Believe in me! - Coyle

Denying the truth lol. You make it sound like a political conspiracy.

It's football. Who cares what he says?

if you don't care, why are you on this forum?

You're both right - we DO care, that's why we keep coming back whatever the club does BUT most of us know that at the end of the day it is only a game of football - nothing that as any real meaning - just a game.

I don't do drugs, nor smoke - but I guess following your team is a bit like having a 'habit' that you don't really want to kick.

gloswhite wrote:if you don't care, why are you on this forum?

I care about Bolton Wanderers winning football matches, i love the club.

what a manager says in the paper i couldn't care less about, unless he's slandering me personally or the fans as a collective. The club is bigger than any player, manager kit man or tea-lady.

people get too hung up (myself included) on stage managed interviews.

I dont really fully understand the anger people feel when he makes these positive comments, these interviews are about keeping fans happy, they have very little to do with the squad morale. If you want to get angry at something it should be tactics.

Only when managers are slating fans (megson..), and not completing the whole purpose of press interviews, that is to increase confidence in fans so they dont protest and boo the team throughout the next game do I get angry about these interviews.

Couldnt really give a shit if he says every week that we 'have the quality to compete with the elite clubs and stay in the Barclay's Premier League, and the team battered the opponents for 30 mins', better than him saying the fans are not proper supporters like out last delightful manager.

Coyle being a bit too positive in interviews its quite frankly very low down the list of things I worry about at the club, right down with people saying he should wear a suit instead of shorts, as its it makes any difference

Talking shite is, to Coyle, habitual. I remember when Burnley beat United and he was talking after the game about how outstandingly Rooney and Giggs had performed, when I remember noting specifically those two players playing the worst I'd ever seen them in a United shirt. That was the first time I wondered if he was for real.

It's more than tolerable when we're playing attractive, exciting, winning football (for some reason) as we were last season, but its earache when we're as bad as we are now.

I respect him for not being a walking personality disorder like his predecessor, but positivity for the sake of positivity can isolate fans too.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

what a manager says in the paper i couldn't care less about unless he's slandering me personally

He tweeted that he hates you.

It is is no surprise to me that some of the posters on this thread have selectively appraised the article and leapt on the bits they want, completely missing the point of the article, and indeed Coyle's comments.

It is this: if we can get through what has been a tough season, we are in a better position for the future.

Now, you can harp on about the past or 4-4-2 or his management style until the cows come home, but the above is a fact.

Coyle has
* Reduced the average age of the squad
* Reduced the wage bill
* Kept us in the Premier League

So far during his tenure. With so many of the 30-somethings out of contract in the Summer, many of whom he did not sign, if we are still in the PL at this point, we will be in a much stronger position for the future and have a better financial structure.

All the players posters on here criticise the most are out of contract in the Summer.

All the players out of contract in the Summer are 30+.

Most (9 out of 11) of the players out of contract in the Summer were signed by Megson or his predecessors. If Coyle is at the club next season, it will be with his squad, for the first time. If you don't grasp that having 11 30+ players all out of contract gives us an opportunity for the future, then I've wasted 5 minutes of my life writing this.

With the possible exception of Sam Ricketts, all of them are past their best. Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Robinson, Knight, Blake, Petrov, Gardner, Davis, K Davies, Klasnic. I won't shed any tears over losing any of these players if they go. They are not the future. With the exception of Blake and Gardner, they are all likely to be on £30K+ per week. I hope the point is sinking in.

This is the point of Coyle's comments, and if you choose to be obtuse about that, that's a personal choice with no basis in the reality of the situation.

And as a footnote. You don't want him as manager? I can accept that. You wanted him sacked earlier this season? I can accept that too.

However, you haven't got your way on this. You have to accept that. Wheeling out all your favourite grievances every time the guy speaks to the press - part of his job - isn't going to change that. If it gets to the point where you ignore inherent sense - and I am not claiming everything Coyle says is correct or inherently sensible - you are the one who has lost the plot.

