County 5 Bolton 0
Let the Trotters… see the tonking! A properly organised and attacking County team… REVEAL YOURSELF!
Tuesday 12 November 2024
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Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Bolton and Tranmere supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Tuesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Loads to get through today. Phil Brennan and Luke Watson reflect on Saturday’s game, while Ian Brown and Jonathan Baker look ahead to Tranmere’s visit tonight.
Today’s edition is sponsored by Forever Home Dog Training. A big thank you to Gareth.
Thanks also to Luke and Hannah at LBL Roofing & Building Ltd who sponsor our Bolton Wanderers content on the website.
Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.
Total distance so far: 176.31 miles
Total steps so far: 284,130
Total raised so far: £2,027
Total completed streets so far: 399 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)
Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.
Des Junior
✍️ Saturday’s match in one word
Phil: Superb.
Luke: Embarrassing.
🤔 Pre-match thoughts
Phil: Got to be honest and say apprehensive and even more so when I saw the team sheet. (The description of Bolton’s socks on said team sheet made me laugh and probably played a part in me being a bit more relaxed as I made my way from the Hardcastle Suite to my seat in LT1.)
Luke: I actually believed we could compete to some degree. I felt we could start to show that we don’t just collapse the moment we play someone with any form of significance to us – rivals, history etc.
🧐 Post-match thoughts
Phil: Great to see Macca and Rydel back and even better to see them taken off without injury with the game all but won. We’re a much better team with those two in the side. Some really good performances and always good to see different players scoring goals in a big win.
Luke: I think the only solution is to part with Evatt and his staff. If it means we have to rebuild this season and write it off, I’m OK with that. If there’s a cancer in the body, you remove it. It’s the only way we can move on and look to win promotion going forward.
🔵 Verdict on County
Phil: Play like that and we will beat most teams in this league. This is a season of progression for me. Yes it would be great to go up again but let’s not forget that the majority of this squad are learning on the job at this level as are the entire management team.
Luke: They were dominant in ways that mattered. Attacked our weaknesses and set themselves up to succeed. A great tactical performance.
⚪️ Verdict on Bolton
Phil: Didn’t turn up did they? Not a single shot on target, we could have had anyone in nets and they wouldn’t have scored.
Luke: The same old story. We set up to play the way we always do and never changed even at 5-0 down. Not one shot on target is pathetic. Nothing from that game gives me any confidence for Blackpool.
🎩 Top Hatter
Phil: Lewis Bate. Tremendous performance throughout with a mention for Kyle Wootton who was superb.
Luke: Honestly, it was a team performance. Even your substitutes played a part.
👣 Top Trotter
Phil: Midfielder Sheehan. Head and shoulders above any of his teammates.
Luke: Randell Williams for not leaving the bench.
👂 Atmosphere
Phil: To be fair it was upbeat from the start and obviously got better as County took control.
Luke: It was horrible but justified. “Sacked in the morning” chants from our fans, boos, and real hostility at the end from some, which was a step too far but I understand the reaction. I found myself just stunned and couldn’t even muster any emotion. I felt like a shell of a man.
🙏 Hopes for the rest of the season
Phil: Same as they’ve always been. Top half within reach of the play-offs with a few games to go. Never get too downhearted after a defeat and never carried away after a win.
Luke: Sack Evatt and re-evaluate. This squad is good but terrible tactically. If we bring in a fresh manager and have him get a fresh perspective on the squad, we can see if there’s room for business in January. There’s no way Evatt can take us further than he has done. His time is over.
😀 Best part of the day
Phil: Joining in the “Bolton get battered…” chant after Odin Bailey’s goal. Didn’t trust getting involved until then.
Luke: Your food’s great. Honestly, that’s it.
😡 Worst part of the day
Phil: Despite the great performance and result, the referee was very poor. Inconsistent throughout with his decisions. To clarify this he was correct in booking Will Collar but allowed their player to kick the ball away without punishment. He also let several bookable fouls go unpunished.
