New year hangovers made worse as Bolton chase Coyle

I'd not even had time to break any of my new year's resolutions before the speculation Owen Coyle was leaving for Bolton went into overdrive yesterday. Many hung-over Clarets will have sat glued to the addictive repetition of Sky Sports News only to be told of the impending doom they were about to be faced with by some pretty, if slightly too orange blonde.

The yellow bar was out in force with the scrolling "SKY SOURCES: BOLTON WANT OWEN COYLE TO BE THEIR NEW MANAGER" being rammed down our throats. "So bloody what" I screamed at the telly whilst reaching for the comfort of a box of chocolates and a beer to instantly smash both of my well thought out and intentioned resolutions. If the constant din of the telly wasn't enough the bookies were at it too, suspending betting on Coyle taking the job as if they'd got wind that the demigod had already deserted us for the promise of an endless supply of Reebok Classics. My instant defiance was suddenly being met with a bout of worry, what if he does actually go this time?


Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a proud follower of Burnley Football Club all my life and am fully of the opinion that no person is bigger than this great club; but the thoroughly enjoyable Coyle era is still in full swing and it’d certainly hurt if it were to be cut short now. Whether we stay up or go down I think the gaffer must give us a full season in the Premier League under his stewardship and take us to the point where ties can be cut amicably if he wishes to go onto the bigger things I’m sure he’s destined for.

For those who say there is no loyalty in football these days, in Coyle we seem to have found a man with integrity. He turned down Champions League football with his boyhood heroes Celtic to stay and guide Burnley into the Premier League and flatly ignored the winking eye of the Scottish FA who saw him as one of the prime candidates for the national team job.

There’s no doubt though that Coyle has emotional ties with Bolton, the fans who serenaded him on Boxing Day clearly hold him in high esteem and no secret has been made about his close links with Chairman Phil Gartside, who previously interviewed Coyle for the management position there and subsequently recommended him to the Burnley board. Back then Owen was seen as too much of a gamble to jump straight into Premier League management but now he’s proven his worth the chequebook may come out to lure Coyle across Lancashire.

Bolton have stated their desire for a British manager and while Alan Curbishley’s name is also high on the list of options, the great thing about Coyle is that his employment will bring a philosophy of attacking football that will instantly sooth the hostility of the football hungry Bolton fans who have been starved of attractive play under the popular, successful Allardyce and loathed, unsuccessful Megson.

However popular he may be amongst Wanderers fans, let me assure you that our love for the man who has breathed new life into Burnley Football Club eclipses anything they feel about him over there. I’m not saying this is a tug of war “we love him more than you” situation one bit, but simply that although the draw of nostalgia may loom large for Coyle at Bolton, he should also remember his massive achievements here in around the same time he spent as a player with them. As the old saying goes “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.

According to the national press certainly, it’s a done deal, but then they said that about Coyle going to Celtic. There’s nothing like a whirlwind of hysteria on a slow news day at Sky Sports News to get everyone on their toes. Although, the amount of coverage the story received was quite surprising given the fact they’re usually only counting down the days to the closure of the reopened transfer window like an impending Armageddon. I’m sure it’s only a matter a time until a window closes with both presenters in their pants, holding hands and quietly weeping.

On the other side of the coin being a wanted man again could be an ideal opportunity for Coyle to squeeze a few more pennies out of the Burnley board. Whether David Nugent is beyond the realms of financial possibility or what has been said recently is just a clever tactic of publicly knocking down the price who knows? We all appreciate the need to keep our finances tight but one or two extra loans at least could make all the difference come May.

All this speculation though is meaningless until that perhaps inevitable approach comes from the other side of Lancashire to test the Burnley board. The answer will undoubtedly be no to such an advance, but those who question football’s loyalty will also tell you that money talks and players and managers ultimately get what they want in the end when wanting to move clubs.

At this stage I’m confident Owen Coyle will continue to be Burnley manager until well into 2010, but that slight doubt does linger somewhere in the back of my mind. I think it is dangerous to dismiss the lure of Bolton as nothing; those who say he couldn’t work with a ugly side should remember how quickly he transformed the confidence of our squad and got us playing the type of attacking, open football we could have never have played under Steve Cotterill. I think every Clarets fan will be praying that Coyle’s New Year resolution was to keep Burnley in the Premier League. If it was, let’s just hope he sticks at his longer than I did mine.