Awestruck Coyle emerges from darkness into light

Chief Sports Writer

Tuesday 17 April 2012

IT was apt that as Fabrice Muamba was leaving hospital in London, his manager was breezing into Glasgow on a wave of positivity.

Owen Coyle updates members of the media outside the London Chest Hospital two days after Muamba's collapse. Picture: Reuters

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Hugh MacDonald

It is barely a month since the 24-year-old collapsed at White Hart Lane. The Bolton Wanderers midfielder was technically dead for 78 minutes. Owen Coyle, exuding sunshine on a chill Glasgow day, has walked with Muamba along every yard of the player's recovery. His belief in the younger man is such that he believes his player will, one day, again pull on a pair of football boots.

"You can't rule anything out. Considering where Fabrice has come from in such a short space of time, then it's a case of never say never," said Coyle at Hampden, where he was speaking at an SFA coaching seminar. "The thing about Fabrice is that he came from the Congo. He's had to fight and scratch all his life. That's a fantastic trait to have, and that'll stand him in good stead."He explained that 48 hours after Muamba collapsed on Saturday, March 17, in the FA Cup tie that he began to find something tangible on which to attach a sense of hope. That miraculous Monday lives on for Coyle. "They cooled him down for 24 hours to stabilise everything because they managed to get the heart going and we did not know how the other major organs would react. On the Monday morning they were going to warm him up, bring him back to his own body temperature. At that point, the heart has to click in of his own accord."The consultants worried about whether the other major organs would work and whether the footballer had brain damage. "That Monday was a truly remarkable day, bit by bit. First he had squeezed his fiancee's hand and half an hour later he managed to open his eyes, then he moved his legs and it all started coming back into play. By the end of that day, he was able to say a few words."The sense of awe for Coyle at this remarkable recovery was enhanced by the realisation that it does not always happen that way. A dreadful reminder of that truth came at the weekend with the death of Piermario Morosini of Serie B side Livorno. Coyle, a manager driven by passion, admits his life changed after that day at White Hart Lane. "No-one wants to win in football more than I do," he said. "But in terms of what's important to you, it brings a fresh perspective. I'm talking about your health and family and things surrounding that. I said that to my players at the time. It was important that if any of them felt they couldn't play in the following game, given the events and the fact they were on the pitch with him, then that was fine."He understands that the fire in the game survives any recognition that it is far from a matter of life and death. He was understanding of the reactions of Neil Lennon, the Celtic manager, in the wake of a William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final in which his team lost to a hotly-disputed penalty. "As coaches, because we want to win, sometimes we say or do things in the heat of the moment. If you feel a decision has gone against you – and the Celtic boys thought it was blatant – then passion can take over. We can all do things in the heat of the moment. I have been there myself."Coyle last week confronted referee Mike Jones on the pitch after Newcastle United scored an offside goal in Bolton's 2-0 defeat. "You just have to try and temper it," he said of fiery reaction.Of the Lennon march towards referee Euan Norris, he said: "The difficulty was that it was a semi-final and anything a manager does is in the public eye and is a talking point." He added: "I went on the park at St James', shook the referee's hand and asked him a question. I think there is a point when it has to be shown that you are going to stick up for yourself and your club."Coyle said it was difficult for an "aggrieved" manager to accept decisions without complaint. "You work hard all week to prepare your team but then it can be an uncontrollable factor that takes it away from you. If that's what's happened on Sunday, then you can understand the frustration. It's not because you have been beaten fair and square by a better team and you hold your hands up. But if something happens to take it away from you then it's hard to take."Coyle accepted the difficulties faced by referees in a sport that has become quicker and where the ubiquitous television camera points out every error without forgiveness. But managers, too, had a pressure. "As a manager, you are responsible not only for a team, but for a club and a town. At Celtic and Rangers, you are dealing with global clubs," he said. "There is huge responsibility and with that comes pressure – football pressure – not life pressure. It's something we all have to look at and see how to cope with it."Coyle is managing just fine. More importantly, Muamba seems to be doing the same.

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Awestruck Coyle emerges from darkness into light

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