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Megson tackles fans head on
7:52am Friday 26th October 2007
Comments (180) Have your say »
NEW Wanderers boss Gary Megson went on the charm offensive when he greeted his critics outside the Reebok.
The manager - in the post for only a few hours - was jeered by fans as he arrived to watch his new team.
But Megson met some of the supporters head on - and ended up signing autographs.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of disappointed supporters - hoping to see a bigger name at the helm - registered their anger at his appointment on The Bolton News website.
Many turned out to catch a glimpse of the new boss ahead of last night's Uefa Cup tie against SC Braga, but it proved to be a rocky reception for the new arrival from Leicester City.
Before watching the 1-1 draw from the stands, Megson appeared in the foyer at the club's main entrance and was greeted by jeers and chants from a group of young fans.
But Megson walked straight out to silence them, asking: "Who's doing the moaning out here?"
Fans then converged for autographs, some wished him good luck and all the best for the games ahead.
One asked him, "When are we going to start winning?" Megson replied: "We have got to start beating somebody soon."
He shook hands with Macauley Stephens, aged 12, from Deane, who said: "I just wanted to shake his hand because he's our manager now and I think he's going to do a good job."
But hundreds more supporters did not share the youngster's views.
Within an hour of Whites' chairman Phil Gartside announcing Megson's appointment just before 12.45pm yesterday, more than 70 readers had left comments on The Bolton News website criticising the appointment.
Gartside had declared: "Gary is the right man to take Bolton Wanderers forward".
But by teatime, about 350 had left messages, while others gathered at the Reebok Stadium to vent their frustration.
A small group of fans carrying posters bearing the slogans "Gartside Out" and "Sack the Board" stood outside chanting before kick-off, and the chants continued during the match.
One of the protesters, James Whelan, aged 31, from Westhoughton, said the appointment showed the club had "no ambition".
"A lot of people don't think that Megson is right. It's ludicrous. I feel, as a fan, I've got to make my voice heard," he said.
"I love this club and I want to see it be a success."
Lee Birchall, from Horwich, added: "Gary Megson is not the man for this job."
Bolton Wanderers Supporters Association chairman Tony Pearson said "the jury is out" on Megson but called on fellow fans to give the former West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City and Nottingham Forest manager time to get things right.
"I don't know whether he has got the kind of profile we were hoping a manager would have. We have to accept it. Somebody has to take charge of the team."
Mr Pearson said the key to the club's success in the past was stability and that Megson had a clean slate because he was not associated with the Allardyce regime.
He added: "When Sam Allardyce arrived from Notts County as a manager, his credentials were not that developed at that point and look what he achieved.
"I don't think it's fair to totally write Megson off this early in his career.
"Lets face it, if he gets three points against Aston Villa on Sunday, then things might change."
Your Say Yourtheboltonnews
Trotter, Bolton says...
8:02am Fri 26 Oct 07
Trotter, Bolton says...
8:08am Fri 26 Oct 07
GARSIDE OUT
Raoul Duke, Priest Town says...
8:29am Fri 26 Oct 07
peakydav, Daisy Hill says...
8:50am Fri 26 Oct 07
gazz_ball - Supera Moras!, bolton says...
8:52am Fri 26 Oct 07
Raoul Duke wrote:Shouldn't you be in church somewhere, its not about the players, its about the lack of direction the club is going in
Did you blame Gartside when your dog died? There's absolutely NOTHING the Chairman can do if the players aren't willing to perform on the pitch.
King Eric, ......... says...
8:53am Fri 26 Oct 07
What are your fanzines doing ?
If they are not leading this you may as well give up.
GC, Turton says...
8:55am Fri 26 Oct 07
Mixu Pantiliners, Dublin says...
