Megson is a Plank

The fans have spoken. According to the latest Vital Bolton poll, Gary Megson is a plank with 45% of those who expressed a preference putting most blame on him for Bolton`s perilous league position. Ginger nut`s fall from grace has been spectacular and can be traced directly back to a few days in March when Bolton went out of the UEFA cup and then played abysmally in a vital league match.

That Megson played a weakened side in Lisbon wasn`t unexpected, but it was the extent of the changes that offended. It was the equivalent of waving a white flag and has been condemned in all quarters. Maybe a full strength team wouldn`t have won either, but now fans will never know. Even then, Megson might have been pardoned, if his team had put on a creditable display at Wigan. Instead they gave up before kick off. If you can`t beat a mickey mouse outfit that`s down to ten men for 85 minutes there`s something seriously wrong. Twice, in a matter of days, the fans had been magnificent, twice they`d been slapped in the face.

It`s been said that Megson is the poor man`s Sam Allardyce and there is mileage in that claim. Sam at his worst was stubbornly inflexible both with tactics and team selection. Megson has displayed the same characteristics. Players like Andranik Teymourian and Mikel Alonso were frozen out early on. Christian Wilhelmsson has expressed the view that even training sessions were one dimensional.

The FA cup tie against Sheffield United said a lot. That the competition was given low priority was understandable. The team selection wasn`t. Giving reserve players like Zoltan Harsanyi, Rob Sissons and Nathan Woolfe a run out against Championship opposition would have been a useful exercise. Instead, Megson played Tamir Cohen, who had got off the plane about twenty minutes before and Blerim Dzemaili, a player way short of match fitness.

Megson has been found wanting in every aspect, but his seeming inability to motivate his players is the telling one. There is a distinct lack of quality in all the team at the bottom, but the other candidates for the third promotion place at least look as if they want to escape. Bolton`s sorry collection of misfits are already looking forward to their summer holidays.