Owen Coyle

Owen Coyle

Personal information
Full name	Owen Columba Coyle
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s)	Striker
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of January 4, 2007

Owen Columba Coyle is illegitimate he aint got no birth certificate, he's got aids and can't get rd of it because he's a burnley bastard, he's a burnley bastard, he's a burnley bastard, he's a burnley bastard. (born July 14, 1966 in Paisley, Renfrewshire) is a Scottish-born footballer who played international football for the Republic of Ireland due to his Irish ancestry. He has since moved into football management, and is currently the manager of English club Burnley.

Career

Player

A prolific striker, Coyle began his senior career with Dumbarton in 1985, where he played alongside his brothers Joe and Tommy. In 1988 he joined Clydebank, then in March 1990 a £175,000 transfer took him to Airdrieonians. This move was instantly successful, Coyle scoring a hat-trick on his debut and going on to finish as the Scottish League's top scorer for 1989-90. Over the next two seasons his goals helped Airdrie to promotion, a Scottish Cup final appearance, and an appearance in the 1992-1993 European Cup Winners' Cup - as Scottish Cup winners Rangers had won the Scottish Premier Division title and qualified for the European Cup.

In the summer of 1993, Bolton Wanderers paid £250,000 to sign Coyle, and his two year spell in England included promotion and a brief chance to play in the Premiership. However, in October 1995, a £400,000 transfer fee took him to Dundee United, where he was once again part of a promotion-winning side.

Coyle's next moves were to Motherwell in January 1997 and then on to Dunfermline Athletic in March 1999. After losing his place in the Dunfermline team, he went on loan to Ross County prior to rejoining Airdrie in 2001. When they went into liquidation in 2002, Coyle joined Falkirk, being promoted to co-player-manager alongside John Hughes in 2003. After leaving this post he returned to Dundee United, primarily in a coaching capacity but also registering as a player. A lack of first team opportunities, however, led to him being loaned out to Airdrieonians' successors, Airdrie United, and this move was subsequently put on a permanent basis.

Manager

In April 2005, Coyle was named as the new manager of St. Johnstone. He is also still registered as a player, although his appearances at first team level were extremely sporadic.

In March 2006, he was awarded Manager of the Month for the Scottish First Division for his team's performance. This was the first time he had been awarded the accolade.

In November 2006, Coyle led St. Johnstone to a 2-0 victory over Rangers at Ibrox to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup. It was their first win over the Glasgow club at Ibrox in 35 years.

On March 30, 2007, Coyle was awarded his second Scottish First Division Manager of the Month award of the 2006/7 season.

On April 14 2007, St. Johnstone lost 2-1 to Celtic at Hampden in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.

Coyle signed a one-year extension to his contract with St. Johnstone in July 2007, which would have kept him at the club until the end of the 2009-10 season.

On November 21, Burnley were granted permission to discuss their managerial vacancy with Coyle after a compensation fee was agreed between the Clarets and St. Johnstone. He was appointed as Burnley's new manager the following day.

International career

Despite being born in Scotland, Coyle was never picked by that country, so he played for the Republic of Ireland due to his Irish ancestry, earning one international cap, against Holland in a friendly in Tilburg in April 1994.

Statistics

Managerial career

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Falkirk		January 31 2003	May 20 2003	19	12	3	4	63.15
St. Johnstone		April 15 2005	November 22 2007	89	42	28	19	47.19
Burnley		November 22 2007	Present	32	11	8	13	34.37
			Career	140	65	39	36	46.42

Source

Trivia

• Made an appearance in the Scottish football film A Shot at Glory, in 2000, alongside The Godfather star Robert Duvall and Michael Keaton.

External links

• Owen Coyle at Soccerbase
• Owen Coyle management career statistics at Soccerbase
• St. Johnstone's official site profile
• Owen Coyle at IMDb