Poor Bolton

Bolton want Megson as new manager

Megson has a reputation in the game as a disciplinarian
Leicester manager Gary Megson is the front-runner to become the new Bolton manager, BBC Sport understands.

Graeme Souness was interviewed for the post last week but Bolton chairman Phil Gartside has confirmed the Scot is not interested in succeeding Sammy Lee.

Now Gartside looks set to turn to Megson and he is believed to be prepared to pay £300,000 to get him.

Bolton are understood to want to make an appointment before Sunday's Premier League match against Aston Villa.

Foxes chairman Milan Mandaric has already warned Bolton off Megson but the 48-year-old has yet to sign a contract at Leicester since taking the reins last month.

And Bolton, who are bottom of the Premier League, are willing to pay compensation to prise him away from the Walkers Stadium.

They have been searching for a new boss since sacking Lee on 17 October and placing Archie Knox in temporary charge.

Gartside revealed on Tuesday that former Rangers, Liverpool, Blackburn and Newcastle manager Souness would not be the man to take over at the Reebok Stadium.

He said: "Graeme Souness was a candidate on our target list and he has now decided to remove himself from the interview process.

"Having interviewed him last week, I know he would have been an exceptional candidate for the role.

"However, I respect Graeme's decision to pull out of the process and I wish him well for the future."

Gartside has also been thwarted in his efforts to assess two other candidates, having been refused permission to talk to Birmingham boss Steve Bruce and Real Sociedad coach Chris Coleman.

Former Fulham boss Coleman joined the Spanish second division side in the summer and they are keen to keep hold of him.

"He has a three-year contract with us and he is the coach who we are placing our confidence in for that period," Sociedad sporting director Salva Iriarte said.

"He's happy here, committed to the project and keen to carry on. I've no doubt that he will be our coach for the next three years."

I do hope the Bookmakers had short odds again this year on one club having three managers, Bolton having more than one manager and Bolton going down at the start of the season.

Megson's worse than Sammy Lee while rivalling the appointment of Les Reed. Out before Christmas, possibly. Anelka out in January, a certainty.

Please, Please, Please let them get Megson i would laugh my balls off.

Souness rules himself out of Bolton reckoning

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside will not be rushed into appointing a successor to Sammy Lee.


A week has already passed since Lee left the Reebok Stadium. But a new manager is no nearer being named by Gartside, following confirmation Graeme Souness is not interested in the job.

With reports also emerging that a second request to speak with Gary Megson has been turned down by Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric, there appears no chance of an appointment being made before Sunday's Barclays Premier League match against Aston Villa.

Caretaker boss Archie Knox will certainly be in charge for Thursday's UEFA Cup tie with Braga - and even Gartside acknowledges it is far from an ideal situation, with the Trotters currently anchored in the relegation zone following their defeat at Arsenal last weekend.

However, Gartside is also aware that he must find the right man this time around to safeguard the progress made under Lee's predecessor Sam Allardyce.

'We hope to be in a position to conclude the process as soon as possible, but we will take our time to make sure we make the right appointment to take us forward,' he said.

'It is a complex job to find the ideal candidate to take the club forward in the long term - but it is a process we are working tirelessly to resolve.'

Souness' decision to withdraw his candidacy, having been interviewed by Gartside last week, is a blow. But clearly the former Rangers and Liverpool boss was merely one name on a lengthier list of potential replacements for Lee, who managed just one Premier League victory during his time in charge.

Gartside is unlikely to be dissuaded from making another attempt to speak with Megson, while Chris Coleman's name has not entirely disappeared off the radar either - despite Real Sociedad's equally forceful claim that the former Fulham manager will not be leaving Spain.

In confirming agent Mark Curtis was involved in the search for Lee's successor, but stressing none of the candidates are his clients, Gartside also admitted Bolton need to improve.

He nonetheless remains convinced there is enough quality to avoid relegation.

'We are well aware we are in a difficult position in the league at present,' said Gartside.

'We believe we have a talented squad of players, who can help us achieve our immediate objective of being a successful Premier League side.

'We all believe that the squad possesses the right blend of experience and skill to get us through our current situation.'

No-one wants to manage Bolton because aside from being an unattractive club in a boring area with a low fanbase and players used to an unattractive style of play, a new manager would be very hard pressed to either keep them up or indeed do a better job than Allardyce did.

bolton are doomed id be amazed if they stay in the premiership

Souness turned them down. How insulting is that? Who the f@ck does he think he is, Jose Mourinho?

It's pretty bad for them is Souness can turn them down. Next thing you know, Lampard will offer to play for them.

Rabbit wrote:Souness turned them down. How insulting is that? Who the f@ck does he think he is, Jose Mourinho?

Probably the opposite, because not only is he too $h!t to turn around their situation, he's recognising it too.

robert wrote:It's pretty bad for them is Souness can turn them down. Next thing you know, Lampard will offer to play for them.

