It may seem strange to label a manager who has just been sacked a survivor, but Gary Megson has been on the verge of a P45 more or less since he was appointed to a deafening absence of acclamation. The odds were against him seeing his second anniversary in the job, which he passed in October.
He inherited a side in deep trouble as Sammy Lee's attempts to build on Sam Allardyce's legacy foundered. They have stayed up twice. But in two words, 'limited ambition' cost Megson. This encompassed a style of play that did little to attract supporters through the gate and a reckless disregard for occasions that might have relieved the tedium of watching safety-first football, notably the weakened side that was fielded in a winnable UEFA Cup tie at Sporting Lisbon a few months into his reign.
To go around Europe following Bolton takes a high degree of dedication; Megson lost what grip he had on the affections of the club's most committed supporters with this incident. The complaints from Wolves fans after wasting time and money on a trip to Old Trafford came loud and clear, but these earlier Wanderers paid a much greater price to watch a comparably weakened team kick off a winnable game. Worse, of course, was that the full-strength side lost the derby at Wigan in the match for which Megson was saving his best players.
Ultimately they survived, but Megson took little credit. Last season Bolton finished mid-table, 13th - but with only 41 points, a total that not long ago would have meant wafer-thin survival - and in 2003 relegation, for West Ham went down with one point more. You don't follow football to see your team do the bare minimum; you don't expect a manager to seek credit for this level of achievement - doing that is something Megson has in common with the previous Premier League manager to get the boot, Mark Hughes.
Megson pointed out, after the game with Hull, how he got the blame for the bad and no credit for the good. He was right, but he seemed unaware that the loss of goodwill was in part self-inflicted.
The lower reaches of the table are impressively tight. A year ago, five points covered the bottom ten, from Bolton on 23 points to West Brom on 18; now five points cover 10th to 19th, from Sunderland on 23 points to Hull on 18. There is still room for some change, as last year the whole bottom half had played 20 games by 31 December, which is not the case this season. But these past two campaigns have shaped up very differently from the early years of this decade, when teams in 12th at Christmas were comfortably clear of the scrap (even if they could be dragged in). Even Portsmouth, who seem intent on imploding, are closer to the pack than many bottom sides at this stage.
Survival could hang on the smallest of margins. Having a manager that the fans can rally round or at least can give the benefit of the doubt could make all the difference. No team play better when their own fans get on their back. Most of the strugglers have that on their side; Bolton could not afford to persist with a man that unpopular.
Philip Cornwall