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The Year of the Un-Coyled: Part Two
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Gary Cahill, Kevin Davies, Owen Coyle | 2 Comments
The new season beckons. Excitement mounts. Yeah right…
Comings and Goings
The summer transfer market was slow, with attempts to offload Gary Cahill for a handsome fee meeting with failure. The desire to get rid couldn’t have been more obvious if a small ad had been placed in the classifieds.
‘For Sale : Top class international defender. Two careful owners. All offers considered.’
For sale to a good home. Or any home, in exchange of a big sack of cash.
The bid from Arsenal was derisory and caused tension between the two clubs, while ‘Arry Redknapp, true to character, made enquiries a few minutes before the end of the window. The behaviour of the interested clubs was disrespectful to Bolton and to Cahill, who it should be noted, has behaved impeccably. He will move to Chelsea later this month with the best wishes of Whites fans.
Ali Al-Habsi was sold to Wigan, Matt Taylor to West Ham and Danny Ward to Huddersfield to give Coyle some working capital. Eight new players were brought in, some on loan. None of them can be considered an unqualified success. Note the polite phrasing of that last sentence.
Pre-season was overshadowed by the broken leg sustained by Lee Chung-Yong in a friendly at Newport County. When top flight sides play such fixtures against non league opposition there’s a tacit agreement that it won’t be an eyeballs out affair. A shame that no one told Tom Miller. Or maybe they did and he’s a psychopath.
The First False Dawn
Whatever confidence there was evaporated when the fixture list for 2011-12 was published. Five of the leading clubs were to be faced early on. QPR imploded in the first game of the season giving the Wanderers an easy 4-0 triumph and a creditable loss against Manchester City took place a week after.
Then it was downhill accelerating, with feeble performances against Liverpool, Manchester United, Norwich, Arsenal and Chelsea. The worst fears had been realised. › Continue reading
Bolton Wanderers 2011 – The Year of the Un-Coyled
Sunday, January 1st, 2012 | BWFC Goals, BWFC People, Lee Chung-Yong, Nat Lofthouse, Phil Gartside | 3 Comments
And so 2011 ends. A year in which Bolton started in sixth position in the Premier League, and finished in bottom place, needing close to a miracle to avoid relegation.
Mark Davies gets to grips with his defensive duties.
The last game, a home draw against fellow strugglers Wolves has aroused much anger, but there were signs of things on which to build. Owen Coyle’s side moved the ball around well at times and in recent outings Mark Davies has at last started to fulfil his potential as a creative midfielder, as well as improving his tracking back and tackling.
But the same defensive frailties remain and there is a lack of fire power up front, to which David N’Gog isn’t the answer, despite his other qualities. Even if the Wanderers put a consistent run of results together, there may simply be too much to do.
Off the field, things have been at least as bad. Burnden Leisure PLC, the parent company of Bolton Wanderers announced losses of £26 million bringing the total debt to £110 million. Some parties did well out of it. Moonshift Investments, a company controlled by club owner Eddie Davies which provides loan facilities, took £5 million in interest payments and is owed a £2.8 million ‘player success fee’. › Continue reading
The Most Important Game of Owen Coyle’s Career
Sunday, November 6th, 2011 | BWFC People, Owen Coyle | No Comments
Stoke City are Sunday’s visitors to the Reebok Stadium with Owen Coyle’s position looking increasingly doubtful. After ten games of the season, Bolton are firmly in the relegation zone with a measly six points.
Needed at BWFC. Stuart Holden that is, not the porky women.
Yet the man from Paisley is still regarded with affection by most. This is as it should be. Coyle is a likeable and decent man, and one of the few involved with Premier League football who realises that without the fans’ money he would have a hobby instead of a lucratively paid profession. But that doesn’t alter the fact that he and his team are in deep trouble.
Stoke are the very antithesis of Bolton, difficult to play against and well organised in midfield, even if they do stretch the rules to an extent to which they can’t be worn again. However, Tony Pulis heads a mid-table outfit. That many home supporters are questioning whether it’s even possible to get a result, shows how low expectation has fallen.
In order to do so, Coyle needs to get the basics right. Bolton’s shape isn’t so much two lines of four as one huddle of panic, usually located around the eighteen yard line. Surrendering the space between there and the half-way line makes it a cakewalk for the opposition.
