Bolton’s Coyle could follow Villas-Boas out the exit door

In the aftermath of a 2-0 defeat away to Manchester City on Saturday, Bolton find themselves second-bottom in the table, seeing the odds for Owen Coyle to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post cut to 7/2.

Bolton have now lost four consecutive league games, including a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of rock-bottom Wigan, and supporters appear to be losing patience with the man who arrived with such a glowing reputation little over two years ago.

Coyle is third-favourite to be the next Premier League boss to go, as Roberto Martinez saw his odds slashed to just 2/1 after Wigan lost 2-0 at home to Swansea on Saturday.

However, Latics chairman Dave Whelan has spoken of how highly he rates the Spaniard since the weekend, and would be expected to show some of the loyalty that Martinez himself displayed when turning down the Aston Villa job during the summer.

Alex McLeish is next in the betting at 5/2, though his Aston Villa side should stave off any lingering threat of relegation in the coming weeks, as they look to have easily enough quality to stay in the division.

While McLeish’s position could come under scrutiny during the summer, it is difficult to envisage there not being any further Premier League casualties between now and then, and so Coyle looks an interesting call to go next at 7/2.

Looking dangerously out of sorts with the season winding down, Bolton have managed just one goal in their past five league matches, and with fixtures against several sides in and around the relegation zone still to come, they need to improve fast.

The fact that they have won just twice in 13 home matches does not bode well, and anything but a win over fellow strugglers QPR at the Reebok Stadium this weekend could seal Coyle’s fate.