Davies hangover?

[Simi]

One of the risks you take with loan signings. If things don't go to plan, then next season we could be starting the season with only half the starting 11 from this season.

Certainly a worry.

[Dan]

Yes

Of course we are missing Davies but Berner is playing very well, King is playing well.

Its the wingers that are struggling, Adams is back now i suppose, Dyers struggling, Gradels not playing, Porters invisible, Cleverly looked creative and attacking and i thought best on the pitch V Swindon and was subed off.

We could certainly do with another Davies from somewhere.

Its probably a complacency problem with the players, im sure if we lose a couple of games it will be the kick up the arse they need to start playing, and trying, and looking they have the desire to win.

Getting relegated help us in that respect, now the complacency is setting in again IMO.

Even Pearson didn't seem to bothered about the 3 home draws. Saying im not worried, i won't change tact etc etc etc.

I'm guessing you didn't go to Walsall

... or Swindon

[Tevez]

The jigsaw was complete with Davies in, now it feels like a piece is missing again.

[breadandcheese]

We are missing Davies, but that shouldn't be the reasonw e are throwing these points away. The reason we were doing well when Davies was in the team was because we also had Tunchev who would make it his priority to make sure we kept the ball on the deck out of defence. davies was always the first port of call as he liked to drop deep, get the ball and glide up the pitch taking on players left, right and centre.

Since Tunchev has got injured, we've not been the same. Davies was relatively quiet against Yeovil for parts of the game because the ball was bypassing him from defence. Davies has obviously gone now too, which has added insult to injury.

Cleverley is a decent player, he's not at the level that Davies is, but he's good enough to stamp his authority at this level and help us win matches. The problem though is, until Pearson get's the balance right in midfield again and drills it in to his defenders that the ball is to be kept on the deck at all times except in emergencies, then we'll continue to under perform.

We rode our luck against both Huddersfield and Northampton but came out with wins due to our quality. But it was patchy and not technically a sound system being enforced.

Pearson's lack of imagination with substitutes, grates a little at times. I admit, when you look at our squad there's not much room for variety. But Gradel and Chambers haven't been used as much as they should have been in the past month or two. Dyer has been allowed to get away with sub standard performances and Fryatt is on the verge of that as well.

There is still enough quality in this squad to run away with this league and it's hardly cause for panic yet. We were always going to have a few dodgy patches this season, the fact we've only had a couple should actually be commended. Pearson now needs to re-vitalise the players though for the final third of the season, we cannot let all of our hard work go to waste.

The lads that are under performing (Dyer, Fryatt, Gilbert and Mattock) need to be rectified one way or another. I also think it's time for Chris Powell to come back in and give us his leadership, we might have to go grinding out a few wins, especially away at the likes of Millwall, MK Dons and Peterborough because if we stay unbeaten against those three then promotion is almost certain. We have players amongst the ranks with a point to prove and Nigel needs to make a brave decision as to whether bringing some of those in (Adams, Gradel, Chambers, Porter) could give us that kick start we need.

At least things have got a bit more interesting, it was starting to get boring winning every week.

I think a big problem is a lack of reserve team. Now clearly, making a loss of £14 mill has impacted on the club so we have to cost cut where we can (the reserve team being one area), but it is impacting on the players we can put on the pitch.

Whilst the likes of Dyer's and Fryatt's form has tailed off of late (probably due to tiredness with the amount of non-stop games) we do not know how match fit the likes of Gradel or Dickov are. Dickov is one player to have suffered more than most from this, recovering from injury without a chance to gain his match sharpness. As a result, when he is subbed on, he makes little to no impact and looks woefully off the pace. I don't believe Dickov has turned into a useless players overnight compared to the player he was in a league higher at Blackpool last season. With Gradel not having played for a long time, how match sharp is he? This could be a reason Pearson is reluctant to change the team and explains why the likes of Nicky Adams was sent out on loan to Rochdale.

[davieG]

Bolton midfielder Mark Davies is facing several weeks on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury in the Premier League defeat by Fulham.

The England Under-21 international came off in the 68th minute of Saturday's 3-1 reverse at the hands of the Cottagers.

Davies has impressed the Reebok Stadium faithful with his displays since joining the Premier League side from Wolves during the winter transfer window.

Trotters boss Gary Megson is still waiting to discover how long the youngster will be on the sidelines, but remains hopeful Davies could play some part before the end of the season.

He told the club's official website: "Mark is struggling. We don't know exactly how long it will be for but we'd consider it long term.

"We hope he will be back before the end of the season. This kind of thing happens, but he will get over it because he's a young lad."

Bolton remain embroiled in the battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League and, despite sitting 12th in the table, are just four points above the bottom three.

Davies's absence at such a crucial stage of the campaign will be a blow to Megson's hopes of ensuring the club retain their top-flight status.