9:07am Fri 26 Oct 07
Fans - Protests and complaining can only damage the club from now on. This ISN'T the fresh start we wanted, but it IS a fresh start of sorts. There are 8 premiership matches before Christmas (see below). Last seasons Bolton team would have been looking at
15-20 points. Anything less than 12 points from this run of games is not good enough. We would still be in the bottom 5 depending on results elsewhere, but 1.5 points per game is a good run-rate (to start with) and if continued would guide us to safety with 47 points (10th-13th spot based on the last 3 seasons). If Megson pulls in anything less than 10 points from these 8 games he HAS to go, while there's still a chance for somebody else to come in and pull off the great escape.
Gary - If you can get 15 or more from these 8 games and keep us in Europe you will have proved us all wrong. This is your minimum 8 game / 12 point target:
Aston Villa (H) - 1
West Ham United (A) - 1
Middlesbrough (H) - 3
Manchester United (H) - 0
Liverpool (A) - 0
Wigan Athletic (H) - 3
Manchester City (A) - 1
Birmingham City (H) - 3
Fans - If we are in on his case from day one, it will undermine him and hit team morale. Then, when he does fail he will only blame the fans for not giving him a chance. He'll long gone while we struggle against the likes of Blackpool. No true BWFC fan wants that. We can't change the manager, for now, so lets give "GFM's super white army" our full backing until Christmas and see what happens..
Raoul Duke, Priest Town says...
9:08am Fri 26 Oct 07
gazz_ball - Supera Moras! wrote:No, I'm not religious. So it's a LACK of direction now is it? Yesterday the direction was down, now we don't have one - that's quite an improvement!
Raoul Duke wrote: Did you blame Gartside when your dog died? There's absolutely NOTHING the Chairman can do if the players aren't willing to perform on the pitch.Shouldn't you be in church somewhere, its not about the players, its about the lack of direction the club is going in
YouriLeGod, Bolton says...
9:14am Fri 26 Oct 07
We are bottom of the Premiership and shouldn't be with the players we have. We need to start winning soon and the dressing room needs to be united.
Who knows if Megson is the man for the job? I hope he is, as I am a supporter and will follow the team as I have done for 30 years in all 4 divisions.
The sour taste of this whole episode is left by our chairman appointing Megson's agent as a person charged with finding a new manager.
This needs to be investigated by the higher authorities as surely as Graeme Souness implies, there is a conflict of interests.
I appreciate feelings are high and respect peoples opinions to demonstrate, send back season tickets or do whatever they want to do. After all it is a democracy.
But, at the end of the day, Bolton Wanderers will go on long after both manager and chairman have left and hopefully the club will not be too scarred from this sordid episode.
The thing I have learned from the events of the last few days is that, despite what my season ticket says, this is NOT my club anymore. We have no say whatsoever. And that is the sad point about the whole thing.
If our chairman has anything about him and is true to his season ticket statement, he would appoint a fan as a non executive member of the board or at least give us some explanation as to the events of the last couple of weeks.
I won't be holding my breath though.
Forza Whites!
cadders1, bolton says...
9:15am Fri 26 Oct 07
Lets not forget this is about Bolton Wanderers not one individual.
I firmly believe we would have been in the crap this year even under FSA, maybe not bottom but darn close. He knew that, thats one of the reasons (PG was the other)why he left.
As mentioned above FSA had no history when he took over but the difference is we were a struggling championship side then not a prem side still in europe as now.
If speed is the reason for the unrest then maybe its time to say goodbye and blood the new players, he can't have many miles left in his legs anyway, and he was awful last night.
When we played the in ya face, long ball football and won then it was a means to an end, when we lost it just looked ugly. That said I would settle for that on Sunday.
We need to be realistic that for the last few years we have punched above our weight as FSA played a style that suited the players he could afford (Anelka apart). We need to get back to that kind of mentality and maybe (just maybe, fingers well crossed) Megson might do it!!
Raoul Duke, Priest Town says...
9:16am Fri 26 Oct 07
davel, n wales says...
9:17am Fri 26 Oct 07
lewis-bwfc, Reebok Stadium says...
9:28am Fri 26 Oct 07
Brak, Bolton says...
9:28am Fri 26 Oct 07
Raoul Duke, Priest Town says...
