Fireside Chats: Crystal Disappointment

Last week's edition of Fireside Chats reprimanded Owen Coyle for constantly spewing the exact same interview, no matter the opponent, no matter the result. If that habit is irritating after a win, it's infuriating after a loss. And this week is no different. There is a special emphasis on the referee this week, as Owen Coyle is blaming bad luck for the loss.

It's frustrating, obviously, with the decisions that led to us losing the game. We were in the ascendancy in the first half, accepting that Crystal Palace were dangerous with the pace they have on the counter-attack. We've had a clear penalty not given in the first half - Mark Davies arrived in the box and it hit a player on the hands. I actually thought it was Speroni, given the way he had his arms above his head.

It wasn't given and then in the second half we had a soft penalty awarded against us. Zaha went driving into the box, Zat Knight goes to step across and the lad's legs have hit Zat. It gave us little time to recover and it's hard to take because, if the truth be told, we were the team that had picked up the pace of the game and we created a number of chances to go in front.

First, let's cover the things that are true. It was a frustrating match. Bolton did have some decent play in the first half, and were vulnerable to Palace's speed. Bolton probably should've been awarded a penalty. However, if Bolton really deserved the win, they would not have been beaten by one goal. It was also not a particularly soft penalty. Wilfred Zaha certainly did not try to keep his feet, but a seasoned defender like Knight should know that a move like that will be a penalty every time.

There were some actual positives though.

Stephen Warnock came in today and played very well, and there were times where we got in behind the Palace defence. There were positives but the huge disappointment is the result and not picking up any points.

Warnock won our man of the match award, and by all accounts put in a good debut. It would be fantastic to find a solid, reliable leftback, something Bolton has lacked for years.

The worst we should have come out of that game is 0-0, so it's frustrating, especially after going away from home last week and giving ourselves a platform going into two home games... We will deal with today's disappointment and get ourselves back in tomorrow morning to get ourselves ready for Leeds, where we have to stand up and be counted against a very good side.

Coyle is not entirely in touch with reality in these interviews, but it is also important to remember that he has a club line to toe. Still, a little more frankness would certainly not go amiss, especially after all of the many "disappointments".