Luke: Spending the last 30 minutes of the game plane spotting with my mate to try and distract us from the hammering in front of us. Also seeing grown men at the end of the game barking at the players, trying to fight a professional footballer.
The British Library receives a copy of every single book published in the UK. In the same fashion, Des Junior believes a detailed record of every County game should be preserved for the history books. So here’s the full story of our 5-0 victory at home to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday 9 November, as told from his County-related WhatsApp groups…
10.02am: Anyone seen that video of the County fan singing “Egg, Sausage, Chips and Beans” at The Chestergate?!
10.07am: We pay our taxes so these fuckers can daytime drink seven days a week.
10.17am: So you don’t want to go there today?
10.18am: I once saw a guy in a wheelchair in there get up and dance.
10.21am: I’d sing “Working 9 to 5” which they wouldn’t have a clue about.
3.49pm: HT 1-0. So much better from us today.
3.53pm: Really decent half. Kept our shape and pressed well out of possession, whilst creating chances when we've had the ball in the right places. Perfect response to Tuesday. Proper County.
4.13pm: Just seen about three blokes walk out of the Railway End!
4.56pm: Annoyed we didn't cave to demand and give them more tickets.
4.57pm: That fifth one was ace. Us taking the piss, players knocking it about for fun and then a shot we were right behind that was going in from the moment Bailey hit it.
6.17pm: I know it’s been stated already, but great to see Ben, MaSH, Rydel and Collar back for that today. All County legends as far as I’m concerned and it just gets the crowd onside straight away. I know it shouldn’t need that.
10.34pm: Talking with a Bolton fan in The Armoury after the game. He’s seen Bolton at EP three times. Lost 4-3. Lost 5-3. Lost 5-0. He's not coming again!
Introduce your dog to the wonderful world of scent work
Any dog can be trained to detect scents. If it’s something you’re interested in learning more about with your own dog, Gareth from Forever Home Dog Training is hosting a new course, starting next month. It’s a six-week course, as part of the introductory bronze level.
Visit foreverhomedogtraining.com for further details.
LBL Roofing & Building
Any Bolton fans (or indeed, any County fans living in that neck of the woods) joining us today? If you need any roofing work doing at home, LBL Roofing & Building are dedicated to providing top-notch services with an unwavering commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.
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Visit lblroofingandbuilding.co.uk for further details.
County v Tranmere
Des Junior loves writing about County. But he can never be arsed doing match previews. They’re a bit dull, aren’t they? Will Collar’s out for a month with diarrhoea… blah blah blah…tomorrow’s referee has handed out more cards than Moonpig…blah blah blah…County haven’t won at Birmingham for a thousand years.
Fortunately, he has a number of fellow County content creators to call upon. Here’s their thoughts, general chit-chat and score predictions, ahead of our final Bristol Street Motors Trophy group game.
Ian Brown, All Things Stockport County
County 2 Tranmere 1
Why did Saturday afternoon go so incredibly well?
Saturday went so well because everyone turned up, did their job, and a bit extra, starting with County supporters who packed the stadium almost to capacity – a magnificent response after watching the desultory debacle against Wycombe just a few days earlier.
The sight of over 10,000 filling all four sides of EP, I am surmising, must have played a part in lifting the team’s morale and crucially their performance once the game against Bolton started.
Bolton turned out not to be that great, but that only became apparent 30 minutes into the game. Until that point Wanderers had made a game of it, and County had needed to show us altogether more resolve and application than was evident in their previous match.
Some real brilliance by Louie Barry and a cool finish from Will Collar gave County a 1-0 half-time lead, before our game management went up a notch or two as a raft of goals saw us go nap in the second half.
Lewis Bate won the man of the match award but this was a first-class team performance, and in my view there were others who shone just as brightly as our captain, particularly Louie Barry who was involved in four of the five goals. Ibby Touray and Fraser Horsfall were on form, and it was so great to see how well Macauley Southam-Hales and Ryan Rydel are being eased back into giving us 90 minutes on the park. We’ve missed the Welsh Genius’s bravery and Ryan’s dynamic all-round play, particularly his expertise at set-pieces which will serve us well going forward.