9:34am Fri 26 Oct 07
Brak wrote:??? I'm cool as a cucumber mate. It's people like davel that are throwing the tantrums.
Raoul Duke, chill buddy. U sound like u need a holiday.
Jon, Bolton says...
9:38am Fri 26 Oct 07
Protests over, time to see what Megson can do and to give him our complete backing.
lewis-bwfc, Reebok Stadium says...
9:41am Fri 26 Oct 07
Jon wrote:I completely agree let's get behind the boy's and fight through this we have the team and the fans we just need it all to come together!!
Time to back the club unless we want to go down. Protests over, time to see what Megson can do and to give him our complete backing.
Durks, Brockhall says...
9:51am Fri 26 Oct 07
Raoul Duke, Priest Town says...
9:54am Fri 26 Oct 07
chrisfarn, bolton says...
9:58am Fri 26 Oct 07
Laughing stock of football.
burndenbob, standish says...
10:00am Fri 26 Oct 07
Raoul Duke, Priest Town says...
10:01am Fri 26 Oct 07
chrisfarn wrote:Gary Megson hasn't even been in charge for a single game yet you plank.
lol, you know what makes this much much much funnier? Martin Jol is now out of a job, the man a lot of you wanted as manager. Hysterical. A bigger complete balls up and shambles I dont think could be made anywhere. Laughing stock of football.
Trotter, Bolton says...
10:02am Fri 26 Oct 07
Raoul Duke wrote:Listen matey, if you are surronded by a bunch of people who threaten you (in this case MY club) then what you do is go for the ring leader first, Gartside is the ring leader in the sense that he is suppose to be leading MY club in the quest of Premiership respectability and have the right people in place to do that, if you think that the right people are in place, then go and stand behind Gartside, it might get to about the fizzy pop league before I get round to you, but believe me, I will get to you if Gartside is involved with MY club.
Did you blame Gartside when your dog died? There's absolutely NOTHING the Chairman can do if the players aren't willing to perform on the pitch.
GARTSIDE OUT
martin1980, bolton says...
10:03am Fri 26 Oct 07
King Eric, ......... says...
10:07am Fri 26 Oct 07
Like an Italian tank.
Pedro, Bolton says...
10:08am Fri 26 Oct 07
The vast MAJORITY of Bolton supporters were passing me in their hundreds as they do before every game. Decent, honest, good natured Bolton folk. They will never get caught up in your protests. They just want to see their team stay up in the Premiership. They will probably have been as disappointed as I was that the board had showed lack of ambition. They do not visit this website and probably never will. They will continue to come to the Reebok hoping every match that we will win and progress up the table and get ourselves out of this mess. They are NOT gutless, they are realists in this cloud cuckoo land of current Premiership Football. They care about the team.
Come on Gary and the boys! Good luck to all of you. We need it! We will NOT go down if we stick together and support our team like never before.
Remember the old saying? United (ooo don't like that word!) We stand - Divided we fall.
Raoul Duke, Priest Town says...
10:09am Fri 26 Oct 07
Trotter wrote:I have NEVER said Gary Megson is the right man. How can anybody know either way before he's even had a single game?
Raoul Duke wrote: Did you blame Gartside when your dog died? There's absolutely NOTHING the Chairman can do if the players aren't willing to perform on the pitch.Listen matey, if you are surronded by a bunch of people who threaten you (in this case MY club) then what you do is go for the ring leader first, Gartside is the ring leader in the sense that he is suppose to be leading MY club in the quest of Premiership respectability and have the right people in place to do that, if you think that the right people are in place, then go and stand behind Gartside, it might get to about the fizzy pop league before I get round to you, but believe me, I will get to you if Gartside is involved with MY club. GARTSIDE OUT
Even if we lose every single game for the rest of the season, I'll still be there next year, Gartside or no Gartside. I can't help it.
chrisfarn, bolton says...
