Sussex by the sea!

[Enoch]

supposed to have

Pretty much every team that gets relegated from the Premiership, become favorites at the bookies and are tipped by 'experts' to go straight back up. Half of them end up in League One or spend the next few years scrapping at the bottom. There's a reason they get releated in the first place and it's not because they're top heavy with quality.

If Freedman is to take the club forward, he isn't going to do so by persevering with the same tired old squad and same tired old tactics (or lack of!). Accordingly there will be a period of transition and that may well be a period that causes some consternation. At this early stage, to judge him on the strength of his willingness to test the squad and get a true understanding of what he has at his disposal, or on platitudes fed to the press, at press conferences he'd sooner not be at, seems a tad impetuous.

Just a thought, if say Afobe had been consistently outstanding in training, quick to understand new ideas, showing great touch and interacting well with other players. What should Freedman do? Should he say to himself, this kid looks decent I'll give him a run out and see if he can produce on a Saturday? Or should he say to himself, those fellas on the website don't seem to rate him, so I'd be a fool to have a look at him?

[ReliantRobbo]

Haven't posted in absolutely ages but been reading through, and it's complete madness that Freedman is getting stick already! He's had 5 games! 5 sodding games! Rome was not built in a day and as others have repeated over and over again, we haven't lost. We are showing signs of improvement but it's not going to come straight away, and by no means should we be expecting to beat any team in this league, look at some of the results today, Leeds beating Palace, Boro getting beat at home to lowly Bristol City, anything can happen in this league. The fact that none of the three teams of which were relegated from the EPL are in the playoff positions shows the difficulty of the championship. I'll admit i was somewhat surprised by the dubious team selection but he could be testing out the players of 'less quality' in games to see if they can cut it in this league when called upon. What's the point knowing you have a solid starting 11, but not being able to rotate or change team sheets (injury, fatigue etc.) because the depth is totally shite? He could have the Blackburn game in mind or possibly he could be an crap manager who got lucky at palace. I'm sure some would love the final explanation to be true....

[the-Bowtun-Warrior]

Haven't posted in absolutely ages but been reading through, and it's complete madness that Freedman is getting stick already! He's had 5 games! 5 sodding games! Rome was not built in a day and as others have repeated over and over again, we haven't lost. We are showing signs of improvement but it's not going to come straight away, and by no means should we be expecting to beat any team in this league, look at some of the results today, Leeds beating Palace, Boro getting beat at home to lowly Bristol City, anything can happen in this league. The fact that none of the three teams of which were relegated from the EPL are in the playoff positions shows the difficulty of the championship. I'll admit i was somewhat surprised by the dubious team selection but he could be testing out the players of 'less quality' in games to see if they can cut it in this league when called upon. What's the point knowing you have a solid starting, but not being to rotate or change team sheets (injury, fatigue etc.) because the depth is totally shite? He could have the Blackburn game in mind or possibly he could be an crap manager who got lucky at palace. I'm sure some would love the final explanation to be true....

Half agree.
Do one thing, though, please;

Explain ANY rational reasoning for much of that team selection today. Please?

[norm the jedi]

I wonder if some of our 'absent stars' may be pointed at the exit for January leaving DF to scope out the rest, decide where he wants to bring folk in .. on the basis that he'll need the cash from the likes of Petrov , CYL, to finance his business..
but I know feck all so h could just as easy be resting them for the Dingle Derby...

That Bogdan needs resting ... He's proper not up to it.... ..... oh wait...

