IT can’t be easy, considering he has such a small squad to work with, but Owen Coyle is proving to be a master juggler.

Options might be limited but he keeps shuffling his pack and coming up with a winning hand.

That says a lot for his management skills but it’s also a tribute to the lads themselves for making the most of their chances when they come along.

Saturday’s game at Newcastle was a prime example.

The gaffer had some big selection decisions to make – not least having to choose between four quality strikers.

It could not have been an easy decision to leave out Ivan Klasnic, bearing in mind he’d scored the winning goals in the FA Cup victories at Wigan and Fulham.

But he opted to go with Daniel Sturridge, and it paid off with the kid scoring in his fourth successive Premier League game. What a record.

He also chose Johan Elmander on the right of the midfield four again and I think it speaks volumes for Johan that he put in just as good a shift in an unfamiliar position as he does when he is on the front line.

Fabrice Muamba kept his place at the expense of Mark Davies and Martin Petrov’s performances against Wigan and Fulham meant Matty Taylor had to settle for a place on the bench.

And when you take into consideration we are operating with a “new” back four since losing Zat Knight and Sam Ricketts, you have to give everyone credit for a good days’ work up on Tyneside.

It’s obviously a bit of a headache for the gaffer but a nice headache – if you can have such a thing – because everybody is playing so well.

I think it shows he is keeping everybody on their toes.

I can understand people having mixed feelings about the Newcastle result because of the circumstances.

Before the game I’d have taken a draw but when you look at the chances we had second half and the advantage of having the extra man for half an hour after Ryan Taylor was sent off, it was disappointing not to come away with all three points.

I know Owen said he was happy with a point, but he’ll know there was an opportunity there to get a win. Even so, that makes it five games without a defeat and we can approach Saturday’s game against Aston Villa with a lot of confidence.

GARETH Barker recently joined us up at Lostock as academy administrator and soon discovered there is something special about life here at Bolton Wanderers.

He’s come to us from Blackpool, having previously been at Wigan, where Dean Crombie and I worked with him, so we’ve obviously given him a warm welcome.

Mind you, he got more than he bargained for when he volunteered to help out John Henry and go in goal in a reserve practice match at Euxton on Saturday morning.

At one point in the game he put his hands up to stop a blistering shot from Joe Riley and ended up getting smashed right in the kisser. His nose was spread all over his face – and you could hear John’s howls of laughter back at Lostock.

Fair play to him though, Gareth didn’t let it spoil his day and hours later was enjoying his first night out with us.

I think he has quickly discovered that there is something quite special here at Bolton – a successful set-up and a fantastic sense of camaraderie.

BIRMINGHAM City’s Carling Cup win was great for football.

Arsenal were the clear favourites and nobody gave Alex McLeish’s side a cat in hell’s chance.

But they showed what can be achieved when a team pulls together with every player wholeheartedly committed to the cause and playing with a belief.

I was delighted for McLeish because he will have been the one to give them that belief.

I just hope they are still hungover when we take them on in the FA Cup at St Andrew’s next week.