. He really needs a loan and a restart this summer before people write him off, especially if we get relegated and he's still sitting on 0 goals

Surely Baldock or even McNulty would be a better option off the bench? And then there's Bod to come back in as well

As for the rest of the team, it's truly pathetic, Bolton are completely toothless in attack yet we still concede to them in the 90th minute to a player that hasn't scored in five years. Whilst we look supposedly "much better" under Gomes, we have 1 win in 6 league games which is hardly inspiring

Not going to do ratings but Moore and Barrow were really poor, whilst Oliveira was a class above

[Hound]

Desperately frustrating. A 1-0 and we'd be delighted in a job very well done. Thats 3 times this season we've conceded an equaliser away in the last minute (under 3 different managers).

Another reasonable performance on all accounts without getting 3 points. Not a disaster but makes Villa a vital one to win

[Elm Park Kid]

I know we don't have much time, but I'm happy to see steady improvement each week. Realistically we need to win 6 from our remaining 17 games and get a couple of draws. I'm quietly optimistic that once our 'new' team has time to get used to each other the results will come.

[Silver Fox]

How in gods name did we get that penalty ?

was it because McLeary was fouled in the penalty area?

[Hound]

How in gods name did we get that penalty ?

was it because McLeary was fouled in the penalty area?

He was either fouled, or it was the most comical airshot Ive ever seen

[tee peg]

How in gods name did we get that penalty ?

was it because McLeary was fouled in the penalty area?

He was either fouled, or it was the most comical airshot Ive ever seen

My initial reaction was that he missed the ball........

[genome]

Not seen much about Miazga. How was he?

[Old Man Andrews]

Not seen much about Miazga. How was he?

Solid, perfectly adequate.

[nailseabiscuitman]

Obviously he's come on in the 90th minute but I just don't see why Loader is playing still. It really won't help his confidence if he's continuously picked, he's now trying too hard to score, aka Vydra, and you can see him panicking when in good positions, like at Old Trafford. He really needs a loan and a restart this summer before people write him off, especially if we get relegated and he's still sitting on 0 goals

Surely Baldock or even McNulty would be a better option off the bench? And then there's Bod to come back in as well

As for the rest of the team, it's truly pathetic, Bolton are completely toothless in attack yet we still concede to them in the 90th minute to a player that hasn't scored in five years. Whilst we look supposedly "much better" under Gomes, we have 1 win in 6 league games which is hardly inspiring

Not going to do ratings but Moore and Barrow were really poor, whilst Oliveira was a class above

Don't agree on Moore and Barrow while Loader came on in the 90th minute, what are you expecting? Some of the breaks from the back were brilliant, of course we should have got a second to put it to bed but for a team with all these new players who've only just met each other , you're expecting a miracle immediately. Bit concerned about left back, Yiadom broke well but always trying to come back onto his right, or cross with the outside of his foot, not ideal. Martinez looked very calm, calmer than me with some of the short ball but 2nd half thought he got the mix right. Overall, sick we let in the equaliser but Bolton were hardly going to lie down without fighting to the final whistle.