[ReliantRobbo]

Haven't posted in absolutely ages but been reading through, and it's complete madness that Freedman is getting stick already! He's had 5 games! 5 sodding games! Rome was not built in a day and as others have repeated over and over again, we haven't lost. We are showing signs of improvement but it's not going to come straight away, and by no means should we be expecting to beat any team in this league, look at some of the results today, Leeds beating Palace, Boro getting beat at home to lowly Bristol City, anything can happen in this league. The fact that none of the three teams of which were relegated from the EPL are in the playoff positions shows the difficulty of the championship. I'll admit i was somewhat surprised by the dubious team selection but he could be testing out the players of 'less quality' in games to see if they can cut it in this league when called upon. What's the point knowing you have a solid starting, but not being to rotate or change team sheets (injury, fatigue etc.) because the depth is totally shite? He could have the Blackburn game in mind or possibly he could be an crap manager who got lucky at palace. I'm sure some would love the final explanation to be true....

Half agree.
Do one thing, though, please;

Explain ANY rational reasoning for much of that team selection today. Please?

Testing the depth of the squad is what i put it down to in my opinion. He didn't have a pre-season with us to figure out who is decent, who isn't and what type of players he needs to bring in. He needs to know the versatility of players. Fitting square pegs into round holes will need to be done at some point in the season,say for instance that spearing might not want to extend his loan here, he might as well test out options in his squad already to see if he has a suitable replacement for him rather having to delve into the transfer market and get someone he may not really need. Not saying Ream would be ideal but it's all about trial and error. I'd sooner him test this out in a away game to Brighton rather than the game against Blackburn

[Toni_DelijeSever]

7 points from play offs,and 7 points from League 1.

[Sponge]

Haven't posted in absolutely ages but been reading through, and it's complete madness that Freedman is getting stick already! He's had 5 games! 5 sodding games! Rome was not built in a day and as others have repeated over and over again, we haven't lost. We are showing signs of improvement but it's not going to come straight away, and by no means should we be expecting to beat any team in this league, look at some of the results today, Leeds beating Palace, Boro getting beat at home to lowly Bristol City, anything can happen in this league. The fact that none of the three teams of which were relegated from the EPL are in the playoff positions shows the difficulty of the championship. I'll admit i was somewhat surprised by the dubious team selection but he could be testing out the players of 'less quality' in games to see if they can cut it in this league when called upon. What's the point knowing you have a solid starting 11, but not being able to rotate or change team sheets (injury, fatigue etc.) because the depth is totally shite? He could have the Blackburn game in mind or possibly he could be an crap manager who got lucky at palace. I'm sure some would love the final explanation to be true....

Please – post more often. A bit of sense.

[CrazyHorse]

I want to apologise for something I said in the heat of the moment last night.
I was wrong and I need to make amends.
I suggested that Douglas was plodding along a point at a time and had lifted us to the dizzy heights of 17th.

We'll he's actually dropped us back to 18th. Sorry Doug, I gave you more credit than you deserve.
We're going backwards yet apparently we're making progress.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

I want to apologise for something I said in the heat of the moment last night.
I was wrong and I need to make amends.
I suggested that Douglas was plodding along a point at a time and had lifted us to the dizzy heights of 17th.

We'll he's actually dropped us back to 18th. Sorry Doug, I gave you more credit than you deserve.
We're going backwards yet apparently we're making progress.

Think of it like one of them cars when you were a kid. You have to pull the car backwards a few times to wind the bugger up. They go like shit off a shovel for the first few feet, then veer left and crash into the fire place. Repeat and rinse. I can't wait

[norm the jedi]

Think of it like one of them cars when you were a kid. You have to pull the car backwards a few times to wind the bugger up. They go like shit off a shovel for the first few feet, then veer left and crash into the fire place. Repeat and rinse. I can't wait

nothing I've seen more succinctly sums up my last 40 years watching these... Hot wheels wanderers..

[BL3]

Wheres this assessment that we have a shit squad suddenly come from?

From those desperately trying to save face.

[Hoboh]

Wheres this assessment that we have a shit squad suddenly come from?

From those desperately trying to save face.

Not me mate, Coyle WAS shit! so was Megson and Lee. Jury out on Doogie for now, Gartside guilty as charged.

[BL3]

Could it not be that today's team selection was, in part, influenced by the fact that we have a game mid-week against our local rivals?

