TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Blackburn's Pascal Chimbonda expects hot reception at Wigan Blackburn full-back preparing himself to run a gauntlet of hate when he returns to Wigan, his first Premier League club. telegraph.co.uk |
Few tears in Bolton as fans get their wish with Gary Megson's exit | Paul Wilson The defensive-minded manager always had a tense relationship with the club's supporters which ultimately led to his downfallThere is usually a twinkle in Phil Brown's eye when the Hull City manager has taken something unexpected from a game, so it is impossible to say whether he was being deliberately mischievous after Gary Megson's last match when he said he thought the substitutions had worked out well.His own, including sending on the veterans Nick Barmby and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to chase a game that seemed to have slipped from Hull's grasp, produced nothing startling. It was the single change Megson made that defined the evening, his time in charge at Bolton Wanderers, and quite possibly cost him his job.Megson was big enough to admit that withdrawing the crowd favourite and goalscorer Ivan Klasnic to shore up the midfield with Gavin McCann was a decision that "went down like the Bismarck". Hull equalised shortly afterwards and his caution was left looking redundant, but it was the crowd's reaction to the switch even before Hull salvaged a point that sealed the manager's fate. Megson was booed by Bolton fans, vehemently, when they were still in a winning position. That they went on to surrender two points and a chance to move out of the bottom three was possibly not unrelated, though in the end a minor detail.While he may not have lost the dressing room, Megson lost the Bolton fans a long time ago. The cycle of insults from the terraces followed by retaliatory attacks by the manager has been tolerated for a while but is clearly not helping Bolton improve their league position. The club cannot afford to be relegated, though the chairman, Phil Gartside, has probably heard supporters grumbling that even a spell in the Championship would be preferable to another season under Megson.The fans understand he has been working on an extremely limited budget and are grateful to him for keeping the club in the Premier League after inheriting the shambles Sammy Lee left two years ago, though all along the complaint has been that Megson is too negative and defensive-minded, and some of his attempts to close down games have been woeful."What he never seemed to grasp is that even under Sam Allardyce we had some attacking class in the side," said William Green, a Bolton season-ticket holder present at the Hull game. "We've seen Youri Djorkaeff here, Iván Campo, Jay-Jay Okocha and Nicolas Anelka. Fair enough, Megson has had much less money to spend, but when he does spend he just buys defenders. He blew most of this season's transfer budget, such as it was, on defenders, even though that part of the team was fairly solid last year."Worse than that, he habitually turned winning positions into losing ones through defensive substitutions. I have never heard a manager booed as loudly by his own supporters as the other night, because Bolton fans have seen it all before. At Blackburn last season we were two goals up at half-time and coasting, then he changed the side and we were lucky to get away with a 2-2 draw. Then he called a press conference the following day to attack his own fans. That's what it's been like, it has not all been about lack of money. I don't doubt he tried his best but he didn't look great at West Brom or Nottingham Forest, and most people fail to understand how the club could hire a headhunter to find a new manager and still end up with Gary Megson."Megson called the Bolton fans "pathetic" after they had criticised his tactics in the Blackburn game, wondered aloud about their intelligence and accused them of contributing to the club's slump in form, and they were comfortably in mid-table at the time. He will not be expecting many tears to be shed now, with Bolton in the bottom three. They still have games in hand and could improve their position dramatically with a couple of wins, yet after watching Bolton throw away a winning position at home to one of only two sides beneath them in the league, Gartside appears to have lost confidence in Megson's ability to supervise any more escapes.Bolton fans are currently consoling themselves with the possibility that one of the best young managers around – local, available and with experience of dragging a team out of the relegation zone – might be about to come to their rescue. Some of the more optimistic are even speculating that the timing of Megson's dismissal might have been due to Mark Hughes unexpectedly finding time on his hands. "I don't know if we can get Hughes, but he would be ideal," Green said. "It would be good to see some football and a bit of ambition again. Knowing Bolton, though, we'll probably use a headhunter and end up with Paul Jewell or Gareth Southgate."Bolton WanderersPremier LeaguePaul Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Challenge 'bigger at Bolton' says Coyle • Scot had felt held back by Burnley's lack of finance• Priority is to avoid relegation then look to improve styleThe greater opportunity to invest in players at Bolton was the main motivation behind Owen Coyle's decision to leave Burnley, the Trotters' new manager told a press conference this morning."This is an unbelievable challenge," Coyle said. "But it was a big wrench to leave Turf Moor. Of course I am excited but the emotional attachment I feel for Burnley has made it a difficult decision. With finance so tight, we all pulled together and achieved promotion. But there was a choice to be made about whether we carried on as were doing or maybe invested £30m to establish the club. That wasn't possible. The level of finance Burnley were at, it was always going to be difficult and you risk sliding down the leagues. I think Burnley will stay up but I was trying to move things quicker than the finance would dictate."Coyle said that his only priority was staying in the Premier League. "There's an unbelievable stadium here, and the infrastructure is all in place – the academy and training centre," he said. "Everything is geared for top-flight football and it is my job to ensure it."I was never motivated by personal finances myself. If it was about wages I would have taken the job at Celtic in the summer. I poured my heart and soul into that [Burnley] job and we left no stone unturned to get where we did."My motivation is the magnificent challenge. I want to be involved at the highest level and that's the Premier League. As a boyhood Celtic fan I turned down that job to stay here. The best individual players are in the Premier League and you want to go and compete against the best in the business. I want Bolton to play in a manner to win points and entertain the fans."Asked whether he would be backing his manager during the January transfer window, the chairman, Phil Gartside, said he always had done so in the past. He paid tribute to Gary Megson, who was dismissed 12 days ago, and said the club had built a big legacy over the past 10 years that was an honour to pass on to Coyle. Gartside said that it took the pair five minutes to make up their minds after meeting last Saturday and that no one else had even made it on to Bolton's shortlist.Bolton's style will change, Coyle said, but the priority was to avoid relegation before looking to make improvements. Gartside admitted that he was always worried about the fans' reaction but said: "They'll embrace Owen for what he is, a bubbly and infectious character. You can't not like this guy. He's sat there because he'll keep us up."Owen CoyleBolton WanderersBurnleyPremier LeagueRob Bagchiguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Juventus Fans Banned for Racism Against Balotelli MILAN (AP) -- Racial taunts against Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli have prompted the Italian league to ban a section of Juventus fans from attending the next home game. feeds.nytimes.com |
Relief for Portsmouth as transfer embargo is lifted for loan and free transfers Portsmouth hope to complete a loan deal with Tottenham for Jamie O'Hara within 48 hours. telegraph.co.uk |