Abdoulaye Faye
Is Owen Coyle Any Better than Gary Megson?
Thursday, October 14th, 2010 | Abdoulaye Faye, BWFC News, BWFC People, Kevin Davies, Owen Coyle | 1 Comment
With Saturday’s game against Stoke City coming up, the mood amongst Bolton supporters is relaxed right now. Performances against Aston Villa and Manchester United were good and self belief has found its way to Owen Coyle’s men.
This time last season, Whites fans were looking forward to the inevitable sacking of Gary Megson, and as Johan Elmander’s recent comments show, the players were sick of the Ginger One’s if-it-moves- shout-at-it routine.
Mystery solved. It was Martin Samuel who ate all the pies. And probably the mash too.
The mood has also been lifted by the belated England cap awarded to Kevin Davies, which has had the added bonus of upsetting the morbidly obese West Ham supporting monkey that is the Daily Mail’s Martin Samuel.
So the question posed in the title to this article might seem a bit odd. A look at the league table shows it isn’t. Bolton sit in twelfth place with eight points and a goal difference of minus one. Or to put it another way, exactly the same position as last term after seven games. Now Coyle has the chance to move ahead on that front.
Last season’s fixture against the Potters marked a low point in terms of what happened on the pitch. Disaffected football fans have been known to voice their disapproval, but they usually wait until the half or full time whistle. The match was only 25 minutes old when the Reebok faithful started to boo.
Megson’s comments after the game demonstrated that he was beyond redemption. An interviewer asked if the second half performance been enough to send the fans home happy.
‘I don’t know, I’m not bothered,’ came the reply. When your manager morphs into Catherine Tate it’s time to go.
Games against Stoke aren’t easy. ‘Physical’, ‘dirty’ and ‘long ball’ are labels used by lazy football writers and resentful opposition fans. In truth, Tony Pulis has assembled a squad, who work hard and for each other, containing several individuals of genuine quality – former Bolton favourites Abdoulaye Faye and Eidur Gudjohnsen amongst them.
But a victory should be the aim here. Gradual improvement is the realistic objective for Owen Coyle’s Bolton. Supplanting Stoke who finished in comfortable mid-table last time round will be a valuable first step.
- Richard McCormick
Recommended reading (5.1.09): Cup fever not so contagious in Bolton
Monday, January 5th, 2009 | Abdoulaye Faye, Ali Al-Habsi, BWFC People, Blerim Dzemaili, Dave Higson, El-Hadji Diouf, Gary Megson, Kevin Davies, Kevin Nolan, Sam Allardyce, Tal Ben Haim | No Comments
What Manny Road has been reading (and thinking) about Bolton Wanderers over the last week
- Following on from Kevin Nolan declaring exactly how much he thinks Bolton should be spending in the January transfer window, Kevin Davies has also been laying down the law, saying he’d like three new signings thanks very much Mr Megson (since when did players get to dictate transfer policy to the clubs they play for?).
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