Holden hits jackpot for gambler Coyle

BOLTON provided yet more evidence that it is worth rolling the dice in the Premier League with a victory that keeps them in touch with the top six.

Those who are happy to sum up football in sound-bites, would have you believe that Owen Coyle has transformed the Reebok Stadium into the home of the kind of football worthy of the Nou Camp but that assertion is inaccurate.

Despite all the talk coming out of his camp, Johan Elmander is not David Villa, Mark Davies is not Andres Iniesta, but while their styles might not be too similar, the intention is the same and it proved the difference between a draw and a win yesterday thanks to Stuart Holden’s late effort.

Having played half an hour with 10 men and just conceded an equaliser, how many teams would be content with a point and sit deep? How many would go for a second themselves?

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham perhaps out of a sense of entitlement but would Liverpool or Aston Villa?

Blackpool have shown the benefits of that mindset and only a couple more wins would have been enough to keep Burnley in the top flight last season.

It is also why, with almost half the season gone, Bolton deserve to be where they are and if Coyle is given the chance to bring in some decent signings there is no reason why they can not stay there.

In an unpredictable start to the Premier League, it has never been so true and it sounds so obvious but the ability to win matches, rather than simply being hard to beat, will take you a long way.

The belittling of Sam Allardyce in some quarters may be a little unfair but he certainly proved a point with his team selection yesterday, attempting to contain Bolton with a five-man defence, with Michel Salgado and Martin Olsson supposed to block Chung-Yong Lee and Martin Petrov.

For long periods it seemed to work and a dreadful opening period was only notable for the songs that two sets of fans sing about each other’s ‘habits’.

The only real chance of the opening half came when Jussi Jaaskelainen palmed Morten Gamst Pedersen’s free kick back into trouble only for Gael Givet to slice a wild effort way off target.

The contest only really got going after the interval when Mark Davies was sent off. The young midfielder had already been booked for a silly tackle on Martin Olsson when he caught Phil Jones with his forearm and was rightly sent off.

But strangely, Bolton found more fluency in their passing with a man down and took the lead midway through the second half.

It goes against Coyle’s reputation a little that he has persisted with Fabrice Muamba for so long and, with Holden back from a thigh problem, it was the destructive midfielder that found himself left out for the first time since the Scot took charge in January.

There is even a Bolton song about sitting in Row Z and being hit on the head by a Muamba shot but he showed a killer instinct as uncharacteristic as Blackburn’s defending to put his side ahead.

Sam Ricketts hoisted a free kick into the area and Ryan Nelsen failed to get enough distance on his clearing header. It fell for Muamba, who stepped inside the New Zealander and fired a shot inside the near post, with goalkeeper Paul Robinson unsighted.

They may have retained a threat on the break but Bolton were bombarded and Blackburn finally found a way back with a fine passing move with four minutes left.

One-touch passes from Junior Hoilett and Jason Roberts put Mame Birma Diouf through and the on-loan Manchester United striker guided a shot into the net.

Allardyce pumped his fist at having got one over on his old club once again but less than a minute later he was behind again thanks to a goal created in his own image.

From the kick off, Ricketts knocked a long ball up to Kevin Davies, Holden anticipated the knockdown and found the corner with a fine shot on the run.

What must have hurt Allardyce even more is that he wanted to sign Holden when the American midfielder decided to leave Houston Dynamo at the end of last year.

“You think then you’ve lost the three points with a long time to play and a man short but the spirit in the group, we went and scored such a wonderful goal and then stood up to everything that came in the six minutes of injury time,” Coyle said.

“Even then we were dangerous on the counter-attack with 10 men.”