Bolton this Saturday

[1985CTFC]

Get the ball rolling..................in to the net.. hopefully.
Lets hope Bolton play like the name of their Stadium!!
Look it up.

[CS85]

1,520 Bolton fans heading down,let's hope they have nothing to shout about.

[1985CTFC]

1,520 Bolton fans heading down,let's hope they have nothing to shout about.

They seem pretty confident with their predictions. Wonder if they remember last years game.
Not under the lights this time. We need to create a good atmosphere and get behind the team.
Forget last 2 games and show them what we are about.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

1,520 Bolton fans heading down,let's hope they have nothing to shout about.

They seem pretty confident with their predictions. Wonder if they remember last years game.
Not under the lights this time. We need to create a good atmosphere and get behind the team.
Forget last 2 games and show them what we are about.

Last game’s history next game’s a mystery.

If football results were predictable, there’d be no point going to matches.

[Fuller]

1,520 Bolton fans heading down,let's hope they have nothing to shout about.

So a crush in the concourse of our half of the CF stand again…

[1985CTFC]

From their forum...they are going to pass us to death !!!

We've completed a whopping 1,400+ passes in our first 2 games
Wow.

[Haitch]

From their forum...they are going to pass us to death !!!

We've completed a whopping 1,400+ passes in our first 2 games
Wow.

They're going to be relieved when they find out how many of those passes are actually dangerous/go to the intended player....

[Shade]

Errrrrr...I think there's some incorrect terminology there.

I dislike Bolton fans very much. I am not looking forward to this Saturday.

[Malabus]

Keep it below five goals conceded and Wade will see it as "A game with plenty of positives" 🫠

[Jerry St Clair]

I dislike Bolton fans very much. I am not looking forward to this Saturday.

Yes. Bolton are a club I happen to have some history with. Bad experiences at Burnden Park, Elm Park and Wembley back in the day.

I fear we're going to get a hiding and they won't exactly be magnanimous in victory.

[Wanderlust]

Sorry if you've had a bad experience with Wanderers fans in the past - every club has it's idiots and we're no exception.
We certainly have our fair share of deluded fans and expectations for this season are high now that we're 3 years into a comeback from oblivion in which we've improved year on year plus we had a solid preseason, not that it means anything. Evatt's catchphrase this year has been "ambition not entitlement" - but not everyone is listening.

We had problems with a couple of transfers we were hoping for that didn't happen and a season-ending injury to our left-sided CB just 10 minutes into the first preseason game so whether or not we have enough for a push this time around remains to be seen.

The passing thing is to be expected - Evatt has been drilling that into the team since the day he arrived - and it's true that a lot of it is across the back but there have been some improvements in making it count - last season we just couldn't score enough goals. It seems like the midfield has finally been given license to shoot (as opposed to trying to walk it in) and we are capable of some slick passing moves in and around the box when we're at our best - which is sporadic. Your pitch is slightly narrower than ours from memory and that will go some way towards negating our (over?)use of width.

Not sure what team will be picked on Saturday - the squad has OK quality in most positions but Evatt reckons the players in each position have different strengths (not like for like) and so picks the team based on the opposition.
Whoever plays, we're likely to press hard from the front and try to control the play - but occasionally we overstretch ourselves and gift opportunities which your lads could capitalise on.
I think the first goal will be crucial. If you score first it could be a long afternoon for us. A lot of talk about Alfie May leaving but you have a good team without him and anyway there's talk of you finding a replacement striker this week.

Overall we're not in bad shape as a club and going in the right direction ATM. Looks like we're operating on a solid financial footing at last, have a decent squad, have reconnected with the community and the fans mainly have confidence in the owners, manager and team.

At home we're very much a family/community club these days but that doesn't necessarily reflect in the away following so I hope everyone behaves themselves and we can enjoy a good game.

[longmover]

Sorry if you've had a bad experience with Wanderers fans in the past - every club has it's idiots and we're no exception.
We certainly have our fair share of deluded fans and expectations for this season are high now that we're 3 years into a comeback from oblivion in which we've improved year on year plus we had a solid preseason, not that it means anything. Evatt's catchphrase this year has been "ambition not entitlement" - but not everyone is listening.

We had problems with a couple of transfers we were hoping for that didn't happen and a season-ending injury to our left-sided CB just 10 minutes into the first preseason game so whether or not we have enough for a push this time around remains to be seen.