That doesn't explain Petrov's absence. He didn't play last week either. How much 'rest' does he need?

[Armchair Wanderer]

Haven't posted in absolutely ages but been reading through, and it's complete madness that Freedman is getting stick already! He's had 5 games! 5 sodding games! Rome was not built in a day and as others have repeated over and over again, we haven't lost. We are showing signs of improvement but it's not going to come straight away, and by no means should we be expecting to beat any team in this league, look at some of the results today, Leeds beating Palace, Boro getting beat at home to lowly Bristol City, anything can happen in this league. The fact that none of the three teams of which were relegated from the EPL are in the playoff positions shows the difficulty of the championship. I'll admit i was somewhat surprised by the dubious team selection but he could be testing out the players of 'less quality' in games to see if they can cut it in this league when called upon. What's the point knowing you have a solid starting, but not being to rotate or change team sheets (injury, fatigue etc.) because the depth is totally shite? He could have the Blackburn game in mind or possibly he could be an crap manager who got lucky at palace. I'm sure some would love the final explanation to be true....

Half agree.
Do one thing, though, please;

Explain ANY rational reasoning for much of that team selection today. Please?

Testing the depth of the squad is what i put it down to in my opinion. He didn't have a pre-season with us to figure out who is decent, who isn't and what type of players he needs to bring in. He needs to know the versatility of players. Fitting square pegs into round holes will need to be done at some point in the season,say for instance that spearing might not want to extend his loan here, he might as well test out options in his squad already to see if he has a suitable replacement for him rather having to delve into the transfer market and get someone he may not really need. Not saying Ream would be ideal but it's all about trial and error. I'd sooner him test this out in a away game to Brighton rather than the game against Blackburn

I said just before kick-off that the selection was kinda crazy but you could see the reason for it... 5 defenders away from home at a decent opposition is sensible. It's having an extra body to protect the back four, and it's an extra big unit for all those pesky corners. But, at the same time it sounds like the center-mid area was Pratley, Mavies and Ream... so that's crazy. But then if you play a Spearing instead of the Pratley I think a lot of people would be happy.

I don't have a huge problem with what he was trying. He made some subs, changed the game for the better and admitted to mistakes afterwards.

[Gooner Girl]

This morning i spoke to a Brighton fan friend who was at the game yesterday and he said it was the most one sided draw he had ever seen and the seagulls should have been about 5-0 up by half time. True? Or bias? Curious as to whether you guys think the issues are maninly a. the players just not being good enough/wanting it enough b. managers fault entirely or c. and more likely, a bit of both. As a gooner at the moment i'm wrestling with the same questions as we disapoint one season after another at the moment...

[the-Bowtun-Warrior]

This morning i spoke to a Brighton fan friend who was at the game yesterday and he said it was the most one sided draw he had ever seen and the seagulls should have been about 5-0 up by half time. True? Or bias? Curious as to whether you guys think the issues are maninly a. the players just not being good enough/wanting it enough b. managers fault entirely or c. and more likely, a bit of both. As a gooner at the moment i'm wrestling with the same questions as we disapoint one season after another at the moment...

It was worse than one sides

[Worthy4England]

This morning i spoke to a Brighton fan friend who was at the game yesterday and he said it was the most one sided draw he had ever seen and the seagulls should have been about 5-0 up by half time. True? Or bias? Curious as to whether you guys think the issues are maninly a. the players just not being good enough/wanting it enough b. managers fault entirely or c. and more likely, a bit of both. As a gooner at the moment i'm wrestling with the same questions as we disapoint one season after another at the moment...

Whilst this might have been the most one sided draw he's seen, he should count himself lucky. A couple of years back we got completely battered by City for a full 90 mins, only for Speedo to pop up with a 90+ minute goal.

Freedman is finding his feet and it will take some time. We've spent what little cash we had on poor signings generally with maybe one or two exceptions. Freedman has improved our point getting since the change of management occurred and the defence has tightened up somewhat, but hardly in a meteoric sense.

