Bolton Wanderers: Coyle’d and ready to spring

Saturday saw Owen Coyle's Bolton gain another valuable 3 points in an emphatic 5-1 win over Newcastle at the Reebok moving them into 4th place before the Sunday fixtures had kicked off (Manchester City overtaken them into 4th spot after their win over Fulham).

Since Coyle's arrival at Bolton after the dismissal of Gary Megson almost 12 months ago, much to the dismay of the Burnley fans that idolised the Scotsman, Bolton have started to adapt well to his attractive style of play. One player that has been remoulded under Coyle is Johan Elmander.

[caption id="attachment_291" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Super Swede: Elmander finishes off his wondergoal at Wolves in Bolton's 3-2 win at Molineux"][/caption]

Elmander never made the mark he was expected to make on the Lancashire side, but this season he has excelled alongside Kevin Davies, scoring 8 goals so far in this campaign - pretty impressive considering he scored 11 goals in total in his previous two seasons for the Trotters.  With Davies also gaining plaudits from the England camp as of late, confidence will be high for the two frontmen.

It's also worth noting that their strike partnership is debatably one of the most efficient in the league right now with 14 goals between them, 3 goals more than any other partnership in the Premier League (with Newcastle's Carroll (8) / Ameobi (3), Sunderland's Bent (6) / Gyan (5) and Tevez (9) / Balotelli (2) all contributing 11).

But all good strikers need good providers, which Bolton have in the shape of Matty Taylor, Lee Chung-Yong, Stuart Holden and Martin Petrov. Taylor and Petrov provide good Premier League experience, whilst competing for the left wing role, whereas Lee and Holden have promising futures ahead of them with their stellar recent performances.

Finally, at the back, there is the dedicated, consistent Jussi Jaaskelainen with future England prospect Gary Cahill leading the defence in front of him and his central defensive partner Zat Knight has pulled out some great performances too.

By no means am I suggesting that the Bolton squad would out perform the calibre of talent that you would find at top 4 clubs, however, the level of talent that Coyle is working with now as opposed to the players he worked with at Burnley obviously show that he is a manager that can get the best out of players.  To transform a side that was very physical and direct under Allardyce (and quite frankly a little lost under Megson) into a side that tries to outplay their opponents and have started to score freely is a wonderful accolade.

[caption id="attachment_296" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Owen Money: Coyle has brought success to Bolton recently, but has it come at a cost?"][/caption]

One worrying aspect for Bolton is the recent news of their spiralling debts.  In the last year their debts have almost trebled, rising from £13.2m to £35.4m with their net debt lying at a worrying £93m.  This is partially to do with the recruitment of new players in this season and last, such as Lee Chung-Yong, Jack Wilshere and Ivan Klasnic and also retaining all their current squad too, which wasn't necessarily the ideal outcome for the board.

"We wanted to shed players in the summer to bring the wages down but we couldn't because the market has died."

Claimed chairman Phil Gartside, however he does insist that they will not be forced to "sell" their key players, however "trades" may be used in the near future.

However, can these debts be solved by the successful football that Coyle has been demonstrating via his Bolton squad lately?  Based on current performances, a Europa League spot would be in the minds of the fans, and should be a possibility provided that the players keep their performances up to this standard but we all know things are never simple in football.

Teams like Aston Villa have had a rocky start under new manager Gerard Houllier, but are they due a good run?  Will they make any inspired signings in the Summer? And will their impressive youngsters, such as Albrighton, Hogg, Clark and Delfouneso start excelling further?  It's almost inevitable that Roy Hodgson will turn things around at Anfield too, after their disappointing start, they will be looking to push their way into the European spots - not to mention their Merseyside neighbours, Everton.

So, there's a long road ahead for Coyle and his Bolton squad, but things are looking bright up North and maybe there'll be a few European teams suffering the ultimate test of a wet, windy Thursday night at the Reebok next season.

