Regeneration: Part I

It will not have escaped your attention that over the Christmas period one person left their position as the nation's favourite and was immediately replaced by someone else. Many a tear was shed nationwide as a radiation riddled Doctor went through that regeneration thingy. But this isn't a Dr Who fan site.

However, the imagery when it comes to Bolton Wanderers could be regarded as apposite. Our own regeneration happened over Christmas, a man, literally dead on his feet, was gone and was replaced by a fresher, younger outlook. Both sent to their fate due to the actions of a man with blonde hair. OK, John Simm's was dyed and Gavin McCann is only half blonde, but you get the point. And neither wanted to go. The Doctor said so and our manager may have seen it coming but certainly wasn't saying so in the interviews he gave after the Hull game. Of course, there the similarities end. Many didn't want to see The Doctor go and are now wondering where that will leave the franchise in the hands of a relatively untested actor. In Bolton's case......

Tomorrow, we'll look at the Coyle effect and how it has already transformed the club, the fans and the players. But today we will look at the reign of Gary Megson, the Ginger Mourinho or, as we called him at The Towers, the Ginger Special One (GSO).

It would be fair to say, to paraphrase Bill Shakespeare, that I come here to bury Gary, not to praise him. Bury him deep, like nuclear waste with a 10,000 year half life with no hope of it being seen this side of the apocalypse. It has been said a hundred times in the past couple of years that we didn't want him and that the people that Fat Phil said "know the game" didn't actually include any Bolton fans (or Leicester or Notts Forest fans for that matter). A smattering of good results, beating Stretford for example, getting a good result in Munich and taking the club further in Europe than Big Sam were all good points that he never seemed to be able to capitilise on. The debacle in Lisbon and the capitulation to Wigan three days later put a nail in his coffin that he could never get out. Fair, he kept the club up after the Sammy Lee farago but at the same time alienated fans favourites (Stelios, Campo, Diouf), couldn't put a reign on Kev Nolan's weight gain and didn't get half as much for Anelka that he could have. He bought badly, for every Cahill, a Rasiak and a Paul Robinson, for every Lee Chung-Yong a badly misplayed Elmander or Danny Shittu. I mean, Danny Shittu. That's £2million of your money that you'll never see again.

It seems almost surreal now that at the last Bolton game I went to, in the league cup at Chelsea, fans were singing his name. (What do you mean part time supporter? you aren't saving up for a 4 week honeymoon in the USA.) However that started the downward spiral that saw him gone. Bad tactics, bad substitutions, bad hair and a bad attitude led to his dismissal. He still pops up, spouting off the same "below Derby" "used 18 players in a season" (NO, YOU F'ING DIDN'T!!!), less money than others (but more than Big Sam) gubbins, but it is fair to say that he won't be missed at T'Reebok. And they put him on gardening leave, as he couldn't agree a compensation package. God he must hate us.

It's not like I wish the man dead or anything, I'm sure his family love him. In Sheffield, where he lives. And he will be back but at the level that he should be at, not managing in the rarefied atmosphere of The Premiership. I'm sure Altrincham are looking for a coach.