Town were 2-0 up away against Bolton last Tuesday and ended up with a draw, losing a goal to a penalty in the 7th minute of extra time!

So once again, Town throw away 2 points needlessly. The manner of the penalty was truly awful. It was a huge error by Ainsley Maitland Niles who was defending by the goal line just outside the penalty area and trying to hold off a Bolton player for the ball to go out for a goal kick. The Bolton player went around MNiles like he wasn’t there and took the ball in the penalty area toward goal and MNiles tried tackling from behind and the Bolton player went down. Penalty. Dreadful play from Maitland Niles.

When I watched the home match against Portsmouth I was surprised how much stick he got from Town fans around me. I knew why, because his final ball/pass was often poor and ended up giving the ball away after initial skill on the ball and moving forward. I thought the critiscism was harsh, but now I see what a liability he actually is and I do not now want him in the team unless he improves dramatically! It is a shame, because he has talent (he scored a great away goal at Portsmouth) but he is just not all round good enough as a Championship player right now.

Town are away to Cardiff tomorrow and that will be tough as Cardiff are a good side in good form. Town are of course capable of winning if they play well, but how will they respond to that overall poor away performance at Bolton? I know this sounds harsh, but the Town need to play well consistently to get into the play-offs and I am not confident they are good enough to do that. Certainly the injury list has been a factor for Town but I thought we had a strong squad and it turns out it is not so strong and we badly miss our best players. I feel Town do have the capability but do they have the confidence and do they feel they have the capability and if so are they ever going to realise it?! I will still cheer for the Town though ..COME ON YOU BLUES!!