10:09am Fri 26 Oct 07
Raoul Duke wrote:And did I say he had? from someone who was busy going on about abuse and people throwing their dummies out of the pram Raoul you just did an extremely good job of joining them and at the same time kind of did in your post about rational thinking. Oh dear.
chrisfarn wrote: lol, you know what makes this much much much funnier? Martin Jol is now out of a job, the man a lot of you wanted as manager. Hysterical. A bigger complete balls up and shambles I dont think could be made anywhere. Laughing stock of football.Gary Megson hasn't even been in charge for a single game yet you plank.
Most Bolton fans did not want Megson, none too surprisingly, they wanted Jol. That was the point I made, it was accurate. So your statement just undid all your posts regarding your opinion of others didnt it hmmm and I dont feel I have to lower myself to the same abuse throwing level to respond, I`ll leave you to prove what you are without my help. You already did.
Say it as it is, Bolton says...
10:11am Fri 26 Oct 07
Mark, Leicester says...
10:22am Fri 26 Oct 07
Chris, Rishton says...
10:24am Fri 26 Oct 07
The appointment of Gary Megson does not thrill me one bit-his track record is terrible-but I dont blame him for taking the job,and I hope he succeeds.
My greater concern is about Phil Gartside, and I want to make the following points:-
1 This club is currently owned by Eddie Davies but it BELONGS to me and all the other fans of BWFC - and, indeed, to the people of Bolton - never forget this vital point.
2 Does Gartside accept that HE made a mistake when LSL was appointed?
3 Will HE accept the blame if Megson does not keep us in the Prem?
4 If the answer to points 2&3 is "yes" - and it must be - then will he resign?
Its as simple as this - Gartside has lost the respect of the people to whom the club BELONGS.
Raoul Duke, Priest Town says...
10:27am Fri 26 Oct 07
Pedro, Bolton says...
10:29am Fri 26 Oct 07
James, Westhoughton says...
10:32am Fri 26 Oct 07
Raoul Duke wrote:They should give him the same amount of time they gave Sammy Lee. Anything less than or equal to 5 points, then he should be out. But that wont happen...Gartside has made a rod for his own back now, egotistical maniac he is.
The only reason I'm saying "give him a chance" is that there's no other option. Do you really think any football club would sack a manager before he's even had a game, just because the fans want it? You know, if fans picked managers, Ferguson would have been sacked from the Redsox within his first 6 months.
Like I have said - my protest is against Gartside NOT Megson or the team. Megson is safe for the time being. Of course, it is a results game.
Think Bolton fans deserve better than the blinkered ambition of a self-hyped Chairman.
The reality is, the fans can swivel. The club could still pay players wages if no one turned up and no one bought a ST. So, what do we do? Sit in front of our computers or make it known to Gartside that we're not an passive entity he can frogmarch over? It is one of the few times I wish we were in France, those guys will strike and protest at the smallest thing. We need a bit of that spirit in Bolton.
Trotter, Bolton says...
10:33am Fri 26 Oct 07
Mark wrote:Cheers for the trouble you have taken to post on here Mark , fans we both are and I for one can see what is coming for my club, I have turned my attention to Gartside now and until he goes then I fear the very worse for my club, I sang his praises through the Panorama programme when he tried to unload Jay Jay and then the Allardyce episode when I thought Big Sam was to blame, how wrong was I? it is now stirring me and all the Bolton fans point blank in the face that Gartside must go, on the subject of Gary Megson, then he is just a pawn in Gartside's demise of MY club.
This is all so familiar, exactly like the Leicester Mercury wedsite six weeks ago. We didn't want Megson then and look what happened: We're in a worse position than we were before! We may have the best defense in the Championship, but if you play nine at the back you probably will, our top scorers this year are both defenders who got their goals from corners and that tells you everything. You'll have one or two of the "give him a chance" merchants and we did, but they need to ask them selves a) are they really passionate supporters of BWFC? and b) do they actually know anything about football at all? Megson is useless and I feel sorry for the genuine fans, who should be given more credit as they know what is needed better than Gartside by the looks of it. Jewell, Sounness even, bug Megson? I'm just glad were shot of him...
Good luck for the season Mark but I feel we need as much if not more luck.