The passing thing is to be expected - Evatt has been drilling that into the team since the day he arrived - and it's true that a lot of it is across the back but there have been some improvements in making it count - last season we just couldn't score enough goals. It seems like the midfield has finally been given license to shoot (as opposed to trying to walk it in) and we are capable of some slick passing moves in and around the box when we're at our best - which is sporadic. Your pitch is slightly narrower than ours from memory and that will go some way towards negating our (over?)use of width.

Not sure what team will be picked on Saturday - the squad has OK quality in most positions but Evatt reckons the players in each position have different strengths (not like for like) and so picks the team based on the opposition.
Whoever plays, we're likely to press hard from the front and try to control the play - but occasionally we overstretch ourselves and gift opportunities which your lads could capitalise on.
I think the first goal will be crucial. If you score first it could be a long afternoon for us. A lot of talk about Alfie May leaving but you have a good team without him and anyway there's talk of you finding a replacement striker this week.

Overall we're not in bad shape as a club and going in the right direction ATM. Looks like we're operating on a solid financial footing at last, have a decent squad, have reconnected with the community and the fans mainly have confidence in the owners, manager and team.

At home we're very much a family/community club these days but that doesn't necessarily reflect in the away following so I hope everyone behaves themselves and we can enjoy a good game.

nice post.

Do you reckon Dan Nlundulu has any real future with you guys?

[Wanderlust]

Dan is a quandary to us.
He obviously has some good characteristics, mainly athleticism but his touch is poor we question if that's something that can ever be rectified.
The thing is, Ian Evatt obviously sees something in him that most fans struggle to see - but Evatt has a lot of credit in the bank with the fans ATM so by and large folk are not too critical of Dan. Evatt has a good track record of developing young players so he'll get time to do it.
The other thing about Evatt is that he knows we haven't got cash to splash on instant solutions so he goes for affordable players that have specific characteristics and uses them for specific roles in specific games - maybe he sees Dan as doing a particular job? (I suspect that is to work hard with Dion Charles up front to give the defenders no peace for an hour to tire them out and then sub him or bring him on at the end of the game when someone else has done that?) but it certainly isn't playing the traditional strikers role, at least not for now.
He's been underwhelming so far - as have all our strikers apart from Dion - but playing "the Evatt way" they all have specific jobs to do and miles to put in - apart from the two old guys Jerome and Bodvarsson who actually are traditional strikers but can't do 90 minutes these days.
I hope Dan makes it, but for now we're struggling a bit to see how.

[Si Robin]

The thing with Dan is that he'll be anonymous for 3-4 games, and then out of nowhere he'll do something completely unimaginable and you're wondering why he isn't able to do it every game.

He scored 5 or 6 goals for us last season, and nearly all of them were absolute worldies.

[Wanderlust]

The thing with Dan is that he'll be anonymous for 3-4 games, and then out of nowhere he'll do something completely unimaginable and you're wondering why he isn't able to do it every game.

He scored 5 or 6 goals for us last season, and nearly all of them were absolute worldies.

Goals would be great and it's good to know that he has it in him, but I'm not sure Evatt's playing style will give him enough chances Si.
Evatt works the starting strikers into the ground and they are expected to chase down everything until they can hardly walk - massive workrate expected. Just watch Dion and (probably Vic Adebayejo) tomorrow - they'll be running miles, non-stop even if it means coming back to the halfway line. He intentionally knackers them so that by the time subs are needed, we are replacing tired strikers and the opposition have to then consider using their subs to replace tired defenders which theoretically gives us an advantage - but obviously that depends on the state of the game. If we're losing at 60-70 minutes Evatt just throws on more attack-minded players and leaves defence to Rico Santos who is integral to his approach. Dan isn't a goal machine so like everyone else he'll have to make sacrifices for the good of the team and that may limit his scoring opportunities - but he's starting to learn the system and hopefully he'll come good in the end.

[Shade]

The thing with Dan is that he'll be anonymous for 3-4 games, and then out of nowhere he'll do something completely unimaginable and you're wondering why he isn't able to do it every game.

He scored 5 or 6 goals for us last season, and nearly all of them were absolute worldies.

