New boy Stu's unlucky break
9:20am Saturday 6th March 2010 in Sport By Liam Chronnell
THE Reebok injury jinx has struck again.
Stuart Holden’s fractured leg is the latest in a growing list of setbacks which have plagued Wanderers this season.
The American has been ruled out for up to six weeks following Nigel de Jong’s challenge in Wednesday’s international friendly with Holland.
Apart from being a terrible blow for the 24-year-old, who had impressed in his first two outings since joining from Houston Dynamo and who hopes to be part of this summer’s World Cup, it is further proof, if any were needed, of the misfortune that has beset Bolton in Owen Coyle’s short reign.
Injuries are, of course, part and parcel of football and every club has players missing at one time or another over the course of a campaign.
But it is the importance of the personnel who have spent time in the treatment room this season, and particularly since Coyle succeeded Gary Megson in January.
Gary Cahill and Ivan Klasnic’s enforced absences have not helped the new manager’s attempts to steer Wanderers to safety.
Indeed, it is tempting to think Coyle must have stood on a crack in the pavement, walked under a ladder and failed to salute a magpie on his way from Burnley to the Reebok.
To lose defender and top-scorer Cahill and top striker Klasnic, arguably his two most influential players, within a month of taking over was a crushing blow. And, while Klasnic is available again after recovering from a calf problem, it is no coincidence that Wanderers’ goal drought — just one league goal in their last seven matches — coincided with the predatory Croatian’s injury problems.
At the other end of the pitch, Cahill’s spell on the sidelines has been even more keenly felt following the discovery of a blood clot in his arm.
The centre-back, who is also the club’s leading marksman with seven goals, will resume training again in nine days’ time after having a small piece of rib removed which was restricting his blood flow, but his untimely absence has come at a vital time when Bolton, in the middle of a run of six games against relegation rivals, needed him most.
Coyle is also currently without Chris Basham (knee) and Mark Davies (ankle), while Gavin McCann (ankle), Joey O’Brien (knee) and, most significantly, Sean Davis have not been available since he arrived.
Davis, in particular, has been a cruel loss. Brought in by Megson in the summer, the former Portsmouth player was to be the midfield lynchpin this season. But he managed just four games before a serious knee injury ruled him out for the rest of the campaign in an early sign of things to come.
At this rate, Coyle’s biggest achievement will not be whether he can keep Wanderers in the Premier League, but whether he can field 11 fit players against Birmingham on the final day of the season.
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