I agree he was running through treacle that last 20 minutes. He plays 90 minutes almost every game and puts a proper shift in. He wasn’t lazy tonight, he was knackered. Huge difference. That’s on Collins not him. The subs he made were baffling for umpteen reasons but that’s possibly for another thread.
Totally agree with your points mate. I would have have brought Russell on before both Cotter and Grant, maybe controversial but we were just getting overrun in midfield for me
Thought Cole was one of our more effective players tonight. Makes a lot of runs and drags defenders out of position. Was closing down well too I thought in the first half Collins got the subs wrong, and Bolton are a good side is the reason we didn’t win tonight. Struggle to understand why people would blame Cole for tonight when if I was going to blame any of the players it would be the midfield. Who looked terrified to make a tackle.
Why every time you don’t think a player has had a good game do you have to label them lazy? You do it regularly. Cole got in some great positions in that first half and never received the ball. Their defenders time and again almost had the shirt off his back. Yes he lacks physicality, but that’s just not his game. We didn’t win tonight through poor game management in the second half, the coaches and players all have to take responsibility for that.
The attacking substitution options available to Collins after Grant was deployed consisted of a carthorse and a loonie. Meanwhile fat boy on the other bench was able to bring on a bloke with 64 international caps and another bloke with over 100 league goals in the top 2 divisions.
I love the ‘he got the subs wrong’ line. What you mean is you would’ve made different subs with the benefit of hindsight & you’ve got no idea whether it would’ve had let to a better outcome.
Just because he hasn't scored for a few weeks doesn't mean he is doing nothing. If you watch him he is all over the field covering back playing on wing, just about covering every position
There will be a shitload of data generated from all the games which will evidence that….he isn’t…. You know, lazy.
To be fair, the first three quarters of the season was you wanting Collins sacked - you've only started pushing this new patience gimmick recently, you'll need more time to develop it before it's authentic. Back on topic, it's more tiredness with Cole and a need to conserve energy. As mentioned by S74 Red, then man plays every minute of every game almost. He's definitely not lazy.
Cant grumble with anyones effort level. I personally thought that it was crying out for Cosgrove after 70 minutes up top. Someone to try keep the ball or win a free kick high up the pitch. The Cotter sub was a weird one too but its a good result in the grand scheme of things.