Goals would be great and it's good to know that he has it in him, but I'm not sure Evatt's playing style will give him enough chances Si.
Evatt works the starting strikers into the ground and they are expected to chase down everything until they can hardly walk - massive workrate expected. Just watch Dion and (probably Vic Adebayejo) tomorrow - they'll be running miles, non-stop even if it means coming back to the halfway line. He intentionally knackers them so that by the time subs are needed, we are replacing tired strikers and the opposition have to then consider using their subs to replace tired defenders which theoretically gives us an advantage - but obviously that depends on the state of the game. If we're losing at 60-70 minutes Evatt just throws on more attack-minded players and leaves defence to Rico Santos who is integral to his approach. Dan isn't a goal machine so like everyone else he'll have to make sacrifices for the good of the team and that may limit his scoring opportunities - but he's starting to learn the system and hopefully he'll come good in the end.

Well, now I'm expecting us to try passing it out from the back from goal kicks and get pinned in time after time, until we concede an extremely soft goal. If we have scouted this and decide to go long from the start I will be amazed

[Wanderlust]

The thing with Dan is that he'll be anonymous for 3-4 games, and then out of nowhere he'll do something completely unimaginable and you're wondering why he isn't able to do it every game.

He scored 5 or 6 goals for us last season, and nearly all of them were absolute worldies.

Goals would be great and it's good to know that he has it in him, but I'm not sure Evatt's playing style will give him enough chances Si.
Evatt works the starting strikers into the ground and they are expected to chase down everything until they can hardly walk - massive workrate expected. Just watch Dion and (probably Vic Adebayejo) tomorrow - they'll be running miles, non-stop even if it means coming back to the halfway line. He intentionally knackers them so that by the time subs are needed, we are replacing tired strikers and the opposition have to then consider using their subs to replace tired defenders which theoretically gives us an advantage - but obviously that depends on the state of the game. If we're losing at 60-70 minutes Evatt just throws on more attack-minded players and leaves defence to Rico Santos who is integral to his approach. Dan isn't a goal machine so like everyone else he'll have to make sacrifices for the good of the team and that may limit his scoring opportunities - but he's starting to learn the system and hopefully he'll come good in the end.

Well, now I'm expecting us to try passing it out from the back from goal kicks and get pinned in time after time, until we concede an extremely soft goal. If we have scouted this and decide to go long from the start I will be amazed

We do try to pin teams back but the best way to get at us is to break quickly and pass through the lines. We have Santos at the back and he's a beast who is strong and quick so long balls usually get swept up however he sometimes wanders too far up the pitch when we're in possession and if he can be bypassed chances can be created. Both West Brom and Everton showed us in preseason that pace and incisive quality through balls can cause us problems.
The other issue we have is we tend to start slowly and if we concede first and early it takes us time to get into the groove. Evatt likes to take time to work out the opposition and then switch it up mid-game - even changing formations at times - so it's frustrating for the fans, but he usually gets it right providing the players are performing.
Wade Elliott is a smart cookie and he'll undoubtedly have a plan.

[Wellwisher]

@Wanderlust

What plans does Evatt have to replace Liverpool loanee Conor Bradley this season? Last time out he looked a key player for you.

[Wanderlust]

@Wanderlust

What plans does Evatt have to replace Liverpool loanee Conor Bradley this season? Last time out he looked a key player for you.

Definitely was - but we can't afford him and he's hoping to get in contention for the Liverpool team behind Trent but will probably go out on loan in the Championship. Trafford's gone too and replacement Baxter hasn't really been tested yet.
Our first choice was Kane Wilson but we couldn't afford him so he signed for Derby.
We have Declan John who can play RWB and we've signed Dacres-Cogley from Tranmere who looks OK there - gets up and down the side and has decent delivery and link up but we'll see how he goes. Also have a kid in the youth team who is a good prospect. Some fans think we should be looking to sign someone else but our recruitment has been very targeted and within a tight budget (why the transfers we wanted fell through due to excessive personal terms demands after clubs agreed) and in general we're trying to develop our own rather than other clubs' players but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll ignore the loan market if the right opportunity comes along. The bonus is that Randell Williams at LWB has come on in leaps and bounds and so far has looked as good as Bradley albeit on the other side of the pitch.
We think the recruitment team are at a point where they are looking for quality in several positions but won't spend unless we can get an affordable bargain - and they're looking in Europe. Possibly one more signing in this window but not specifically at RWB. Otherwise they'll hang on to the dosh until January and see where we're at then.
Imagine Dacres-Cogley will be the starter for the time being.

