Owen, Owen gone...
SO God, it transpires, has turned out to be a false idol after all.
Owen Coyle's decision to leave Burnley for Bolton – although the clubs are still haggling over the compensation as I write I can't see anyway he can now stay – has saddened me immensely.
I am angry at the timing of his decision, rather than the decision itself, as it does leave the Clarets in the lurch during transfer window month. There is also no doubt it will affect morale at the club as it heads into a crucial month of their first Premier League season.
I can't raise myself to some of the anger levels on Clarets message boards and chat sites, but then again I could never actually work myself up into a frenzy about John Bond either.
After all Burnley did take Owen from another club and in the past have not flinched from wielding the knife for the perceived greater good of the club – managers from Steve Cotterill and Stan Ternent back to Harry Potts and Jimmy Adamson, among others, the latter decision questionable all those years ago.
But the club should be bigger than any one person, so what chairman Barry Kilby and the board have to focus on is steadying the ship as much as they can and as soon as they can, hoping swift raids for players do not follow Coyle's departure.
I'm sure this is what they are doing, with Steve Davis scheduled to take charge of the team for a second time should Saturday's game against Stoke go ahead (there's a lot of weather between now and then).
Calder Valley author Mark Hodkinson wrote in one of his books about Rochdale Football Club that these days football management and players are transient while directors (generally) and supporters (always) are permanent.
In the end, it is that permanent community that will have to make the difference and raise morale until a new manager is in place.
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Weather for Halifax
Saturday 04 February 2012
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