Bolton 1 Forest 1: Nemesis Dobbie strikes again

The season may be only four league games old but it already has a familiar feel, doesn't it? There's the early injury to Robert Tesche, the nagging feeling that we're just a couple of players short of a proper promotion push, a debate over who should play left back and, of course, a defeat to Walsall.

Still, anyone not quite back in the swing of things yet this season will have been 'reassured' by the intervention of Stephen Ruddy Dobbie. The journeyman striker yet again rose to the task of dashing Forest dreams with an injury time leveller to earn Bolton a point at the Macron (née Reebok) Stadium.

Stephen Dobbie celebrates his equaliser at the Macron Stadium @backpageimages @OfficialBWFC pic.twitter.com/3RgKqkiRU1

— Paul Currie (@PaulCurrie7) August 22, 2015

His record (4 goals, 3 assists and no defeats in 10 outings against Forest) is surely second only to Tommy Smith (5 goals, 4 assists in 12 games) in the modern day, making him deputy Tormentor in Chief for the men in red.

Still, even with Garibaldi-red tinted spectacles on you'd be hard pushed to say that the hosts weren't good value for a point. It's certainly a result we'd have all settled for before David Vaughan's sumptuous strike on 81 minutes.

David Vaughan's go-ahead goal for Nottingham Forest was very, very good. #BWFC #NFFC pic.twitter.com/TUpF4v59vN

— Mark Yesilevskiy (@MarkWhyy) August 23, 2015

Dougie Freedman surprised us all with five changes to the team which drew 0-0 against Charlton on Tuesday night, with European imports Daniel Pinillos and Kyle Ebecilio both making their debuts and starts for Tyler Walker, Jack Hobbs and Ben Osborn.

The return of Freedman was expected to provide some added spice to this fixture and cut price tickets for home fans (not for us in the away end though) meant Douglas might well have been braced for a loud, large and hostile crowd and an awkward afternoon. In truth there was just the odd boo and one slightly half-hearted strain of a chant that suggested he's a Midland banker. To be fair to the Trotters, they were probably more concerned with their side depositing a first goal of the season into our net.

The game also had little spice in a fairly pedestrian opening half. Forest were, at least, attempting to play from the back with De Vries rolling the ball to his centre halves. You felt it was probably sensible with Tyler Walker not suited to long balls and was maybe, at least in part, an answer to Dougie's critics in the home stands.

Pinillios looked solid, Ebecilio made some neat touches and Osborn's energy was welcome coming in off the right hand flank in a bright, if not exactly penetrative, opening 20 minutes.

Bolton grew into the game, however, with Gary Madine increasingly unsettling Matt Mills - also booed on his return to his former stomping ground - and more crosses coming into the penalty area. Defender Dorian Dervite, in particular, might feel he could have done better after getting on the end of two such crosses.

With Lichaj on a booking that seemed a little harsh (this was yet another game at this level with far more yellow cards issued than were warranted), you worried that Bolton would continue to threat from wide areas as the game wore on.

Tyler worked hard but was physically dominated by the elaborately named Prince-Désire Gouano (the artist presumably just known as 'Prince') in a tough afternoon.

The second half was much more open and while that made for a better game, it also put Dorus De Vries' goal at greater risk. The home side were gifted a golden chance to finally end their goal drought when awarded a slightly soft looking penalty. Mills' contact on the tricky Zach Clough may have been minimal but it was telling that the danger came from yet another cross.

Gary Madine's effort was saved by De Vries and, while it wasn't the best spot kick you'll see, it marked yet another key contribution for the Dutch stopper this season after superb saves against Brighton and Charlton.

The penalty was followed by a number of skewed shots, wayward headers and blocked efforts from the goal-shy hosts. In total the Trotters fired 21 shots on goal, with just three on target.

At the other end some neat work by Tyler Walker released Michail Antonio, who burst forward but shot straight at Ben Amos. We also failed to capitalise when Jack Hobbs found space at the far post from a free kick. We were in the game but you did fear it had the feel of one of those '1-0 home win' away days.

As the goal action started to dry up Freedman freshened things up, throwing on Chris Burke for Osborn and David Vaughan for the debutant Ebecilio. Both showed their class and experience, not least with Vaughan's stunning strike that made us dare to dream of three points.

It looked briefly as though that class from the bench would be the difference between the two sides yet, of course, Bolton has their own subs ready to sink our hopes. As soon as Stephen Dobbie's name was announced you feared he'd haunt us again and so he did, firing in from the edge of the box in added time.

The home fans were relieved while our hopes were dashed. It didn't take long for the sinking stoppage time feeling to fade and the realism that this was a decent point to replace it (certainly before Stoke on the way home).

1-1, 5 points from 4 games and 11th in the 'should they really print it this early?' league table. That's probably indicative of what's to come all season, isn't it?

On the plus side, the two debutants settled in well. Pinillos stood up to the test and looked a solid, sensible full back. Ebecilio worked hard, showing a couple of class touches that hinted to him being a smart addition once he settles in. Antonio played and, despite being tightly marked, threw the shackles off in odd flashes to show he was 'in the right place' to play. Fellow transfer target Henri Lansbury continued his decent form in the middle.

However, the Hobbs and Mills partnership needs a little work on this evidence and we didn't play high enough up the pitch to bring Tyler into the game. The young striker should learn from afternoons like this but we also need to learn how to get the best from his talents. It's also a worry that he's our only option at the moment. We didn't dominate the ball enough and allowed too many crosses to come into the area for my liking.

