I suspect it’s a 3-4-2-1 with Headley or Johnson and Garrity just behind Cole. 
 

so 3-4-2-1 / 3-4-3 with the ball and 5-4-1 without the ball. 
 

Seems sensible given the opposition, even if the individuals selected is up for debate. 

Edited November 8, 2025Nov 8 by George

Every week its like playing guess who with the starting line up

We really need to start narrowing the top 11 down to give some continuity 

Of course we are all setting ourselves up as moaning Minnie's come 5pm and we win 1 nil 😇

30 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

Difficult to say, could be a 4-5-1. 

That's a formation Rudgie used a fair bit away from home and got some good results with it but it was obviously different times

 

I'm still fuming about the last time DM was in charge at Bolton away, in what was a must win game. We have better players now, and hopefully there's a plan to at least try and score with this line up, unlike the last time

30 minutes ago, valiant_593 said:

If be <ovf censored> fuming if I were Hall or Paton. Don’t like the 11 at all. I know we can’t be too negative but I’m not happy Garrity is back over Hall and that Paton isn’t starting AGAIN. 3-0 Bolton 

I think he is stuck between a rock and a hard place for this game tbh,if this was a home game then yes I also wouldn't be impressed with the line up as I would certainly like to see Hall get a good run in the team but i think if you look at their results and he chose to go attacking then we would get picked off quite easily,I really like their manager and he loves his teams to attack with pace so we have to try and stop that and hope to snatch a goal somehow.

I do agree that Garrity has been a big let down for me so far this season(something just doesn't seem right) so it's a big game for him....come on now Ben bag us a winner

9 minutes ago, Hoppers said:

We really need to start narrowing the top 11 down to give some continuity 

Of course we are all setting ourselves up as moaning Minnie's come 5pm and we win 1 nil 😇

Oh how I hope you're correct!

Totally dismayed at that team can’t believe he’s left Paton out if we get something out of the game ok if we get well beat then DM has got a lot to answer for 

16 minutes ago, Hoppers said:

Im a happy clapper and a dm fan, but im looking at this team and thinking WTF. How RP and GH can be sitting on their @rses on the bench is bewildering, and like most others I cant work the formation out for love or spunkies

So obviously we are going for the classic Darren Moore bore draw 😱

Tell you what......I'd settle for 1 point today, although I fear even that may be beyond us today! Hope I'm wrong of course. UTV! 

Just now, Gareth70 said:

Honestly if I was Paton, Hall or Curtis I’d be knocking on mangers door and handing in a transfer request. If that’s the formation and a LWB has been selected over me I’d be fuming. Even worse that all 3 are constantly played out of position

12 minutes ago, werstayinup said:

That's a formation Rudgie used a fair bit away from home and got some good results with it but it was obviously different times

 

I remember those days, we would often end up as 4-3-3 when in possession. 

No what I wanted but one up top is what I expected.

 

If we allow bolton to push us back to the edge of our box leaving a huge gap between cole and the rest of the team we will get battered.

Why the hell have we got 3 wing-backs on??? And where’s Garrity supposed to be playing?? That’s a truly horrible formation, we’re either going to stink the place out or get spanked. If it’s the latter I’d hazard a guess to there being a lot of unhappy away fans.

Edited November 8, 2025Nov 8 by Biddulph_PV

19 minutes ago, Hoppers said:

We really need to start narrowing the top 11 down to give some continuity 

Of course we are all setting ourselves up as moaning Minnie's come 5pm and we win 1 nil 😇

Yes, I wish that I had a graph that showed a correlation between the level of pre-match meltdowns and positive results.  There have certainly been some games where this has been the case, but I don't have supporting data. I just know that it has happened before on more than one occasion.