Crucial period ahead for Owen Coyle and Bolton

Owen Coyle is running out of time to turn it around at Bolton

Almost under the radar, Bolton Wanderers have slipped to the bottom of the Premier League.

The future of manager Owen Coyle is rarely questioned, while the club's prolonged status as a top flight outfit appears to be taken for granted.

But the situation at the Reebok Stadium is serious now.

Wanderers' next four games - against Fulham, Blackburn, Newcastle and Wolves - present a great chance of picking up crucial points, but a paltry return would leave them cast adrift and make Coyle's position almost untenable.

12 defeats from the opening 15 league games this campaign tells its own story. That is in addition to a very poor end to last season, where Bolton slipped from European challengers to 14th-place also-rans.

Their 5-0 mauling in the FA Cup semi-final at the hands of Stoke was the catalyst, and since then they have been in a rut which Coyle has failed to galvanise them out of.

This season, Bolton have already lost seven home league games and have shown no recent signs of waking from their slumber, so Coyle needs to work some magic now before it is too late.

His detractors have compared him to Steve Kean, the constantly under-fire Blackburn boss whose side is above Coyle's in the table, but there is something a lot more believable about Coyle which means he should be given more time.

He is positive by nature, but is not afraid to criticise his players when he sees fit and he admits when his team have been second best.

Coyle is positive yet realistic

Kean is exclusively positive, to the extent that he is possibly the most annoying man in football.

He quotes positive stat after positive stat no matter how badly Blackburn have played, while he had no managerial success before his time at Ewood Park to merit any more time in the job.

Coyle's positivity is infectious, while he also has past successes to back it up.

He did great jobs at St Johnstone and Burnley before his time at Bolton, and must be given more time to turn it around.

The situation does look grim - and could get a lot worse in the near future - but he has had a lot of upheaval to deal with and is clearly the man for the long haul at the Reebok Stadium.

The loss of Stuart Holden to serious injury towards the end of last season ruined Bolton's form, while his further injury this campaign was another critical blow.

Holden was key to everything Bolton did well last season - he made them tick - and Coyle has simply found no-one in his class to take his place.

Holden's injuries have been a major blow for Bolton

Johan Elmander - almost unplayable in the first half of last season - has moved on, Daniel Sturridge has returned to parent club Chelsea and Kevin Davies is no longer the catalyst he once was.

Ivan Klasnic has stepped up to the plate with seven league goals, but other than that Bolton have found goals extremely hard to come by.

They also have a woeful defensive record - particularly at home - which is likely to be further dented if Gary Cahill departs as expected in January.

It is clear there needs to be major strengthening of the squad in January but if anyone can turn it around, Coyle can.

His motivational skills appear natural and you only need to listen to top players who have played under him, such as Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge, to realise how highly he is rated.

Wilshere raves about him and believes he is destined to manage at the top, so Bolton would be foolish to discard him now.

Wilshere clearly benefited from his time under Coyle on loan at Bolton

Wanderers' recent form is clearly unacceptable, with four straight league defeats and 12 defeats in 15, but they would struggle to find a better manager than Coyle.

The next few games will be the biggest test of his managerial career so far, but Coyle will use that as a positive as he knows they are eminently winnable.

Bolton should believe in Coyle because, given time, he will turn it around.

Relegation has to be viewed as a serious possibility though and that is why they need to pick up a serious number of points in the next four games.

That starts with a trip to face Fulham at Craven Cottage tomorrow, where even a win would not take Bolton out of the bottom three.

It would, however, set them on the right track and set Coyle on the track of salvaging his reputation.

Bolton need points quick or Coyle will become the latest casualty of the cut-throat managerial circus that is the Premier League.

Their perilous position cannot be ignored for any longer.

We are about to find out just how good a manager Owen Coyle is.