[Wanderlust]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Dan is a quandary to us.
He obviously has some good characteristics, mainly athleticism but his touch is poor we question if that's something that can ever be rectified.
The thing is, Ian Evatt obviously sees something in him that most fans struggle to see - but Evatt has a lot of credit in the bank with the fans ATM so by and large folk are not too critical of Dan. Evatt has a good track record of developing young players so he'll get time to do it.
The other thing about Evatt is that he knows we haven't got cash to splash on instant solutions so he goes for affordable players that have specific characteristics and uses them for specific roles in specific games - maybe he sees Dan as doing a particular job? (I suspect that is to work hard with Dion Charles up front to give the defenders no peace for an hour to tire them out and then sub him or bring him on at the end of the game when someone else has done that?) but it certainly isn't playing the traditional strikers role, at least not for now.
He's been underwhelming so far - as have all our strikers apart from Dion - but playing "the Evatt way" they all have specific jobs to do and miles to put in - apart from the two old guys Jerome and Bodvarsson who actually are traditional strikers but can't do 90 minutes these days.
I hope Dan makes it, but for now we're struggling a bit to see how.

Interesting. I like the Evatt approach. Players are cogs in a machine. They get inserted to perform a person and if a new or different cog is needed to keep the machine going at full pelt the cog is removed and replaced. It’s emotionless, but effective.

[Shade]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

We're not ready, plain and simple! This is all going to sound very negative, but I'm basically waiting for September to see who we've got in and we've got the initial tough set of fixtures out of the way as the schedule hasn't been kind to us!

We need some creativity in midfield and the forwards to actually have a shot. I think we're in a position (as we usually are) where we're waiting for everyone else to do their business before we can get loans in, and the injury list is too long. I've got little doubt that Bolton will turn up and win tomorrow, as long as they get out of first gear at some stage. I very much expect us to play as though we're hanging on for a point from kick off, maybe having the odd foray into Bolton territory, but if/when we go behind we'll attempt to try and get forward a bit more but not really create anything. The players have mainly looked like they're hoping the opposition will make the same mistakes at the back that we make in the first couple of games. Obviously, we all here hope that it suddenly clicks and we start knocking the ball about and can make more than 4 or 5 passes without losing the ball before the 60th minute, but we certainly won't be hitting you on the counter attack as we don't really have anyone with outstanding pace or the ability to produce a quality ball through. Bonds was about the only one that has shown that a few times, and he went down half an hour into last Saturday's game and is already out for who knows how long.

If Will Ferry is fit, he represents our best chance of getting down either of the wings and getting some quality into the box, but he's been missing so far this season as well. If Sercombe and Keena have 7 or 8 out of 10 games, which they're capable of then there's a chance they may link up and create something. Keena is capable of incredible passes, but it requires someone else to pick up the positions Alfie May would have been in. As I say, I think most of us are turning up more out of hope than expectation tomorrow the way things are going with signings and injuries! I'm not expecting u to roll over, mind. The defence and keeper are fairly solid...I just expect it to be one-way traffic.

The joys of having one of, if not the, smallest budgets in the division!

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

We're not ready, plain and simple! This is all going to sound very negative, but I'm basically waiting for September to see who we've got in and we've got the initial tough set of fixtures out of the way as the schedule hasn't been kind to us!

We need some creativity in midfield and the forwards to actually have a shot. I think we're in a position (as we usually are) where we're waiting for everyone else to do their business before we can get loans in, and the injury list is too long. I've got little doubt that Bolton will turn up and win tomorrow, as long as they get out of first gear at some stage. I very much expect us to play as though we're hanging on for a point from kick off, maybe having the odd foray into Bolton territory, but if/when we go behind we'll attempt to try and get forward a bit more but not really create anything. The players have mainly looked like they're hoping the opposition will make the same mistakes at the back that we make in the first couple of games. Obviously, we all here hope that it suddenly clicks and we start knocking the ball about and can make more than 4 or 5 passes without losing the ball before the 60th minute, but we certainly won't be hitting you on the counter attack as we don't really have anyone with outstanding pace or the ability to produce a quality ball through. Bonds was about the only one that has shown that a few times, and he went down half an hour into last Saturday's game and is already out for who knows how long.

