Owen Coyle - Exit interview.

Owen Coyle has no complaints with his sacking at Bolton and says whoever replaces him at the Reebok Stadium is in a fortune position.

The Scot was axed as Bolton boss on Tuesday morning with Wanderers languishing in 18th spot in the Championship table after winning just three of their opening ten games.

Coyle, who took charge of Bolton in January 2010 after leaving Burnley, accepts the club's decision to look for a new manager and has wished them well for the future.

"I think of course it is disappointing and everything that goes with it, it is probably an understatement to say that," Coyle told Sky Sports News.

"But we understand how football works, we have been in it long enough.

"We certainly know the highs, we certainly know the lows and no doubt it is a hugely disappointing day for everybody.

"We worked very hard I've got to say, for long, long hours at the football club to put a plan in place that well serve the club well for years to come - and it will.

Good interview and more here.

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"Graceful in defeat" is not usually a phrase that springs to mind with Owen, but on this occasion it does.

fair play to him, he is a true gent and i cannot find it in myself to 'hate' him in the way I hated megson.

He was a great player for us back in the day
and I do believe he had the best interests of the club at heart, just a
shame its not worked out for him or us, thanks for your dignity and
class you showed during some testing times (such as the Muamba incident and the death of Sir Nat)
I hope you find a club in the lower leagues that will allow you to nurture your managerial ability a little more, I think Bolton was too much to soon for you...

Coyle's had a very easy ride from the Bolton fans and, to be fair, most people were hoping for him to do well but there you go. It's not as if he wasn't given enough time to try and stop the rot.

Really nice fella, gutted it didn't work out for him as I would love to have seen an old bwfc player achieve success here.

If he ever comes back to the reebok which I am sure he will one day then I won't boo him that's for sure.

Its because he was /is such a nice bloke that he stayed in charge so long. having said that, I wish him well for the future.

Gutted it didn't work out for him. I think he was the right man for the job when Gartside went and got him, he had done excellent for St Johnstone and Burnley and he was a former Bolton favourite, it all made perfect sense. But the fans saw problems with his management from very early on. It only really began to show from the moment we lost 5-0 to Stoke in the semi final of the cup. Ever since then we have been absolutely dreadful.

Owen Coyle is a great guy, it is such a shame it didn't work out with him. I do wish him all the best for the future but I am so glad he has left, we were just going nowhere with him.

I do think 22/1 on betfair for us to win the league is a great bet now. I do think with the right manager we will absolutely rocket up this league. Still 35 games of the season to go, only 12 points off the top of the table. I am lumping on it!

I think he is a nice guy who meant well. I hold no animosity at all towards him - so much so that I will not even say anything like "it's a wonder he didn't mention the Referees in the exit interview."

Ooops.

I cant find anything nice about him, he fucked up this club big time, good riddance to him.

Such a good guy, very gracious, and you can tell he still loves the club. He just wasn't up to the job...

I think he was a genuine bloke who just couldn't get the results when it really mattered. I certainly don't wish him any harm. Good guys don't always come first. That's football.

I don't get this.

He clearly wasn't up to the job twelve months ago as I for one had been saying even before then.

If we had acted then we would almost certainly still be in the Premiership - (just think of all the points he lost - Wigan stands out and even West Brom in the last home match of the season - just ONE point more and QPR would have been relegated instead).

Not only that but with more or less the same team we are now a quarter way through the season and hovering just above the relegation zone in the Championship - leaving the new manager with a lot of catching up to do (he will have to win the next NINE matches to get us back to our stated target of 2 points a match.

Then just to put the icing on the cake, Coyle's presided over our worst home record in the HISTORY of the club and let in an average of TWO goals per game for the last FIFTY plus league games!!!

He's been an absolute disaster and set the club back years - and cost it millions.

His signings he leaves us with have been woeful.

And all everybody seems to be saying is that he was a nice man and it was a shame things didn't work out for him.

The bare facts are that he's been grossly incompetent and should have been sacked a year ago.

If I was Eddie Davies I'd be wanting Gatside's balls for this fiasco.

Coyle as been the worst manager in my lifetime - and believe me I've seen more than a few bad one's in that time.

But he is a nice guy...Just wasn't very good at his job in the end...

Nice guys finish last - Leo Durocher

Sluffy wrote:I don't get this.

He clearly wasn't up to the job twelve months ago as I for one had been saying even before then.

If we had acted then we would almost certainly still be in the Premiership - (just think of all the points he lost - Wigan stands out and even West Brom in the last match of the season - just ONE point more and QPR would have been relegated instead).

Not only that but with more or less the same team we are now a quarter way through the season and hovering just above the relegation zone in the Championship - leaving the new manager with a lot of catching up to do (he will have to win the next NINE matches to get us back to our stated target of 2 points a match.

Then just to put the icing on the cake, Coyle's presided over our worst home record in the HISTORY of the club and let in an average of TWO goals per game for the last FIFTY plus league games!!!