So, pros and cons, points shared and a predictable intervention from Stephen Dobbie. It's like the football was never away...

Antonio and Burke - the best Forest wing combo since Stone and Woan?

I don't know about you but I love watching a good winger. Nothing beats the attacking danger of a marauding wide man dancing in and out of tackles and providing that killer shot or pass. And it was wing wizardry that put Bolton Wanderers to the sword at the City Ground on Saturday.

Yes Tim Ream was a makeshift right back and had a nightmare (capped by being stretchered off in what appears, thankfully, not to be too serious an injury) and yes the rest of the Trotters defence looked more like the Peckham brothers of that name than a coherent Bolton back line. But you can't take away just how good Michail Antonio and Chris Burke were.

For the first 20-30 minutes especially the pair tormented their opponents. The strength, for me, is that they can operate as a pair. If Burke, rejuvenated since Dougie Freedman's arrival, doesn't get you with his nifty footwork, clever touches and accurate crosses and shots then, from the other side, Antonio offers something completely different.

Michail is one of those mercurial talents who gives off the air off not always quite knowing himself what he's going to do. I don't mean that in a bad way either, he's unpredictable and, when relying on instinct on Saturday, his raw pace, power and direct running simply blew Bolton away. His goal, the second, was breathtaking. Teams may be tempted to 'double up' on him to try to nullify that explosive talent. but they know they leave open the risk of the wily Burke weaving his magic on the other flank.

It's a combination that is not only refreshingly exhilarating to watch but shows why Freedman has managed to get off to such a strong start. At the beginning of the season, during the unbeaten run (it seems so long ago), the threat from the flanks ensured that won games even when we didn't dominate or play particularly well. Good, strong width can give a side the tools for deadly counter attacks or - when on top - stretch teams to unlock defence. Dougie has realised that is where the talent lies in this squad - especially considering who is missing - and it's a strength that should be played to as much as possible.

Freedman's 4231/41221 not only frees up Chris and Michail but gets Henri Lansbury further forward, where he can become involved while making sure we have the numbers around him so that we aren't so easily overrun in the centre of the park.

The Freedman formation change fixed three key problems Pearce encountered after that early season run. He had often moved Lansbury to a deeper role to mitigate the loss of Reid and Cohen - the two players he put at the heart of his side at the beginning of the campaign. That role didn't suit Henri or the team as a whole - he didn't win the ball too well and wasn't in a position to contribute the sorts of passes and shots that are a big part of his game. Gardner and Osborn provide the poise and the tenacity respectively that make for a more balanced engine room and the springboard for those further forward.

But, returning to the theme of this blog, it is in the wide positions that Pearce allowed himself to get outflanked.

He, quite rightly, wanted to use the loan market to add a splash of Premier League quality to the squad, especially in light of Reid's continued absence. Sadly, he opted for Tom Ince who didn't seem 'up for the fight' when the going got tough and only served to sideline Burke - whose experience and guile were then sadly missed.

Worst of all, Antonio's early season threat was lost. Michail, the clear player of the season for me, was probably a victim of his own success. Colin Fray describes his blistering run and finish on Saturday as Collymore-esque. Praise indeed in these parts and he's right - it's the sort of explosive goal rarely seen since Stanley in his pomp. But the fact he has pace, power, direct running and - on top of that - is good in the air, meant the temptation was too strong for Pearce to move him up front.

That, however, meant he was too far forward for his movement, running and dribbling to have any impact and he got bogged down battling centre halves from a standing start, rather than running at them with purpose. It killed his best assets stone dead

Now restored, the unlikely dynamic duo of Antonio and Burke makes us a far better prospect. They're scoring, creating and generally terrorising defences at will and Freedman needs to do all he can to keep that going. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed watching a pair of wingers at the City Ground.

The obvious duo would perhaps be Stone and Woan. They operated at a higher level in a different formation but, similarly, offered variety on the flanks. If Antonio and Burke go on to have half the success of those two we'll be lucky.

Then again, we've been fairly lucky to have the odd decent winger grace the flanks of the City Ground turf to light up poor teams. In the post-Premier League era* two shine out. Andy Reid mark one was a Burke-esque twinkled toed magician. Over time he drifted inside and now, in his second spell, his quality on the ball means he has to play in the middle to try to dictate a game.

After Reid departed for White Hart Lane we had Kris Commons. It may be tough to admit it now but we could've done with hanging on to someone of his quality instead of facing the galling prospect of him turning out for them lot down the road. Yet Commons, like Reid over his career, has drifted inside and was a more central attacking midfielder for a lot of his stay on Trentside.

Garath McCleary left just as he was hitting his stride but showed glimpses of the explosiveness Antonio has shown - and was probably the key part of Steve Cotterill's relegation saving rescue effort. Let's hope he doesn't come back to haunt us at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.

But those three have been bright lights in some pretty dark days. We've never been able to field a pair of top performers in both of the wide positions with the likes of Nicky Southall (good at set pieces but less of an impact in open play) and Paul Anderson (good tactically for Billy but not enough of a creative force) not having the quality of the current pair.

I agree with Dougie Freedman that the play offs are beyond us but as long as Antonio and Burke continue to offer the sort of entertainment we witnessed on Saturday I'll be happy regardless. For now we should try to enjoy our football without the burden of worrying about matters at the top and bottom. Exciting players shouldn't be taken for granted - let's just hope they can deliver more displays like that on Saturday. If they do, it'll certainly be worth turning up.






*It'd be massively unfair to compare any Forest winger to John Robertson so I'll go without mentioning him - save for this footnote to doff our cap to the very best!