Owen Coyle questions mentality of Bolton Wanderers side after 'hurtful and horrible' FA Cup semi-final thrashing
Bolton manager Owen Coyle is bracing himself for an uncomfortable video re-run after seeing his side's dreams of lifting the FA Cup destroyed in spectacular fashion.
Gutted: Owen Coyle watched his Bolton side falter on the big stage in their 5-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Stoke Photo: PA
By Telegraph staff and agencies 7:38AM BST 18 Apr 2011
Comments
Two goals from Jonathan Walters steered Stoke to a 5-0 victory in Sunday's semi-final at Wembley.
Matthew Etherington, Robert Huth and Kenwyne Jones were also on target as Tony Pulis' side ran amok.
Coyle said: "I will analyse it, as hurtful and horrible as it will be to watch it again. We have to learn from it.
"Was the stage too much for one or two of them? Football is not just about physical ability. There is a mental strength that goes with it. I loved these occasions as a player.
"There were too many who didn't perform anywhere near to the right standard. We had a number of players who were at the bottom of the ladder. It was never going to be good enough against a very good side.
"The beauty of management is that you have to respond to things like this. You can do one of two things - you can pick yourself up and go again or you can hide.
"There is no getting away from the fact it was a below-par performance. Bizarrely enough, I thought we started the game reasonably well. But we were the architects of our own downfall."
Bolton captain Kevin Davies described their performance as "a terrible dream".
He said: "It was a horrible experience, the manner of the defeat. The first goal was like something from five-a-side rather than on an occasion like this.
"To see the goals going in, I don't know what to say. It was just one of those days. We will try to put it right. It is just a terrible dream at the minute.
"We are all devastated and very emotional. It is very difficult and we feel ashamed and embarrassed.
"We feel sorry for the supporters as they paid a lot of money to come down. We've had a lot of plaudits this year and we will take the criticism and stand up as men."
Davies, also a losing semi-finalist with Chesterfield in 1998, believes his dream of lifting the FA Cup is over.
He added: "It is one of those things. It seems to have got away from me. This was probably my best chance of getting to the final."
tony pulis, matthew etherington, bolton wanderers, robert huth, jonathan walters, telegraph staff, spectacular fashion, kevin davies, horrible experience, mental strength, terrible dream, target, kenwyne jones, physical ability, one of those days, fa cup, downfall, bst, mentality, ladder
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario