Elmander keeps on proving his worth

BOLTON boss Owen Coyle repeated his belief that he can persuade striker Johan Elmander to sign a new contract after the Swede took his season’s tally to eight with a brace in the 5-1 win over Newcastle.

Elmander’s second-half strikes added to a pair of penalties from Kevin Davies and a cool finish from Lee Chung-yong to move Coyle’s men at least temporarily up to the dizzy heights of fourth in the table.

It wrapped up a fantastic week for Elmander whose wife gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday and Coyle said: “I knew Johan would be champing at the bit to play today and his performance was outstanding.

“I’m very comfortable with the relationship I have with Johan. We speak all the time and I understand that as a player you get on a run and you don’t want to be sidetracked. We’ll continue to have a dialogue and it doesn’t faze me.”

Bolton were excellent but this was comfortably Newcastle’s worst performance of the season.

Kevin Davies tucked home an 18th-minute penalty after Kevin Nolan was penalised for handball and Lee made it two in the 39th minute after United failed to clear a Matthew Taylor shot that had hit the woodwork.

Elmander scored his seventh of the season in the 50th minute but newly capped England international Andy Carroll reduced the arrears two minutes later.

But Elmander grabbed his second of the game in the 72nd minute before Fabricio Coloccini was red-carded for elbowing Elmander. Davies completed the rout by scoring his second penalty in added time.

Coyle was keen to shrug off suggestions that his side should now be aiming at a European place.

Coyle added: “We’re enjoying the wins but the only league table I’ve ever looked at is the one after the season is finished. I’ll see them if we’ve improved. Everyone is giving their all and they’re doing it with a smile on their faces.

“We asked the players to give the same again and from the first whistle the level of performance was terrific. If I’m nit-picking I’m disappointed we lost a goal but Newcastle are a good side with good players.”

One point from the last nine on offer since a memorable win at Arsenal has brought the Geordies quickly back to earth.

Newcastle boss Chris Hughton said he hoped his side’s thumping would provide a “reality check’ as his side continues to come to grips with their first topsy-turvy season back in the top-flight. Hughton said: “It was a bad day at the office, for sure.

“I don’t think 5-1 was a true reflection on the game but we added to our downfall and gave away some very poor goals.

“It’s about a reality check. We’re playing in the toughest division and from day one we’ve said there are going to be some ups and downs. We’ve had some good days and we’ve had some bad days, and today was a very bad day.

“In every game you try to look for some positives and we did create some good chances but the Premier League is unforgiving. Andy Carroll scoring is another plus for him, but there were certainly more negatives today.”