It was a massive relief to see County’s mojo return along with those much loved familiar faces! Most of us knew it was in there somewhere, in the team’s DNA, and the manager and his coaching staff did their part too to bring it out when it counted most.
And finally, maybe I made my contribution also, forecasting a 2-0 defeat for County. Reverse psychology? Nah… just me keeping up a remarkably inept forecasting record! I sense an imminent surge up the forecasting table starting with a 2-1 win for County tonight.
Ian follows County home and away, producing detailed match reports every week, along with lots of other great content. Head over to hedgegrower.blogspot.com.
Jonathan Baker, The County Away Day Show
County 2 Tranmere 1
We’re already through to the next round, so tonight’s a complete free hit. Is there anyone in particular you’d like to see in the line-up?
Well given that level of next-round assuredness, perhaps it’s time to give Vernon Bear a game (after all, he’s been on the fringes of the squad for a good while now, while always retaining such a positive demeanour, truly a model professional). I’d be starting him in central defensive midfield, where his lack of obvious pace can be compensated for through his excellent peripheral vision, physical presence, and ability to maul opposition players to death with his bare hands.
Other than that (and in all seriousness…) I was really impressed with young Adamarola during his late cameo on Saturday, and would love to see the left-sider given a full runout. Similarly Odin Bailey must be gagging for 90 minutes following that scorcher of a strike in the dying minutes, and I see no reason not to unleash his trademark brand of lithe, mazy dribbling on the unsuspecting Wirralmen’s right flank.
Finally, it was a shame to hear Tanto was unwell over the weekend, and I’d love to see him out there, just to know he’s on the mend. Overall, the depth of the squad presents the manager with the opportunity to ring numerous changes while remaining competitive enough to maintain the heady if fragile momentum established by the weekend’s handsome win, and it will be intriguing to see how he chooses to deploy the riches at his disposal.
Prediction: Quite frankly I’ve got even less idea than I did before the last game (when any score up to and including 5-0 to either side seemed equally possible, and so it proved). I’ll go for a home win, as we march on boldly into whatever the hell comes next in whatever the hell this competition is that we’re playing in tonight. 2-1.
Jonathan, aka Geordie Hatter, hosts The County Away Day Show on selected Saturday mornings during the season, when the Hatters are on the road. All episodes can be found at the-geordie-hatter.mixlr.com.
Photo of the day
Edgeley Park, Stockport
I thought Bolton’s socks smelled really bad on Saturday…
Today in SK
🎬 Cinema
Two films at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Blitz (12A) at 5.45pm, followed by Small Things Like These (12A) at 8.15pm. Click here for tickets.
🍺 Food and drink
Try the new house cask ale at The Nelson Tavern (SK1) this month: Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. £2.20 for a half or £4.10 for a pint.
Pop in for a pint at Heaton Hops (SK4), CAMRA Pub of the Year for Stockport and South Manchester. Open from 4pm.
Bitter £2.30 a pint all day at The Cross Keys (SK8). Plus, discounts on certain lagers between 12pm and 6pm.
If you’re heading out for a few drinks before the game tonight, get yourself down to one of our featured venues such as The Crown (SK2), The Dog & Partridge (SK2), The Alexandra (SK3), The Crown Inn (SK6), The Steelworks (SK6) or The Three Tunnes (SK7).
Random photos of County players at other clubs
#46 – Adam Proudlock, Sheff Wed
Adam Proudlock spent two seasons at Edgeley Park under Jim Gannon, scoring 16 goals in 64 appearances. Prior to that, he had a short spell at Ipswich, and a couple of years at Sheffield Wednesday. Proudlock scored twice at Edgeley Park for the Owls in a League Cup tie in August 2005.
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