If Will Ferry is fit, he represents our best chance of getting down either of the wings and getting some quality into the box, but he's been missing so far this season as well. If Sercombe and Keena have 7 or 8 out of 10 games, which they're capable of then there's a chance they may link up and create something. Keena is capable of incredible passes, but it requires someone else to pick up the positions Alfie May would have been in. As I say, I think most of us are turning up more out of hope than expectation tomorrow the way things are going with signings and injuries! I'm not expecting u to roll over, mind. The defence and keeper are fairly solid...I just expect it to be one-way traffic.

The joys of having one of, if not the, smallest budgets in the division!

Fair assessment, well put.

Just one question about one of my bugbears. When you say Keena or Sercs can do a 7 or 8 out of then, what constitutes a 10? Do you mean a 10 is the best in L1? Or the best on the pitch?

I prefer 10 to mean ‘the best that player can do’…i.e if they play their very best its a 10/10 even if they are the worst player on the pitch. Ultimately all we can ask is the players play to their best - if they do that and the opposition are just better there is not much we can do.

[Shade]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

We're not ready, plain and simple! This is all going to sound very negative, but I'm basically waiting for September to see who we've got in and we've got the initial tough set of fixtures out of the way as the schedule hasn't been kind to us!

We need some creativity in midfield and the forwards to actually have a shot. I think we're in a position (as we usually are) where we're waiting for everyone else to do their business before we can get loans in, and the injury list is too long. I've got little doubt that Bolton will turn up and win tomorrow, as long as they get out of first gear at some stage. I very much expect us to play as though we're hanging on for a point from kick off, maybe having the odd foray into Bolton territory, but if/when we go behind we'll attempt to try and get forward a bit more but not really create anything. The players have mainly looked like they're hoping the opposition will make the same mistakes at the back that we make in the first couple of games. Obviously, we all here hope that it suddenly clicks and we start knocking the ball about and can make more than 4 or 5 passes without losing the ball before the 60th minute, but we certainly won't be hitting you on the counter attack as we don't really have anyone with outstanding pace or the ability to produce a quality ball through. Bonds was about the only one that has shown that a few times, and he went down half an hour into last Saturday's game and is already out for who knows how long.

If Will Ferry is fit, he represents our best chance of getting down either of the wings and getting some quality into the box, but he's been missing so far this season as well. If Sercombe and Keena have 7 or 8 out of 10 games, which they're capable of then there's a chance they may link up and create something. Keena is capable of incredible passes, but it requires someone else to pick up the positions Alfie May would have been in. As I say, I think most of us are turning up more out of hope than expectation tomorrow the way things are going with signings and injuries! I'm not expecting u to roll over, mind. The defence and keeper are fairly solid...I just expect it to be one-way traffic.

The joys of having one of, if not the, smallest budgets in the division!

Fair assessment, well put.

Just one question about one of my bugbears. When you say Keena or Sercs can do a 7 or 8 out of then, what constitutes a 10? Do you mean a 10 is the best in L1? Or the best on the pitch?

I prefer 10 to mean ‘the best that player can do’…i.e if they play their very best its a 10/10 even if they are the worst player on the pitch. Ultimately all we can ask is the players play to their best - if they do that and the opposition are just better there is not much we can do.

I used to have debates about this with my mate when we played Pro Evo back in the 00's Their rating system rarely ever went above 8/10. I think if someone scored a hat-trick you may have got an 8.5 or 9. A double hat-trick and you'd still only get 9.5 maximum.

