It’s always been said that it is the hope that kills you.
A few hours ago, Wycombe Wanderers found themselves at fifth in League One, 2-0 up against Bolton Wanderers, and fans couldn’t have been happier about it.
Now? It feels like it could very possibly be all for nothing.
Currently, the Chairboys sit in ninth in the table, and still only two points away from the play-off positions, which isn’t the worst place they have found themselves in this season.
However the fact that what looked like a nailed on three points has been allowed to slip, especially in that fashion, is more annoying than anything else. If Wanderers went to Bolton and were outplayed throughout the full 90 minutes, it might have been forgiven, but poor game management made sure that come the final whistle, fans would be left with a very sour taste in their mouths.
A lot can be said about the first half alone. Whether fans were there in person or watching on the TV, it was unanimously agreed that Wanderers had performed extremely well within the first 45 minutes of the game, and the scoresheet reflected that too.
Goals from Cauley Woodrow and Luke Harris allowing Wycombe to find themselves two in front of a Bolton side that, before today, hadn’t conceded twice in the first half since August against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. It wasn’t just in the attacking sense, either, as Wycombe did very well to contain a potent Bolton attack who had scored a total of 13 in their last five games before facing the Chairboys.
The second half, however, will forever have a lot more said about it. Dan Casey was forced off just after the 50-minute mark with injury and was replaced by Connor Taylor, another massive blow for Wycombe’s season no matter what the result was, with both of Michael Duff’s first-choice centre-backs now out with injury.
Two more substitutions were made not too long after, Nathan Lowe and Aaron Morley replaced by Josh Scowen and Luke Leahy. While it was great to see Scowen back after nearly a year out of action due to injury, was to have him come on for Wycombe’s biggest goal scoring threat to see a game out after not playing for that long really the greatest choice Duff could have made?
To have Leahy also come on not too long after also wasn’t the best tactical decision, to say the least. From that point onwards everything went downhill, Wycombe sat back and invited Bolton to attack, and they didn’t have to wait too long to pull one back, setting up a nervy finish going into the last two minutes of the regular 90. Seven were added, and things got even worse. Wycombe continued to sit back and invite pressure they could simply not sustain, essentially gifting the hosts their equaliser, and did Duff learn from that? We all know the answer now. No.
Bolton scored the again to make it 3-2, and while it was a good strike, the question remains as to why Wanderers continued to sit back and invite pressure onto themselves when they knew they were already shaky defensively?
To say this was a one-time thing would be lying. We’ve seen it before, where Wycombe go in front and then sit back, invite the opposition to attack and pay the ultimate price for it. Exeter City, Plymouth Argyle, and now today. It absolutely cannot continue like this if Wycombe are serious about getting back into the Championship, and if it does, they will swiftly find themselves out of the play-off race.
The squad’s mentality could be brought into question, especially regarding away form, but they beat Barnsley away on Tuesday, so what is the excuse?
Cardiff City, Stockport County, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town and Lincoln City are five of Wycombe’s last ten after today, and if they continue to allow themselves to play like they did in the last half-hour, the season will be well and truly over.
League One will always be an unpredictable league to play in, and anything could happen yet. But one thing is certain: This is not the kind of form that gets teams promoted, we saw it last season under Mike Dodds and we are seeing it yet again, the game management was poor, and it needs to finally be learned from after this latest setback.
