Despite his release, Ricardo Vaz Te is backing Owen Coyle to bring success to Bolton Wanderers.

Vaz Te has backed Coyle to bring back the good times at Wanderers.

He told the Bolton News: "The mentality Sam Allardyce instilled in the players played a huge part and, when he went, something was missing. It was like a part of the puzzle we just couldn't solve.

"Sam Allardyce was a huge influence at Bolton; in the dressing room, on the pitch and in the stadium. No one has been able to replace that. Sammy Lee is the best coach I've ever worked with but he struggled because the club was going through a difficult time.

"It's been hard to achieve since what Sam Allardyce achieved but, in Owen Coyle, they have the right man. Hopefully he will be given the time to build something. We used to give them all a game at the Reebok; United used to be shaking and Arsenal hated it, they could never get a result. The only team who did well was Chelsea.

"There's no reason why Bolton can't get back to those days. It's a big club with good players and great fans. They shouldn't be content with just staying up. They should remember what they experienced before."