Leicester City v Bolton Wanderers: Immediate Reaction

There will be goals.  Yes indeed, there will be goals.  Eight goals to be exact.  Today's match in the East Midlands between Leicester City Football Club and Bolton Wanderers Football Club was brilliant for the neutral.  The neutral.  That's great for the neutral.  I doubt that anyone spending time on this website is a neutral.  In fact, it is unlikely anyone following this match was a neutral.

We are the mighty Bolton Wanderers.  Or we are not.  Dougie Freedman put out a very attacking side today.  He went for it, so to speak.  As usual, half of the supporters were happy and half were not.  This is why the manager, as well as the management above him, cannot just blindly follow fan sentiment.  But that wasn't important today.

Kevin McNaughton has gone back to Cardiff City on loan.  You would think that one player leaving would not destroy the entire defense, but Freedman chose to completely reorganize the back four and defensive midfield.  Tim Ream moved from central defense to left back.  Alex Baptiste moved from left back to right back.  Zat Knight came in to partner Matt Mills, breaking up the Ream-Mills partnership that has been our best this season.  Medo Kamara came in to partner Jay Spearing in central midfield.  This is a partnership that should work, but has not all season.

I am a proponent of squad rotation.  I am all for keeping things fresh.  I am all for having competition for places.  And I don't think we have a decisive best eleven, so I don't have a problem with Dougie being a "tinkerman," as Chris Manning might say.  That said, the same problem that we have had for three years is still undoing us.  The defense is still inconsistent at best, incompetent at worst.  I don't believe the manager is going anywhere, so he has to fix it, and fast.  Whether it is reorganizing the current squad or bringing in new players, he has to fix it.