I've always wondered about managing a football team. It must be different from any other management job. The new manager and all the pundits say He'll need time to get his own people in and to sort out the playing side' etc. This has always seemed to me to miss the point. Surely the new guy ought to be expected to make the malfunctioning squad perform better. Well, the squad left behind by Megson certainly endorses the pundits and confounds my view.
With the exception of SKD, Cahill and Chung Yong Lee (CYL) and, surprisingly perhaps, Knight who all played well. Megson's legacy is a collection of poor players who can't perform in the Premiership. As you'll all have realised this match report isn't from our much esteemed correspondent but from one of his subs who's been sitting on the bench waiting for his chance. Brian would normally go through the team and then do his match report but by now you'll all have read your papers or seen the Sky highlights so I thought I'd try and give a view of what Owen Coyle's inherited against the back drop of the game.
The banners around the Reebok saying Owen Coyle's Super White Army should have read Owen Coyle's rather drab collection of journeymen and jobsworths.
There were very good performances from SKD, CYL, Cahill and Knight and some input from Jussi who wasn't really troubled much. Unexpectedly there were some lovely skilful touches from SKD. His passes for Muamba's miss and for CYL's goal were exceptional. And CYL is a joy to watch - he plays with his head up and as he receives a ball the space around him grows. He always finds time and is comfortable in attacking a defender, crossing or simply laying the ball off. I'll bet Wenger's thinking he'd make an Arsenal player.
And the rest of the team?
Steinsson - average, wasn't anywhere near as bad as Ricketts - who can throw a ball into the penalty area. Defending and passing not being high on his list of things featured in his CV.
Muamba - must be the fittest player I've seen for some time. We know he can't pass or shoot. He's supposed to be a tackler / destroyer, but he can't tackle (really). Over 90 mins. he didn't dispossess a Burnley player, not once. He aggravates them into mistakes but his complete lack of talent is only matched by Taylor - where has last season's energetic, clever and potentially lethal goalscorer gone?
If we had a system like the NFL we could bring him on for free-kicks and leave him on the bench for the rest of the game. He even managed to block Elmander's goal bound effort better than any Burnley defender.
Cohen - Occasionally got into some good positions but usually while we were defending, a couple of good interceptions and with his only chance, a header on the 6 yard box, he missed the target completely.
Klasnic - Had 50 minutes or so waiting for a goal scoring chance that never came. He's not very mobile (unlike Elmander, but he can't score), so unless we get the ball into the box while Klasnic's around he doesn't do much. So, after 227 words of complaint let's move on. In some teams they talk of players and the votes for the Golden Boot award. I suspect Owen Coyle's horizons are more likely to be a Car Boot sale.
New faces (Weiss and maybe Wilshire from Arsenal) and sensible deployment of the better players we already have - Gardner at left back, Mark Davies in the midfield when he recovers from Gallas's assault, Basham instead of Muamba and Elmander given another chance once we start to play it on the ground will probably save us from relegation. Though with teams as poor as Burnley we ought to be safe.
Others left behind by Megson should feature in the end of season sale. Samuel, Robinson, O'Brien (A), Riga, McCann - none has made any impression.There didn't seem to be a sinister edge to the evening. Burnley fans protested and were desperate for a win. When they lost 2 players to injury within 20 / 25 mins. they were unlikely to get any satisfaction. They were a very poor side and should get Brian Laws the sack (again) when they're relegated with Hull and Portsmouth.
With a few minutes to go the stadium announcer said that Bolton fans wouldn't be allowed access to the area around the South Stand, where the Burnley fans would be exiting. Not a very bright idea as that's exactly where the Bolton louts headed. As my brother and I walked nearby on our way to his home the trouble was 'kicking off'.
Fighting between the fans and concrete blocks being ripped up and thrown onto the dual carriageway. We don't get the Evening News in Wiltshire so I haven't seen the papers. Perhaps it was a minor incident after all, I hope so. Liverpool (A) and Fulham (H) next should give us a clearer picture of Coyle's thinking. Let's hope the evolution has started by then.