Also Needed at BWFC.
Going forward there is an utter lack of creativity. There is little advantage in hoofing the ball in the general direction of the penalty area and hoping for the best. What happened to the man who believed in wingers who crossed from the bye-line?
The most troubling aspect of this six month slump is the lack of spirit shown by Bolton’s players. It’s similar to the situation in January 2007. The Whites were third in the league at that point, but won only four games from then until the end of the season, with a few hidings along the way. It later transpired that Sam Allardyce had been denied previously promised transfer funds. He lost interest and it showed. One wonders if there is a another underlying issue at the club that is yet to be revealed.
If he does nothing else, Coyle needs to put some fight back into his men. The Whites are in for a long relegation battle. It would be regrettable if it were all but over by Christmas, with the man who brought such hope in possession of his P45.
The Gartside Saga – Part Two
Coming up after the weekend, Manny Road gives you the inside story on the Gavin McCann transfer, and asks why the FA refused to investigate it.
Meanwhile, Bolton chairman Phil Gartside has sought support from an unlikely source, as the graphic below shows. After being caught retweeting naughty words about Arsene Wenger over the summer, you’d think he’d have learned his lesson. It’s not the real Gary Barlow, Phil. Or even the unreal Gary Barlow.
What a Tweet
- Richard McCormick
Bolton’s Bottlers Deserved their Beating
Monday, April 18th, 2011 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Football Association, Richard McCormick | 1 Comment
And so the cup run ends. Not with glory, but in a haze of disappointment and humiliation. As Bolton rolled over in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final, the most surprised people were the players of Stoke City. They’d expected to play a side placed eighth in the Premier League. Instead they were faced with what appeared to be a pub team who’d prepared for the game with a particularly gruelling bender.
How high do I need to raise it Owen ?
In case what follows appears grudging, it should be acknowledged that Stoke deserved their win and that the margin of victory did not flatter them. As stated on these pages previously, Tony Pulis’s side are more than the one-dimensional hoofers that they often portrayed as. They are admirably organised in midfield and have willing runners who are prepared to carry the ball through the centre of the park and place it in an area inconvenient to the opposition. Should they beat Manchester City in next month’s final, it will be a good day for football.
That said, the Wanderers didn’t just dig their own grave. They embalmed the body, drove the hearse to the cemetery and heaped soil on the rotting corpse. › Continue reading
Its not over yet cocker…..!
Sunday, April 10th, 2011 | BWFC Goals, BWFC News, BWFC People, Football Association, Gary Megson, Marc Iles, Nat Lofthouse, Owen Coyle, Premier League, Sam Allardyce, Stuart Holden | No Comments
Sunday 22nd May 2011 – the day the 2010/2011 Barclay’s Premier League comes to an end. Champions will be decided (although, if Arsenal continue to falter, Man Utd may have clinched their nineteenth league title long before the final day), teams (hopefully Wigan and Blackburn) will be relegated, European places will be confirmed and, for the remaining twelve teams, midtable obscurity / survival will be secured.
Can someone turn off those lights on your way out...!
However, reading several posts on various Bolton messageboards over the past three weeks, more than a few fans consider the season to be over already. In their minds, our season ended on 19th March 2011 at approximately 16.35.
This was when the boot of Manchester United’s Johny Evans collided with the knee of Bolton’s Stuart Holden. The initial reaction was not good: Holden was stretchered off the Old Trafford pitch in obvious distress and Bolton fans feared the worse. Two days later, those fears were realised: Holden was out for six months (‘gutted smilely’).
Evans, to his credit, called to Holden to apologise for the challenge, an apology that Holden has yet to receive from De Jong for a similar tackle twelve months earlier. Holden has accepted Evans’ apology conceding that, unfortunately, injuries are a risk in a contact sport such as football. Arsenal fans take note, it’s not just your players who can suffer injury as a result of a mistimed challenge, a fact that poor Holden knows only too well. › Continue reading
So Gary Megson was Wonderful After All
Saturday, January 15th, 2011 | BWFC People, Johan Elmander, Owen Coyle | 2 Comments
Ahead of today’s clash with Bolton at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has been speaking up for his old mate Gary Megson. Pulis employed Megson back in 2007, but notably didn’t pay him.