They could always appoint Jamie Redknapp as the man to take them forward...

Megson has started negotiations with them.

defo down then

Disgraceful behaviour from Megson. He hadn't held a managerial job since resigning at Forest in February 2006, and now it looks like he is going to walk out on Leicester having been there for just six weeks. He will be an uninspired appointment and hopefully another good reason to see Bolton get relegated.

Did you see the quote from the boards on the BBC from a Leicester fan, along the lines of -

"He's gone! Time to drag my season ticket from the bin!"

Sums the appointment up really!

NCFC wrote:Did you see the quote from the boards on the BBC from a Leicester fan, along the lines of -

"He's gone! Time to drag my season ticket from the bin!"

Sums the appointment up really!

quality

To think they play against Bayern away from home in two weeks time. Lambs to the slaughter, to put it mildly.

lmfao megson v hitzfeld, who fergie rarely got the better of.

2nd fav to go down now with Derby.

megson's taking a big risk to do this...quitting leicester like that will ruin his reputation and unless he works wonders, bolton are going to be in a relegation fight and there's no guarantee he'll come through that intact. who's going to hire him then?

leicester's next appointment will be their 5th manager (including caretakers) of the season!

Dark Savante wrote:2nd fav to go down now with Derby.

Derby, Bolton, Wigan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/bolton_wanderers/7061876.stm

its official

Awsome news, i cant wait to see Botlon relegated.

SSN have just had Megson's Premiership record so far. Seven wins in 48 games and he has done poorly in the lower divisions in the last few years. I can't see them staying up with him in charge.

it makes absolutely no sense which ever way you look at it, there is simple no rationale to this appointment, other than perhaps he's cheap

So, that's Bolton and Derby definitely relegated. Only one place to fill, then we can start working out the rest of the league...

Why the hell they wanted Souness ???

This Megson bloke will fail.It's a shame Bolton have so much difficulties after Allardyce decided to go in a bigger club.

That's now you realise what kind of manager Allardyce is.

The big Sam is very good to build solid team but in term of structure he has done nothing.Bolton just needed to sold 1 or 2 players and to lose their manager and BOOM ! crisis...

Big club can easily lose 1 or 2 player and the mananger and stay in the top 15 in the league.Sad Bolton didn't realise the most important thing that's the structure of a club.With big structure you can't go down

Arnaud is beautiful wrote:Why the hell they wanted Souness ???

This Megson bloke will fail.It's a shame Bolton have so much difficulties after Allardyce decided to go in a bigger club.

That's now you realise what kind of manager Allardyce is.

The big Sam is very good to build solid team but in term of structure he has done nothing.Bolton just needed to sold 1 or 2 players and to lose their manager and BOOM ! crisis...

Big club can easily lose 1 or 2 player and the mananger and stay in the top 15 in the league.Sad Bolton didn't realise the most important thing that's the structure of a club.With big structure you can't go down

He did build a strcture, the problem is he ripped it all out when he came here. All his best backroom staff, 8-10 in total, followed him here.

I think Kimbo might have it. Personally, whilst I didnt think Bolton would do as well this season, and whilst Ive never particularly thought much of Lee or of his managerial potential and initially thought his appointment a poor one, still I didnt think theyd do as poorly as they have done. I imagined they would finish around the middle of the bottom half, but I didnt see them being relegated. And this was because - unlike Charlton a season ago, who were without a particularly modern or notable structure and who didnt have many good players - Allardyce had built a structure at Bolton whilst they still have some very good players; perhaps a lack of depth, and departures at the back have obviously hurt them a lot, but still they have players in some areas who are well above average Premier League quality.

I think their fall has to be because Allardyce took most of his staff with him, whilst Lee seemed to fail to retain any sense of structure or to really motivate his players - both of which failings are shown in his problems with Speed.

Anyway, I agree that Megson seems a very poor choice. Gartside has certainly made a bit of a fool of himself over the last months, with his ridiculous criticisms of Allardyce when we played them at the start of the season and with his two managerial appointments. And Megson for his part seemed to use the Leicester fans, complaining about some comments which I dont know the exact nature of, but which were probably perfectly reasonable - they had every right to be aggrieved with him and to express this in their recent match - in order to move jobs. So its all in poor taste and judgement, and that in itself doesnt bode well.

I haven't been able to come on here much recently, with this appointment I might just as well stay away completely. What the hell was wrong with Jewell? We might as well prepare Anelka and Diouf's bags in January, and buy Akinbiyi, get ready for life in the Championship.

Bolton were always going to struggle in the EPL due to the fact that they don't have a rich chairman pumping money into the club and they struggle to fill their 27,000 seater stadium. They've had a good few years in the EPL, but its time to step aside and let a team with a bigger fanbase and more money have a go at it