That was more than a ‘wake up call’

[The Minn Junta]

I find it interesting Bartley seems to be taking a lot of the blame for Saturday's poor defensive performance but if you watch both goals they are down to Hegazi the first one he allows the striker a free header, the 2nd one he gets beaten in the air on the edge of the area not to mention the 2 free headers he failed to score with at the other end, last season Hegazi's mistakes cost us a number of goals and dropped points yet people seem to rate him personally i would sell him.

I think the spotlight will always be on the new player Salt, we like to see and compare to what we had, have we discovered a gem to replace what we've lost or are about to lose?

We know about Hegazi, as I said previously in post #11 he was awful, Iv never seen so many balls drop by an Albion centre half that in recent years would have been swallowed up as 'meat and drink'.

Yet here I am thinking surely McAuley should have been retained, as cover if not as a first choice. Has he fallen away that much? It seems we'll never know, certainly not in an Albion shirt. I hope to God he doesn't turn up back at ours in an opposition shirt and play a blinder, if he does most of the ground will be up from their seat asking what the hell went on letting him go!?

As for Bartley, like I say I don't like to judge a player too early, he just didn't fill me with confidence on Saturday.

What bothers me more is, we have a Billionaire owner yet we can't, or won't, find the money to tempt one of the best English centre halves around to stay with us, THAT should be our priority. If he wants the riches and status of the Premier League then he needs advising that the likes of Dawson should be kept at all costs.

This proves beyond doubt that Lai has no serious ambition for our club. Jenkins has said they want to return to the 'business model' employed by Peace, ok fair enough but we're not paupers are we? Spending big proved nothing over the last year or two, except that money is like water in the hand to some, but when you have the players among your ranks already, for Gods sake bleeding hang on to them!

[Albionic68]

I find it interesting Bartley seems to be taking a lot of the blame for Saturday's poor defensive performance but if you watch both goals they are down to Hegazi the first one he allows the striker a free header, the 2nd one he gets beaten in the air on the edge of the area not to mention the 2 free headers he failed to score with at the other end, last season Hegazi's mistakes cost us a number of goals and dropped points yet people seem to rate him personally i would sell him.

Bartley is one player from what was a very shaky defensive unit, they all need to up their game. Most of the comments re Bartley are in reference to his general game which was largely inconsistent, as opposed to direct blame for the goals.

You're quite right when you mention Hegazi and his involvement/or lack of. However, if you watch the first Bolton goal back you'll see Bartley is absolutely miles out of position and trying to do Gibbs's job for him rather than concentrating on his own. Hegazi was caught in no mans land and should have done better. But Bartley was very much a part of what went wrong on the whole. There were times when he demonstrated composure. But on too many occasions he charged round like a bull in a china shop, flapped like a tart and blamed others when he should have been addressing his own shortcomings.

I'm not going to rip him apart for that especially as he's the new kid on the block, but it's a worry given his previously highlighted tendency to ball watch. I think he'd be better served concentrating on his own game for now before trying to marshal others. He's actually taking too much on at this moment in time. As for Hegazi his mind was clearly elsewhere and he really should have scored from at least one of his chances.

Keep it simple, concentrate, get to know your team mates. Hopefully they settle down but the chemistry between the back four and the goalie looked poor. If it doesn't improve and quickly then we'll be in for a very long season. Over to you Mr Bartley, Hegazi, Johnstone, Nyom and Gibbs - that's if you're all still here come the end of the transfer window.

[WBA123]

I find it interesting Bartley seems to be taking a lot of the blame for Saturday's poor defensive performance but if you watch both goals they are down to Hegazi the first one he allows the striker a free header, the 2nd one he gets beaten in the air on the edge of the area not to mention the 2 free headers he failed to score with at the other end, last season Hegazi's mistakes cost us a number of goals and dropped points yet people seem to rate him personally i would sell him.

Bartley could have done more to stop the cross for the first goal. But yes, Hegazi got caught positionally on it.