Which muppet can we appoint next?

[plymouth wanderer]

Rjs37 thats exactly the point i was stating hahah. Nothing to do with him coming back to us

Apologies

[Harry Genshaw]

Yeah but it's not just his time at BWFC that makes Nolan an ideal candidate.

There's also

Erm

I wouldn't be keen to see it happen but as you've pointed out before and Bobos examples above prove - there is no magic formula.

Many of us on here have said we'd prefer someone who knows the lower leagues yet when we were relegated to the championship we had a manager who had a good track record in that division & where did that get us? Caldwell has just won league one with no previous managerial or I think, playing experience in that division.

Let's get someone cheap who sounds like he knows what he's talking about and cross our fingers

[BWFC_Insane]

Yeah but it's not just his time at BWFC that makes Nolan an ideal candidate.

There's also

Erm

I wouldn't be keen to see it happen but as you've pointed out before and Bobos examples above prove - there is no magic formula.

Many of us on here have said we'd prefer someone who knows the lower leagues yet when we were relegated to the championship we had a manager who had a good track record in that division & where did that get us? Caldwell has just won league one with no previous managerial or I think, playing experience in that division.

Let's get someone cheap who sounds like he knows what he's talking about and cross our fingers

Caldwell had a massive budget. I'd be less concerned with experience if we were spending 5 or 6 times that of our rivals next year.

[Bruce Rioja]

Look, I'm not happy that Reid's here in any capacity whatsoever. Whoever thought it a good idea to enlist the assistance of a man whose management technique is to take a half-time shy at the players heads with the tea cups really shouldn't be involved in the long-term process.

[BWFC_Insane]

Look, I'm not happy that Reid's here in any capacity whatsoever. Whoever thought it a good idea to enlist the assistance of a man whose management technique is to take a half-time shy at the players heads with the tea cups really shouldn't be involved in the long-term process.

Plus he's got a monkey's heed....

[LeverEnd]

Look, I'm not happy that Reid's here in any capacity whatsoever. Whoever thought it a good idea to enlist the assistance of a man whose management technique is to take a half-time shy at the players heads with the tea cups really shouldn't be involved in the long-term process.

Plus he's got a monkey's heed....

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I wouldn't be keen to see it happen but as you've pointed out before and Bobos examples above prove - there is no magic formula.

Many of us on here have said we'd prefer someone who knows the lower leagues yet when we were relegated to the championship we had a manager who had a good track record in that division & where did that get us? Caldwell has just won league one with no previous managerial or I think, playing experience in that division.

As BWFCi notes, Wigan had a £9m budget and therefore no need to lose the players he had - some bought in the Champ, some bought in the Prem. Our bloke will have a bunch of kids, a handful of overpaid old pros either unwanted or too stubborn to leave, and a ten-bob chequebook with which to buy Experience.

You're very right - there's no magic formula. But in appointing someone, at whatever level, you look to cover yourself as much as possible by ticking as many boxes as possible. There's presumably a reason why nobody's ever appointed a tea-towel - absorbent, useful, easily carried.

To me, the ideal candidate would be someone who can develop youngsters, find a bargain, coach a disparate squad, play good football, inspire the fans and get us promoted. The only box we're reasonably sure Nolan could tick is inspiring the fans because he played here once. How long does that last if he proves himself as managerially able as Alan Shearer or Bryan Gunn, returning heroes both?There's plenty of folks who love their club but couldn't coach it. Plenty. I just hope the people making the choices don't override the necessary qualifications for a tricky job with "He played for us a decade ago".

[Hoboh]

TBH neither of the two chiefs look like they are capable of pulling the 'rabbit out of the hat' that we need, so I won't be holding my breath.

I reckon they'll be sliding out the door before next season is over, for what its worth.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I reckon they'll be sliding out the door before next season is over, for what its worth.

Possibly. I think it more likely that one of them will buy the other out - or rather get a well-heeled friend to do so.

[LeverEnd]

I see Mixu is out of a job.

[Hoboh]

I see Mixu is out of a job.

Yeah and I fancy something different as well!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I see Mixu is out of a job.

Might (or might not) be a throwaway comment, but I thought him worth a wee dig.

