Megson under pressure + Kevin Nolan = public relations disaster
Tuesday October 28th, 2008
How not to get the Bolton Wanderers fans back on side…
I’ve been saying for a while that Gary Megson’s job at Bolton Wanderers will only seriously come under threat when the national media jump on the bandwagon and start questioning his position.
In recent weeks there’s been far too much to write about at Newcastle, Manchester City and Tottenham for them to worry about little old Bolton, but it appears the ‘Gary Megson you’re a wanker’ chant at White Hart Lane on Sunday may have started the ball rolling.
Amid the Harry Redknapp hysteria, the abuse thrown at Megson stood out like a sore thumb and seemed to catch the eye of the papers, many of whom included reference to it in their match reports. And I notice that Sky Sports is now referring to Megson as ‘under pressure’.
When this starts to happen it’s customary for the club to try and calm the waters with some kind of statement. We’ve all seen it before: the dreaded chairman’s vote of confidence.
Given that Megson claimed after the game that the players had been just as hurt by the chant as he was, someone obviously decided that it would be a good idea to get a player to come out and publicly support him. Not necessarily a bad idea, but whoever decided that player should be Kevin Nolan wants their head checking.
Anyone who knows anything about Bolton Wanderers fans will know that Nolan is our Marmite: you either love him or hate him. Few players divide opinion more than Nolan, with some seeing him as a hero for his past exploits at Old Trafford etc and others seeing him as a fat, lazy big head.
Gary Megson and his favourite player. Picture courtesy of scottfeldstein, some rights reserved.
Getting Gary Cahill, Kevin Davies or Matthew Taylor – all widely respected by the fans – to defend Megson may have had some effect, but sending out Nolan (captain or not) was only ever going to make the situation worse, not least because the conclusion most people will jump to is that the players are not on Megson’s side at all and that Nolan – who many believe has the most to lose (i.e. his place in the side) should Megson get the chop – was the only person they could find willing to do it.
Don’t believe me? Check out some of the discussions on The Bolton News’ Wanderers forum. Here are some of the highlights:
- Is Nolan sleeping with Megson?
- Nolan and Megson joined at the hip.
- Nolan has lept to Megson’s defence… I wish he would leap somewhere.
And there’s plenty of other ‘Megson out’ threads on there too. The momentum is building and anything less than four points from the next two games is likely to see Megson come under almighty pressure from both the fans and media.
BWFC People, Gary Megson, Kevin Nolan
1 Comment to Megson under pressure + Kevin Nolan = public relations disaster
It hurts to admit, I have Nolan and 4 on the back of my shirt, he was a talisman for the Wanderers side in the past. Yet last season and this one he has seemed to have gotten lazy. I dont doubt his commitment to the club ( who else would have him now?) but I feel he has gotten far to comfy in his role as captain. Personaly I would consider making Kevin Davies the new captain, and making Nolan fight for his team slot rather than taking it for granted.
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October 29, 2008