Wanderers sunk by Oldham teen ace
7:20am Thursday 29th July 2010 in Sport By Marc Iles
OLDHAM Athletic hotshot Tom Eaves has a host of Premier League managers chasing his signature at the moment – and Owen Coyle might well have joined the queue after seeing his side put to the sword.
Blackpool reportedly had two bids of around £250,000 turned down for the 18-year-old Liverpudlian with Blackburn Rovers also waiting in the wings. And after his exploits at Boundary Park last night, it’s a safe bet both Ian Holloway and Sam Allardyce will have to dig a little deeper.
Coyle is himself very much in the market for a front man, and a spot of scouting might be all the Wanderers boss could take from a rather embarrassing trip down the M62.
Teenage terror Eaves only arrived on the pitch because of a clattering challenge by Fabrice Muamba that forced Northern Ireland stalwart Warren Feeney off the pitch injured.
The Whites midfielder might well now wish he hadn’t bothered, after seeing the substitute rip his team to pieces with an impressive hat-trick.
As promised, Coyle brought back all of the players who had watched Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Rochdale from the Spotland stands.
Gary Cahill, Paul Robinson, Zat Knight, Kevin Davies and Jussi Jaaskelainen all played from the start Chung-Yong Lee, replete with his neon yellow boots, also made a welcome return to the squad, although I’m sure he would have liked it to be in more comfortable circumstances.
The South Korean winger’s last football came in the rather more glamorous surroundings of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth South Africa. But by the time he was thrust into the action, the Whites were already three goals down.
There had been little to write home about from either side in the opening exchanges, apart from one decent attempt from Matt Taylor, created by an excellent, if somewhat robust challenge on Dean Furman in the middle of the park by Muamba.
Oldham had rather more complaint about another tackle from the England Under-21 international a few moments later that ended with Feeney being forced off the pitch – although the complaints suddenly became rather less enthusiastic when his replacement Eaves opened the scoring 26 minutes in.
Picking up the ball 35 yards out, he drove towards the left-hand edge of the penalty box and past a challenge from Sam Ricketts, drilling a low shot that nestled just inside the far post past Jaaskelainen.
But for a Martin Petrov free-kick that dipped just over the crossbar, there was little by way of a first-half response from Wanderers and Coyle would have been looking forward to making a few changes.
Eaves hadn’t finished yet, however, and when he turned well on to Reuben Hazell’s through-ball, he fended off challenges of Joey O’Brien and to place the ball past Jaaskelainen for a second time.
With his team on the ropes, Coyle switched to a four-man midfield in the second half, introducing Mark Davies, Johan Elmander and Gretar Steinsson, There was no discernable difference in the result, however, and Eaves helped himself to the matchball with another opportunistic effort, created by some great running by Lewis Alessandro and an unselfish lay-off by Ryan Brooke.
Chung-Yong entered the fray and Kevin Davies was withdrawn for Robbie Blake – perhaps for his own protection, as tempers were definitely flaring – but again, Coyle will have been frustrated by his side’s inability to seize any real advantage, or create any decent opportunities until a late flurry at the end.
Petrov got free of his shackles on a couple of occasions in the dying moments, delivering one good ball to the far post, volleyed wide by Chung-Yong when it might have been easier to use his head, before rattling the bar with a stinging shot.
But the fact Dean Brill made his only real save of the night, from Johan Elmander, with 60 seconds to go told the whole tale.
There are clearly a few things for Coyle to consider as he sits aboard the team coach on the way to Scotland this weekend.
Wanderers: Jaaskelainen; Ricketts (Steinsson 46); Cahill; Knight; Robinson; Joey O'Brien (Mark Davies 46); Holden (Elmander 46); Muamba (Cohen 61); Petrov; Taylor (Chung-Yong 61); Kevin Davies (Blake 71). Subs not used: Andy O'Brien; Samuel; Gardner; Riga; Bogdan.
Attendance: 1,871 (371)
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