And so the season lurches into further crisis. As I write, the strong rumour persists that Riga has left and Owen Coyle appointed as his replacement. On Saturday, Football Focus carried the story of Riga’s departure, but the waters were later clouded by the man himself being seen at Bloomfield Rd.
It’s symbolic of how shambolic the club has become in recent times, with the impasse between Chairman and manager seemingly irreparable. For me, Riga represented a change to the previous two seasons of football played purely to grind out results and a return to a more entertaining style. His failure to get in the players to meet that objective would seem to have been the final straw with no movement at all on transfer deadline day. Whether he resigns or is sacked is irrelevant. At least his public spat with the Chairman has highlighted to a wider audience just what a basket case the club has become while the next man in to take the challenge is faced with a fragile squad and seemingly no investment to strengthen that.
It would appear that the man for that challenge is Owen Coyle. His time at Burnley saw his star rise but since then failures at Bolton and Wigan have weakened his bargaining position, something that will play into the Chairman’s hands as he negotiates the terms of the appointment.
It’s the nature of football that managers and players come and go, while the fans suffer the consequences. That’s certainly the case at the moment.
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