Bolton Wanderers FC

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• Founded:1874
• Manager:Owen Coyle

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Chief admits Trotters errors

30 Jun 2008 - 12:47:54

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Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside has conceded he made mistakes which contributed to his club's battle to avoid relegation last season.

The Trotters only just preserved their Premier League status under Gary Megson after former boss Sammy Lee was fired after only 12 games of the season.

Former number two Lee was handed the reins following long-serving manager Sam Allardyce's resignation last April.

"It was always going to be difficult changing a manager after eight years and follow it with the success that we'd had," Gartside told the club's official website.

"Change always brings about a disturbed situation and that's what we got.

"I think, having tried to manage it by switching from one manager to a guy who'd been with us for three years, had the same philosophy, and would hopefully follow the same system. But it didn't work and we then had to make another change that was always going to be difficult.

"The decision to appoint Sammy Lee was taken on the basis that we wanted stability and I was trying to buy stability because, at that time, unbeknown to everybody else in the outside world, we were already starting to lose several members of staff even though we'd had an agreement not to.

"It was a case of trying to buy that stability back and retain the rest of the staff that were still here.

"In the long run it didn't work, the rest of the staff still left but that was a mistake trying to buy that stability."