In reality, I'm not judging it on what each player is capable of, but yeah, probably by the level/division as it's obviously a better way to judge players against each other. I think a 10/10 is just something you see extremely rarely, like the day a player scores 4. I'd say May at Wycombe was a 10/10 performance as he could do nothing wrong that day, and none of the 5 conceded were his fault or responsibility.
A 9 is a double or hat-trick territory, but scoring the goals isn't a guarantee. I've seen players who have fortuitously landed on a couple of goals or had a couple of penalties and done absolutely nothing else in the game and they'd only get a 5 or 6. They need to have contributed more than the goals to the overall performance.
I'd judge an 8 as a good, solid performance. For a striker, they'd need to have made or assisted at least one goal, held onto the ball well, created opportunities, had good efforts on goal. For a midfielder, they need to have held the ball well, tracked back well, passed well, and assisted or scored at least one. A defender would need to have won every battle and kept the oppo out.
6 and 7 out of 10's they have had a good game but some things didn't come off but there was effort and clear intention to try and do the right things but still a solid performance.
5, average, did nothing to stand out but didn't really do anything wrong.
Then 4 and under is just how many mistakes they made or how far they went into hiding, lack of effort, lack of ability, gave away stupid free kicks or penalties, red cards, etc.
Obviously the guidelines are loose and it can depend on how many very good or very bad things a player does during a game. A good example would be Damian Spencer v MK Dons years ago, coming on at half time, smashing in a hat-trick, and the getting sent off and we lose the game 3-5. I think Damo would get a 7 for that. Great goals, great entertainment, but at the end of the day the hat-trick was for nothing and his sending off only contributed towards us losing.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

We're not ready, plain and simple! This is all going to sound very negative, but I'm basically waiting for September to see who we've got in and we've got the initial tough set of fixtures out of the way as the schedule hasn't been kind to us!

We need some creativity in midfield and the forwards to actually have a shot. I think we're in a position (as we usually are) where we're waiting for everyone else to do their business before we can get loans in, and the injury list is too long. I've got little doubt that Bolton will turn up and win tomorrow, as long as they get out of first gear at some stage. I very much expect us to play as though we're hanging on for a point from kick off, maybe having the odd foray into Bolton territory, but if/when we go behind we'll attempt to try and get forward a bit more but not really create anything. The players have mainly looked like they're hoping the opposition will make the same mistakes at the back that we make in the first couple of games. Obviously, we all here hope that it suddenly clicks and we start knocking the ball about and can make more than 4 or 5 passes without losing the ball before the 60th minute, but we certainly won't be hitting you on the counter attack as we don't really have anyone with outstanding pace or the ability to produce a quality ball through. Bonds was about the only one that has shown that a few times, and he went down half an hour into last Saturday's game and is already out for who knows how long.

If Will Ferry is fit, he represents our best chance of getting down either of the wings and getting some quality into the box, but he's been missing so far this season as well. If Sercombe and Keena have 7 or 8 out of 10 games, which they're capable of then there's a chance they may link up and create something. Keena is capable of incredible passes, but it requires someone else to pick up the positions Alfie May would have been in. As I say, I think most of us are turning up more out of hope than expectation tomorrow the way things are going with signings and injuries! I'm not expecting u to roll over, mind. The defence and keeper are fairly solid...I just expect it to be one-way traffic.

The joys of having one of, if not the, smallest budgets in the division!

Fair assessment, well put.

Just one question about one of my bugbears. When you say Keena or Sercs can do a 7 or 8 out of then, what constitutes a 10? Do you mean a 10 is the best in L1? Or the best on the pitch?

I prefer 10 to mean ‘the best that player can do’…i.e if they play their very best its a 10/10 even if they are the worst player on the pitch. Ultimately all we can ask is the players play to their best - if they do that and the opposition are just better there is not much we can do.

I used to have debates about this with my mate when we played Pro Evo back in the 00's Their rating system rarely ever went above 8/10. I think if someone scored a hat-trick you may have got an 8.5 or 9. A double hat-trick and you'd still only get 9.5 maximum.

In reality, I'm not judging it on what each player is capable of, but yeah, probably by the level/division as it's obviously a better way to judge players against each other. I think a 10/10 is just something you see extremely rarely, like the day a player scores 4. I'd say May at Wycombe was a 10/10 performance as he could do nothing wrong that day, and none of the 5 conceded were his fault or responsibility.
A 9 is a double or hat-trick territory, but scoring the goals isn't a guarantee. I've seen players who have fortuitously landed on a couple of goals or had a couple of penalties and done absolutely nothing else in the game and they'd only get a 5 or 6. They need to have contributed more than the goals to the overall performance.
I'd judge an 8 as a good, solid performance. For a striker, they'd need to have made or assisted at least one goal, held onto the ball well, created opportunities, had good efforts on goal. For a midfielder, they need to have held the ball well, tracked back well, passed well, and assisted or scored at least one. A defender would need to have won every battle and kept the oppo out.
6 and 7 out of 10's they have had a good game but some things didn't come off but there was effort and clear intention to try and do the right things but still a solid performance.
5, average, did nothing to stand out but didn't really do anything wrong.
Then 4 and under is just how many mistakes they made or how far they went into hiding, lack of effort, lack of ability, gave away stupid free kicks or penalties, red cards, etc.

