Bolton Fans

Has anyone else noticed that more often than not when one of the press outfits... SSN or Radio 5Live... get a Bolton fan on to voice their opinion, they always seem to fish out the numpties!!

Driving home last night with 5Live on, it was one dumb Boltonian after another, and none could really put into words why we're glad he's gone! As a result, you end up with outsiders saying that we're too picky, or that we're not realistic enough with our expectations... I find it pretty frustrating!!

These interviewees keep saying things like, "he didn't bond or make an effort with the fans" - so friggin what!!! Tell them about his poor decision making or his contempt for attacking football!!

I don't know why it surprises me, remember when Megson was appointed... we had the debacle with the protests and the error strewn blanket - that was embarrasssssing!!!

Cos most people who have more than two brain cells can't be arsed calling in to these shows. Only the fucking morons and their dirty bedsheets feel the need to voice their view on a public phone in*

I never really disliked Megson and I thought that a lot of what he said made sense. I never disliked him as a person and I never thought that his lack of charisma held him back. Certaintly not more than his tactics.

He managed to charm the morons who were chanting for his head prior to his first game with a few words so he couldn't have been that bad.

Those are the people who I hate more than Megson. They were the one's who have damaged the public image of the club and the fans. They were the one's who turned the club in to a laughing stock far more than Megson.

They are the on'es who'll make a decent manager think twice about joining us.

They did wonders for our PR. Wankers!






*obviously voicing your views on a messageboard is completely different to ringing a talkshow.

Certainly those protesting voices probably led to Megson being appointed... Gartside said the other week that the criteria he looked for in a manager for the club was to be thick-skinned and strong enough to carry on with the job when the muck and bullets start flying. Now if the chairman feels those qualities are at the forefront of what he needs to look for in a manager (when you should in fact be looking for a pedigree of winning games etc etc) then it probably says all you need to know about a louder section of Bolton's support.

I also haven't particularly disliked Megson - obviously I've defended him a number of times on here. I usually found that he talked sense in his press conferences (although his constant, underhand PR wasn't great), and he came across reasonably well most of the time.

Last night really changed that for me. Not just the substitution of Klasnic, but the defence of it and the unwitting revelation on how he sees the game.

Ever the hope rings out from the voice of dh, if you think we are so awful go support someone else. It is all crap Megsonista propaganda, there has never before been a problem like this between manager and fans at Bolton, yet there has been between Megson and most of his previous clubs, so had you thought perhaps it was him not us.

Tim: you have said we are nothing but awful for the past two years, yet, sadly, you are still here. Why are you not supporting someone else? You hated the manager. I hate the fans.

The majority of the pundits etc have all been saying that Megson was on a hiding to nothing because the fans never took to him and booed him before a ball had even been kicked under his reign. That gets him the sympathy vote and makes us look like the bad guys and the ones who have 'unrealisitc expectations' and 'cannot accept that the Allardyce era is over'. That's bullshit!

It gives the media a focal point to say that we never gave Megson a chance, which is simply not true. The majority did. I know I certainly did. Instead of focusing on the things that he did wrong, they focus on the fact that it was very difficult to do his job with all the negativity that surrounded it.

That is all down the nob head fans who protested about his appointment before he'd managed to get a good arse groove in the dugout.

How have they improved the image of the club?

How have they made the club an attractive proposition to any future managers?

They won't have watched each game we have. All they will have seen is that; he kept us up; he got us to 13th and we still hated him.

Would you, if you had a choice of jobs, wish to work at a place where you are vicitimised and set upon before you even got started? I know I wouldn't. lets hope that Curbishley is more thick skinned and doesn't take much notice to the papers.

Otherwise, I think you'll have a vendetta against Megson's replacement for the next few years!

What the media is failing to report on is Megson's 27.44% win ratio (think it was .44). That's what ultimately got him sacked. If the fans had any say-so, surely he'd have been gone a long while ago.

We were awful for the last two years Dh, I agree I said it, I agree I was right about Megson. The fact is I think we deserve better, you seem to be happy with the crap Megson served up and the contempt with which he treated the fans. And as I have long said Megson was temporary, we, the fans are permanent, so unless you want to hate your fellow fans forever why don't you sod off. We won, you and you ginger hero lost, go with him. I also think that any manager worth his salt, Curbs does for sure, would know this is a problem created by Megson, he has after all done it at several previous clubs, so it is not an issue in coming to bolton. For goodness sake he was booed at Leicester, before he came to us.