Coyle signed

Eaves - out on loan only cost a few hundered thou - possibly found his right level one division down
Klasnic - great eye for goal, couldn't get in the team, released
Alonso - £2.2m can't get out of the ressies
Wheater - Ice Shelves think and move quicker, injured.
Reo-Coker - played well for us one season, departed on relegation even if that meant sitting around doing nowt - signed for Hull
Pratley - generally headless, generally shoite
Eagles - Done pretty well for us at this level, and probably (although disliked by a lot of Bolton fans) one of our better players last season too
Mears - Can't get in the team half the time - let's call him a "freebie" on the back of the Eagles deal for £2m
N'Gog - £4.5m whyohwhyohwhy
Ream - £2m shouldn't get out of the ressies
Sordell - £3.5m can't get in the ressies - heading out on loan
Wylde - free, punt, never seen him yet.
Lonergan - back-up keeper - not sure about him at all yet
Mills - Generally swapped in and out of the ressies with Ream - they might be the same person
Andrews - Dunno, some folk think he does the easy stuff well, I just think he's farily anonymous
McKee - Ressie signing.
Holden - Good signing, whether he'll ever be reet post injury only time will tell
Robinson - Not Coyle's signing - was pre-agreed before his time
Blake - played once? already gone
Petrov - good when he can be arsed, can't be good enough for long enough to hold a first time place down against some right mediocre shite.

20 permenant signings out of which, of the ones we still have, you might content 2 are good enough for Championship football.

[Gooner Girl]

This morning i spoke to a Brighton fan friend who was at the game yesterday and he said it was the most one sided draw he had ever seen and the seagulls should have been about 5-0 up by half time. True? Or bias? Curious as to whether you guys think the issues are maninly a. the players just not being good enough/wanting it enough b. managers fault entirely or c. and more likely, a bit of both. As a gooner at the moment i'm wrestling with the same questions as we disapoint one season after another at the moment...

Whilst this might have been the most one sided draw he's seen, he should count himself lucky. A couple of years back we got completely battered by City for a full 90 mins, only for Speedo to pop up with a 90+ minute goal.

Freedman is finding his feet and it will take some time. We've spent what little cash we had on poor signings generally with maybe one or two exceptions. Freedman has improved our point getting since the change of management occurred and the defence has tightened up somewhat, but hardly in a meteoric sense.

Coyle signed

Eaves - out on loan only cost a few hundered thou - possibly found his right level one division down
Klasnic - great eye for goal, couldn't get in the team, released
Alonso - £2.2m can't get out of the ressies
Wheater - Ice Shelves think and move quicker, injured.
Reo-Coker - played well for us one season, departed on relegation even if that meant sitting around doing nowt - signed for Hull
Pratley - generally headless, generally shoite
Eagles - Done pretty well for us at this level, and probably (although disliked by a lot of Bolton fans) one of our better players last season too
Mears - Can't get in the team half the time - let's call him a "freebie" on the back of the Eagles deal for £2m
N'Gog - £4.5m whyohwhyohwhy
Ream - £2m shouldn't get out of the ressies
Sordell - £3.5m can't get in the ressies - heading out on loan
Wylde - free, punt, never seen him yet.
Lonergan - back-up keeper - not sure about him at all yet
Mills - Generally swapped in and out of the ressies with Ream - they might be the same person
Andrews - Dunno, some folk think he does the easy stuff well, I just think he's farily anonymous
McKee - Ressie signing.
Holden - Good signing, whether he'll ever be reet post injury only time will tell
Robinson - Not Coyle's signing - was pre-agreed before his time
Blake - played once? already gone
Petrov - good when he can be arsed, can't be good enough for long enough to hold a first time place down against some right mediocre shite.

20 permenant signings out of which, of the ones we still have, you might content 2 are good enough for Championship football.

