Great Sporting Life Article On Megson's Tenure

[mart32]

There comes a point when it's time to say "enough is enough" and this is fast becoming the case at Bolton Wanderers.

 

In October last year, following the departure of the Sammy Lee, chairman Phil Gartside went against the supporters' wishes to appoint Gary Megson as manager with the aim of keeping the Trotters in the Premier League.

 

It wasn't pretty, but they just about managed it after a remarkable late recovery of three wins and two draws in the final stretch.

 

And to be fair Megson deserves a large slice of credit for this when you consider he inherited a troubled squad languishing second-bottom in the table with just five points from 10 games.

 

The bookies and pundits thought they were dead and buried, especially after the 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa at the start of April, but against all odds they survived and this summer the slate was wiped clean for Megson.

 

It felt like a fresh start and he was given more significant funds to shape the squad into one capable of at least re-establishing the club as a respectable top-tier force.

 

Johan Elmander, Fabrice Muamba, Riga Mustapha, Danny Shittu and Ebi Smolarek all came in to join his January recruits of Gary Cahill, Gretar Rafn Steinsson and Matthew Taylor while he emptied his ranks of those he considered dead wood.

 

Unfortunately one of those was fan favourite Ivan Campo and the handling of his exit did not go down well.

 

Even so, open-minded Bolton fans were willing to give Megson the benefit of the doubt. It was now his time to impress and prove he's well worthy of being in charge of a Premier League club.

 

But now, in the wake of the appallingly bad 1-0 defeat to Everton, the Trotters lie second bottom of the table having amassed a feeble eight points and scoring in just four of their 10 league games so far. And that's not to mention the embarrassing Carling Cup exit to League One side Northampton Town.

 

The lack of killer instinct has been a long-standing problem for Bolton since it became evident Nicolas Anelka would leave the club last season and this was eventually addressed by signing the hard-working Elmander for a club record fee of around ?10million.

 

It's too early to judge the Sweden international but so far he looks like another Kevin Davies: dedicated and strong, but where are the goals?

 

And for such a conservative battling team, which has an over-reliance on set pieces and lacks spark, imagination and flair, you have to worry for their Premier League future.

 

A lot of clubs this year would expect at least seven points from home games against West Brom, Blackburn and an Everton side struggling to back up last season's success. But for Bolton they've had to make do with two goalless draws and a worryingly poor defeat.

 

And aside from the results, the entertainment value has been rock bottom, as clearly indicated by the dwindling attendance figures at the Reebok Stadium.

 

It was a depressing atmosphere against Everton with the home team booed off at the final whistle with significant pockets of supporters calling for Megson's reign to end.

 

The Bolton boss also suffered fierce verbal abuse during the previous 2-0 defeat against Spurs at White Hart Lane and the latest chants of discontent hardly surprised him.

 

He said: "That wasn't unexpected to be perfectly honest with you. We've played 10 games, we've got eight points and we're obviously in trouble."

 

Football has always been a blame game and it's so easy to point the finger towards the man at the helm.

 

The main charges against Megson include overly negative tactics, defensive team selection, apparent acceptance of nil-nils, a failure to take attacking risks and his pessimistic interviews.

 

For example against Everton he left all three substitutes on the bench for the entire match when some very tired Wanderers legs had unproductively run themselves ragged. The conditions were energy sapping and it was clear to everybody inside the stadium changes were necessary to freshen things up.

 

But these never came and up Marouane Fellaini popped to head home a late, late winner for the undeserving Toffees.

 

Megson's comments don't often restore hope or provoke excitement. A few weeks ago he said: "The points target (to survive) is coming down. Last year we got 37, which I think everyone would have been aiming at 40, and you probably have to, just to be sure. But I think the strength of the league now will dictate that you will need fewer points to stay in."

 

Words such as these fill everybody with the expectation of a long, hard season scrapping around for the odd point, just doing enough to stay up.

 

There just doesn't appear to be any ambition other than achieving the bare minimum.

 

Whereas last year he pulled the club out of a hole left by someone else, it now looks as if he's digging his own even deeper one.

[Tyler Durden]

Do we really need yet another thread?

[no balls]

I have an attention span of no more than 2 paragraphs. Could somebody paraphrase for the ADHD woman?

Fankuplease!

[Zico]

maybe not

 

but assuming this is an objective piece

 

they have hit the nail on the head

 

and even if it was written by a bolton fan

 

again

 

nail on the head

[tylswhite]

That article is very very accurate. Whoever wrote that must be a Bolton fan or have very close links to one.

[Juan.Kerr]

Words such as these fill everybody with the expectation of a long, hard season scrapping around for the odd point, just doing enough to stay up.

 

At the moment we are not even scrapping for points. We haven't got the type of players (KD excepted)

who are up for a scrap. When was the last time you saw a Bolton player (KD excepted) actually up-end one of the opposition, and I don't mean the Portuguese shirt-lifter.

If we were doing some scrapping I for one would be a bit more optomistic.

[HomerJay]

that does sound very much like something somebody on here would write.

 

very balanced assessment in my view.

[bolty58]

Loved The Sporting Life when I lived there. That article convinces me that it's still a great (and honestly accurate) read.

[clown]

Excellent read, an accurate assessment.

[Zozzy]

A very interesting read, it could easily have been written by a Bolton fan .

Just a few points:

We weren't languishing second-bottom, we were rock bottom below Derby County. The journo is right to say that the pundits and bookies had written us off. This fact is overlooked or underestimated by all the Megson critics. The fact is that we are in the Premier league because the Chairman had the balls to sack Lee and appoint Gary Megson. I don't think Wenger or Mourinho could have managed to keep us up from that position.

WE ARE IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE BECAUSE OF GARY MEGSON.

Regarding Ivan Campo the columnist is not ITK. Campo is a liar and a complete Shit house for trying to disrupt the morale at the Club. I have never liked is attitude anyway, but the way he told lies to the press after his services were no longer needed is unforgivable. His selfish self-serving attitude could have cost this club. All this bollox that Campo has come out with to arsehole to Bolton fans is a farce.

Maybe Megson needs some advice from Campo's PR man.

[bolty58]

WE ARE IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE BECAUSE OF GARY MEGSON.

 

As you know Zoz, that one is a matter of opinion. Some of us believe a bunch of fairly talented players dug in for their own personal reasons and saved us. I can't see where the current manager would have the attacking flair or the motivational skills to produce those last few results.