Phil Brown's success at Hull City, taking an unfancied club with little historical significance into the top tier for the first time, then bloodying the nose of many a member of the Premier League establishment afterwards has prompted, rightly, a wave of praise for the manager himself.
And this is not least from Bolton fans. Brown was their club captain for a while, then returned to the club as a coach after retiring as a player. He was fortunate to be kept on by Sam Allardyce when he became manager - given the propensity of new managers to clear out the old regime upon receiving the job - though Brown's old association with Allardyce when he played for him at Blackpool could also have contributed to his retention.
And so a partnership was born. Two promotions via the play-offs, the second of which came with a masterplan to make sure that, unlike the first, it wouldn't result in the Trotters popping straight back down again, and Allardyce had a legacy as a manager to go with the somewhat ruthless reputation he claimed as a player at the old Burnden Park. A City player called George Lyall will confirm this - a tackle by Allardyce as the Tigers played Bolton in 1977 broke his leg and ended his professional career.
Bolton fans still laud Allardyce as his reputation in the wider football bosom takes downturn after downturn, but Brown's glorious spell at the KC has prompted supporters of all clubs to wonder whether his influence at Bolton was greater than initially perceived, and that Allardyce leant far more on his batman than we assumed. Certainly Allardyce talked fondly of his relationship with Brown while doing a spot of punditry on Sky Sports for City's day at Wembley, and letters to varying media sources have questioned whether Brown was as influential on Allardyce as Allardyce was on Brown.
So, Bolton fans are watching their old first-team coach take a club to unfound heights while they continue to flounder without their all-compassing (figuratively and literally) boss of yore, who seems more and more unemployable by the day. Brown has used his Bolton days to benefit the Tigers, bringing in Jay Jay Okocha and Henrik Pedersen last season, fetching in Bernard Mendy and Stelios Giannakopoulos this season and acquiring Ricardo Vaz Te on loan the year before last. Four out of five ain't bad.
As the game gets closer, one comes to the simple conclusion that Brown will take no pleasure from seeing Bolton beaten at any other time of the season, but my word will he want them accounted for at the KC tomorrow. He doesn't do sentiment, remember...
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