He’s definitely been around: you won’t get many more experienced 49-year-olds. Mika-Matti Petteri Paatelainen was still winding down his 20-year playing career when he started coaching, at St Johnstone (2003/4) and St Mirren (2004/5). In summer 2005, at the age of 38, he hung up his boots and became manager of Cowdenbeath, whom he led to the fourth-tier title.

In October 2006 he resigned to switch to Finnish club TPS Turku, leading them to third place in his only season.

Then in January 2008 it was back to Scotland and Hibs, where he had been a playing hero, which happens when you do things like bagging a hat-trick in a 6-2 win against Hearts. He took over with them in 8th; they finished 6th in 2007/08 (as they had the year before) - this in the era when the Scottish top flight did that faffy top-six-splitting-with-bottom-six thing, so a top-six finish was Very Important And The Least Hibs Thought They Deserved.

In his second season, a casual remark about directness became a debate about long-ball football, perhaps not helped by a preference (later abandoned under pressure) for 4-3-3 over 4-4-2. He managed to get a two-match touchline ban after being sent to the stand in pre-season friendly against Cowdenbeath, then a month later was sent to the stand again in a shock League Cup defeat by Morton, gaining a four-match ban. After a struggle of a season they sneaked into the top six and finished 6th again, but he resigned at the end of that season. (Historical footnote: they finished 4th the next season under John Hughes but then 10th, 11th, 9th, 11th-and-relegated; they’re still in the second tier.)

He spent 2009/10 out of the game before returning with Kilmarnock for the 2010/11 season. It went well. According to the BBC, “Paatelainen agreed a two-year deal at Kilmarnock in June 2010 and immediately transformed the fortunes of the Ayrshire side. Last season, the club narrowly avoided relegation but this term Paatelainen has them set for a top-six finish and in contention for a European place playing some of the most entertaining football in the Scottish Premier League.”

In March he resigned to take up the Finland post, prompting a club statement: "Mixu's short reign at Kilmarnock has witnessed a dramatic improvement in the club's fortunes in the SPL. Several club records have been broken, including longest scoring run in a league campaign. Our travelling support has been treated to a feast of attacking football, which has yielded more goals than any other club away from home bar one. Seldom can a manager have achieved legendary status in eight months and the fans slogan 'in Mixu we trust' says it all." They finished 5th and he was named Manager of the Year.

He lasted four years with Finland, easily his longest spell. They weren’t ever gonna reach Euro 2012 from a group including Holland and Sweden and Mixu’s team promptly lost 5-0 in ZlatanLand, but his contracted was extended to 2016. In WC14 qualification they finished a distant third behind Spain and France (despite a draw in Gijon), but he was sacked in June 2015 after four straight Euro-qualifiers defeats to Romania, Hungary (twice) and Northern Ireland.

In June 2015, possibly perceiving the sword of Damocles over him, he had said: “I have great memories from Bolton, I still live in Scotland and love the British way of life. I would like to manage here one day. I had great experiences here as a player, England is a wonderful football country and I would love to work here when the time is right. I’m under contract with Finland until the end of the 2016 campaign, I will honour that contract but in football you never know what happens. Finland have been very good to me. I’ve enjoyed my time with them, honoured to be given the head coach role for the national team and it’s been a good four years. I believe I’ve developed immensely as a coach working on a national level. Tactically I’ve improved. Your perspective of football widens a lot, you see so much football and it broadens your horizons.”

But his next port of call was Dundee United, the first Scottish club he played for. He joined them in October 2015 with the team bottom of the top flight after 1 win in the first 10; they won 5 in 25 under him and went down 15 points off safety.

After relegation was confirmed with derby defeat to Dundee, his comments seemed very suitable for the Bolton job: ”It's simply not good enough, nowhere near good enough. Today, as on so many occasions, we had Dundee, we were comfortable, and then after that it's sheer softness, poor defending, not taking responsibility, not enough leadership, not ruthless enough. We are nowhere near the standard we should be. We've been here a few months now working with the boys. They're honest boys, they try hard, but we need to make so many changes. Not only team-wise but also elsewhere to bounce back stronger. There's so many slack areas in the football department, we simply need to improve those before we get better. We need to get a strong, hard working, hungry, energetic team out there."

