Bolton Wanderers first-team coach and reserve manager Sam Hird is brimming with excitement on the back of his introduction to management. The coach watched his side play out to a 0-0 draw with Chester, and was pretty pleased with the outcome – he will take charge of the team's new reserve side in the Central League.
It will be interesting to see how the Wanderers fare in League One this season. They're currently 18/1 to win the league in 2021/22 and are 11/2 to get promoted. To that end, a reliable sportsbook can be useful to check out the latest betting odds.
Meanwhile, Hird was happy to see his youngsters take on the challenge of playing a men's team and, following the result, discussed his feelings going into the game and what he told the players.
“I enjoyed it, but it's not about me, it's about the group. It's about the team that we're putting together with this reserve team,” he said, per Theboltonnews.co.uk. “I said to the lads before the game, ‘in reserve football, everybody has got a motivation to play, whether you're a first team player getting fitness, whether you're somebody who's pushing for the first team, or whether you're one of the young lads lucky enough to have the experience'. And I thought they all performed well tonight.
“I thought for large spells we dominated the ball but we didn't really hurt them. I think we lacked that final pass or that final cross, that bit of end product. We didn't really work their goalkeeper enough. But I thought, looking at the overall picture, I was pleased with our organisation, I was pleased with how for large periods we looked solid. Gilksy (Gilks) has made one or two good saves, but we've got a young team out there really – we had a few experienced players but it's a young group in general.
“And when you come to places like this it's tough, they have seasoned pros. Some of them have worked their way down the leagues, some of them have been at this sort of level for a long time. Overall, I was happy with the night.”
Dennis Politic, Matt Gilks, Ali Crawford, Ronan Darcy, Andrew Tutte, and Brandon Comley all featured against Chester at the Deva Stadium on Wednesday night. Bolton put out a side made up of youth players and first-team members needing minutes but neither team was able to find the back of the net.
Manager Ian Evatt has urged the team's reserve side to play “the Bolton way” and Hird reckons having them play alongside established first-team players will be very influential.
“(Chester) are a seasoned team, with no disrespect at all,” he added. “I've played at this level for a short spell and they're a seasoned team. The manager has put a good group together and I think they'll do well this year.
“I think we gave a good account of ourselves and for large spells we controlled possession of the football, which is what we're trying to get our lads to do. We're trying to coach footballers.
“The aim for this reserve team is, for the first team and senior pros if they need minutes, or if players want to break into the first team, and the aim is to bridge that gap for the youth lads who are coming up so they know what we want.
“With the youth team guys like Mark (Litherland) who was here with me tonight, they know what we want and it's now getting filtered down, and they know the philosophy and identity.”
In other club-related news, Police have published a photo of a male individual they want to interview following some trouble at a Whites game earlier this year. Hundreds of Bolton fans had assembled at the University of Bolton Stadium on May 1 while the team played Exeter City. A win would have sent them up to the Championship but they were unfortunate to lose 2-1 and the reverse sparked trouble.
Greater Manchester Police have now released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to.
“Police have released a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in relation to a Public Order Offence outside of the University of Bolton Stadium,” a spokesman for the police said.
“At around 5 pm on Saturday, May 1, 2021, police were called to reports of disorder outside the University of Bolton Stadium following a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Exeter City.
“Police now want to speak to a man captured on CCTV outside the southwest side of the stadium.
