[royhan]

DM comes across as a genuinely nice guy, but I don't share the view that he should have been appointed because he has a deep love for the club. There is too much at stake for sentimentality. What happens between now and the end of the transfer window will have a vital bearing on whether we will sink or swim under DM. We need some quality additions if we are going to lose the likes of Chadli, Dawson and Rondon, but there is no indication yet that we are going to get them. Not only are we shopping in Lidl's but we only seem to be attracting players from the lower divisions. What are we paying our overseas scouts for? The Rondon/Gayle swap deal makes no sense at all to me as Gayle's heart is not on dropping down a division, if press reports are to be believed. It should not be forgotten that Gayle scored fewer goals last season that Rondon.

[colinmax]

It was said we didn't have another striker to put on the bench but unless hr was injured I would have picked Kyle Edwards who looked better in the play offs than our selected two.Our best player was a 20 year old and I would like to see a switch to a younger,hungry team.
I am always against swapping players unless we really want the offered player,why should we have a player the other team don,t want?

[Standaman]

There will be more days like yesterday I am sure. Darren is a rookie Head Coach and he made some mistakes but he was also let down by some of his players.

He needs to adapt his ideas and fast. The 4-4-2 did not work and won't with the personnel he has at his disposal and the complete rejig of the squad needed to make it work isn't going to happen in the next few days.

Unless Rondon is being a complete backside behind the scenes for us to reopen the discussions with Newcastle must mean that Darren really wants Gayle because with the release clause expiring we could just rebuff any further advances.

 The window still being open which is good sense that Moore can get a couple of reinforcements in but it is still a distraction for some of our players who are looking for moves. When the dust settles Darren will at least know what he has to work with and the players will either knuckle down or they won't play which won't be doing their career ambitions any good at all. I also feel that Moore is a strong enough character not to hold a grudge and get a player back on board.

This is a hell of a challenge for any Head Coach but even more so for one in his first job. All that said the plain fact is every fan who was on the Moore bandwagon had to know that and for some to be turning after one game is disappointing.

We have to give him time to ring the changes that are needed and if that means we have a stuttering season well that is just the way it is. We absolutely don't need another 6 month Head Coach appointment for any coach to achieve a culture and football shift they need time it won't happen overnight nor will it be plain sailing but the long term gain is worth the short term pain.   

[boot2006]

We're in for a long hard season, that's for sure.

At the moment I don't think we've got the balance in the team right.  We've got no real game changers in the squad.  I like Barnes  but it's too early to make any real judgement on him.  We need two more good strikers, an attacking midfielder, a centre half and a right back if we are to get out of this division.  I can also Myhill being our number one very quickly.

I like Darren Moore a lot, I really hope he gets the right backing.  This time in the Championship won't be like previous.

[don1thedon]

There will be more days like yesterday I am sure. Darren is a rookie Head Coach and he made some mistakes but he was also let down by some of his players.
... ...
This is a hell of a challenge for any Head Coach but even more so for one in his first job. All that said the plain fact is every fan who was on the Moore bandwagon had to know that and for some to be turning after one game is disappointing.

We have to give him time to ring the changes that are needed and if that means we have a stuttering season well that is just the way it is. We absolutely don't need another 6 month Head Coach appointment for any coach to achieve a culture and football shift they need time it won't happen overnight nor will it be plain sailing but the long term gain is worth the short term pain.

Nicely put Stan.
There are challenges on so many fronts & we as supporters have to stay strong and support one of our own, someone we all know has the clubs best interests at heart - that's a rare opportunity!

[frazzle]

Its disappointing that so many on here are already slating the manager. I agree it wasn't a great day and I agree with many of the points in terms of formation and selection, but can we back him for a little bit longer please.

If we lose the next game and then end up booing the players on to the pitch in the next home game then we are right back to square one and all the efforts of Moore and the club to galvanise a pride and culture will have been wasted within the first few weeks.

We need to stick with this for the next few games and see how things develop. I really think that with Jones now at the club, some of these issues will be ironed out.

[Mo]

Which three?

