St Johnstone In April 2005, Coyle was named as the new manager of
St Johnstone. In March 2006, he was awarded Manager of the Month for the Scottish First Division for his team's performance. Coyle led St Johnstone to a 2–0 victory over
Rangers at
Ibrox to reach the semi-finals of the
Scottish League Cup. It was their first win over the
Glasgow club at Ibrox in 35 years. St Johnstone lost 3–1
after extra time to
Hibernian in that semi-final. Saints also reached the semi-finals of the
Scottish Cup thanks to away wins against
SPL clubs
Falkirk and
Motherwell, but lost 2–1 to
Celtic at
Hampden in the semi-final. In the same season, Saints also competed for the First Division championship and promotion to the SPL. On 30 March 2007, Coyle was awarded his second Scottish First Division Manager of the Month award of the 2006–07 season. Saints took the title fight with
Gretna to the final day of the season, and only a last minute goal by
James Grady that gave Gretna victory at
Ross County denied Saints promotion. 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. In the early part of the 2007–08 season, Coyle led Saints to the
2007 Scottish Challenge Cup Final. He accepted an offer from
Burnley in the week before the final and left the club. Coyle's assistant
Sandy Stewart took charge of the team for the final, which was won 3–2 against
Dunfermline Athletic.
Burnley On 21 November 2007,
Burnley were granted permission to discuss their managerial vacancy with Coyle after a compensation fee was agreed with St Johnstone. He was appointed as Burnley's new manager the following day. Coyle was given a reference by then Scotland manager
Alex McLeish to support his Burnley application, and was also recommended by
Bolton chairman
Phil Gartside after they appointed
Gary Megson as their new manager, as Coyle was Gartside's second choice for the Bolton job after Megson. In September 2008, former
England striker
Andy Cole credited Coyle as the reason he re-thought his decision to retire from playing at the end of the 2007–08 season. Cole spent three months on loan at Burnley that season, and Cole stated, "I went to Burnley and spoke to Owen and got a great vibe. He brought the best out of me and made me feel a lot younger than my age." He won the September 2008
Championship Manager of the Month award after leading Burnley to five wins and a draw, which included a
League Cup win over
Premier League side
Fulham. In November Burnley secured a victory over Premier League side
Chelsea on penalties at
Stamford Bridge to put them in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. In the quarter-final, Burnley defeated
Arsenal 2–0. They were knocked out in the semi-finals in dramatic fashion, after overturning a 4–1 deficit by winning 3–0 at Turf Moor after 90 minutes. Burnley were little more than three minutes away from a famous win and a trip to Wembley, when
Roman Pavlyuchenko scored to win the tie in extra time for
Tottenham Hotspur. Burnley, under Coyle, won promotion to the
Premier League by beating
Sheffield United 1–0 in the Championship Play-off Final at
Wembley Stadium on 25 May 2009. The 2009–10 season was the first time Burnley had played in top tier of English football for 33 years. Coyle added to his squad by signing
Tyrone Mears from
Derby County for £500,000 and
Steven Fletcher from
Hibernian for a club record fee of £3,000,000 and also
David Edgar signed on a free transfer from
Newcastle United on 1 July 2009. After speculation linking Coyle with the vacant manager's position at
Celtic, on 18 June 2009, Coyle signed a contract extension at Turf Moor to stay with Burnley until the end of the 2012–13 season. On 19 August 2009, Burnley defeated the defending Premier League champions
Manchester United 1–0 at Turf Moor in their first top-flight match at home for 33 years. They went on to win their first four home games with wins against Everton 1–0 Birmingham 2–1 and Sunderland 3–1 and lose their first 5 away games.