Overall? Not convinced. Had one good spell in the Scottish top flight, balanced by a couple of poorly-received ones; had he not played for us (20 years ago!) he'd be the wildest of wildcards. My checklist is still: lower-league (English) experience, ability to coach players rather than buy success, bargain-spotting, desire to play good football, inspiration around the club, empire-building. He's not ticking many of those boxes, and for that reason, ah'm oot.

[Harry Genshaw]

^ interesting stuff that DSB. One of the few advantages of getting older, is seeing managers criticising players for being too soft, when you remember them being soft as 5hite in their playing days. I'd waited ages for him to hit a ball as hard as that strike against Swindon in the league cup semi

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

We have warm memories of the era, but in some ways Paatelainen was the Darby to Rioch's Neal: the manager kept playing him even when his form begged a 'rest'. In that last home league game of the ultimately glorious 94/95 season, he was being booed by so many on the Paddock that he responded with an old-fashioned "up yours" gesture of a clenched right fist with his left arm in the crook of his elbow (reconstruction posed by model below) and Rioch reduced to defiantly insisting he wouldn't drop him.

[BWFC_Insane]

We have warm memories of the era, but in some ways Paatelainen was the Darby to Rioch's Neal: the manager kept playing him even when his form begged a 'rest'. In that last home league game of the ultimately glorious 94/95 season, he was being booed by so many on the Paddock that he responded with an old-fashioned "up yours" gesture of a clenched right fist with his left arm in the crook of his elbow (reconstruction posed by model below) and Rioch reduced to defiantly insisting he wouldn't drop him.

He dropped him for the semi final home game against Swindon then he came off the bench and scored "that goal".

It was a weird time for strikers at Bolton with only McGinlay winning universal praise and Coyle, DeFreitas and Mixu all being useful in their own way but rarely universally approved of amongst the fans. Funnily enough they all scored against Reading in the play off final whilst Super John drew a blank.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Yeah there was a certain amount of chopping and changing between SJM's three possible partners, including that semi at the start of March. But by the Burnley match at the end of the season - a day shy of two months after the semi second leg - Rioch had definitely dug his heels in.

[Bruce Rioja]

He dropped him for the semi final home game against Swindon then he came off the bench and scored "that goal".

With a shot that the Times reporter described as "coruscating".

And no, I have absolutely no idea how I've retained that snippet.

[BWFC_Insane]

Lionofvienna weigh in on the owners and managerial situation. A few extra pieces of information that I don't believe were widely known either. Whether true or not is of course up for debate....

http://lionofviennasuite.sbnation.com/2 ... new-regime" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Peter Thompson]

Lionofvienna weigh in on the owners and managerial situation. A few extra pieces of information that I don't believe were widely known either. Whether true or not is of course up for debate....

http://lionofviennasuite.sbnation.com/2 ... new-regime" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can I ask why you needed to post that article on here ?

That LOV website is shocking, by far the worst of all the BWFC forums - all they ever do is post bullshit scare mongering made up articles with the aim of gaining traffic for the site.

[BWFC_Insane]

Lionofvienna weigh in on the owners and managerial situation. A few extra pieces of information that I don't believe were widely known either. Whether true or not is of course up for debate....

http://lionofviennasuite.sbnation.com/2 ... new-regime" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can I ask why you needed to post that article on here ?

That LOV website is shocking, by far the worst of all the BWFC forums - all they ever do is post bullshit scare mongering made up articles with the aim of gaining traffic for the site.

No doubt they want clicks.

Worth noting that the guy writing that went to all the court dates and spoke to the BWFC delegation each time. Not saying he knows the ins and outs but there are to my eyes a few snippets in there (see Richard Gee) that weren't previously common knowledge. Would be an odd thing for him to entirely make up.

These sorts of rumours will persist until things seem more sorted. We've not submitted accounts yet. KA is apparently looking for £3M and hasn't (as far as anyone can tell) invested the money he first promised.

I also await the announcement of our "already set manager".

Time will tell whether any of this is of any real concern or not but the longer things drag on without resolution the more credence these stories will have.