I felt nyom , hegazi , Robson Kanu who isn’t good enough anyway , looked like they would rather be anywhere else. Wasn’t over enthused by Bartley either .

[kirk]

Did anyone scout Bolton during their friendlies? Totally wrong tactics, team, line up. Wrong subs and couldnt change it. All of this worries me.

[BoingFlyer]

Darren's options on the bench were limited at best so I'm not going to read to much into his substition. While the buck will always stop with the manager the two goals we conceded were school boy errors by our defence and not really down to any tactical error on his part.

[TheBrom]

I got the feeling he was trying to make a point about needing another AM by not changing it when we clearly needed a change.

Saying that, other than Jimmy, the entire bench didn't really inspire confidence.

[koren]

It's still early days in his managerial career, he would have many things to learn and improve.

Hope he can notice the problem and makes changes in the coming games.
Especially the players selection in midfield, Brunt alongside Livermore is not a good partnership in my opinion.
Both are too slow and can't go forward. I don't blame them because Brunt is not a central midfielder while Livermore is a holding midfielder.
They need an attacking midfielder plays in front of them.

[baggiejohn]

Darren's options on the bench were limited at best so I'm not going to read to much into his substition. While the buck will always stop with the manager the two goals we conceded were school boy errors by our defence and not really down to any tactical error on his part.

IMO this is the area that needs sorting fast. Steve Madeley (ex E & S) made the point yesterday about Sam Johnstone's fitness, If he's not fit, he shouldn't be playing.
Up to now he's not impressed me at all having watched him yesterday & during the Cov friendly match.

[HampshireBaggie]

At what point do these set of players take their share of the blame? I'm sorry but Rodriguez, Livermore, Brunt, Phillips etc should be ashamed they couldn't find a way through Bolton's defence yesterday.

Not because Bolton are mugs, but because we had 72% possession. Scoring goals isn't hard. Brentford scored 5 yesterday. All it takes is some movement and good passes and you have a goalscoring opportunity.

90 minutes with 72% possesion and all these players could muster was 3 shots on target, mostly from outside the box.

I really am starting to shift the blame from managers to players now.

[graka]

I'm not going to go in hard on Moore for the same reason I didn't go in hard on Irvine.

It's neither of their faults they were appointed to roles way out of their depth.

Once again the fans have been let down by penny pinching by the board as I refuse to accept we couldn't afford to appoint a manager that had actually been a manager before.

Now he has been appointed though I feel we should give him at least one full season to see if he can improve and reach the required standard for the 2019/2020 season.

The question is will he improve enough? Or will the board even give him a full season to try?

I'm skeptical on both of those fronts

Exactly right. This club have always gone for the cheapest option available going back to the 70s when I started supporting us.
If you look at most teams they have a style of play ours is governed by shoe horning certain players in
Brunt must play, jrod another.
Hegazi and nyom had hardly any pre season but started.
Apparently we had a decent budget but again we only seem to be spending what we recoup
No real infrastructure behind the scenes of people with any football knowledge and a man in charge put there by an absent uninterested owner to balance the books.
I can only see another season of struggle with poor football on show

[GREGMT]

It's Moore's fault he is responsible for the team put out on the pitch.  If the players aren't good enough then get rid.  Players don't pick themselves.

[Atomic]

At what point do these set of players take their share of the blame? I'm sorry but Rodriguez, Livermore, Brunt, Phillips etc should be ashamed they couldn't find a way through Bolton's defence yesterday.

Not because Bolton are mugs, but because we had 72% possession. Scoring goals isn't hard. Brentford scored 5 yesterday. All it takes is some movement and good passes and you have a goalscoring opportunity.

90 minutes with 72% possesion and all these players could muster was 3 shots on target, mostly from outside the box.

I really am starting to shift the blame from managers to players now.

The players have taken plenty of the blame but managers have to take their share too. It was Darren Moore who picked the team yesterday, who set up in a basic 4-4-2, and who failed to make changes to affect the game.

[Adder]

Given it was Graeme Jones' first game with us yesterday I'm wondering what he would have thought - especially of our midfield and general movement.