Thanks. Interesting explanation. By definition then, of some of players just aren’t good enough they can never get above a 4 or 5. Unless the opposition have a real shocker and make our players look better than they are.

[1985CTFC]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

Wade has a cunning plan to beat Bolton. He is going to get our players to out press, out run, out fight, out jump, out score everyone of your lads.
We did it last year at home. We are going to do it again on Saturday.
You have been warned!!!
WE are going to be your bogey team, so tell your fans not to get to cocky!! ha

[Shade]

I used to have debates about this with my mate when we played Pro Evo back in the 00's Their rating system rarely ever went above 8/10. I think if someone scored a hat-trick you may have got an 8.5 or 9. A double hat-trick and you'd still only get 9.5 maximum.

In reality, I'm not judging it on what each player is capable of, but yeah, probably by the level/division as it's obviously a better way to judge players against each other. I think a 10/10 is just something you see extremely rarely, like the day a player scores 4. I'd say May at Wycombe was a 10/10 performance as he could do nothing wrong that day, and none of the 5 conceded were his fault or responsibility.
A 9 is a double or hat-trick territory, but scoring the goals isn't a guarantee. I've seen players who have fortuitously landed on a couple of goals or had a couple of penalties and done absolutely nothing else in the game and they'd only get a 5 or 6. They need to have contributed more than the goals to the overall performance.
I'd judge an 8 as a good, solid performance. For a striker, they'd need to have made or assisted at least one goal, held onto the ball well, created opportunities, had good efforts on goal. For a midfielder, they need to have held the ball well, tracked back well, passed well, and assisted or scored at least one. A defender would need to have won every battle and kept the oppo out.
6 and 7 out of 10's they have had a good game but some things didn't come off but there was effort and clear intention to try and do the right things but still a solid performance.
5, average, did nothing to stand out but didn't really do anything wrong.
Then 4 and under is just how many mistakes they made or how far they went into hiding, lack of effort, lack of ability, gave away stupid free kicks or penalties, red cards, etc.

Thanks. Interesting explanation. By definition then, of some of players just aren’t good enough they can never get above a 4 or 5. Unless the opposition have a real shocker and make our players look better than they are.

Well let's put it this way; Chapman needs to find some more of those passes like the one he pulled out at Bolton a couple of years ago, otherwise he's looking like 5/10 is the best he can hope for at L1 level on a good day.

[Ben3]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

We’re a team based on scoring from long throws who never score from long throws and, as of this season, have nobody who can take a long throw.

But we’ll still stuff Bolton. I’m going 5-0 to the ruby red robins

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

We’ll huff and puff. We will make mistakes and have some great passages of play in equal measure.

If you capitalise on our mistakes and our good moments don’t quite lead to goals you will win.

If you spurn your chances and the bounce of the ball goes our way in our good moments we will win.

If AK is given a moment in the box to pull the trigger the net will bulge.

Looking ahead to the season as a whole….

We’re a fine margins team in 85% of games. By which I mean if we stick to our shape, run enough and play at high intensity and focus most of our games are close and decided by small moments.

I.e whether rebounds fall to a striker or bounce safe, or deflected shots go in the net or wide could be the difference between us finishing 12th, 18th or 24th.

In the 15% of games where we are ‘off it’ and can’t run enough (not through lack of effort) as the intensity is just not happening, we will get slapped 3-,4-, or 5-0 as both our last two managers have said in the last two seasons.

In the 85% of games where we are at it, if we assume we win, lose and draw in in roughly equal measure (the outcomes of those moments balance out over a season) then we can expect to win 13, draw 13 and lose 13 (losing 20 overall with the slappings added in) which keeps us safe and is job done.

What we need to do to push up the league is a) increase that 85% to 95% and b) turn more of the moments in our favour and, c) become less reliant on the moments going our way and assert ourselves more from start to finish.