The Unwritten Policy of Team Selection

[caption id="attachment_277" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Outspoken: Holloway's views have been widely agreed with by the public."][/caption]

Last Wednesday's clash between Blackpool and Aston Villa saw Ian Holloway's team lose 3-2, however spotlight was raised on the team selection applied by Holloway for the match, which saw 10 changes from the team that drew 2-2 with Everton in their previous match.

"We'll have to see if anyone else does it but, come on, it's been put there as a deterrent. It has set a precedent and I've accepted it."

Mick McCarthy, 18/02/2010

Wolves were fined for an identical "breach" of policy which saw them make 10 changes in a game against Manchester United which they lost 3-0.  It took the FA two months to make a decision, but Mick McCarthy's side were eventually fined £25,000 for making the changes.

McCarthy accepted the fines with no argument, stating "We'll have to see if anyone else does it but, come on, it's been put there as a deterrent. It has set a precedent and I've accepted it." Holloway, however, does not seem to be rolling over to the authority of the FA.

The outspoken Bristolian has been quoted in saying that he'll "quit if fined" and that the FA can't dictate which players are first-team players and which are not and he has an unquestionable point.  Due to the new rules of squad registration, every team must submit a roster of 25 players, with U21 players not required to make up those numbers.  Where does it state that some of those players must be played week-in, week-out?

"Let them try and fine me, it's an absolute disgrace. I'll show the Premier League."

Ian Holloway, 11/11/2010

These 25 players have all been picked to be used in competition, and of course the system could be "exploited" if a squad of U21 players were fielded, which would essentially give the whole 25 man squad a rest and would more likely be a weakened squad. Let us not forget that often a top 4 team playing in the Carling Cup would no doubt field an almost full side of youngsters or a general "weakened" side, but this is the Premier League - not the Carling Cup. Was this the case with Blackpool's squad against Villa though? Let's have a look at the squad run-down;

Richard Kingson - Ghanian national squad goalkeeper, 83 caps, played in the 2010 World Cup.
Chris Basham - a young player signed from Bolton, but still at 22 - thus must've been registered.
Rob Edwards - played 20 games for Blackpool in their last campaign.
Dekel Keinan - Israeli defender signed from Maccabi Haifa this season, 11 caps for Israel.
Keith Southern - a Blackpool player since 2002, played 45 games for Blackpool last season.
Ludovic Syvlestre - another new player, signed from Czech side Mlada Bolesav, has made 2 appearances for Barcelona.
Matt Phillips - youngster signed from Wycombe, part of the England U19 team.
David Carney - signed from FC Twente, part of the squad that won the Eredivisie last year, 31 caps for Australia.
Marlon Harewood - established Premier League player, playing for West Ham and Aston Villa previously.
Brett Ormerod - 36 games played last season, scored the deciding goal for Blackpool in the play-off final.
Jason Euell - Premier League veteran, playing for Wimbledon, Charlton and Middlesbrough - also the club-captain.

So, that's one U21 player, a few full international players and players who have featured heavily for Blackpool in the past.  Granted there a few new signings which haven't made as many appearances, but does that make them part of a weakened side?

[caption id="attachment_280" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fringe?: Sylvestre is one of many new signings for the Tangerines yet to make a name for himself."][/caption]

Have we reached the stage where a squad registration must also come with a Football Manager-esque squad status attached to it?  Will Charlie Adam be the "Key Player"? With names like Jason Euell making up the "Backup to the squad" numbers?  I wonder how the new players such as Keinan, Sylvestre and Carney feel about making part of a weakened squad too?  From my perspective, it looks like complete ignorance on be half of the FA.

But on one side you have this logical view at the Blackpool squad, and the other side you have the notion of if Wolves suffered the fine, then so should Blackpool?  And if Blackpool do escape a fine, then it would be double standards.

Whatever decision the FA make, I hope it is a fair one, but I'm sure many will agree with me when I say that I really hope we don't lose Ian Holloway as a result of it.

We'll Be Right With You...

Apologies for the lack of content lately, starting a new job and running this blog just didn't seem to end up hand in hand.

We'll get some new articles up as soon as possible!