I can't say I disagree with anything Okocha says in that article.

I think we've all known for a while that the club has been quite badly mis-managed since Allardyce left and that it was only with the arrival of Coyle that the issues started to get properly addressed.

As much as it is true that Coyle made mistakes last term which contributed to our relegation it is also true that he was working under very difficult circumstances and trying to put in place a structure which will secure the long-term future of the club.

A key part of that is the academy. If we can get it producing talented youngsters on a scale even approaching that of West Ham and Southampton (who both seem to have a production line of young players coming through) then the income we will get from sales will help to secure out financial future for years after Eddie Davies is no longer around.

I think it was just a case of Eddie's money running out so.

And Okocha can hardly claim that they laid out the foundation for the future when most of that team was well over 30 with no re-sale value.

Buying players like Cahill, Chung Yong Lee & Muamba was the right way to go but we ended up in the bargain bucket after that.

I think the point Okocha is making is that players like himself, Campo, N'Gotty and Djorkaeff helped to establish us not just in the Premiership but in the upper half of the Premiership. Mis-management and a lack of a clear plan for the future have undone all that.

Lets not forget that Allardyce asked for £4 million the January before he left and was turned down. £4 million and he thought we could have a real chance of qualifying for the Champions League and at the very least of securing 5th. He was told to go with what he had, got disillusioned and left.

We then gave Megson more money than any manager has previously had to spend and probably more than any ever will again unless we get a Russian oligarch or a Bolton fan marries the daughter of an Arab Sheikh!!

Who would you have rather than spending that money, Megson or Allardyce?

No brainer for me.

Mis-management on a horrific scale.

I hold my hands up, I was wrong, you guys were right. When OC left Burnley for Bolton and we said it was a `sideways step` you guys told us in no uncertain terms how wrong we were. Looks like JayJay agrees. It was clearly a step down to running a club on a shoestring budget.

I thought Allardyce left because he bagged 'n' tagged Gartside's missus??

That was the rumour, but you think either of them would still be married if that were true?

Rumours like that always do the rounds when managers leave under a cloud.

The same thing happened with Darren Fergie when he left Posh. He was supposed to have been getting frisky with the missus of one of his players. Seems unlikley considering that same player then signed for him at Preston!!

I definitely read at around the time he left that he'd gone to the board with this transfer targets and said he thought £4 million was the most it would cost to get them. If memory serves it was one permanent signing and a couple of loans to shore up areas we had injuries in. The board and Gartside gave him a flat no.

Can't blame him for thinking they lacked ambition.

Here we go. Doesn't mention the £4 million figure, although I definitely read that somewhere, but it all boiled down to finance in the end.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2312138/Allardyce-quits-over-lack-of-funds.html

I heard another rumour around shareholder circles at the AGM around the time he left WF.

Eddie & Gartside were absolutely furious over that Panorama program about Sam & Alistar.

I believe that that one was a major reason he left.

I'm quite sad that JJ, has written that article.

Allardyce left in circumstances that some believe were quite unsavoury. Whether it was money or other reasons, I don't know but all I can say on the incident was that it happened quite suddenly, two weeks before the end of the season. If it was a money issue, why not wait until the end of the season? I don't get that.

Sammy Lee was a risk but he had worked under Sam and if he had taken things slowly, he might have made it work.

The Ginger one, was someone who many fans didn't want and was a mistake. In my opinion he was the real reason for our downfall, singing players on over inflated wages, sanctioned by Gartside and Eddie.

That seems to me to say that Sam may not have left because of money not being available for transfers. Also we must remember that Eddie has not, to our knowledge, refused to provide money for transfers.

Owen has not spent a lot of money and has now cut out the dead wood from our squad, reducing wages by almost half. We are also coming into a period where we seem to be benefitting from our youth policy. Hopefully we will be able to come out of this period in a better light and progress back into the Premiership. If this happens will JJ, write another article to say that Owen and the club got it right in the end? I doubt it and for a guy that I admired on the pitch, for me he has just blotted his copy book.

signing players.

reducing wages by almost half

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Whilst reducing our income by well over half.

Jay Jay is a bwfc legend and knows a lot about the game. He did lots for our club to help move it forward. Problem for jay jay is he has done the unthinkable and questioned last season and forgot to mention injuries and suggested coyle played a part. That is a sin!

As for youth don't be sold on the message. If we eventually see young players come through great but surely it takes more than two years to bring through young talent. The odd game here and there is not enough to believe we have the next fergie babes on our hands. Every manager has bigged up that they will bring through youth and all we get is the Chris bash and of this world. Buying young players like sordell is different.

Youth is a good philosophy but what makes this management team different from any other

you'll have HH on here will injury stats now!!!

In fairness, we simply couldnt sustain the financial risk of looking for old superstars and churning them out yearly on a Bosman with high wages..

Sam did try to mix it with Anelka and the like, but whatever tactic resulted in operating losses...

The fundamental fault in why we began such a downward spiral falls at the feet of one chairman & one appointment... Gartside & Sammy Lee.. That summer & the transfer policy destroyed all the work..

I actually agree with Gartside about NRC. He won't be missed as he is paid too much. £40000. Whoever sanctioned that was bonkers. This is how good he is. 'we missed Stuart Holden' that says it all.

Our injury coefficient last season was 41.2309, with a standard deviation of 15.8139 against a mean of 27.5023.

It's so obvious why we were relegated

True NSMB and even megson had a more difficult job than coyle when he took over. Clearing out sammy lees donkeys was more difficult than megsons. Gerald CID braaten jay Lloyd

I wonder how much Robbie Blake was paid over the last 2 years...?

If you read what gudni has said in the paper today again he lays the questions at coyles door. As he has said he accepts ultimate responsibility but thats easy to say when your chairman has guaranteed your job.

don't know but all I can say on the incident was that it happened quite suddenly, two weeks before the end of the season. If it was a money issue, why not wait until the end of the season? I don't get that.
*****
Not that difficult to work out ... he was told to leave immediately by PG, and was not allowed to complete the season ..... it was not BSA's choice, but the circumstances of the complete and total breakdown of the BSA / PG relationship dictated there was no other option . Unfortunately ...what was right for Phil Gartside was totally wrong for Bolton Wanderers as a club, and the consequences of that are that we find ourselves back to square one .. pretty much what JJ eludes to ....

you'll have HH on here will injury stats now!!!
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In fairness to HH, he published this article months ago.

http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/86279

Just about sums it up, and JJ seems to agree.

Lets not forget that Allardyce asked for £4 million the January before he left and was turned down. £4 million and he thought we could have a real chance of qualifying for the Champions Leagueandat the very least of securing 5th. He was toldtogo with what he had, got disillusioned andleft.
.............

Im on my phone just having a quick look before sleep but I have to say, this statement, everytime it gets mentioned, makes me feel sick...

Big sam dipping his wick in gartys wife may not have helped either...

So they say....i joke! Really.

Goodnight...

Petrov, I didn't say that all the young players would come straight in to the team. We still have most of our squad, that played regularly, in tact and we will have Chunggy, mMears and Holden back in the squad properly this coming season.

However, we do need the young lads to come through and the ones that are good enough will be given their chance this coming season. I'm not sure if that would have been the case if we were still in the Prem.