Il Padrino wrote:

With the possible exception of Sam Ricketts, all of them are past their best. Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Robinson, Knight, Blake, Petrov, Gardner, Davis, K Davies, Klasnic. I won't shed any tears over losing any of these players if they go. They are not the future. With the exception of Blake and Gardner, they are all likely to be on £30K+ per week. I hope the point is sinking in.

Unless you are Owen Coyle how do you know he's going to get rid of those players? Ignoring the fact the club won't have the funds to replace so many players, there's a good chance some of those players you list will be offered a new contract.

Most people accept Zat Knight is useless, but Coyle has stuck with him regardless so I fully expect him to be with us for another 3 years or so. Ditto Petrov, Steinsson and maybe even Jussi and Kevin Davies.

Oh, and this bullshit that if we stay up this season we will be better for it is utter crap - Coyle will still be manager and therefore we'll have to put up with his useless signings. Another Darren Pratley anyone?

Hasn't Kavies already been offered an extension by Coyle? Coyle also chose to stick with Jussi when he could have replaced him with Al Habsi. I'd be surprised if Coyle doesn't keep at least 6 of the 11 out of contract - probably Ricketts, Kavies, Steinsson, Knight, Klasnic and Petrov - regardless of which division we are in.

Some good posts on this thread but the bottom line is that football is a results business. Managers are judged on results and nowt else. It's all about staying in the Premiership where the big money is. All other issues are secondary.

Whether we love or loathe Coyle it really doesn't matter to the board as long as he can keep us in the top flight..

Yeh I think he will keep some of them on as well, but I would be highly surprised if they weren't on (significantly) reduced contracts, hopefully with perhaps an appearance fee or something, might make them work a little harder.

Also they arn't all useless, can't tar Steinsson for example with the same brush as Robinson or Blake.

I could probably have a good guess at who would stay, except for Jussi, I really dont know if he will or not, Bogdan is pretty set as first choice and even if we did want Jussi to stay im not sure he would want to be the reserve keeper and would have to be on far lower wages, doesnt strike me as the kind of person who would want this.

He could opt to go be first team keeper at a smaller club, I really hope he does because I love him and dont want to just see him fade away and provoke angry like Davies has for some

Jussi and Davies are well settled in Bolton so I can see them seeing out the rest of their careers with us ( on lower wages.)

All players have a shelf life although keepers can play past thirty five as long as they are doing the business.

I will always have a lot of time for Super Kev and Jussi but they can't go on forever. If we do get relegated then I suspect quite a few first teamers will either hand in their notice or be offered substantially reduced packages.

I don't know whether he will keep any of those players which is why I used the phrase "if they go". Personally I won't be shedding any tears if they all go.

The point is this. It wil be Coyle's choice whether to try to retain them or not, if he stays himself. It will also be Coyle's choice what terms they are offered. He has a track record of saying to players "you are no longer first choice, here's a new contract that reflects that you are now a squad player, take it or leave it."

This is what happened with Gardner. He's also reportedly made a similar, reduced offer to Jaaskelainen.

So regardless, we will be in a better financial situation next season of we can get through this one - Coyle is right.

Il Padrino wrote:

So regardless, we will be in a better financial situation next season of we can get through this one - Coyle is right.

You've added the word "financial".

We may well be better off next season in terms of finance, but there's no way we'll be better off in terms of football.

Well the football can't get much worse.

If we go down i won't be unhappy to see "young" Josh Vela and "young" adam blakeman step up oh and "young" Temtopi obadeyi

I have added the actual word financial. However, my previous post talked about the wage bill, and the average age of the squad. Why would I be referring to those if not to refer to the club's financial health going forward?

And Coyle is quoted as saying, "“I think they can see what we are trying to put in place in the long term."

Back to the players out of contract situation, I can't see the likes of Petrov sticking around if we went down. He will have teams abroad after his signature.

I'm not convinced Klasnic would want to stick around either to be honest if we went down.

No great loss.

No, but if we let him and Gardner leave then we are going to be seriously short on left sided players next season.