GARTSIDE OUT
Trotter, Bolton says...
10:36am Fri 26 Oct 07
Chris wrote:Spot on Chris .........
As a season ticket holder of some 50 years, I feel that its about time I had my say. The appointment of Gary Megson does not thrill me one bit-his track record is terrible-but I dont blame him for taking the job,and I hope he succeeds. My greater concern is about Phil Gartside, and I want to make the following points:- 1 This club is currently owned by Eddie Davies but it BELONGS to me and all the other fans of BWFC - and, indeed, to the people of Bolton - never forget this vital point. 2 Does Gartside accept that HE made a mistake when LSL was appointed? 3 Will HE accept the blame if Megson does not keep us in the Prem? 4 If the answer to points 2&3 is "yes" - and it must be - then will he resign? Its as simple as this - Gartside has lost the respect of the people to whom the club BELONGS.
IT IS OUR CLUB - NOT GARTSIDE'S
GARTSIDE OUT
Daxter, says...
10:42am Fri 26 Oct 07
Mixu Pantiliners, Dublin says...
10:43am Fri 26 Oct 07
James wrote:Roughly the same amount of time agreed. BUT I'd expect a lot more than 5 points from 10 games. A team who averages 1 point per game all season almost certainly goes down, let alone half a point per game. As said in my previous post, only 12 points from the next 8 games is an achievement and anything less than 10 should warrant a sacking of both manager and chairman!
Raoul Duke wrote: The only reason I'm saying "give him a chance" is that there's no other option. Do you really think any football club would sack a manager before he's even had a game, just because the fans want it? You know, if fans picked managers, Ferguson would have been sacked from the Redsox within his first 6 months.They should give him the same amount of time they gave Sammy Lee. Anything less than or equal to 5 points, then he should be out. But that wont happen...Gartside has made a rod for his own back now, egotistical maniac he is. Like I have said - my protest is against Gartside NOT Megson or the team. Megson is safe for the time being. Of course, it is a results game. Think Bolton fans deserve better than the blinkered ambition of a self-hyped Chairman. The reality is, the fans can swivel. The club could still pay players wages if no one turned up and no one bought a ST. So, what do we do? Sit in front of our computers or make it known to Gartside that we're not an passive entity he can frogmarch over? It is one of the few times I wish we were in France, those guys will strike and protest at the smallest thing. We need a bit of that spirit in Bolton.
superjohn, bolton says...
10:44am Fri 26 Oct 07
PJ, Bolton says...
10:49am Fri 26 Oct 07
James, Westhoughton says...
10:51am Fri 26 Oct 07
superjohn wrote:There were not a lot of protestors last night, personally I find it highly dissapointing.
Trotter - I'm not up for a barney with you but your position surprises me, not that I blame you for being Anti-Gartside but you are normally a sensible voice on this website. The reason I posted many complaints about LSL was because I thought by sacking him we would then get a better manager. I can't say definitively yet but Megson doesn't have the look (based on his previous record) as someone who will improve things. I'm also deeply suspicious about the fact that Megson's mate and ex-agent was involved in the interview process. However, I don't know what would improve if PG did resign. Who would be the next Chairman? Does anyone know? And surely despite our misgivings we have to get behind Megson don't we? I think Sunday's game is massive, Villa are good this year and if Megson can give us a win straight up the feelgood factor will surely come back. I didn't see a lot of protesters last night, Trotter.
IF we can get PG removed as chairman, probably not a lot of things will change. It will show (to some degree) the fans are not here to be walked all over, like we have been for years and years.
If nothing else happens, I just want to make Gartside know he has burned his bridges with a lot of the Bolton fans.
White58, Bolton says...
10:54am Fri 26 Oct 07
chrisfarn wrote:You're missing the point, ChrisFarn. SOME fans might have wanted Jol, the Board & PG didn't. They wouldn'd have had him even if he'd been free. So your original post was mistaken.
