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This time last year, Owen Coyle was all set to swap Burnley for Bolton on his managerial path.
Almost 12 months on, he couldn’t have made a better decision with Burnley being relegated to the Championship and Bolton having found their true colours.
After Megson was sacked last December, no Bolton fan could have imagined they would be two points and two places behind Chelsea, who sit in fourth place in the Barclays Premier League.
How ironic that Wanderers travel to the home of the out-of-sort Champions tomorrow, looking to leapfrog them heading into the new year.
The future looks bright for the North West outfit and anyone would be wrong to doubt their ability to go to Stamford Bridge and pick up a result, or even all three points.
It looks as though Coyle has installed a certain confidence on the side, with Johan Elmander, last season’s signing Chung-Yong Lee and Martin Petrov, Coyle's first signing, each finding their feet at the Reebok.
Elmander is one reason why Bolton are seeming to do so well this season. Previously, Wanderers relied heavily on captain Kevin Davies to score the goals and lead the line to safety.
Now, the Swedish striker is ably finding his form in a 4-4-2 formation which hasn’t been successful at the home of the Whites since Davies partnered Nicolas Anelka in 2007, and it’s led to Davies gaining his first England cap.
Elmander's nine league goals have seen Coyle’s side snatch points from West Brom, Wigan and Wolves amongst others.
Coyle and Elmander were voted manager and player of the month for November.
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His goal flurry has come despite chairman Phil Gartside suggesting that the £10 million buy from Toulouse may have to be sold, along with Gary Cahill, to balance the club’s debt, which was announced as £93 million in November.
Gary Cahill has been as important this season to the club, despite the side only keeping 2 clean sheets upon their route to a current 6th position.
It’s not been all success for Coyle, however, and his side were beaten 1-0 away at former club Burnley in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup.
On that occasion, several fringe players were present but I have been impressed by the way Coyle seems to wear his heart on his sleeve and he has added to the admirers he won over with his Burnley side at the start of last season.
Owen Coyle has been all smiles since he started managing in the Premier League.
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Not only that but I’ve seen him spurring on both his fringe players and youngsters at Reserve team level this season and his presence seems to have brought about a change in mood around the club, with the players, backroom staff and fans more optimistic about the coming months than ever before.
This might be Bolton’s 10th consecutive season in the top flight but it could be their best yet.
This might be Bolton’s 10th consecutive season in the top flight but it could be their best yet.
Maybe it’s time someone stepped up and broke the Premier League of its predictable format come May.
With Aston Villa, Everton and Liverpool both struggling, the clubs which have taken the bull by the horns are Sunderland and Bolton, both of whom have played entertaining football and taken results from the top teams in the league.
The likes of Villa and Everton have been heading in the wrong direction this season.
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With Aston Villa, Everton and Liverpool both struggling, the clubs which have taken the bull by the horns are Sunderland and Bolton, both of whom have played entertaining football and taken results from the top teams in the league.
The likes of Villa and Everton have been heading in the wrong direction this season.
Credit; here
It is a welcome change.
I’ve never heard as many people say that this is the closest Premier League they’ve seen throughout its 19 year history and it looks as though we may have so many things to be settled going into the last weekend.
At this early stage, you could not see more possibilities, with 7 points separating the bottom 11 and only 6 points in-between Arsenal in second and Bolton in sixth upon writing.
How fitting would it be to see Owen Coyle’s super white army travelling Europe next season and repeating their successes against teams like Bayern Munich, Seville and Marseille under Sam Allardyce.
It would be one great step for a manager who seems to be destined for something special.
The real question lies with which team he is destined with, and how far he can take them, but a European spot would do well for starters and he might just get Bolton there.
I’ve never heard as many people say that this is the closest Premier League they’ve seen throughout its 19 year history and it looks as though we may have so many things to be settled going into the last weekend.
At this early stage, you could not see more possibilities, with 7 points separating the bottom 11 and only 6 points in-between Arsenal in second and Bolton in sixth upon writing.
How fitting would it be to see Owen Coyle’s super white army travelling Europe next season and repeating their successes against teams like Bayern Munich, Seville and Marseille under Sam Allardyce.
It would be one great step for a manager who seems to be destined for something special.
The real question lies with which team he is destined with, and how far he can take them, but a European spot would do well for starters and he might just get Bolton there.
Nice effort. Try harder. Two elements of the "Owen Coyle story" that haven't been reported or referred to much are Coyle's relationship with the fans whilst he was a Bolton player and his relationship with Bruce Rioch. I think that if you do some digging you'll have rich pickings that the mainstrem media have overlooked.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more about the relationship with the fans as a player, but I spoke to Phil Gartside in June and he said that he saw certain similarities in Coyle that he saw in Rioch and that is why he was appointed so quickly after Megson's sacking.
ReplyDeleteLooking back, it was definitely a good choice and arguably Phil Gartside and owner Eddie Davies have formed a solid base from which the club has prospered. That was there before Coyle and they should be given credit they don't receive?
I think it's great to see a British manager so involved at a club what he has brought vision to!
A year ago, I went and read one of the Bolton fan forums, Bolton were dire a year ago around this time and if I have my facts correct, Boyle is lured away from Burnley who got relegated last year. Also, apparently Burnley just sacked Dennis Laws as gaffer today.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, the football they played under Coyle was a shadow of the stuff they play now.
ReplyDeleteIn an interesting merry-go-round, Coyle left Burnley on the 8th Jan after Megson was sacked on the 30th.
On the contrary, Laws took over at Burnley on 13th January, exactly 1 month after he was sacked by Sheffield Wednesday. Christmas time seems a poor time for him.