Picking Over The Bones
By Dave Thomas
May 21 2010
So it all came to an end; relegated for reasons which will be debated for a long time, and the disappointment will probably last for another 33 years. There are several reasons, all of them very different, but all of them simmering in the same recipe combining to result in demotion.
You can put them in order according to your own opinions; but Coyle’s defection, the decision to appoint Brian Laws, Brian Laws himself who seemed determined not to restore Bikey to centre-back, the players, loss of confidence and belief, the lowest number of tackles in the Premier league, missed chances at one end, poor defending at the other; eleven games lost by just the odd goal, the almost total absence of any decent run of the ball in the second half of the season, poor officiating in several games, the long absences of McCann, Caldwell and Paterson; and finally Brendan Flood’s business problems ending his financial support; all these things were in the recipe. Would Coyle have stayed if Brendan Flood had been able to continue to bankroll him? The likely scenario was that the Brendan Flood and Modus loans would not have been reclaimed and they would have been available for further investment. How much extra investment, £5million, £10million, would have persuaded Coyle to stay? Should that have been made available from Premier League income? We shall never know the answers. But all of these reasons blended to produce the sad end result. I wouldn’t like to put them in any order save for Owen Coyle at number one. The whole sorry mess began with him and who will ever forget the infamous, toe-curling, jaw-dropping Sandy Stewart interview on the pitch at Milton Keynes. To read the whole article please click on the link below ; |