TOP OF THE FLOPS: The big buys that just didn't add up for Bolton Wanderers

That's what so annoyed me about Elmander, he only started playing like that when he was coming to the end of his deal and wanted to move on for free and a big signing on fee.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Sluffy wrote:I guess our worst ever transfer really is the signing of Coyle from Burnley as our manager.

That's a laughable comment.

We played the best football I've ever seen Bolton play under Owen Coyle, at times they were an absolute joy to watch.

He made some crap signings, no doubt about that, but he also signed Stuart Holden who, in my opinion, would have gone on to be a world class player but for his injury.

No doubt you're going to come back with a War & Peace response highlighting all Coyle's failures and cock-ups - but as a fan looking back over my time watching Bolton, those were great days.

Think your memory's playing a trick on you. 

60 losses in 126 games under Coyle.

Rioch had 47 out of 172
Todd - 51 from 183
Allardyce - 114 from 371.

Coyle's record is on a par with -

Sammy lee - 7 from 14
Lennon/his bit on the side - 36 from 80
Parkinson who sucked the fun out of football - 74 from 157, and the man who knows his onions, Keith Hill 15 from 30.

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Coyle relegated (or was instrumental in) relegating ever club he went on to manage (his team in America finished in a relegation place if relegation actually applied to that league).

I'm please for you if you enjoyed his tenure as manager in having pleasing on the eye teams.

Didn't do much for the ultimate wellbeing of our club though and that's what I judge him on.

He may have been a free transfer but i consider Keith Andrews a massive flop. When we signed him i thought he would be great but he was truly awful and looked like he couldn't be arsed.

Even now as a commentator he has nothing nice to say about the club.

No room then for the best pal of the BN and the ST, Dean Christopher Holdsworth. Signed for a record £3.5m in 1997, shortly before Super John was packed off to Bradford, Holdsworth did little to make the difference the club had expected for its outlay.

He managed 3 goals in 17 appearances in his first season whilst the Wanderers were relegated. Improved a bit later at a lower level but nothing like SJM's tally and rarely staying fit for more than half a season. Don't know how much his wages were compared to SJM's but several times as much in all probability.

He went on to squander the best chance the club had of reaching the FA Cup Final since 1958 before returning as its financial saviour in 2016 - I think not.

boltonbonce wrote:

karlypants wrote:From what I remember Elmander was played out of position from the day we got him till the last season of his contract where he started banging the goals in and then pissed off to a Turkish club for free. 

They then tried to sell him on a year later for around £4million.

Scored a cracker against Wolves though. I'll at least remember him for that.

Edit: Whoops! Nat has beaten me to it!

Norpig wrote:That's what so annoyed me about Elmander, he only started playing like that when he was coming to the end of his deal and wanted to move on for free and a big signing on fee.

But was it just that though? 

He played in his favoured position in the last season before his contract was up.

The rest he pretty much played out of it.

Ten Bobsworth wrote:No room then for the best pal of the BN and the ST, Dean Christopher Holdsworth. Signed for a record £3.5m in 1997, shortly before Super John was packed off to Bradford, Holdsworth did little to make the difference the club had expected for its outlay.

He managed 3 goals in 17 appearances in his first season whilst the Wanderers were relegated. Improved a bit later at a lower level but nothing like SJM's tally and rarely staying fit for more than half a season. Don't know how much his wages were compared to SJM's but several times as much in all probability.

He went on to squander the best chance the club had of reaching the FA Cup Final since 1958 before returning as its financial saviour in 2016 - I think not.

He said he connected 'too well'. 

boltonbonce wrote:

Ten Bobsworth wrote:No room then for the best pal of the BN and the ST, Dean Christopher Holdsworth. Signed for a record £3.5m in 1997, shortly before Super John was packed off to Bradford, Holdsworth did little to make the difference the club had expected for its outlay.

He managed 3 goals in 17 appearances in his first season whilst the Wanderers were relegated. Improved a bit later at a lower level but nothing like SJM's tally and rarely staying fit for more than half a season. Don't know how much his wages were compared to SJM's but several times as much in all probability.

He went on to squander the best chance the club had of reaching the FA Cup Final since 1958 before returning as its financial saviour in 2016 - I think not.

He said he connected 'too well'. 

Connected too well with Ken Anderson as well. It took Anderson two and a half years to shake off Holdsworth and his legacy.

Before i clicked on the link Cantello was the first to pop up in my mind.  i had no problem with Elmander he didn't do what it said on the can but he always put a shift in. The daftest signing ever was Dieter Hamann who never even laced his boots before sodding off. And of course the most comical was Jardel just a fat bloke from Brazil.

I so wanted to like Vaz Te, but he was like Bambi. His legs weren't his own. Mind you, he also left me with a nice memory.

boltonbonce wrote:I so wanted to like Vaz Te, but he was like Bambi. His legs weren't his own. Mind you, he also left me with a nice memory.

Bonce I think you are being unfair to Vaz Te. He cost us nothing so he definitely doesn't belong on this thread.

Yes, probably a little harsh, but he always kept me amused. I feel every player should have at least one standing leg.

Everyone used to have a bet on how long it would Vaz Te to fall over when he came on, i'm sure he wore slippers 

"What Lennon didn’t know was that Bolton had already hit a financial iceberg and were sinking quickly as Eddie Davies looked to sell the club''.

Was Neil Lennon so dim that he thought that Eddie Davies had an unlimited supply of money that he could not give away fast enough?

What does accumulated losses of £176m and net debt of £183m tell anyone with a normally functioning brain?