Six months ago, Bolton chairman Phil Gartside said appointing Sammy Lee to replace Sam Allardyce was a case of taking a key man out of the team and replacing him with someone better.
That always looked like a rose-spectacled view of Big Sam’s departure and on Wednesday Lee left the club by mutual consent.
From Bolton’s first game this season, a 3-1 home defeat by Newcastle, the bloody-minded team spirit and defensive nous developed under Allardyce was missing, and Lee has struggled to explain how he was going to improve matters.
Like Phil Neal and Brian Kidd before him, perhaps Lee should have stayed an assistant as he was to Graeme Souness at Liverpool and Sven-Goran Eriksson with England.
An industrious midfielder with more than his fair share of skill in the great Liverpool side of the 1980s, Lee had plenty to offer younger players on the training field.
But Sammy found it hard to move from “do what I do” to “do what I say” when he took over as manager and it appeared Gary Speed was one of those who had given up listening.
To make matters worse, the move from tracksuit to suit did not help Lee. With his tie jammed under his chin, the youthful manager too often looked like a teenager heading for his first prom and on the touchline he cut an unconvincing figure.
Bolton are second from bottom of the Premier League with just one victory in nine games and a second win was long-odds at leaders Arsenal this weekend.
As Who Ate All the Pies put it:
“It’s not just poor results that have led to the manager’s demise — he’s struggled to give Bolton a new game plan, argued with senior players like Nolan and suffered a mutiny among coaching staff with Gary Speed stepping down from his role at the weekend.”
Who will Bolton go for as a replacement? At The Wanderer, the early favourite is Paul Jewell (”assuming Mourinho or Capello don’t fancy the job”, as one poster put it). Whoever it is, the new coach may find it just as hard to persuade players like Nicolas Anelka that Bolton are a club going places post-Big Sam.
Robert Woodward, London
PHOTO: Sammy Lee reacts during Bolton’s Premier League match against West Ham at Upton Park, May 5, 2007. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
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[...] Robert Woodward wrote a fantastic post today on “Big Sam proves a tough act to follow”Here’s ONLY a quick extractSammy Lee gestures. Six months ago, Bolton chairman Phil Gartside said appointing Sammy Lee to replace Sam Allardyce was a case of taking a key man out of the team and replacing him with someone better. … [...]
- Posted by www.soccersecrets.info » Big Sam proves a tough act to followThe Bolton job would be another good stepping stone for Aidy Boothroyd - one of the best young managers around.
Problem is - he’d be younger than half the playing staff at Bolton.
His direct style would suit the personnel as well. Bolton need to realise that they had an identity and a reputation under Allardyce that gave them the edge over some opponents.
Sammy Lee tried to revolutionise the team too quickly instead of just gradually coaxing in into the ‘Liverpool way’.
- Posted by Sport Blogger