Freedman out!

[Lord Kangana]

pretend he's coyle. then we can keep him for ages no matter what he does.

Say like the worst start to a season in over a century? That kind of thing?

[officer_dibble]

Re the goals
He hasnt worked out whats stopping last seasons top scorer getting going this season, yet
Still Andre Moritz was his present to us

[SmokinFrazier]

It does seem that the defence is a miles better, but he absolutely HAS to get on with us looking a threat. 4 of our 9 home games have finished 1-1. I'm still nowhere near the sack him stage, but now has to be the time we start to get on the front foot, particularly at home.

Freedman likes to defend deep and in numbers but we're still awful defensively. The amount of goals we concede because we don't close the opposition down when they're outside our box is remarkable and I don't know why it's not been sorted out. It's such an obvious flaw and yet Freedman hasn't addressed it by insisting that their players are closed down when outside our box, in shooting positions. Coyle's attitude towards defence was "lets hope they miss" and Freedman's attitude is "get everyone behind the ball and pray that it hits one of them square in the face". They're both tactically clueless.

[a1]

i'm not bothered if they go down, theres loadsa away grounds i've never bin to in division three

[LeverEnd]

i'm not bothered if they go down, theres loadsa away grounds i've never bin to in division three

I would genuinely rather go down and then come back up playing good football than watch this shite week after week. Slag me off for that, I don't care.
Who is enjoying their season the most, us or Wolves fans?

PS I'm not saying I WANT us to go down, before someone claims I am. Just that I'm willing to take the (slight in my opinion) risk that replacing Freedman will result in worse than what we've got now.

[bobo the clown]

The problem LE is that there is no guarantee that we would come right back .... no more than when we exited the Prem.

No, this needs sorting ...either by DF altering his natural style, or by him exiting.

I would honestly prefer the former but if it is to be the latter then sobeit

[LeverEnd]

The problem LE is that there is no guarantee that we would come right back .... no more than when we exited the Prem.

No, this needs sorting ...either by DF altering his natural style, or by him exiting.

I would honestly prefer the former but if it is to be the latter then sobeit

I agree but can't see the former happening. If you look at percentages I think that replacing him would improve things. We still have the players and the setup to be attractive to prospective managers. I think even if we get another poor one we still won't go down so what's to lose? A 70% chance of improving or a 10% chance of going down (statistics made up for illustrative purposes).
In the worst case scenario we go down, we can release most of the high earners at the end of their contracts and still have enough financially to be big hitters in that division. We are not as skint as people make out.

[Prufrock]

It does seem that the defence is a miles better, but he absolutely HAS to get on with us looking a threat. 4 of our 9 home games have finished 1-1. I'm still nowhere near the sack him stage, but now has to be the time we start to get on the front foot, particularly at home.

Freedman likes to defend deep and in numbers but we're still awful defensively. The amount of goals we concede because we don't close the opposition down when they're outside our box is remarkable and I don't know why it's not been sorted out. It's such an obvious flaw and yet Freedman hasn't addressed it by insisting that their players are closed down when outside our box, in shooting positions. Coyle's attitude towards defence was "lets hope they miss" and Freedman's attitude is "get everyone behind the ball and pray that it hits one of them square in the face". They're both tactically clueless.

I get what you mean about it not 'looking safe', but we haven't conceded 2 in a game since 21 September. Over that kind of timeframe, it's not luck. It's like the Allardyce %s 'don't shoot from outside the box' thing. They might have lots of near misses, but it's so much harder to score from 30 yards than it is 15.

My worry is this: I don't think, in order to defend like that, that you have to kill off all attacking threat. It's possible to do it without having a workaday 'winger' on either side. His tactics, IMO are pretty much spot on for away from home, but you can't play like that at home against the lower teams, or really at home anyway. I don't think it's that hard to have a different emphasis at home as to away without making wholesale changes to the team. In terms of personnel, he seems to do it. Hall tends to play at home, Pratley away, but it doesn't seem to translate at the moment. I don't buy this 2 strikers is attacking, 1 is not nonsense. Beckford in front of Lee, Moritz, Eagles is as more likely to score goals than any combination which has N'Gog in it, but there has to be a willingness to take chances.

[LeverEnd]

It does seem that the defence is a miles better, but he absolutely HAS to get on with us looking a threat. 4 of our 9 home games have finished 1-1. I'm still nowhere near the sack him stage, but now has to be the time we start to get on the front foot, particularly at home.

Freedman likes to defend deep and in numbers but we're still awful defensively. The amount of goals we concede because we don't close the opposition down when they're outside our box is remarkable and I don't know why it's not been sorted out. It's such an obvious flaw and yet Freedman hasn't addressed it by insisting that their players are closed down when outside our box, in shooting positions. Coyle's attitude towards defence was "lets hope they miss" and Freedman's attitude is "get everyone behind the ball and pray that it hits one of them square in the face". They're both tactically clueless.

I get what you mean about it not 'looking safe', but we haven't conceded 2 in a game since 21 September. Over that kind of timeframe, it's not luck. It's like the Allardyce %s 'don't shoot from outside the box' thing. They might have lots of near misses, but it's so much harder to score from 30 yards than it is 15.

