What on the surface seemed one of the more bizarre managerial appointments in the Premiership for as long as I can remember (a poll in a Bolton newspaper quoted a staggeringly low 1.7% of fans approved) seemed like a masterstroke last Thursday night at Allianz Arena when Bolton came away with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup. I must admit that along with almost everybody else I was perplexed when the man ironically dubbed by Leicester fans the “Ginger Mourinho”, Gary Megson, was appointed manager of Bolton. Probably the strangest thought I had after the appointment was that Megson would be in charge of a team playing in a European competition. Even a few months ago if someone had told me that I would have offered them odds of 100 to 1 on it coming true.
Even Megson must be secretly pinching himself at the way it has all turned around for him. What at one stage looked a promising managerial career while in charge of West Bromwich Albion (it must be said he is still a popular figure for many WBA supporters) had gone decidedly pear-shaped at Nottingham Forest.
It was in fact at Forest where Megson pulled one of the more original and downright strange managerial moves I have heard of when he invited angry Forest supporters into the changing rooms after an insipid loss so that the supporters could tell the players exactly what they thought of them. I’m all for managers explaining to their players the importance of the role that fans play but this was taking it a bit far. His failure at Forest meant an extended break from having the top job at a club, until Leicester came knocking earlier this year. Then after a few fairly modest performances with Leicester came the extraordinary news that newly manager-less Bolton were actually chasing him to be their next manager.
It can’t be right, we all thought.
Nicolas Anelka and Megson together would be like oil and water, the former a sublimely skilled mercenary, the latter a fire and brimstone poster boy for those that believe “passion” is the most important attribute a coach/player/team can possess. But for once the tabloids had it spot-on and, after Bolton paid Leicester (?!) a reported £300,000, they had their man!
From all reports Megson is quite the old-school manager. He doesn’t like the flashy cars and lifestyles modern players have so they say. I say if he feels this way he should get as far away from the “modern game” as he possibly can! It’s a fact of life that footballers, especially in the Premiership, have bucketloads more money today than they did when Megson was plying his trade. It’s a fair enough opinion he has (for what it’s worth I actually agree with him), but as a manger having to deal with these players on a daily basis it is probably a bit of a counter-productive opinion to have. To top it off, his teams don’t exactly have a reputation for exciting football either by the way. But Bolton supporters would be used to that I guess….
Maybe Megson will show us all up and lead Bolton to the promised land of Premiership safety and a decent run in Europe. I fear for Bolton’s sake that the result on the Sunday after their triumphant Munich adventure will be all too common for the rest of the year.
What was the result against Middlesbrough on Sunday, I hear you ask?
0-0.
At home.
Against a fellow relegation contender.
That’s not to say he won’t lead them to safety, just that if he does, he will do it without a lot of scoring or panache. Let us hope for everyone’s sake that during his time in charge of Bolton, however successful or otherwise it is, he does everyone a favour and keeps the fans out of the dressing room.
Even Megson must be secretly pinching himself at the way it has all turned around for him. What at one stage looked a promising managerial career while in charge of West Bromwich Albion (it must be said he is still a popular figure for many WBA supporters) had gone decidedly pear-shaped at Nottingham Forest.
It was in fact at Forest where Megson pulled one of the more original and downright strange managerial moves I have heard of when he invited angry Forest supporters into the changing rooms after an insipid loss so that the supporters could tell the players exactly what they thought of them. I’m all for managers explaining to their players the importance of the role that fans play but this was taking it a bit far. His failure at Forest meant an extended break from having the top job at a club, until Leicester came knocking earlier this year. Then after a few fairly modest performances with Leicester came the extraordinary news that newly manager-less Bolton were actually chasing him to be their next manager.
It can’t be right, we all thought.
Nicolas Anelka and Megson together would be like oil and water, the former a sublimely skilled mercenary, the latter a fire and brimstone poster boy for those that believe “passion” is the most important attribute a coach/player/team can possess. But for once the tabloids had it spot-on and, after Bolton paid Leicester (?!) a reported £300,000, they had their man!
From all reports Megson is quite the old-school manager. He doesn’t like the flashy cars and lifestyles modern players have so they say. I say if he feels this way he should get as far away from the “modern game” as he possibly can! It’s a fact of life that footballers, especially in the Premiership, have bucketloads more money today than they did when Megson was plying his trade. It’s a fair enough opinion he has (for what it’s worth I actually agree with him), but as a manger having to deal with these players on a daily basis it is probably a bit of a counter-productive opinion to have. To top it off, his teams don’t exactly have a reputation for exciting football either by the way. But Bolton supporters would be used to that I guess….
Maybe Megson will show us all up and lead Bolton to the promised land of Premiership safety and a decent run in Europe. I fear for Bolton’s sake that the result on the Sunday after their triumphant Munich adventure will be all too common for the rest of the year.
What was the result against Middlesbrough on Sunday, I hear you ask?
0-0.
At home.
Against a fellow relegation contender.
That’s not to say he won’t lead them to safety, just that if he does, he will do it without a lot of scoring or panache. Let us hope for everyone’s sake that during his time in charge of Bolton, however successful or otherwise it is, he does everyone a favour and keeps the fans out of the dressing room.
4 comments:
Not a comment on this particular post, but I'd just like to say I really appreciate your writing. Keep it up.
Thanks very much John, I appreciate it!
For a brief period, they scored goals for fun under him...4-1 vs Wigan, unlucky 4-2 loss at Man City and 3-0 vs Birmingham, as well as dominating vs Middlesborough in that match, taking Portsmouth apart completely but nobody finished it off and they lost 1-0, having goals disallowed, missing penalties, sitters.
So for a while under him, they were an exciting side.
Could not find a suitable section so I written here, how to become a moderator for your forum, that need for this?
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