ianofcleveleys

Walked round on his tod and clapped all the fans, even when they were coming on to the pitch, though to be fair none of them were going to give him a hard time

Some of the players are 'not that bad' but the majority are not fit to be in the Prem. Week after week, even as Coyle admits, we give the ball away too cheap and do nowhere near enough to defend as a team when we lose it. Any team that concedes one short of 40 goals at home in a season deserves nothing else other than relegation. Too many flaky, airy-fairy individuals with no bottle and no stomach for pressing and defending as a team once the ball has, (usually) been cheaply given away. The teams Coyle's turned out throughout this season are without doubt the worst since we've been back in the Prem - I give you Pratley, Boyata, Eagles and Ngog, m'lord, and rest my case

We were down by Christmas this year, was plain to see.

BWFC in the blood, grandad a supporter going back to the 30s, dad played for the club in the late 50s /early 60s though,as it was before the days of the minimum wage,when realised he wasn't going to be a first team regular moved on and went part time to focus on a solid job working for the Council. First game for me was in 1971, we played Sheff Utd in a Div 2 game and won, Paul Fletcher score the winner I think. We were poor that season though and an early memory was a very young Trevor Francis ripping us apart in a game v Birmingham. Stood on Embankment through the 70s, with the odd treat of a seat in the Burnden Stand as my grandad got a bit old for standing. Saw us at our lowest ebb in the 80s, was one of the 2,902 that saw us play Darlington in what I think was our lowest league gate, then enjoyed it a lot more when we got upwardly mobile again in the 90s. Didn't have season ticket for a while in the 80s and 90s due to playing myself on Saturdays then got one again when legs gave up. Had one since first season in Prem, 10 seasons in North Upper at Reebok then my daughter got the bug but wanted to be nearer the action, so now in North Lower. Seen us play in all four Divisions and most of them at least twice, lots of ups and downs but rarely dull! Great thread this, and some belting stories told by all

being able to turn up on the day of a game, home or away without the rigmarole of buying tickets in advance walking down manny rd rather than round a retail park tea bars that sold wagon wheels and bovril rather than chicken wraps and rose wine pitch raised up on a banking not a flat part-synthetic carpet toilet roll on the pitch, now it's in the toilet wading in piss at half time in the Lever End bogs The Buff (a paper, not the nuddy)

Took his goal really well,Tuncay played a good part as you say, but it all started from Muamba pressuring the defender into giving the ball away. He plays, we win. Again.

Can't agree that he's been one of our best, though he had been better in the last couple of weeks in a system that accommodated him better. Same goes for Petrov, playing 451 made the most of their strengths while covering their weaknesses.Then Coyle ditches it......

Agreed, 100% Big Sam knew we didnt have good enough defenders home or away to play without a screening player in front of the back four. He also knew when to stay in a game till the last minute and if a goal didnt come take a point rather than toss one away every week. Coyle's problem is that he's no patience and no respect for the opposition outside the top six, and he inherently thinks 451 is a negative formation. As Sam showed, with wide players whio aren't fairies and who are prepared to work, it can be just as attacking. We made chances and caused problems to Liverpool and Arsenal playing that way but also looked more secure. What could be wrong with that to make him want to change it?

I wouldn't have cared if Muamba had turned up with his boots at quarter to three. In fact he could have wandered on about 20 past and still improved that shambles 100%

We were getting on top of Newcastle in that game and a 0-0 was the least we looked like getting, we were in the game against Norwich and taking Muamba off at that time just showed complete naivety and contempt for the opposition. Rather than the figures in games when he's been subbed, those from when he's played 90 minutes are the most revealing, just one defeat. By the way Eagles has had one decent game (Arsenal home), the rest ot the time he's given a perfect illustration of why he didn't have the right sort of qualities to make it at Man U. Typical Coyle player, fancy dan soft arse with a few tricks but basically fucking useless to a team in the bottom 6 of the 'Barclays Premier League'

Well said, KD shouldn't have played and did nowt to make us think different but he didn't deserve the cheering when he was subbed, especially when some brainless twats were booing when the fairy Eagles was hooked. Nothing more to say about Coyle, it's all been said. I'm just surprised his 'nice bloke and former player' honeymoon period' has gone on till now. He's all smoke mirrors and happy clappy bullshit and the worrying thing is PG and ED seem to still be buying it.

Oh dear, I did wonder! Daughter's 17, met her boyfriend at the match, bless her! Keep giving her digs about that Rihanna song, 'We found love in a hopeless place'! Step-daughter's a lippy 14 year old!

Hya, thanks, sorry, being a bit slow here, HBATT?

