BWFC24

There has obviously been a lot of trouble at The Reebok so far this season. Speed steps down from his coaching role, other players secretly moan about Sammy Lee who ultimately left and was by Gary Megson who gave up his position at Leicester City to join an even more unsettled club.

When Megson made the swap, the Leicester fans’ general opinion was one of ‘good riddance’. Bolton supporters however were less than pleased with the choice of Lee’s replacement.

However, Megson is comparable to Allardyce.

Take a look at Big Sam Allardyce’s performance before he joined The Wanderers and compare that with Megson’s during his more successful times.

Before The Wanderers Allardyce managed Notts County and Blackpool, during that period those teams played a total of 247 matches and won exactly 100.

Megson’s time at Stoke City and West Brom totalled 243 matches of which 103 were wins. Turn all the results into points and Megson comes out on top (just) with 366 points compared with Big Sam’s 362.

Megson saved WBA from relegation in the season he joined and took them into The Premiership the following season which earned him the Nationwide Division One Manager of the Year award.

West Brom were not prepared for the Premiership and a lack of funds was the main factor that caused their relegation. Megson did get them back into The Prem by which time his working relationship with club chairman, Paul Thompson, had become quite bitter.

Given the strength of the Bolton squad at the moment and a chance for Megson to utilise quality players such as Diouf and Anelka could he not only save the club from relegation this season, but prove to be as successful as Allardyce in future seasons?

All that is needed is time and patience while Megson and the squad settle and plan the climb back up The Premier League table.

So far Megson has been the boss for just two games, both of which involved contentious goals by the opposition resulting in unfortunate results. Despite this, Bolton had showed signs of improvement during these two matches.

It is unfortunate that Bolton find themselves wallowing in relegation zone and out of the two major domestic cups but staying in The Premier League is doubtlessly Megson’s main priority.

If Bolton can get a decent result at Bayern Munich then hopes of European glory may be rekindled too.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Opinion.


You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.