Coyle has last laugh after Lee silences Burnley flak
BOLTON (1) vs BURNLEY (0)
BOLTON manager Owen Coyle perfectly answered the taunts of Burnley fans by guiding his new team out of the relegation zone at the expense of his old side.
Coyle, once worshipped at Turf Moor for leading the Clarets into the top flight, caused uproar earlier this month when he jumped ship for their survival rivals, and was mercilessly barracked last night. Burnley chairman Barry Kilby had called the Scot’s defection a “sideways move”, but after Chung-Yong Lee fired the Trotters to three points, Coyle looks like being vindicated.
As well as being his first victory at the club, the result constituted Bolton’s first clean sheet in the league this season, and lifted them to the heady heights of 15th.
In contrast, his successor at Burnley Brian Laws has lost all three of his games and done little to dispel the widespread bewilderment at his appointment. South Korea midfielder Lee’s 35th-minute goal off the underside of the bar leaves them 18th, behind Wolves on goal difference.