Monday 12 April 2010

Coyle’s Bolton Revolution shows promise, but no quick fix will fill the cracks of Megson’s regime

As the final whistle blew at the Reebok Stadium the groans from the home fans disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived. The feeling of disappointment is all too familiar here; who since the departure of Sam Allardyce in 2007 have seen a significant turn in fortune for the club. Today a lively but vulnerable Villa were barely made to sweat, needing to covert only 1 chance to take all three points as the Villains strolled to a comfortable victory.

“Typical Megson performance”, shouted one fan as he made his way out with only 5 minutes to go and sadly the problems that marred the Megson era have far from disappeared with the manager. The team still lacks a genuine goal threat and despite their best efforts Jack Wilshere and Tamir Cohen are too often passive and unproductive. But whilst the similarities with the Megson regime are all similar there is one crucial difference. Here the groans from the fans did not transcend into boos but applause. And not without good reason.

Despite a lacklustre performance Coyle’s men were only beaten by a wonderful solo effort from World Cup hopeful Ashley Young and whilst they rarely threatened Brad Friedel’s goal the introduction of Klasnic, Taylor and Vice gave new emphasis to the clearly jaded attack. It is this ‘Plan B’ mentally that was so often missing in the earlier part of the season and as Bolton looked to give the ball wide to their fresh legs the crowd got behind the team. The days of ‘Fortress Reebok’ may be gone, but the atmosphere is slowly creeping back into this once intimidating arena.

Coyle will keep Bolton in the top flight although he will do it his own way. So often at this stage in the season mangers sacrifice style for percentages; long balls, packed midfields, you know the script. Yet after taking over (with Bolton in the relegation zone) Coyle has tried to avoid this with his midfield players, Jack Wilshere in particular, often choosing to keep hold of the ball as they weaves away from tackles rather than simply punting the ball up to Davies. It may sound a risky strategy, but this more expansive brand of football has not only improved the team going forward, but has brought seven clean sheets since January; a substantial achievement with virtually the same squad which failed to force a shutout for the previous twenty two fixtures. It is not quite Barcelona, but it is marked improvement and the fans have started to respond.

Today was however a clear warning for the Bolton boss that it will take more than three months to resolve the problems that he was presented with in January. And it must start at the front. Whilst his effort cannot be questioned, Johan Elmander’s form has been woeful since his £11m transfer from Nantes. In two seasons in the Premiership he has managed only eight goals although it is not his lack of goals that will worry Coyle most but his lack in confidence. Elmander still plays with such fear and never looks comfortable on the ball. Often as the furthest man forward, picking up the ball in space Johan almost invariably looks to pass the ball off and never truly seems to break into a full sprint. He does a much better job of scaring himself than scaring defenders in these situations as the ball seems to have become a problem rather than the golden opportunity it is the many top flight strikers. The contrast between the intensity of Elmander and Agbonlahor as they looked to drive forward was quite incredible. If Coyle is to truly stamp his image on this team then he must surely move the Swede on in the summer as he looks to bring a goal threat with some real pace to the Reebok. Trotters fans should not expect the next Nicholas Anelka just yet, but a top striker must be top of Coyle’s wish list come Summer. The extent of the changes planned remains to be seen although it will take more than a few loan signings for this Bolton revolution to become a reality.

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