[Anteros]

Looking forward to our first home league game of the season today. Against a big team, league 1, hopefully sun will come out. But I honestly don't know how we will get anything from the game. Maybe might sneak a draw
Like i said to my son on Tuesday, I think we will be witnessing 3 losses in the first week of the season
Sorry for the negativity!

[Jerry St Clair]

hopefully sun will come out.

The forecast is for heavy, thundery showers.

I'm hoping for a Sheffield Wednesday-esque downpour and dark skies. We can turn the floodlights on and pretend it's a night game.

[Wanderlust]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

We're not ready, plain and simple! This is all going to sound very negative, but I'm basically waiting for September to see who we've got in and we've got the initial tough set of fixtures out of the way as the schedule hasn't been kind to us!

We need some creativity in midfield and the forwards to actually have a shot. I think we're in a position (as we usually are) where we're waiting for everyone else to do their business before we can get loans in, and the injury list is too long. I've got little doubt that Bolton will turn up and win tomorrow, as long as they get out of first gear at some stage. I very much expect us to play as though we're hanging on for a point from kick off, maybe having the odd foray into Bolton territory, but if/when we go behind we'll attempt to try and get forward a bit more but not really create anything. The players have mainly looked like they're hoping the opposition will make the same mistakes at the back that we make in the first couple of games. Obviously, we all here hope that it suddenly clicks and we start knocking the ball about and can make more than 4 or 5 passes without losing the ball before the 60th minute, but we certainly won't be hitting you on the counter attack as we don't really have anyone with outstanding pace or the ability to produce a quality ball through. Bonds was about the only one that has shown that a few times, and he went down half an hour into last Saturday's game and is already out for who knows how long.

If Will Ferry is fit, he represents our best chance of getting down either of the wings and getting some quality into the box, but he's been missing so far this season as well. If Sercombe and Keena have 7 or 8 out of 10 games, which they're capable of then there's a chance they may link up and create something. Keena is capable of incredible passes, but it requires someone else to pick up the positions Alfie May would have been in. As I say, I think most of us are turning up more out of hope than expectation tomorrow the way things are going with signings and injuries! I'm not expecting u to roll over, mind. The defence and keeper are fairly solid...I just expect it to be one-way traffic.

The joys of having one of, if not the, smallest budgets in the division!

So basically a nailed on home win then?

[Wanderlust]

So come on Robins - I've given you the lowdown so what's the SWOT for Cheltenham ATM? Would be good to hear how you see your team so I can look out for it tomorrow

Wade has a cunning plan to beat Bolton.

Is it to score an early goal and then park several buses across the penalty area? - because that is our recurring nightmare and a problem we're generally not good enough to resolve.
I'm sure Wade does have a plan - ultimately it will come down to how well it is executed I guess.
My worry for Bolton is that we have one of those days where everyone plays c!#p - happens from time to time and we're very capable of it.

[Wanderlust]

Dan is a quandary to us.
He obviously has some good characteristics, mainly athleticism but his touch is poor we question if that's something that can ever be rectified.
The thing is, Ian Evatt obviously sees something in him that most fans struggle to see - but Evatt has a lot of credit in the bank with the fans ATM so by and large folk are not too critical of Dan. Evatt has a good track record of developing young players so he'll get time to do it.
The other thing about Evatt is that he knows we haven't got cash to splash on instant solutions so he goes for affordable players that have specific characteristics and uses them for specific roles in specific games - maybe he sees Dan as doing a particular job? (I suspect that is to work hard with Dion Charles up front to give the defenders no peace for an hour to tire them out and then sub him or bring him on at the end of the game when someone else has done that?) but it certainly isn't playing the traditional strikers role, at least not for now.
He's been underwhelming so far - as have all our strikers apart from Dion - but playing "the Evatt way" they all have specific jobs to do and miles to put in - apart from the two old guys Jerome and Bodvarsson who actually are traditional strikers but can't do 90 minutes these days.
I hope Dan makes it, but for now we're struggling a bit to see how.

Interesting. I like the Evatt approach. Players are cogs in a machine. They get inserted to perform a person and if a new or different cog is needed to keep the machine going at full pelt the cog is removed and replaced. It’s emotionless, but effective.

Not really because we don't have "like for like" replacements. Evatt seems to like changing the formation and style of play during the course of a game so in that sense he's a bit of a tinkerer.

[Shade]

So basically a nailed on home win then?

I wouldn't bet against it