Raoul Duke wrote:And did I say he had? from someone who was busy going on about abuse and people throwing their dummies out of the pram Raoul you just did an extremely good job of joining them and at the same time kind of did in your post about rational thinking. Oh dear.
chrisfarn wrote: lol, you know what makes this much much much funnier? Martin Jol is now out of a job, the man a lot of you wanted as manager. Hysterical. A bigger complete balls up and shambles I dont think could be made anywhere. Laughing stock of football.Gary Megson hasn't even been in charge for a single game yet you plank.
Most Bolton fans did not want Megson, none too surprisingly, they wanted Jol. That was the point I made, it was accurate. So your statement just undid all your posts regarding your opinion of others didnt it hmmm and I dont feel I have to lower myself to the same abuse throwing level to respond, I`ll leave you to prove what you are without my help. You already did.
There - hope that's reasonable enough for you.
trotter40, australia says...
10:57am Fri 26 Oct 07
uce,Jol,Collins,Phil Brown,the special one,Hullier,Hoddle,R
eid even Souness way before Ginger head .Wot is Gartside thinking here ,quote the right man for the job.Who says just u ,frigging plonk .Hope Megson can turn things around just for the sake of the club.Roll on the day Gartside leaves .
MrWesrtToYou, Bolton says...
10:57am Fri 26 Oct 07
Are we protesting b4 the villa game??
superkris, Manchester says...
10:58am Fri 26 Oct 07
Say it as it is, Bolton says...
11:01am Fri 26 Oct 07
White58 wrote:Not sure. I think PG would take anything cheap or free
chrisfarn wrote:You're missing the point, ChrisFarn. SOME fans might have wanted Jol, the Board & PG didn't. They wouldn'd have had him even if he'd been free. So your original post was mistaken. There - hope that's reasonable enough for you.Raoul Duke wrote:And did I say he had? from someone who was busy going on about abuse and people throwing their dummies out of the pram Raoul you just did an extremely good job of joining them and at the same time kind of did in your post about rational thinking. Oh dear. Most Bolton fans did not want Megson, none too surprisingly, they wanted Jol. That was the point I made, it was accurate. So your statement just undid all your posts regarding your opinion of others didnt it hmmm and I dont feel I have to lower myself to the same abuse throwing level to respond, I`ll leave you to prove what you are without my help. You already did.chrisfarn wrote: lol, you know what makes this much much much funnier? Martin Jol is now out of a job, the man a lot of you wanted as manager. Hysterical. A bigger complete balls up and shambles I dont think could be made anywhere. Laughing stock of football.Gary Megson hasn't even been in charge for a single game yet you plank.
James, Westhoughton says...
11:02am Fri 26 Oct 07
MrWesrtToYou wrote:The protest was a damp squib. A few chanting and me holding up my "Gartside Out" poster. Did make the Braga fans laugh with my poster I made which was in Portugese - words to the effect of "Our Club Chairman Is a W*****". Hopefully, that will be in some newspaper in Portugal.
Sorry I was late for the start of the game the passion wagon broke down on the way to the reebok!! How did the protest go!! Are we protesting b4 the villa game??
Dont think there is enough will for a Gartside Out fight. The masses are apparently angry, but not to the extent they want to protest.
I feel I did my bit...not sure what else is next now. It is 11am and the whole Gartside/Megson thing has taken over my life for two days.
GARTSIDE OUT
Trotter, Bolton says...
11:09am Fri 26 Oct 07
superjohn wrote:
Trotter - I'm not up for a barney with you but your position surprises me, not that I blame you for being Anti-Gartside but you are normally a sensible voice on this website. The reason I posted many complaints about LSL was because I thought by sacking him we would then get a better manager. I can't say definitively yet but Megson doesn't have the look (based on his previous record) as someone who will improve things. I'm also deeply suspicious about the fact that Megson's mate and ex-agent was involved in the interview process. However, I don't know what would improve if PG did resign. Who would be the next Chairman? Does anyone know? And surely despite our misgivings we have to get behind Megson don't we? I think Sunday's ga
Trotter, Bolton says...
8:01am Fri 26 Oct 07