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When Wanderers toppled out of the Premier League six years ago their demise was accompanied by all the old warnings.
Some still ring true; The Championship is a ‘tough league to escape,’ it is ‘relentless’ and at times ‘physical’ but the division Owen Coyle’s team confidently strode into with the hope of bouncing back at the first attempt is now nearly unrecognisable. A cultural revolution has occurred, and perhaps passed Bolton by.
If last weekend’s opponents Norwich City are the poster boys for second-tier hipster football, then Wanderers’ next, Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United are not far behind.
The two sides represent a brand of high-pressing, well-funded and technical football which pleases the purist and – on the evidence of the first 19 games, looks pretty effective too.
The Championship makeover would not be possible without the millions spilling out from the Premier League in parachute payments, or a wave of new foreign ownership in the division.
But it might well have been an Englishman, Dean Hoyle, who got the revolution rolling at Huddersfield in November 2015 when he appointed David Wagner as the successor to Chris Powell. Even three years ago, the appointment of a foreign coach at this level of football provoked mistrustful glances but Town’s play-off victory, achieved with an influx of German imports, had a direct bearing on Wolves’ approach a season later.
And it may be that the old guard meets the new at the University of Bolton Stadium tomorrow. Wanderers came mighty close to disrupting Norwich’s flow last weekend with Phil Parkinson's familiar up-and-at-em brand, and might fancy their chances of going one better against a Leeds team they have already met in the Carabao Cup this season.
Back in August, Phil Parkinson tested out his full squad at Elland Road and fared quite well despite a 2-1 defeat. It was the first opportunity we had to see Erhun Oztumer and the diminutive midfielder did not disappoint, grabbing a well-taken goal to make it more of a contest than it had looked in the opening 25 minutes.
Parkinson also paired Marc Wilson and Jack Hobbs for the first time in the centre of defence and may be inclined to do so again tomorrow with news that Mark Beevers has picked up a slight groin strain.
Wanderers may have conceded two early goals to give themselves a mountain to climb – the second of which was bizarrely accompanied by a club announcement that fans’ favourite Adam Le Fondre had joined Sydney FC – but they recovered their poise impressively and matched their hosts for much of the last hour.
Wanderers could certainly do with something to cheer up their long-suffering fanbase who have seen their team claim just one win from the last 17 games and attract unwanted headlines thanks to a financial issues and a delay paying November’s wages.
Bielsa took his press conference yesterday, insisting it would be a big mistake for Leeds to underestimate Bolton because of their league position.
The Yorkshiremen are looking for a fifth straight win and possibly a return to the top of the division, depending on how Norwich do at Bristol City.
“The only thing I can do is be happy about the four wins in a row,” said the former Argentina coach. “If you take the teams and link the different results, you will see that there will be ups and downs for each team.
“When you win the previous game, you take the next game in better conditions, but you don’t have any guarantees.
“Sometimes when you have positive cycles, you can become more relaxed and when you relax you are weaker.
“So we are trying to adapt to find good solutions for this moment of the competition. I haven’t decided the starting 11 for Bolton yet.”
Source
Some still ring true; The Championship is a ‘tough league to escape,’ it is ‘relentless’ and at times ‘physical’ but the division Owen Coyle’s team confidently strode into with the hope of bouncing back at the first attempt is now nearly unrecognisable. A cultural revolution has occurred, and perhaps passed Bolton by.
If last weekend’s opponents Norwich City are the poster boys for second-tier hipster football, then Wanderers’ next, Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United are not far behind.
The two sides represent a brand of high-pressing, well-funded and technical football which pleases the purist and – on the evidence of the first 19 games, looks pretty effective too.
The Championship makeover would not be possible without the millions spilling out from the Premier League in parachute payments, or a wave of new foreign ownership in the division.
But it might well have been an Englishman, Dean Hoyle, who got the revolution rolling at Huddersfield in November 2015 when he appointed David Wagner as the successor to Chris Powell. Even three years ago, the appointment of a foreign coach at this level of football provoked mistrustful glances but Town’s play-off victory, achieved with an influx of German imports, had a direct bearing on Wolves’ approach a season later.
And it may be that the old guard meets the new at the University of Bolton Stadium tomorrow. Wanderers came mighty close to disrupting Norwich’s flow last weekend with Phil Parkinson's familiar up-and-at-em brand, and might fancy their chances of going one better against a Leeds team they have already met in the Carabao Cup this season.
Back in August, Phil Parkinson tested out his full squad at Elland Road and fared quite well despite a 2-1 defeat. It was the first opportunity we had to see Erhun Oztumer and the diminutive midfielder did not disappoint, grabbing a well-taken goal to make it more of a contest than it had looked in the opening 25 minutes.
Parkinson also paired Marc Wilson and Jack Hobbs for the first time in the centre of defence and may be inclined to do so again tomorrow with news that Mark Beevers has picked up a slight groin strain.
Wanderers may have conceded two early goals to give themselves a mountain to climb – the second of which was bizarrely accompanied by a club announcement that fans’ favourite Adam Le Fondre had joined Sydney FC – but they recovered their poise impressively and matched their hosts for much of the last hour.
Wanderers could certainly do with something to cheer up their long-suffering fanbase who have seen their team claim just one win from the last 17 games and attract unwanted headlines thanks to a financial issues and a delay paying November’s wages.
Bielsa took his press conference yesterday, insisting it would be a big mistake for Leeds to underestimate Bolton because of their league position.
The Yorkshiremen are looking for a fifth straight win and possibly a return to the top of the division, depending on how Norwich do at Bristol City.
“The only thing I can do is be happy about the four wins in a row,” said the former Argentina coach. “If you take the teams and link the different results, you will see that there will be ups and downs for each team.
“When you win the previous game, you take the next game in better conditions, but you don’t have any guarantees.
“Sometimes when you have positive cycles, you can become more relaxed and when you relax you are weaker.
“So we are trying to adapt to find good solutions for this moment of the competition. I haven’t decided the starting 11 for Bolton yet.”
Source