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This has been one of the hardest weeks for Bolton Football Club, and Coyle has been excellent throughout it, however with relegation beckoning serious questions should be asked of Coyle's performance this season as a whole.
The heart attack to Fabrice Muamba was a shocking incident and one which brought the football community together. The sentiment seen from around the country and the world, on social media and from players has been a real positive for the game of football. It has, if only for a short time, overcome barriers and united a people in their support.
It would appear that he is also on the road to recovery, which is fantastic news. Yet, we are still in the football season and like in life, the show must go on. Bolton have ten games left to save their season, they currently lie in 18th position and with games against Blackburn, Wolves and Fulham coming up, they have a real chance of trying to stay up this season.
This Saturday sees a Bolton side, clearly lacking in focus and suffering from the event last weekend, having to regain their focus and look to overcome a Blackburn side brimming with confidence after a win on Tuesday which saw them go six points above the relegation zone.
Coyle has admitted that his relegation-threatened team will find it difficult to keep their minds on the game. "Will it be difficult? Absolutely. Our thoughts are still with Fabrice Muamba," he said. "But we will go out there and do our best."
Owen Coyle has earned enormous credit for the way he has handled himself throughout the trauma and although the way he dealt with the situation is admirable and the way he has spoken and dealt with the situation deserves plaudits, it seems inconceivable to me that anyone would have done any differently if they had been in the similar situation.
However, with Muamba appearing to be making a remarkable recovery, Coyle must focus on the team he is manager of, because quite simply, this season has been disastrous.
Coyle's impact
Owen Coyle’s arrival in January 2010 was a major factor in the resurgence of the side which under Gary Megson things were not right and the team appeared to be going in only one direction. Coyle's arrival changed that and restored Bolton to a healthy mid-table position. It’s one they are familiar with. In the four seasons from 2003-04 to 2006-07 the club never finished lower than eighth. All the talk of Bolton being an ugly side or a relegation side has only been spoke of since Allardyce left the club.
Last season Coyle took Bolton up the league and were regularly in the top ten throughout last season. They even made the FA Cup Semi Final, losing 5-0 to Stoke City. This result has changed the fortunes of the club and made people question Coyle's credentials as manager. The situation since has not been pretty. Wanderers ended up finishing a disappointing 14th in the Premier League, a horrendous end of season run saw them lose all of their last five league matches.
Yet despite this poor finish, many in the media tipped Bolton to finish in the top half this season, believing that in their young and exciting manager they had what was required to have a good season. However, this is now the worst season that Bolton have had since they have been in the Premier League.
A new season
In the summer injuries would hit the Reebok with the news that Stuart Holden and Lee Chung-Yong would be out for the whole of the campaign. The new signing Tyrone Mears also broke his leg and added to this the departure of major players of last season; Johann Elmander and the return of Daniel Strurridge to Chelsea, meant that they potentially good season would be more difficult then anticipated. Worries seemed premature when Bolton made an excellent start to this season, thrashing newly promoted Queen Park Rangers away 4-0 on the opening day of the season, however following this win Bolton’s results dropped off significantly and it wasn’t until mid-October that the Trotters would secure another league win, beating Wigan away 2-1 in a vital win that took Bolton off the bottom of the Premier League.
In between this sequence of results, Bolton lost heavily at home, conceding 5 on each occasion against Manchester United and Chelsea. They lost by 3 goals away to Arsenal and were also defeated at home against Manchester City and Norwich. In the first twelve games, Bolton only had 9 points. Before the home game against QPR two weeks ago, Bolton had the worst record in all the leagues at home, this is quite shocking. They did record a win that day leaving their home record reading won 3, drawn 2, lost 9, ranking them 18th.
Problems at the back
The problems this season, although losing a lot of attack minded players to injuries or transfers, has been in defence. Bolton have the worst record in the Premier League, even with the “talent” of Gary Cahill in the side, his want of a move last summer which never materialised appeared to impact on his form, which coincidently mirrored Bolton's decline at their end of the pitch. A transition in goal from Jaaskelainen to Bogdan has not been pretty at times, and although he is young and excuses can be made, a team lives and dies on its goalkeeper.
Overall Bolton’s defence has not been good enough and Coyle must take the blame for this. Robinson is not good enough for the Premier League, Knight and Wheater are typical English defenders; tall and strong yet lacking the talent and mobility to deal with modern forwards and movements. Gary Cahill’s performances indicated a player whose head had been turned and Ricketts is not of the quality to restrict wingers from delivering balls into the box. Bolton have conceded the most goals from crosses this season, indicating poor defending out wide and poor defending in the box dealing with crosses.In open play the midfield in front of the defence has not been good enough either.
Too positive or deluded?
Their away form has been slightly better; won 4 lost 10 and no draws.