Your right dh about the way we're depicted by the press.... heres a headline in 'the Australian' that says what the world outside bolton thinks of us....!

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/mob-rule-catches-up-with-bolton-manager/story-e6frg7mf-1225815117181

Josh why did you feel the need to quote a Times article via the Australian?
It is all crap, we have 18 points from 18 games, we are third from bottom and have won 8 games in 12 months, that is an appalling record. As for Megson's comments, he is bringing up those 'people who know football' who are these mythical all-knowing individuals, are they the same ones who thought he was a good appointment and would not leave us in the relegation zone?

Tim.....you feckin moron... I was merely pointing out that dh was right with his assessment that the 'press' have depicted us (the fans) as the transgressers as with their headline :
Mob rule catches up with Bolton manager

Tim, dont you think Leicester would not be in the position they are currently if Gary Megson was their boss?. I personally think not. Leicester fans began squawking as soon as they heard he was to be appointed, Gartside then stuck his twopenneth in and that was that.
Gartside has now the opportunity to appoint a manager, Tim, would you be happy with Paul Jewel?, neither would I, quite frankly Id have stuck with Megsonn as opposed to him.

Well not sure I would go as far as to say I would rather have the ginger idiot, they are equally as bad, there are good managers out of contract, there is no excuse for him to get it wrong again.

Jesus Christ Tim, you're really not getting my point are you. For someone so intelligent, it is frustrating. Why on earth would I not support Bolton because I dislike the fans. One doesn't mix in their circles anyway! Not all fans though I should add. A section of them who felt the need to boo Megson prior to him even starting the job.

My opinion on Megson is irrelevant. I gave him a chance, and it was more than you gave him granted. Did I ever say you were right? Did I fuck! Does that make you right? No, I wouldn't say so. You said we would be relegated for the two previous seasons. You were wrong about that. Lets just call it even shall we? I agreed that it was time for Megson to leave. His spending this summer and players which even he has no confidence in 12 weeks later was the final straw.

Wendy summed up my point on the fans;

"What the media is failing to report on is Megson's 27.44% win ratio (think it was .44). That's what ultimately got him sacked".

Why are the media not reporting this? Because the common consensus is that the Bolton fans '[seem] to live in a bubble, refusing to acknowledge that the landscape of the Premier League has changed profoundly since Sam Allardyce left the club'.

Could they honestly throw that absurd allegation at us if we were seen to give Megson a chance? I doubt it. The vocal minority have tarnished the reputation of our fans and the club.

How many reports and Megson's sacking have said that he deserved to go on his results? How many have quoted his win %? How many have pointed out that such a win record was lower than Paul Hart's when he got sacked? I have found one article saying we were right to sack Megson and at least a dozen saying that 'Gartside bowed to fan pressure', making us seem like the villains of the piece.

With regards to Curbishley looking at Megson's history, he is not joining Leicester, he wants to join Bolton. He'll want to know how the Bolton fans will treat him. The press have portrayed us as fans who don't realise our level. That we expect to be pushing for the top 6 year after year. Curbishley is also savy enough to realise that such aims are impossible in the current climate. Will he want to join us if he thinks that those are the aims which he is to be judged by the fans?

What was booing him at the Braga game going to achieve. By that point, he had already been appointed. gartside was aware of our feelings towards Megson. he was not going to go back on the appointment. If we had got behind him from the off, despite our reservations, if we had it got on with supporting the team instead of directing our frustration at a man who hadn't been in charge for a single minute of football then maybe, just maybe, the recent articles would be on the failings on Megson, which there were more than enough to fill several column inches, rather than how the Bolton fans, and they aren't afraid to tarnish the majority unlike myself who only tarnishes the minority, hounded him out with our bile, our mob rule and how poor little Gary never stood a chance.

here......here.....!

Here, here from me too.

The booing fans have been an embarrassment and I for one don't appreciate being tarnished with their brush.

I didn't want Megson but was willing to give him time. He fulfilled his remit at the end of the first season however, his time has always been interspersed with negativity both on the pitch and how he addressed the boo boys. Unfortunately for Megson, he, like the media, tarnished us all with the same brush and it didn't do him any favours.

I'm glad he's gone. I've hated this season to date, for the most part (Klasnic being a bright spot).

My fear is that whomever is next in charge will be treated the same way if his face doesn't fit; especially from "fans" like Tim.

