March 23rd, 2010 by Adam Davies

Bolton’s most significant signing of the January transfer window was at the manager’s desk; they replaced Gary Megson with Burnley’s head coach Owen Coyle, and have steadily climbed up the table since. With the club in 18th place in the Premier League, and Megson a divisive character with fans, he was sacked on December 30th 2009. Coyle was swiftly appointed, and though he lost his first two games against Arsenal, Bolton have picked up vital wins against fellow strugglers Burnley, Wolves, West Ham and Wigan, and now sit in the relative safety of 14th place.

These victories have all but ensured Bolton’s presence in next season’s Premier League, but equally it is the managerial changes around them that could prove critical. Portsmouth are all but relegated following their points deduction for going into administration, but Hull and Burnley have made unusual appointments in the manager’s hotseat. When Phil Brown was sacked as Hull manager, they appointed Iain Dowie, whose track record in charge of relegation candidates is questionable to say the least. At both Crystal Palace and Charlton his sides rarely proved difficult to break down, and Hull contrived to lose to bottom club Portsmouth in his first game as manager.

Burnley fought to keep Owen Coyle in charge of their team, but do not have the budget to match their Lancashire rivals. His replacement Brian Laws had a rather disastrous tenure at Sheffield Wednesday in his previous appointment, and results at Burnley have not been good. In taking the manager from another struggling team, Bolton appear to have secured their safety.

All this makes for an fascinating clash on Saturday 27th March 2010, when Manchester United head to Bolton’s Reebok stadium. If Burnley and Hull continue to make a hash of their fixtures, Bolton only have pride and a higher league position to play for, and it is down to Owen Coyle to keep the ship on course. For Manchester United, motivation rarely seems an issue, especially with notoriously hard taskmaster Sir Alex Ferguson in charge. The Red Devils are chasing both the Premier League title and UEFA Champions League, and every year seem to hit their best form at this stage of the season.

Bolton will need to start the match well, for this season when the opponents have scored first, they have only managed to salvage one point from 14 matches. With Wayne Rooney on fire, they will hope that the welcome return of Gary Cahill aids their fortunes.

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