Odds and Sods

Bolton manager Sammy Lee left the club “by mutual consent” on Oct. 17.

Lee, a former Liverpool star, was promoted from assistant manager on April 30 after Sam Allardyce left the club.  He had previously been a coach for Liverpool and for England.

The sacking comes after an extremely disappointing start.  Bolton is currently in 19th with a mere 5 pts from their first 9 matches.  They finished 7th last season under Allardyce, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

The move was probably for the best.

The entire setup at Bolton revolved around Sam Allardyce.  Like a Band-Aid, when you part with such an entrenched figurehead you need to make a clean swift change.  Instead, Bolton tried to maintain the continuity of the system by appointing Allardyce’s assistant.  They tried to remove the band-aid slowly, and consequently more painfully and with more loss of leg-hair.

The Allardyce personality was necessary to run the Allardyce system.  Lee was caught in the middle between maintaining the successful formula of Big Sam, while, at the same time, attempting to implement his own changes.

The club was on a fast-track to the Championship, and not the good kind.  He recently had a fall-out with elder statesman Gary Speed, demoting him from his coaching role.  There has been a rift with the players over his refusal to play international heartthrob Ivan Campo.  There has also been speculation about talented players like Diouf and Anelka itching to leave the club.   A change will probably be for the best.

Bolton will hope to entice a sexy foreign manager to rejuvenate their Premier League campaign.  They will most likely settle for a decidedly unsexy English manager with former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell who will struggle to keep them up.