Spot on, Dh... almost brought a tear to my eye.

Dh the point is it looks like we may now get a manager we actually want, rather than one of Mark Curtis's clients, because Gartside and Davies cannot take another two years of the booing. If we get Coyle or Curbs it will be well worth it. I also ought to remind you that as well as our hate campaign, we were at Burnley chanting Coyle's name, were you, which may be what persuades him to leave them for us.

Tim, if Owen Coyle does become the manager, I will bow down before you as it is clearly all down to you. Your little chants of Owen Coyle at half time will clearly swing the balance. It's not like he gets that adulation each and every home game from the Burnley fans who claim that 'Owen Coyle is God'. One of them even took a sign to Wrestlemania in America last April stating their beleif that he is God. That was before they had even got promoted so goodness knows what higher being they believe him to be now. Would he really want to throw all that away for Bolton? I'm not convinced but time will tell.

I wasn't at Burnley as I was in Canada. I can't afford away days at the moment anyway with my course and travel and, as such, the only away day I attended this season was a freebie at United when I sat in the home end. I did manage to attend many away games last season, most notably Hull, when we gave Phil Brown the same reception. Funnily enough, we didn't lose either game despite declaring our love for the opposition's manager. Hmmmmm.

I am not saying it is simply down to me, but to all the fans who have been against Megson and booed him, chanted for him to be out etc.
But we lost plenty of other games, and we have hardly won any, only 8 in the last 12mths.
Oh and I was not being critical of you not being there, I simply wondered whether you had heard it?

Tim, you should be categorically denying that it was 'down to you' as you know it wasn't.

If Bolon fans were responsible then why did they take two years to oust Megson?

Because Gartside is a stubborn plonker, who became too close to Megson and damaged the club to protect his personal friendships with him and Curtis.

I think that's harsh Tim. Gartside probably barely gave a hoot what the fans thought, even at the end.

Megson came in, kept us up twice and completely overhauled the squad - which is quite a short space of time to do so. There was a decent improvement in us in his 2nd season - in so much as we were only in the bottom 3 for one match in the whole season.

This year we haven't reached those heights - even though we're not really far away from a midtable spot - and so the time is only really now to consider a change. Certainly if I were in charge then the timing would have been pretty damn similar to Gartside's... whilst he's never been great, I only turned on Megson after the Hull game (although, I wouldn't have appointed the guy in the first place, it has to be said!).

When he took over we had Dioufy and Anelka, what we have now is hardly an improvement in terms of quality. At least maybe Diouf will come back now that little ginger bastard has left.

Anelka was only ever here to use us as a stepping stone - you can't blame Megson for that; he would have left whoever was in charge.

As for Diouf, well I know he was a fan favourite, but I was pleased when he went... he had ability but was so inconsistent which meant he brought very little to the table IMO. I wouldn't want him back.

In fact, I would say that Chung IS an improvement on what Diouf gave us... wouldn't you agree? (admittedly it's early days for him)

Speaking of Diouf... he's just been sent off for Rovers.

Productive as ever.

I would like to have both and get rid of Taylor.
He has always had a wild streak it is true.
I know Anelka would not have stayed but Megson did get most of the money to spend and replaced him with Elmander so the level of quality reduced.

I'd not have Diouf back. I thought him inconsistent and quite lazy and unprofessional, although he could be top quality when he chose to be (rarely). I much prefer Lee.

Also, while he isn't a complete footballer, I prefer Taylor, too.

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/yoursay/0,19082,1769,00.html#3218376

See Blackburn's opinions on Diouf. They hate him. Every fan in England hates him. He was good for us, particularly in his first season, but after that he became way too inconsitent. Taylor has his critics but his final product tallies, i.e goals and assits, are far higher than Diouf's. Even Sam, the only manager he could ever play for, cannot get the best out of him at the moment. I think he has realised that the grass was not greener but now it is too late, for me anyway.

The way he acted when leaving the clib tarnished my memories of him. He spoke out before a crucial relegation game how he was leaving regardless of the result. Competely unprofessional, especially considering it was a club he 'loved'.

His value has diminished so much that, if he begged and pleaded for us to take him back, I would though, in spite of everything. There are enough chavs in the ESL who worship him and, for a couple of mil tops, he could be a good impact player from the bench. Plus he can win a corner off a defender like nobody's business.

It won't happen though. I doubt he'll be in the new managers plans.