Sussex by the sea!

[Bruce Rioja]

5 minutes added time

Wouldn't matter if it were five years

Knew i'd tempt a goal out with that one

Beautiful

[Turkish Trotter]

I turned off the radio after the Eagles free kick to watch Q3 in the F1 without Bolton annoying me. Now I find out we scored. Still not bothered though as we didn't deserve a thing and it changes nothing

It changes points from 21 to 22

[bristolwanderer]

Another point!

[Bruce Rioja]

Another point!

Go on.

Oh, right, I see

[bristolwanderer]

Another point!

Go on.

Oh, right, I see

[The Berlin Bear]

I turned off the radio after the Eagles free kick to watch Q3 in the F1 without Bolton annoying me. Now I find out we scored. Still not bothered though as we didn't deserve a thing and it changes nothing

It changes points from 21 to 22

I was going to type that smart ar@e but i just couldn't be bothered..

Oh WOW!! 22 points. half way to Premier League safety....oh wait...............................bump

[CrazyHorse]

First time to go unbeaten in 5 since Megson was manager.

Freedman out.

I'm glad we're on an unbeaten run, things are better than they've been for a long time.
But when your smug joy has calmed a little ask yourself how Douglas intends to get us promoted with this plodding along a point at a time. Because we're still 17th. And he drew today's team selection out of a hat. And we were well pasted.

So just cos he's better than Coyle doesn't mean he's any good. He's just better than Coyle.

[BWFC_Insane]

First time to go unbeaten in 5 since Megson was manager.

Freedman out.

I'm glad we're on an unbeaten run, things are better than they've been for a long time.
But when your smug joy has calmed a little ask yourself how Douglas intends to get us promoted with this plodding along a point at a time. Because we're still 17th. And he drew today's team selection out of a hat. And we were well pasted.

So just cos he's better than Coyle doesn't mean he's any good. He's just better than Coyle.

He's had 5 games. Do you have ADHD?

As I've said before I will wait and see where we are this time next season.

It's clear that we aren't as good as we thought we were and are going to have to graft for every point we get.

We simply aren't good enough at this moment to roll teams over. If we build confidence gradually then maybe we will get there with the addition of one or two key players.

I don't think the point makes much difference here or there.

I expected us to lose today and we should have.

But we've scrapped a point.

I'm taking it a game at a time and not fussing over points or tables at this stage. I doubt Mourinho could come in and do any better with this group at this stage.

It's about putting the fight and spirit back in which I feel is slowly happening.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Freedman might have what we've been lacking in a manager for a long time Jamminess

Give me a lucky manager any day. He should have learnt a lot about his squad today.
It is worth noting that we are currently going through a difficult set of fixtures(with the exception of Barnsley)It was a wierd selection today but I guess freedman's in the postition of finding a jigsaw assembled by a mad man who threw away the box.

There is only so much polishing a turd can have and no matter how you assemble them you still have a set of turds.
Not all our players are awful by any means but lets remember what coyle put together:
A group of defenders who cant keep a clean sheet, a collection of strikers who rarely score, a set of midfielders who either dip in and out of games and cant do the defensive side and just two currently available midfielders who can tackle and compete both of whom have a pretty limited creative side.Combine that with completely draining them of confidence, not bothering to keep them fit and not working on any of the collective defensive side of the game and you have quite a mess.
It sounds like today was awful just as in the end Barnsley was but in the context of what has gone before it shouldnt be a surprise.
As for those still bigging up our talent and quality lets get real.

Petrov is hit and miss, mostly miss and very wasteful/lazy, CYL is not the player he was before injury and doesnt have the quality around him that he had when he did look good,Mavis has potential and good moments but he has never shown the strength of mind to be a consistently effective player and cant do the defensive side,Eagles(possibly pining for his lost mate)has talent but has and always will be mentally fragile.Unless he's given the responsibilty and belief that he is amazing he will be patchy and I dont think he will ever excel consistently until he is given a chance to play across the space behind the striker.Spearing Andrews Rickets Warnock are decent players but we are still talking low end prem/top end championship standard.

Brighton are a quality team who move the ball well and work as a team. Thats the standard we have to compete with the get near promotion standard and we are a long way off getting to that standard.

I would imagine DF will have to do some pretty serious culling and make some very astute signings to sort this out. The really annoying thing is that in coyles first years we were repeatedly told he was hamstrung by contracts and it would take time for him to build a team. What he put together was a complete shambles.

