FOLLOWING Saturday’s game, long after most fans had departed, we wandered up towards the nearest Tube station, and passed a stony-faced Phil Gartside on the way, writes Steven Thompson.

I was tempted to speak to him and enquire as to the manager’s future at the Reebok, but he looked in no mood to talk, and given what happened with Roy Hodgson on the Tube, just a few days earlier, I doubted our Chairman was about to give us an exclusive.

That leaves us only to speculate on Owen Coyle’s future, but on this weekend’s display, it doesn’t look good.

He has bemoaned bad luck this season, but can have no such complaints after Saturday.

We escaped a soft disallowed goal, and two penalty shouts, before Chris Eagles won – then wasted – Wanderers’ first spot kick of the season.

It was a shame for Eagles, who, up until that point, had been Millwall’s tormentor-in-chief. Vilified by the home support, and having scored just after the restart, with a neat free kick under the wall, he wanted to silence them once more.

I heard a few Wanderers supporters saying, after the match, that Eagles was too wound up to take the penalty.

It is easy to be wise after the event, but it did look like the adrenaline got the better of him – either that or he was aiming a missive at some of the less complimentary Whites fans in the upper tier behind the goal.

Despite his Chris Waddle-esque strike, he was one of the few Bolton players to come through the game with any credit.

Danny Shittu’s header, disallowed for a soft challenge on Adam Bogdan, should have stood – the Hungary goalkeeper needed to be stronger.

He could have done better for the goal, too. It was a cruel deflection, but I was surprised when it trickled past him. However, the blame should not rest solely on Bogdan’s shoulders. The team, as a whole, were pretty poor.

Breaking up is never easy, but it may now be time for Wanderers and Coyle to part ways, while he is still held in high-ish regard by the majority of loyal fans.