It was obvious last season that we were getting outnumbered in the midfield area when we played the 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1.....if the midfield failings are not obvious from the touchline then DM or someone else should be sat up in the stand looking down on the pitch as it's obvious from there.

[Atomic]

In this day and age setting up in a basic 4-4-2 is a disadvantage before you even kick off. Graeme Jones needs to make Darren Moore understand this. It's not even as though we have the players who suit such a system partcularly up front. We need to go 3 in midfield one way or another.

[SirTonyM]

It's Moore's fault he is responsible for the team put out on the pitch.  If the players aren't good enough then get rid.  Players don't pick themselves.

The system was wrong but the players we put out were more than good enough to
beat Bolton.

[jharman292]

Hate 442. Whether Moore believes by playing 2 forwards we will carry more threat going forward, I don't know but I do know if he continues to play that system with the central midfielders that we have, it's going to be a long season.

My biggest problem with playing the system was just like Pulis, one of the forwards (appeared to be JRod yesterday) is asked to drop and get involved with play, however as we don't have a natural number 10 apart from Morrison who wasn't on the pitch, it just doesn't work and results in both strikers having little impact.

It is woeful that the club has been crying out for a central playmaker for so long and have failed to bring one in. As much as I wanted Morrison on the pitch yesterday, I was concerned that on day 1, we seemed to be so reliant on a man that is the wrong side of 30 and is coming back from some serious injury problems.

I am desperate for Moore to succeed and give us a team that we can really get behind but yesterday he made the same predictable mistakes that previous managers have been making. Yes he needs support in the market but he had the players yesterday so create a different result in my opinion and failed to do so, he must learn very quickly.




 

[Atomic]

Hate 442. Whether Moore believes by playing 2 forwards we will carry more threat going forward, I don't know but I do know if he continues to play that system with the central midfielders that we have, it's going to be a long season.

My biggest problem with playing the system was just like Pulis, one of the forwards (appeared to be JRod yesterday) is asked to drop and get involved with play, however as we don't have a natural number 10 apart from Morrison who wasn't on the pitch, it just doesn't work and results in both strikers having little impact.

It is woeful that the club has been crying out for a central playmaker for so long and have failed to bring one in. As much as I wanted Morrison on the pitch yesterday, I was concerned that on day 1, we seemed to be so reliant on a man that is the wrong side of 30 and is coming back from some serious injury problems.

I am desperate for Moore to succeed and give us a team that we can really get behind but yesterday he made the same predictable mistakes that previous managers have been making. Yes he needs support in the market but he had the players yesterday so create a different result in my opinion and failed to do so, he must learn very quickly.

That is what is so disturbing for me. Why can head coaches not see the obvious. Watching yesterday was like watching us under Pardew.

Ryan Woods and Marcus Maddison - go and get the pair of them this week.

[WBASweden]

That is what is so disturbing for me. Why can head coaches not see the obvious. Watching yesterday was like watching us under Pardew.

Ryan Woods and Marcus Maddison - go and get the pair of them this week.

Isn't Ryan Woods mainly a CDM? I see Romaine Sawyers as a better option tbh

[maccbaggie]

Isn't Ryan Woods mainly a CDM? I see Romaine Sawyers as a better option tbh

We need both types of player. We need two central midfielders to dictate the tempo and an attacking midfielder to play behind the striker and create chances.

[Atomic]

Isn't Ryan Woods mainly a CDM? I see Romaine Sawyers as a better option tbh

He can pass a ball and make the play. I'd bring him in in a heartbeat but as part of a rebuild for the future. We need more than just Woods though he'd be pretty ineffective in yesterday's set up.

[Mo]

Given it was Graeme Jones' first game with us yesterday I'm wondering what he would have thought - especially of our midfield and general movement.

It was obvious last season that we were getting outnumbered in the midfield area when we played the 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1.....if the midfield failings are not obvious from the touchline then DM or someone else should be sat up in the stand looking down on the pitch as it's obvious from there.

I feel had Jones had more time with the squad then there would have been changes. This is where the assistant should have been appointed much earlier Jones has very limited knowledge of our playing staff that will take a few weeks to sort .