[bobo the clown]

First time to go unbeaten in 5 since Megson was manager.

Freedman out.

I'm glad we're on an unbeaten run, things are better than they've been for a long time.
But when your smug joy has calmed a little ask yourself how Douglas intends to get us promoted with this plodding along a point at a time. Because we're still 17th. And he drew today's team selection out of a hat. And we were well pasted.

So just cos he's better than Coyle doesn't mean he's any good. He's just better than Coyle.

He's had 5 games. Do you have ADHD?

As I've said before I will wait and see where we are this time next season.

It's clear that we aren't as good as we thought we were and are going to have to graft for every point we get.

We simply aren't good enough at this moment to roll teams over. If we build confidence gradually then maybe we will get there with the addition of one or two key players.

I don't think the point makes much difference here or there.

I expected us to lose today and we should have.

But we've scrapped a point.

I'm taking it a game at a time and not fussing over points or tables at this stage. I doubt Mourinho could come in and do any better with this group at this stage.

It's about putting the fight and spirit back in which I feel is slowly happening.

All well & good, but how do you explain preferring Ream (who MAY,one day, be a midfielder) to Spearing ? Leaving Petrov completely out ? Playing Mears before Ricketts ? Selecting Afobi ?

I have a faith that he's organised, that things are certainly better than when Coyle was here. That we will get fitter & more determined. I know these things are more on track than for years.

But ffs .... that selection is stunning ... & worrying.

[BL3]

No surprise to see the usual suspects blaming the players again whilst conveniently ignoring the real culprit. It was another idiotic team selection. The players weren't a 'disgrace' against Cardiff but then he decided to change a winning formula and each performance has been worse than the last. We were battered today. Simple as that.

[BWFC_Insane]

First time to go unbeaten in 5 since Megson was manager.

Freedman out.

I'm glad we're on an unbeaten run, things are better than they've been for a long time.
But when your smug joy has calmed a little ask yourself how Douglas intends to get us promoted with this plodding along a point at a time. Because we're still 17th. And he drew today's team selection out of a hat. And we were well pasted.

So just cos he's better than Coyle doesn't mean he's any good. He's just better than Coyle.

He's had 5 games. Do you have ADHD?

As I've said before I will wait and see where we are this time next season.

It's clear that we aren't as good as we thought we were and are going to have to graft for every point we get.

We simply aren't good enough at this moment to roll teams over. If we build confidence gradually then maybe we will get there with the addition of one or two key players.

I don't think the point makes much difference here or there.

I expected us to lose today and we should have.

But we've scrapped a point.

I'm taking it a game at a time and not fussing over points or tables at this stage. I doubt Mourinho could come in and do any better with this group at this stage.

It's about putting the fight and spirit back in which I feel is slowly happening.

All well & good, but how do you explain preferring Ream (who MAY,one day, be a midfielder) to Spearing ? Leaving Petrov completely out ? Playing Mears before Ricketts ? Selecting Afobi ?

I have a faith that he's organised, that things are certainly better than when Coyle was here. That we will get fitter & more determined. I know these things are more on track than for years.

But ffs .... that selection is stunning ... & worrying.

He's trying things out and using his squad.

I don't mind so much.

We've played all sorts of players in various combinations this season and nothing has exactly jumped out as being our best team. I'm happy for him to try things out.

He needs to know what he will need in January.

[Peter Thompson]

No surprise to see the usual suspects blaming the players again whilst conveniently ignoring the real culprit. It was another idiotic team selection. The players weren't a 'disgrace' against Cardiff but then he decided to change a winning formula and each performance has been worse than the last. We were battered today. Simple as that.

Ok Owen enough is enough, now be a good boy and fcuk off back to Scotland and manage Airdrie or Inverness, teams more your level....

[bristolwanderer]

Unbeaten in Novemeber, cant complain really.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

First time to go unbeaten in 5 since Megson was manager.

Freedman out.

I'm glad we're on an unbeaten run, things are better than they've been for a long time.
But when your smug joy has calmed a little ask yourself how Douglas intends to get us promoted with this plodding along a point at a time. Because we're still 17th. And he drew today's team selection out of a hat. And we were well pasted.

So just cos he's better than Coyle doesn't mean he's any good. He's just better than Coyle.

He's had 5 games. Do you have ADHD?

