The son of former Bolton Wanderers boss Owen Coyle has revealed how former Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere immediately impressed and won over the likes of Kevin Davies on the first day of his loan spell.
Wilshere made 14 appearances for Wanderers in 2009/10 while on loan from Arsenal and scored once. The 30-year-old most recently played for Danish Superliga side AGF Aarhus following his release from AFC Bournemouth in 2021 and earlier this summer announced his retirement from football.
Owen Coyle junior, son of the former Wanderers boss who took Wilshere on loan at Wanderers, has now spoken of how the then teenager impressed Davies on his first day at the club. After the veteran 'flattened' Wilshere in a training game, the midfielder returned the favour which immediately put him in the forward's good books.
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He told the Coaches Voice : "Kevin Davies stood over Jack Wilshere. There was silence all around.
"It was Wilshere’s first day as a Bolton player, after my dad signed him on loan from Arsenal in January 2010. I was at the Bolton training ground that day to watch the players. Back then, I was lucky enough to do that very often.
"Davies had flattened Wilshere in a tackle in a small-sided game. 'If you’re going to play here,' he said, 'you’re going to need to toughen up.'
"Wilshere didn’t say anything. There was no response at all. He just got on with training.
"Ten minutes later, Davies had the ball. Wilshere came flying in and completely took him out. A clean tackle, but Davies went flying.
"Wilshere stood over Davies. The tables had turned. Then, Wilshere offered Davies his hand to help him up. 'Yep, that’s good enough for me,' Davies said.
"It was incredible to witness fiery moments like that, but I came to realise they were completely normal in that kind of environment. As a child, I was getting an insight into what it took to be an elite footballer, to train at the top level and to maintain that level. You needed a bit of bite, that was for sure."
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