He's been an absolute disaster and set the club back years - and cost it millions.

His signings he leaves us with have been woeful.

And all everybody seems to be saying is that he was a nice man and it was a shame things didn't work out for him.

The bare facts are that he's been grossly incompetent and should have been sacked a year ago.

If I was Eddie Davies I'd be wanting Gatside's balls for this fiasco.

Coyle as been the worst manager in my lifetime - and believe me I've seen more than a few bad one's in that time.

Coyle was clearly shit yes, but it is a shame that a manager who obviously liked the club, promised quality football and to bring youth through couldn't succeed (because he is incompetent unfortunately and did little of what he said he would).

Your gripe is with the board for not sacking him sooner, Coyle should have been sacked ages ago I agree but why would he just give up a job he knows he's probably never going to match again. Can't see any club bigger than us employing him now, you can't blame the guy for hanging on, he'd probably deluded himself into believing he was on the right track and that we'd turn it around.

Think it's telling that his backroom staff have gone with him, normally they would of been put in temporary charge but I think it's a measure of Gartside's opinion of their abilities that he's chosen Lee and Phillips instead.

10 games have gone, as many said they'd give Coyle and Gartside has acted. I've got no complaints over the decision or the timing of it (if not the end of last season then 10 games is a fair time to give him), what's important now is to make the right appointment to get us up the league.

Obviously Mick McCarthy is not the right man for the job, I want to see us appoint somebody who can be long term at the club like Allardyce was. So most probably a risk from league 1 or the championship, Keith Hill, Gary Smith I don't know I just hope Gartside does.

bwfc1874 wrote:
Coyle was clearly shit yes, but it is a shame that a manager who obviously liked the club, promised quality football and to bring youth through couldn't succeed (because he is incompetent unfortunately and did little of what he said he would).

Your gripe is with the board for not sacking him sooner, Coyle should have been sacked ages ago I agree but why would he just give up a job he knows he's probably never going to match again. Can't see any club bigger than us employing him now, you can't blame the guy for hanging on, he'd probably deluded himself into believing he was on the right track and that we'd turn it around.

He couldn’t have liked the club that much that he stayed for a pay off.

Let's be honest, Coyle is probably a millionaire and so I would imagine that his reputation is worth much more important than an extra million or so. He and his family won't be starving anytime soon, that's for sure even before todays sacking.

That's the thing that gets me with football though - many people are on mega money and yet still want even MORE! How the fuck are they going to spend what they've already got in their lifetime yet they still want even more money!

The longer Coyle was in charge the more obvious to everyone else (apart from those wanting Owen to come good somehow) that he had no footballing savvy what so ever - he played the same way with the same players more or less every single bloody game - everyone knew what was coming and planned for ot - that's why we last so many times under him.

He's probably done himself more harm by staying put and 'proving' that he was out of his depth, than by quitting much sooner and allowing other clubs to think he was just 'unlucky', with injures or the rub of the green in general.

He couldn't even get his strategy right about himself, so what chance did he ever give the team!

Clueless - good riddance.

Sluffy is harsh ....but correct.

I have determined he must just be flat out thick. I have no logical reasons for most of the decisions made over the last 18 months.

He seems like a nice bloke to go for a pint with ...... that's about all.

terenceanne wrote:Sluffy is harsh ....but correct.

I have determined he must just be flat out thick. I have no logical reasons for most of the decisions made over the last 18 months.

He seems like a nice bloke to go for a pint with ...... that's about all.

I agree.

from the sounds of this (from an article in the BEN)

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It sounds to me like Phil Gartside wanted to give coyle even more time, for whatever reason, maybe he was just as deluded and needed a push... sounds like that push came from Eddie Davies himself...

"The Glaswegian had been due to get a stay of execution despite
Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Millwall, having agreed to give Sammy Lee a
more prominent role at the training ground.
It was hoped that move would inspire better results after the
international break but on Monday night, club owner Eddie Davies
returned from a break in Hong Kong to discuss the poor league position
and Coyle's future was ultimately decided"

this is from Nixon...

"Tax-exile Davies’ decision was a dramatic change in thinking at Bolton.
Just days earlier, Gartside had lined up a new director of football and a promotion for Sammy Lee to head of coaching.
The plan was then was to support Coyle – the boss who controversially quit as boss of neighbours Burnley to save Bolton from the drop two seasons ago.
Gartside
was even considering a new contract offer that would tie Coyle to the
club long-term, despite their early-season problems.
But then
Davies, on holiday in Hong Kong, told Gartside to pull the trigger, and
the chairman and manager finalised the terms of his exit on Tuesday.
Gartside
said: “Owen poured his heart and soul into the job on and off the
pitch, he led our club with great dignity during some very challenging
times.
“It is the right time for a change. We set a target at the beginning of the season and want to get back on track."


take from that what you will...