‘Stand Up and Match It’ – Bolton Wanderers Boss Pays Lincoln City Biggest Tribute

Bolton Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher was happy with a point from Sincil Bank yesterday, but did have a couple of gripes after the draw with a terrific Lincoln City.

His first complaint was about referee Will Finnie. Finnie seemed to do okay, but the stats suggest he may have been a little harsh on the Trotters, giving them five yellows from 11 fouls, us just two from 12.

Schumacher felt that slowing the game down with fouls suited the way we play, which was the jumping off point for his interview after the game.

“I thought the game became scrappy, partly down to the referee,” he said after the game. “It felt like every bit of contact was a foul and a yellow card, which slowed the game down and probably suited Lincoln and the way they play.

“We lost our rhythm a little bit. Not so much in possession, because I thought we controlled possession in the first half, but in the second half we couldn’t really build any pressure.

“Once we made some changes and settled down, started passing the ball again, we looked stronger and deserved the goal. It’s a great finish from Sam and in the end we could have got another, but the point is an okay result.”

Another manager has referenced ‘the way we play’ and it does make you wonder, if it is so effective, why don’t other teams do it? Despite dominating possession, Bolton did not dominate the chances, and on the balance of shots, and saves, City certainly deserved the three points.

In fairness to Schumacher, he did pay tribute to our players, rather than lazily labelling us like Jack Wilshere did.

“Yeah, it’s not easy to play against the way they play. The style is difficult, they put you under pressure all the time and they’ve got good players.

“I said in the build-up that at the top end of the pitch they’re really clinical. From their second chance they score, and that’s what they do. They build little spells of pressure and then find a way to score. They’re good defensively as well, so they’re not an easy team to play against.

“They’re second in the league for a reason and they’re there on merit, but we showed today we can stand up and match it.”

What I really like about these comments is Bolton having to match us. A season or three ago, I compared Ian Evatt’s Bolton to the team we wanted to be, good on the ball, direct if needed and best of all, bullies. It seemed like a pipe dream that we’d ever be that team, and Bolton Wanderers would be the pretenders to the throne, but yesterday, that was the case.

The former Plymouth bosses’ post-match comments only serve to validate that opinion, which is almost worth as much as the point we took from the game. The fact that it is us, the side looking for their first taste of Championship football (in the Premier League era) that Bolton Wanderers want to match, is a huge testament to the job we’ve done at the club, top to bottom.