Perhaps Coyle is being harder on his players away from the media, although the way defender Sam Ricketts described Coyle's positivity on BBC Radio 5 live that despite the club's parlous state, the training ground has not been engulfed by doom and gloom. This is admirable to one extent, yet it strikes me as a feeling of acceptance that has enabled the poor performances of the team. That attitude can only extend so far, though, and the manner in which they have conceded goals does raise questions about their preparation to games and the defensive organisation worked on in training.
Injuries have undoubtedly played their part, with long-term absentees Stuart Holden and Lee Chung-yong clearly missed in a thin squad. Yet there is something missing from this side, a belief and drive that defines good teams. The myth about beautiful football
One of the most frustrating aspects of Coyle is the media attention he gets for the style of football he plays. It would appear that many have not watched Bolton in the past 12 months as the style of football played is not what I would call “pretty”. Apparently he’s introduced football at the Reebok that Allardyce and Megson did not. On the basis of such ringing endorsements from the media you’d be expecting something pretty special from Bolton Wanderers. When comparing style of football to these two then most teams will be playing better football, yet this season there has been no beautiful game at the Reebok. The absence of Holden has played a part yet Davies and Petrov are good enough to pass the ball.
The problem is, it seems the players don't know what their doing. Too often they are too open, easily exposed for counter attacks and vulnerable out wide. The reality is somewhat different, Davies is still used as a target man, although used less this season, although the new targets of Klasnic and N’Gog have been accustomed to balls which sail up and over them more than to their feet. Coyle has been criticised by the fans this season for his altering formations and tactics and looking at the message boards there is a general feeling of discontent with Coyle this season. He has made mistakes with his formation and team line up, choosing to leave Klasnic on the bench, as a result of the change of tactics, meaning N’Gog is played on his own up top. The wide play of Bolton has lacked the quality and effectiveness for Bolton to be an effective crossing side, although now with Arsenal loanee Miyiachi in the side he has given them on a new dimension to their often predictable game.
The impact of Muamba
It would appear that Bolton’s season now rests ironically on Fabrice Muamba. With Muamba now out for the foreseeable future it is interesting to note his contribution to the Bolton side this season. The statistics show that Bolton have lost only one game out of eight when Muamba played for ninety minutes, lost seven games out of eight when he didn’t play, and that taking him off usually meant the situation in a game became worse.
Though in recent weeks Muamba was not part of Coyle’s plans, to the annoyance of the fans who understood his contribution to the side. Many fans were clambering for Muamba back in the side before the incident last week occurred, they believed that Muamba was the important piece in Bolton’s fight to stay up. So what now for Bolton?Muamba has his faults as a player and perhaps isn’t technically good enough for top level football, however he gives Bolton something that others lack, drive. He is the best ball winner in the team and in addition, with his discipline he allowed width to the side as the fullbacks were allowed to go forward knowing they have cover. The point is that without him on the field they not only lose the benefit he provides but they also lose Mark Davies’s creative influence in the more forward role.
Now that option is gone. The question to ask is, will the trauma garner a drive in the players to perform and succeed, will Muamba's spirit be the driving force to save Bolton’s season? Can Reo Coker and Darren Pratley give the team the much needed determination and cover for their defence that is required? It will be fascinating now to see the effect that Fabrice Muamba’s heart attack will have on the team; will it galvanise the side and lead them out of relegation or will they capitulate, lacking the focus required to dig deep and fight.
Coyle brought back the atmosphere, attitude and belief that was lost in Megson’s time, however the team has not been able to deal with the loss in the semi final last year and the significant injuries which derailed this present season. The long ball reputation of Allardyce we are told have been eradicated, however in reality this is simply not true. The players that Coyle has like Zat Knight are not good enough to play out effectively, the full backs lack the qualities also and the shame is that a player like Mark Davies has not been able to showcase his ability as the ball spends less time on the floor than in the air.
In his first 12 months Bolton did play good football yet the truth is that the train has come off the tracks, the mental toughness and positive atmosphere that Coyle talks of appears to be lacking and is certainly not producing results. In reality Bolton should have parted ways with Coyle after 12 games, when they had only 9 points, now they have him to lead them for their most important end to the season in their history in the Premier League.
Throughout this ordeal Owen Coyle has been lavished praise on by the media, in their eyes he can do no wrong. He speaks a good game yet the best judge of a managers ability is his teams performances; Bolton are 18th and face a massive task of staying up. However well Coyle has handled the Muamba incident he should be held accountable for his clubs terrible season.
Throughout this ordeal Owen Coyle has been lavished praise on by the media, in their eyes he can do no wrong. He speaks a good game yet the best judge of a managers ability is his teams performances; Bolton are 18th and face a massive task of staying up. However well Coyle has handled the Muamba incident he should be held accountable for his clubs terrible season.
The Whitehouse Address is on Twitter @The_W_Address
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