Filed under: Bolton, Premier League, Football
To an alien it would seem strange to see the treatment handed out to Steve Kean as Blackburn were hammered by Manchester City compared to the general reaction to the dreadful start made by Owen Coyle's Bolton.Of course the circumstances are different at every club. Kean raised eyebrows when he replaced Sam Allardyce, while former Bolton striker Owen Coyle kept the club in the Premier League in 2010 before taking them to an FA Cup semi-final last year.
Yet after Bolton were hammered 5-1 by Chelsea, once again suffering a sixth consecutive defeat in front of their own fans, there is no real sense that Coyle is under what we like to call 'pressure'.
And it was only after a defeat that made Bolton's start to a season their worst in 109 years that Coyle's odds on being the next manager to leave a Premier League club were clipped to 7/1, making him third favourite behind Kean and Steve Bruce.
Of course there are mitigating circumstances for Bolton and Coyle.
They have faced Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea in their first seven matches, with a relatively lengthy injury list.
Coyle's team, who won 4-0 at QPR on the opening day, are really paying the price for their 2-1 home defeat to Norwich last month.
Victory in that match, against a newly-promoted side that was still looking for its first win would have them in a far healthier spot, with a more straightforward run of fixtures ahead.
But since the shocking 5-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat, and the 2-1 win over Arsenal that followed, Coyle's side have lost 11 of 12 matches.
If Bolton remain in the same position after their upcoming matches against Wigan, Sunderland, Swansea, Stoke and West Brom, real questions will have to be asked.
After all, the Norwich game shows that games against lesser opposition can not be taken for granted.
But even if, as most pundits would still anticipate, Bolton pull clear of trouble, what can realistically be expected of them?
Last season's success was based on a strong XI, with seven players starting 34 or more Premier League matches and a lack of squad depth ensured they fell away when the busy festive period came around and ended up 14th.
Without the arrival of Daniel Sturridge on loan from Chelsea, they would undoubtedly have found themselves much closer to the relegation zone.
Stuart Holden and Chung-Yong Lee -- now both injured long-term - were not in that list of seven players but were regulars and key men before Christmas.
In the summer Coyle certainly added depth, but his starting XI is not of the same quality, or seemingly playing a natural playing style, and it is just not working.
Johan Elmander is the only player to have moved on but, other than the shambles of him leaving for nothing three years after being signed for £11 million, he should not really have been missed.
But the team that has started this season is a pale imitation of the 4-4-2 that was full of energy and ideas.
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