My worry is this: I don't think, in order to defend like that, that you have to kill off all attacking threat. It's possible to do it without having a workaday 'winger' on either side. His tactics, IMO are pretty much spot on for away from home, but you can't play like that at home against the lower teams, or really at home anyway. I don't think it's that hard to have a different emphasis at home as to away without making wholesale changes to the team. In terms of personnel, he seems to do it. Hall tends to play at home, Pratley away, but it doesn't seem to translate at the moment. I don't buy this 2 strikers is attacking, 1 is not nonsense. Beckford in front of Lee, Moritz, Eagles is as more likely to score goals than any combination which has N'Gog in it, but there has to be a willingness to take chances.

They just don't take a risk going forward though, it's like it's been coached out of them. They get pinned back time after time. They defend deep and don't get taken apart in terms of one on ones, but the space that this tactic opens up in midfield is invariably occupied by the opposition and we just get pinned back because our midfield players are too similar and people don't ove into space because their instruction seems to be to keep the team shape. There are good players there being wasted. I really don't hink they believe in themselves or him.

[Annoyed Grunt]

“@OfficialBWFC: Dougie Freedman has been nominated for the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month for November. #BWFC”

[thebish]

I get what you mean about it not 'looking safe', but we haven't conceded 2 in a game since 21 September. Over that kind of timeframe, it's not luck.

no - clearly it isn't. At the start of the season we conceded at least 2 goals EVERY game... now it's 0 or 1 - I'd say that's an improvement - and at least some of that has to have been Dougie's (long time coming) reorganisation of the back four - including bringing in McNaughton and a settled (until tuesday) middle two who weren't knight and Wheater. I doubt it's due to some mad lucky strategy of our packed defense simply getting randomly hit in face by the ball over and over again...

at the start of the season if we scored a goal - we were still certain to lose as we conceded at least 2

now - if we score a goal - we may get a draw or a win - because we usually only conceded 1

that's an improvement in my book - it's a long way off finished product - but it's an improvement.

[CrazyHorse]

In other words he's made an improvement over the mess he caused in the first place.

And in the grand scheme of things we're still going backwards.

[thebish]

In other words he's made an improvement over the mess he caused in the first place.

And in the grand scheme of things we're still going backwards.

some of it he caused by not being very good, some of it he inherited... he didn't fix it quick enough... he made knight captain... blah blah blah

but as to whether we are going backwards or forwards, it depends which point you measure it from... week to week - we went backwards this week as in - down the league.. last week we went forwards - if up the league is forwards.. month to month - we are forwards compared with the start of November...

since he took over - league position - we are marginally forwards (I think)

since we were top of the premiership we are always going to be backwards of that

since we were bottom of the championship, we are currently forwards of that...

so - I think I'll stick with what i said - that the defense is better now than it was at the start of the season - and I'll take that as a plus. Plusses are not that easy to come by at the moment - so I'll happily grasp one when it comes along...

[CrazyHorse]

We're two places down the table from when he took over.

[thebish]

We're two places down the table from when he took over.

ok - that's why i said "i think"... doesn't alter my view that conceding 0 or 1 goal per game is an improvement on conceding at least 2 per game...

of course - it doesn't really count until we start scoring some goals - but at least it makes the few goals that we do score more likely to result in points...

that's all!

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

I think the thing that keeps me on Freedman's side is the tantalising prospect of 'the day of click' when it all falls into place and we all say 'ahhh, now we get it'.

I suppose the concern is that we are waiting for the players to have the same revelation.

[LeverEnd]

I think the thing that keeps me on Freedman's side is the tantalising prospect of 'the day of click' when it all falls into place and we all say 'ahhh, now we get it'.

I suppose the concern is that we are waiting for the players to have the same revelation.

In the unlikely event that it arrives, I think that day will still feature dull uninspiring defensive football. But by then I may be better educated and enjoy it. An acquired taste perhaps, like a particularly ripe and smelly cheese!

[bobo the clown]

I think the thing that keeps me on Freedman's side is the tantalising prospect of 'the day of click' when it all falls into place and we all say 'ahhh, now we get it'.

I suppose the concern is that we are waiting for the players to have the same revelation.

That, and the continued development of the mysterious "behind the scenes" stuff.

If we didn't roll Yeovil over I despair that we will ever see this fabled land. If we are to then surely to God it's this weekend.

However, I predict two defensive midfield players and a limited supply to our wonderman up front as we continue to use our tremendous 'play on the break' system and treat Doncaster like we're playing Bayern Munich.

2-0 at best, 1-1 quite feasible.

[boltonboris]

Football's shit in general anyway. doesn't matter what division we're in. I only go because I feel as though I have to

[Enoch]

I think the thing that keeps me on Freedman's side is the tantalising prospect of 'the day of click' when it all falls into place

Old ground I appreciate, but that doesn't stop other contributors constantly repeating themselves, so.......

Freedman took charge of Palace half way through a season, the remainder of that season and the whole of the next season saw mixed fortunes, some good, painful at times. By the second full season he had a side that was both attractive to watch and winning games convincingly.

Do I suggest its just around the corner? Why would I, I have no more idea what the future holds than anyone else. I do have a reasonable grasp of history though. I also understand that wishing carries very little influence.