You're right, we may as well bed in for a weekly jostle between 4, maybe 5 clubs to be out of the bottom three. It'll be grim viewing

Hya,thanks, enjoy having a mooch on the site, some good banter and debate, handy when you're not in Bolton all week and a bit removed from the gossip. Live just on the Oldham side, near The Spring Inn and Springhill Hospice, though moving to Royton in a few weeks

hya, am fairly new to the site though not to the Wanderers, in my 40th season of following their many ups and downs. Bolton born and bred but now travel over from Rochdale each week as a season ticket holder in the North Lower with my daughter, sit at the back with a great bunch of lads who've brightened up many a dismal afternoon this season. Get to as many aways in the North and Midlands as poss, hopefully won't be getting the map out to a load of fresh venues next season...hard work this season,especially with a step daughter who's a City season ticket holder rubbing my nose in it daily, very disappointing today after signs of recovery the last couple of weeks but we'll stick with it. It's been better, but it's also been a lot worse!!

Knight and Wheater looked half decent on Wed but abysmal today, agreed, Knight was shocking for their first goal. Coyle's beyond belief, never learns from his mistakes, carbon copy of Newcastle game, takes holding player off when we were just getting hold of the game and within no time we've tossed it. We're not good enough at the back and have too many soft arses in the team to play any part of the game without a screen in front of the back four, end of. Clueless,pig-headed or both, whatever it is, if he doesn't learn quick he'll take us down.

with any sort of composure in their box we'd have had 6. Pratley should have had 3 and Ngog's miss in first half was pathetic, didn't look like a lad who'd played a blinder last week and taken any confidence out of it. He did work hard again though. Their keeper was an accident waiting to happen, and the game showed that if they do get a few injuries to their main men they might still struggle late in the season, not much beyond their best 11. Joe Riley very promising again, nice to see Bogdan keeping the shirt with Jussi fit, deserves it.

They all say that, making out they've a 'big project' to carry out, sorting out all the mess they've been left with. Megson said the same.It's all bollocks to duck responsibility and deflect criticism

We'll get nowt from the rest of Jan, so even 30 points looks a long way off. We are sunk, end of. That performance, against a dire Wolves, was worse than the one against Hull that brought about the end of Megson.

Rochdale for me, lived there for a long time and was chuffed when they eventually broke that 30-odd year hoodoo and got out of the bottom tier. Get along to home games when they drop right between ours. Got a lot on their plate to stay in League One but hope they do it

As did David Pleat on 5live. No quality, no creativity and no organisation. In short, no hope

Two examples of oc errors: Starting with kd and ik give us no pace up front. Pace is vital to any successful attacking option.oc spent a fortune on dn to provide a pacey attaking option and doesn't play him! Pratley has no relative strengths. He is not strong or fast. He doesn't shoot or create chances with passes. He doesn't run at defenders or dribble. He doesn't tackle. He is a premiership footballer. What does he do? Muamba chases, tackles and has enormous energy in midfield A few more to add to your list: Believing an idle soft arse like Petrov is going to provide enough cover for Robinson when we lose (or he loses) the ball Believing an even bigger soft arse like Eagles is the answer on the other side (or now on that side cos Petrov's eventually been found out) Flogging what should have been our first choice keeper for years to come to our nearest rivals, where he makes umpteen saves week after week Stubbornly sticking to 4-4-2 when we're leaking goals every week and are crying out for a screening player in front of the back four Coyle may not have had the biggest budget but his dealings over the summer will kill him and the club

Coyle's tactically inept and once his 'positivity', mantra wore thin at the back end of last season it's clear he has no idea of how to set a team up not to lose a game of football. He's obsessed with fancy-dan, soft arse ball players who are great when it's all going well but useless when you need a bit of bottle and willingness to put a foot in for the team. His team selections are more baffling by the week and, apart from Holden, his transfer policy has been an absolute disaster, leaving us with an unbalanced squad full of bone idle lightweights and tossers like Pratley who will never be a Prem standard footballer. He did well with the first couple of loan signings (Wilshere and Sturridge) but it's gone to rat-shit this time, Boyata and Kakuta are abysmal. Why he was allowed to waste a wage on a new contract for Robbie Blake and offer one to Gardner when he'd been let go and failed a medical elsewhere only Gartside knows. I've heard all the stuff about us not being able to afford to sack him, but Coyle will take us down, will not bring us back and I fear we will not see Premier League football at the Reebok for a long time to come. The rot was setting in a long time ago - we went from Xmas to the end of last season without winning a game away - Wembley only confirmed the fears that Coyle was naive in his thinking and his inability or lack of will to learn lessons from that debacle have meant it's been downhill all the way since.