Bolton 2-0 U's: Predictable Yet Inevitable
United fall short in Lancashire to mark the end of a tough week
Football can often be an unpredictable game. At this level, even more so. How many ‘acca busters’ do you see every weekend, where an expected favourite is shocked by a plucky underdog? We’ve even seen United do it a few times ourselves. But Saturday afternoon was not one of them.
It’s hard to imagine a more pessimistic fanbase going into a daunting game like this. Let alone the shape the team was in. A temporary manager with no time on the training pitch to try and fix any errors, a squad presumably still reeling from their manager upping and leaving after playing this very opponent just over a week ago, and our best player and talismanic striker seeing out the last game of his suspension. You need a lot to go right for you in these games to get anything from them, and the preparation was one that - for many reasons out of our own hands - was not one of them.
The game itself followed that theme. Cousins was dropped after another blunder on Tuesday night, with Digby and Thomas starting in centre mid. Since Pompey away on the 13th of February, the personnel in central midfield has changed every game; a clear indication of the root of some of our problems. Aside from that, Kachunga was tasked with ploughing a lone furrow up front, Brophy came in, and Liam Bennett replaced Gibbons at right back.
Truthfully, the match played out exactly as you might expect it to; as comfortable a 2-0 win as you’ll see, with a goal in each half. The sort of comfortable home win you absolutely love to see from your side (and hate to be on the other end of, obviously) - with little nerves, danger or doubt about the result. Josh Sheehan opened the scoring with a low drive into the bottom right corner having found space on the edge of the box, and Aaron Collins’ delicate dink sealed the points in the second half.
For all that United managed to create two moments - and we’re using the word ‘moments’ very loosely, more like milliseconds, or flashes of faint hope - Bolton also didn’t take us up on two gilt-edged changes of their own. The first smacked against the bar from close range after a low ball into the six-yard area at 0-0, and the second cleared brilliantly off the line by Liam Bennett once they were already two up. So, despite Kaikai’s effort on the break in the first half, and Brophy’s shot that sailed over the bar from Digby’s pull back in the second, it was always Bolton’s afternoon.
Obviously, as mentioned, in recent history it’s hard to think of a more difficult week for United, given everything that has happened off the pitch. As Corr said in his post-match presser, the instability has not helped the squad at all, and the sooner we can get a manager in to remedy that, the better.
Luckily, by the time this is being written, that period of limbo is officially over. Garry Monk is officially in the dugout as Cambridge United’s new head coach. You’ll be able to hear the pod’s thoughts on the appointment on the latest Review Show, and we’ll have some website content up this week dedicated to the new gaffer too. For now, let it be said that this Bolton match can draw a line under a really tough time for the club, and a new era can start against Northampton.
Now let’s just hope it lasts more than 14 games…
Soundtrack of the match: Paramore - Misery Business