Source: Daily_Mail
So, why exactly is Owen Coyle leaving Burnley for the Bolton job?
Burnley fans have lived on their nerves regarding the future of Owen Coyle ever since promotion to the Barclays Premier League co-incided with him moving to the top of the shortlist for the vacancy at Celtic.[LNB]Never, though, did anyone at Turf Moor imagine they would lose their bright young manager like this.[LNB]A move to a club such as Celtic would have been understandable for a Scot raised in the east end of Glasgow. The chance to manage a genuinely big club doesn't come around very often.[LNB]But Bolton?[LNB] Chilly reaction: Burnley supporters are not pleased by Coyle's move[LNB]To an outsider, Coyle's decision to move across Lancashire something that looked inevitable as the two clubs discussed a compensation package last night seems rather like selling an Escort and buying an Astra. It's like for like.[LNB]For Burnley followers, of course, it's even worse. It's one thing being jilted but quite another being left for someone who is no better looking.[LNB]And who lives next door.[LNB]'He has shown no loyalty to Burnley,' wrote one contributor to the Clarets Mad website yesterday.[LNB]'He will do the same to Bolton one day. He is a Judas.'[LNB]The reasons for Coyle's proposed switch to the Reebok Stadium would appear to be pretty clear. The 43-year-old played 54 times for the club in the mid-1990s, the only time the former centre forward played outside his home country.[LNB]Indeed, he made such an impression at the club that current chairman Phil Gartside encouraged Burnley's Barry Kilby to hire him when the Clarets were looking for a new manager two years ago.[LNB]At Bolton, Coyle will be paid more and will be able to pay his players more. At Burnley the weekly wage ceiling is £15,000, by far the lowest in the Premier League. At his new club he will be given greater backing and a £10million transfer budget as he bids to keep them in the top flight over the coming weeks.[LNB]As for long-term ambitions, though, it is hard to see what Coyle can achieve at Bolton that he could not at the club he is about to leave behind. Sam Allardyce took Bolton into Europe in 2005-06 and the club played in the UEFA Cup again in 2007-08.[LNB]But can Coyle expect to repeat that in an era when Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham are stronger than they have been for years? It is hard to see and, as such, the Scot's horizons at the Reebok are already limited to stabilising Bolton in the Premier League. In other words, exactly as they were at Burnley.[LNB]It seems unfair to castigate Coyle, a man who has done an awful lot for Burnley. The club had not played in the top division since 1976 before Coyle brought them up via a 1-0 play-off final win over Sheffield United last May. [LNB]Just two decades earlier, they needed a last-day victory against Leyton Orient to stay in the Football League.[LNB] Plea: a fan's banner at Turf Moor[LNB]Coyle has been solely responsible for placing Burnley back on the football map again. In his two years in the town he has given the club back its self-respect.[LNB]By beating Arsenal, Chelsea and Fulham in the Carling Cup last season and clubs like Manchester United and Everton in the League this time he has served up some days that those fans hammering him on internet message boards yesterday will never forget.[LNB]He has taken the likes of goalkeeper Brian Jensen and veteran Graham Alexander and turned them into players they never were before. It has been a superb managerial feat.[LNB]Nevertheless, this saga leaves a bad taste. Last week Coyle had appeared uninterested in the Bolton vacancy in the wake of Gary Megson's sacking. As such, yesterday seemed a sad one for football in the North West.[LNB]Coyle has been around small, closed football communities for long enough to know what episodes like this mean to people. After all, he played at clubs such asDumbarton, Clydebank, Airdrie, Dundee United, Motherwell and Falkirk.[LNB] Back to the old stomping ground: Coyle in his Wanderers pomp[LNB]He is a man steeped in football tradition, a manager who has done things the old-fashioned way. For example, when he wanted to sign young Kevin McDonald fromDundee 18 months ago, he drove to Scotland and took the boy's parents out for tea.[LNB]It would have been a terrific story had Coyle remained at Turf Moor and kept Burnley in the Premier League. Few would have begrudged him a change of club then. As it is, he is now about to take his place in somebody else's chair at Bolton and leave someone to pick up the pieces down the road. Early candidates are Paul Jewell, Mike Phelan and Swansea boss Paulo Sousa.[LNB]Last night Bolton and Burnley were still negotiating the fine details of Coyle's departure. When talks broke off for the evening in snowbound Lancashire, the matter of compensation due to Burnley was yet to be resolved.[LNB]There was a suggestion that a bonus may still be owed to Coyle for his promotion last season but this was denied by Burnley.[LNB]The club's followers will now hope Coyle is not allowed to take any players with him down the M61.[LNB]On January 26 the two clubs are due to meet at the Reebok Stadium in the Premier League. Despite their proximity, they have never been particularly fierce rivals. That may be about to change.[LNB] Coyle leaves Burnley for Bolton after Clarets fail to convince boss to stayCoyle must forget Hoddle, Francis and Souness before going 'home' to BoltonBOLTON WANDERERS FC