Bolton Wanderers In January 2010,
Bolton Wanderers expressed their interest in Coyle becoming their new manager to replace the recently sacked
Gary Megson, with Coyle expressing a desire to leave Burnley and take up the position. On 5 January, Burnley's chairman announced that Coyle had left the club. On 8 January, Coyle was appointed as Bolton manager. His first game in charge was a 2–0 home defeat to
Arsenal. He achieved his first win on 23 January 2010, 2–0 in the FA Cup 4th round at home to
Sheffield United and achieved his first league victory against former club Burnley, 1–0 on 26 January 2010. He achieved his first away victory at the club on 6 March, 2–1 at
West Ham United. When Bolton next played Burnley Coyle was called "Judas" by the Burnley fans as they felt that he had betrayed them. He responded to these comments by saying that if they (Burnley fans) were going to use biblical terms about him and his time in charge of their club, he should be referred to as 'Moses' for leading them out of the wilderness. Coyle's first signings for the club were
Stuart Holden from
MLS side
Houston Dynamo on a short-term contract and
Manchester City winger
Vladimir Weiss and Arsenal's
Jack Wilshere on loan until the end of the season. Coyle achieved his goal of keeping Bolton in the
Premier League by finishing 14th with 39 points, nine clear of relegated Burnley. On 1 July, he signed
Martin Petrov from Manchester City and
Robbie Blake from Burnley on free transfers, making them his first summer signings. Coyle also later signed
Marcos Alonso from
Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee and also brought
Ivan Klasnić back to the club on a free transfer after spending the previous season on loan at the
Reebok. In January 2011, he made two further signings, buying
David Wheater from
Middlesbrough and signing
Daniel Sturridge on loan from
Chelsea until the end of the season. In his first full season at the club, Coyle's team finished 14th in the
Premier League and reached the
semi-final stage of the
FA Cup, where they were beaten 5–0 by
Stoke City. On 13 May 2012, Bolton were relegated to
The Championship, following a 2–2 draw at
Stoke City on the final day of the season. Bolton started the
2012–13 season against his former club
Burnley, against whom they lost 2–0. They then went on to win against
Derby County and draw against
Nottingham Forest, both of which were at the
Reebok Stadium. This meant the club had played three matches in a week. The following week, Bolton lost 3–1 to
Hull City. In
The Bolton News' report of the match, chief sports editor Marc Iles wrote, "Sections of Wanderers fans called for Owen Coyle to leave his post as the club fell to a dire 3–1 defeat at the KC Stadium, The anti-Coyle chants continued after the final whistle, leaving the club potentially with a lot to think about heading into the international break." The following match, against
Watford was won 2–1, although fans still booed after the full-time whistle. They then lost to
Birmingham City 2–1 at
St Andrew's. Coyle's time at the
Reebok Stadium came to an end on 9 October 2012, when it was confirmed by the club that Coyle's contract with Bolton had been terminated.
Wigan Athletic On 14 June 2013, Coyle was announced as the manager of
Wigan Athletic following the departure of
Roberto Martínez to
Everton. His first game in charge of Wigan was against
Barnsley in the
Championship, which Wigan won 4–0. His second game was against
Manchester United in the
Community Shield where United won 2–0. Coyle left Wigan on 2 December 2013, with Wigan losing for the third time in a week, and lying 14th in the table.
Houston Dynamo in 2015 On 8 December 2014, Coyle signed a three-year contract to become the head coach of
Major League Soccer club
Houston Dynamo. The announcement was previously delayed due to the
MLS Cup Final. On 25 May 2016, Coyle and the club announced his departure by mutual consent, with Coyle stating his desire to be closer to his family who remained residing in the United Kingdom, while the Dynamo were not satisfied with the results on the pitch.
Blackburn Rovers Coyle was appointed manager of Championship club
Blackburn Rovers on a two-year contract on 2 June 2016. After thirty-seven games in charge, Coyle mutually parted company with Blackburn on 21 February 2017.
Ross County On 28 September 2017,
Scottish Premiership club
Ross County appointed Coyle as their manager on a two-year contract. He resigned from this position on 1 March 2018, with the club sitting bottom of the league.
Chennaiyin On 3 December 2019, twice
Indian Super League champions
Chennaiyin appointed Coyle as their head coach. After his arrival at Chennaiyin FC they came back to the winning track when he changed their style of play. Chennaiyin FC scored the most goals in the season after his arrival as manager. Chennaiyin FC qualified to playoffs and reached the final under him and in final they lost to ATK 3–1 and became runners up of ISL.
Jamshedpur On 7 August 2020, Coyle was appointed the head coach of
Indian Super League club
Jamshedpur. He helped the team in winning their first ever trophy, the
League Winner's Shield in
2021–22 season.
Queen's Park In March 2022, it was confirmed that Coyle would be returning to Scottish football after being appointed as the head coach of
Queen's Park and would take up the role officially on 1 June. Queen's narrowly missed out on promotion to the
Scottish Premiership in the 2022–23 season, losing a final-day title decider to
Dundee and then in the playoffs to
Partick Thistle. Coyle left the club a few days after the playoff defeat, saying he needed time to "recharge his batteries".
Return to Chennaiyin On 16 July 2023, Chennaiyin announced the return of Owen Coyle as the head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season. ==Outside football==