Coyle laments ´bitter´ relegation

Bolton manager Owen Coyle said relegation left him with a ‘bitter taste’ following his side’s 2-2 draw with Stoke City.

Bolton needed a win and for QPR to lose against Manchester City in order to stay up and, while the latter occurred, Coyle’s side ended up dropping to the Championship.

Coyle conceded that being denied Premier League football in such circumstances was hard to take, especially after conceding two goals from debatable decisions.

He told reporters: “Coming into the game, I believed we could win the game and we had chances to it and that’s the bit that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

“It’s hard to take because I think that we recognise that we had a slow start in the game.

“At the level we are, I’ll always sit here and thinking sour grapes, but how that first (Stoke) goal can be allowed to be given Adam (Bogdan) has clearly got the ball in his hands.

“Having said that, we bounced back in the game, got 2-1 in front and had chances to go 3-1 in front.

“(Peter) Crouch had a good chance and Adam made a great save, but in the aftermath when Crouch has knocked the ball by Adam, it’s actually Crouch who’s clambered into Adam.

“So, it’s certainly hard to take, there’s not getting away from that; that’s the nature of football.”

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis said he was ‘disappointed’ to see Bolton relegated and expressed sympathy for opposite number Coyle

“I’m disappointed for Owen and Bolton,” Pulis told reporters.

“It’s a reminder to everyone in this league that you have to keep pushing on, it’s such a tough league.”

“We got told when we went into the dressing room that City were losing and United were winning, so, within three minutes, four minutes, (into the second-half) it had completely changed.”