‘Gary kept them in the league quite comfortably for two years, but when he took over they were in trouble,’ Pulis told the organ of truth and enlightenment that is the Daily Star.
Give Gaz a chance. Tony Pulis tells it like it isn't
Gary kept Bolton up so comfortably in the first season that they were four points adrift of safety with five games to go after taking one league point in the previous two months. Only a late season sequence of good results prevented relegation. Not quite so comfy then, Tony.
‘The problem was Gary did not have the relationship with the fans that Owen has got,’ continued the man doffing the unwise baseball cap.
The problem was Gary did not have the relationship with the players that Owen has got. Ask Ivan Campo.
‘The players were not with him. They didn’t trust him and the style of football he played was far too simple,’ said the Spaniard after Megson had been given the boot.
Or Johan Elmander.
‘It doesn’t help to stare and scream at me. I got tired the more of it I heard.’ commented Elmander of his former boss. ‘Owen Coyle is a great coach, who I really enjoy working with.’
The Daily Star is best known for having tits on page three. The trait appears to have spread to the sports section.
- Richard McCormick
Bolton’s Gary Cahill Joins Stoke City
Sunday, October 17th, 2010 | BWFC People, Gary Cahill, Johan Elmander, Kevin Davies | 4 Comments
Opinions are still divided after Saturday’s game between Bolton and Stoke City at the Reebok.
Should Stoke have had a penalty? Was the sending off of Ivan Klasnic harsh?
Should the Neanderthal Stoke fans who terrorised women and children be inhumanly euthanized? Should they be joined by the Bolton chavs who mouthed off and then ran off leaving others to deal with the consequences of their actions?
Some things can be agreed on though. Kevin Davies, Johan Elmander and Gary Cahill play for Bolton, while Jermaine Pennant, Ryan Shawcross and Kenwyne Jones are in the employ of Stoke City.
Not according to the News of the World.
The quotes in italics are produced word for word from Adrian Milledge’s deliciously confused match report.
Rupert Murdoch. Worth billions. Employs numpties.
‘The 33-year old, set up by Pennant’s outswinging corner, should have doubled Bolton’s lead in first-half stoppage time but headed wide.’
That 33-year old was Kevin Davies, who was presumably trying to score from inside his own penalty area. Neat if you can manage it.
‘Cahill completely snuffed out any threat from Davies and his strike partner, the in-form Johan Elmander.’
No wonder Davo had a lean day. Johan too.
‘And with Shawcross keeping a firm hand on striker Kenwyne Jones, the goal came from a winger.’
This marking players from your own side lark seems to be catching on.
Ready for the best bit? Here you go.
‘…aside from Delap’s long throws and some teasing corners sent in by Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant, Stoke played the ball on the floor.’
Maybe Mr Milledge watched the game whilst upside down. That would account for his mental disintegration.
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
It’s good to talk (unless it’s Gary Megson doing the talking)
Thursday, September 24th, 2009 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Gary Megson | No Comments
Gary Megson's latest press conference
Gary Megson's latest press conference
Bolton Wanderers’ online communications strategy? Stick head in sand…
With vitriol pouring down from the terraces on a regular basis at the Reebok Stadium these days, you might think that the club would want to go on a PR offensive. But like a Gary Megson team selection, the club’s PR strategy is decidedly defensive – especially on the web.
Bolton Wanderers fans should be seen and not heard
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | BWFC News, BWFC People, Gary Megson, Nicolas Anelka | 5 Comments
Pay your money, sit down, shut up and enjoy the one-way ride to mediocrity...
Pay your money, sit down, shut up and enjoy the one-way ride to mediocrity...
Gary Megson’s supporters in the media are totally missing the point
Something’s been puzzling me for a while. Why are the media so keen to criticise Bolton fans for our treatment of Gary Megson?
In some of my previous posts I’ve suggested that it’s caused by people who have no emotional (and therefore irrational) attachment to the club finding it impossible to fully understand how Megson has undermined the spirit that has been slowly built over the last 15-20 years.
But after reading some of the reports of the latest Megson hate-in, against Stoke at the Reebok on Saturday, I’ve come up with another theory.
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