I always rated Klasnic, shame that he left. Petrov as well, as you say, on his day is pretty good but he's a bit like Walcott. On his day doesn't happen much more then once in a blue moon. Hows Afobe getting on and when is Holden back?

Does seem a bit harsh all those slating Dougie already, give him past the manic-ness of the Christmas games before you make your minds up, surely?!

[plymouth wanderer]

This morning i spoke to a Brighton fan friend who was at the game yesterday and he said it was the most one sided draw he had ever seen and the seagulls should have been about 5-0 up by half time. True? Or bias? Curious as to whether you guys think the issues are maninly a. the players just not being good enough/wanting it enough b. managers fault entirely or c. and more likely, a bit of both. As a gooner at the moment i'm wrestling with the same questions as we disapoint one season after another at the moment...

Whilst this might have been the most one sided draw he's seen, he should count himself lucky. A couple of years back we got completely battered by City for a full 90 mins, only for Speedo to pop up with a 90+ minute goal.

Freedman is finding his feet and it will take some time. We've spent what little cash we had on poor signings generally with maybe one or two exceptions. Freedman has improved our point getting since the change of management occurred and the defence has tightened up somewhat, but hardly in a meteoric sense.

Coyle signed

Eaves - out on loan only cost a few hundered thou - possibly found his right level one division down
Klasnic - great eye for goal, couldn't get in the team, released
Alonso - £2.2m can't get out of the ressies
Wheater - Ice Shelves think and move quicker, injured.
Reo-Coker - played well for us one season, departed on relegation even if that meant sitting around doing nowt - signed for Hull
Pratley - generally headless, generally shoite
Eagles - Done pretty well for us at this level, and probably (although disliked by a lot of Bolton fans) one of our better players last season too
Mears - Can't get in the team half the time - let's call him a "freebie" on the back of the Eagles deal for £2m
N'Gog - £4.5m whyohwhyohwhy
Ream - £2m shouldn't get out of the ressies
Sordell - £3.5m can't get in the ressies - heading out on loan
Wylde - free, punt, never seen him yet.
Lonergan - back-up keeper - not sure about him at all yet
Mills - Generally swapped in and out of the ressies with Ream - they might be the same person
Andrews - Dunno, some folk think he does the easy stuff well, I just think he's farily anonymous
McKee - Ressie signing.
Holden - Good signing, whether he'll ever be reet post injury only time will tell
Robinson - Not Coyle's signing - was pre-agreed before his time
Blake - played once? already gone
Petrov - good when he can be arsed, can't be good enough for long enough to hold a first time place down against some right mediocre shite.

20 permenant signings out of which, of the ones we still have, you might content 2 are good enough for Championship football.

I always rated Klasnic, shame that he left. Petrov as well, as you say, on his day is pretty good but he's a bit like Walcott. On his day doesn't happen much more then once in a blue moon. Hows Afobe getting on and when is Holden back?

Does seem a bit harsh all those slating Dougie already, give him past the manic-ness of the Christmas games before you make your minds up, surely?!

Afobe = Shocking

[Worthy4England]

We've not really seen a huge amount of Afobe, but in the few games he's played, he's looked a bit lost really. Not sure if any of the people who went can comment on how he played yesterday...

The Petrov problem is thus:

He isn't playing as good as Eagles - so can't get in there
Mark Davies seems to be flavour of the month - so no room there either.
We generally need two more defiensive players in MF in a four - so perm any 2 from Spearing, Ream (seemingly), Andrews, Pratley - although he's flippin headless and if we shift to a 5 man MF, we seem to prefer to drop one of the forwards into a wider MF role.

Doesn't leave a lot of room for Petrov (unless you shunted probably Mavies for me).

I'd be surprised if we saw Holden this side of Feb - but he is back in training.

There were some people trying to convince me that N'gog as a "link man" was a better idea than Klasnic (who only puts the ball in the net). They were wrong.