As I've said before I will wait and see where we are this time next season.

It's clear that we aren't as good as we thought we were and are going to have to graft for every point we get.

We simply aren't good enough at this moment to roll teams over. If we build confidence gradually then maybe we will get there with the addition of one or two key players.

I don't think the point makes much difference here or there.

I expected us to lose today and we should have.

But we've scrapped a point.

I'm taking it a game at a time and not fussing over points or tables at this stage. I doubt Mourinho could come in and do any better with this group at this stage.

It's about putting the fight and spirit back in which I feel is slowly happening.

All well & good, but how do you explain preferring Ream (who MAY,one day, be a midfielder) to Spearing ? Leaving Petrov completely out ? Playing Mears before Ricketts ? Selecting Afobi ?

I have a faith that he's organised, that things are certainly better than when Coyle was here. That we will get fitter & more determined. I know these things are more on track than for years.

But ffs .... that selection is stunning ... & worrying.

Is it possible that he recognises that this season is pretty mucha lost cause and is simply looking at the squad to assess who he tries to dump and who he keeps? I get the impression he is looking at what the squad can do before settling on a system and his best team.
That said it was a wierd selection particularly the inclusion of Afobe and Mears.For me Ricketts would be first on the team sheet as he's possibly the only player we have(KD excepted) that comes across as a proper professional

Afternoon BLT,got kicked out of the arguement bureau again i assume or was it just half day closing?

[officer_dibble]

Its a point more than we'd of got under coyle

but i'm not celebrating...its consolidation this year as a result of the complete mess this club is in...a better approach from july onwards and it could have been so much better.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Over the last 6 or 7 games we have been a little bit less shit than the previous 60 or so. We're still shit though. Freedman seems to be tinkering and that is fine for the first few games so he can see what is what. We're at the stage now that he should be arriving at what his best/preferred 11 is. If the weird selections continue, along with the resultant performances, then we rightly should worry. I wasn't a fan of the appointment, but he deserves some time to get it right...

[Bijou Bob]

I for one don't understand all this angst. New manager takes over poor team who are already looking at another relegation and ensures we dont lose the next 5 matches. 2 draws away from home and a point at home against the top of the league is far from a poor return in my book.

Let's have some honesty here:

1. We will not be promoted this year barring a minor miracle
2. We have a poor squad of over paid / unhungry players
3. We can't score
4. We can't keep a clean sheet

Given what the bloke is working with, Dougie deserves some credit and our support until we suffer sequential defeats that see us sliding back down the table. I confidently predict that won't happen. At the very least he should get a 100% backing until the end of the season once he has seen a transfer window come and go and his style of play, training methods and new players have been fully integrated.

Now get a f****** grip.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Its a point more than we'd of got under coyle

but i'm not celebrating...its consolidation this year as a result of the complete mess this club is in...a better approach from july onwards and it could have been so much better.

Exactly,without Moo's heart attack I think coyle would have been gone at the end of last season. Might have had a few better players in, might have been fit, might have had a plan and might have had a few more points on the board. I doubt we'd have been much better than upper midtable though. It is now all about steady improvement.
Unbelievable comment earlier about what have lawrence and freedman previously achieved. two years ago palace looked doomed and now they look to be serious promotion contenders. I'd say that is an achievement especially when it's done without much cash.

[enrdentw]

What an absolute dicking that was. Poor team selection. Mears dreadful, end of. How he is in the team ahead of Ricketts is beyond me. Brighton should have won by at least 5. Bogdan pulled off 2 or 3 world class saves. We got in behind them once and that's when we scored. We chased shadows for the majority of the match and Brighton looked really good. Their goal was a looping top corner finish from 20yrds out which stemmed from one of many free kicks we gave away from outside the box. The equaliser came from an Eagles run down the left wing and absolutely skinned their full back, the goal scorer, and pulled it back to Ngog who pulled the trigger and took what seemed an age to find the net. I was sat in the Brighton end and the Bolton fans kicked off with one another a few times. N'gog was man of the match for me. Worked hard and held it up well when he had the ball. His best performance in a Bolton shirt. unbeaten in 5 now. Not done that since Megson was in charge. Daylight robbery but ecstatic with the undeserved point.

On a separate note a young lad called Bridcott looks a great player. Played in the same role as Ream in front of the back four and fills in as 3rd centre half at times. Never heard of him.