Dougie Freedman - New Manager

[TKIZ!]

Eeeurggghhhhh

[Enoch]

I can't speak for the other two (at least one of them would likely be offended again!) but surely 'wankers' is a perfectly acceptable footballing term, e.g. those pair of c*nts are fecking wankers!

[Eagle in peace]

Certainly there's more than one way to be a successful football manager and I'm not suggesting Holloway doesn't have a chance. My concern regard Murray, is whether he will thrive in the new environment, which will certainly be different to the well oiled way Freedman goes about his business.

To be honest, that might apply to a few of the Palace team, those that Freedman managed to get the best out of. Of course there may be others that react better to Holloway. We shall see. )

Intriguing comment this and the other 2 or 3 in the same vein.

Before DF departed we scored 20 goals in 11 games.
After DF departed we have scored 14 goals in 6 games.

Before DF departed Murray scored 7 goals in 11 games.
After DF departed Murray has scored 8 goals in 6 games.

I cannot recall the last time we won a game by a 2 goal margin under DF and am pretty sure we never did but don't have the time to research it.

Since DF departed we have won 3 of our 6 games by a 2 goal margin or more.

Based upon my experience of DF's tenure, these are interesting stats (usual caveats applying etc) and reflect DF's preferred playing style.

We have 2 tough away games comng up so whether IH can maintain this trend will also be interesting.

[boltonboris]

Well you have the momentum, so I don't see why you can't...

Question EIP; At the start of October, before the rumours started circulating, would you have happily seen the back of DF if it meant you getting Holloway?

[CAPSLOCK]

Could it not also be the case that being top of the league breeds confidence and the goals would've come under Freedman?

[Eagle in peace]

Well you have the momentum, so I don't see why you can't...

Question EIP; At the start of October, before the rumours started circulating, would you have happily seen the back of DF if it meant you getting Holloway?

We are Palace, it always goes wrong! (fingers crossed not this time!)

Good question. No, not happily, as we were finally starting to play some good stuff after 18+ months and we (in retrospect naively) bought into DF's commitment to us. You need to understand we have had a litany of managers who have f*cked us over at various stages of the past 30 years. So to have one of our "own", who understood this history was a mutually bonding relationship. (NB - I happily said to a work colleague that the talk of him going to you guys was laughable. Not for one minute did I consider it a possibility at that time ).

Why would I want to change something that finally appeared to be heading in the direction we wanted, especially following the previous benign and on occasion, negative performances appeared to be dispensed with. At that time, he deserved our support, and despite the overall poor win ratio, his previous status earned him that support. That would not have been afforded to an "outsider".

Retrospectively though, I believe (and I have to pinch myself daily over this) that we are in a better position now, irrespective of whether we get promotion or not this season.

[Eagle in peace]

Could it not also be the case that being top of the league breeds confidence and the goals would've come under Freedman?

Yes, another valid point and I am sure that is a factor. But, the cold facts over a prolonged period of time (possibly DF's entire tenure) show that our results were always narrow wins (which positively spiked this season). His style reflects the "Italian" way that he is an advocate of - controlled, defaulting to defensive football.

Don't get me wrong, as I said in my other response, I did not at that time want him to go, far from it. I do not believe though that an attacking, expansive game is what he truly believes in and I think there is mileage in the rumour of pressure being brought to bear on DF to turn performances around by our owners. Rightly so in my opinion.

Although we will never be able to prove to the contrary, now that the dust has settled somewhat, it would be very interesting to compare DF and IH results with Palace side by side. I am happy though that we have IH in charge, and I am inclined to think that Murray is too.

[Enoch]

I certainly wouldn't argue regard Freedman/Holloway that one is better than the other, that judgement can wait a few years yet. They are however chalk and cheese in management style.

My earlier point about Murray and being interested how he and others respond, is just as valid at Bolton as it is at Palace. Each player will respond differently to each manager. From a selfish point of view, I may have been hoping Murray doesn't fit wth Holloway, as he clearly fits with Freedman.

[Eagle in peace]

I certainly wouldn't argue regard Freedman/Holloway that one is better than the other, that judgement can wait a few years yet. They are however chalk and cheese in management style.

My earlier point about Murray and being interested how he and others respond, is just as valid at Bolton as it is at Palace. Each player will respond differently to each manager. From a selfish point of view, I may have been hoping Murray doesn't fit wth Holloway, as he clearly fits with Freedman.

He clearly fits with Freedman? You will find out in due course that DF is good at contradiction. He picked Murray as a talented targetman, who would lead an attack - a good signing. Having signed him though, he did not use him to the extent he could have through not selecting him regularly as first choice (when fit), not supporting him through the wider team selection, our tactics and mindset (defensive). Hence, he managed a disappointing return of 6 goals last season.

He is now getting the service (that started with the turnaround in game 4 of the season under DF) and the results are there to see. The key issue here though is why did Freedman change from turgid to expansive. Was it him, or was he told?

If DF wants any of our players in January it will be interesting to see if our management team/owners will allow it and whether any player(s) in question regard you as an upgrade. I get the impression some of you guys think this is possible/inevitable.

[BWFC_Insane]

I certainly wouldn't argue regard Freedman/Holloway that one is better than the other, that judgement can wait a few years yet. They are however chalk and cheese in management style.

My earlier point about Murray and being interested how he and others respond, is just as valid at Bolton as it is at Palace. Each player will respond differently to each manager. From a selfish point of view, I may have been hoping Murray doesn't fit wth Holloway, as he clearly fits with Freedman.

He clearly fits with Freedman? You will find out in due course that DF is good at contradiction. He picked Murray as a talented targetman, who would lead an attack - a good signing. Having signed him though, he did not use him to the extent he could have through not selecting him regularly as first choice (when fit), not supporting him through the wider team selection, our tactics and mindset (defensive). Hence, he managed a disappointing return of 6 goals last season.

He is now getting the service (that started with the turnaround in game 4 of the season under DF) and the results are there to see. The key issue here though is why did Freedman change from turgid to expansive. Was it him, or was he told?

If DF wants any of our players in January it will be interesting to see if our management team/owners will allow it and whether any player(s) in question regard you as an upgrade. I get the impression some of you guys think this is possible/inevitable.

I don't think we'll sign any of your players in January. Not a cat in hells chance, barring any that Holloway wants rid of.

If we're both in the same division (as each other) come the summer, then that may well be different.......

[TANGODANCER]

If DF wants any of our players in January it will be interesting to see if our management team/owners will allow it and whether any player(s) in question regard you as an upgrade. I get the impression some of you guys think this is possible/inevitable.

I think most of us are more concerned with him getting the ones we have organised. If he does that we already have a good squad. Nobody knows where we'll be in January, but hopefully on our way up and back to being Bolton Wanderers.

[Eagle in peace]

What's the genuine feeling of you guys to DF to date, bearing in mind you are 4 games unbeaten since he took charge?

[boltonboris]

He's doing fairly well.. The performances aren't exactly inspiring or glittering, but we look a better side.

[thebish]

What's the genuine feeling of you guys to DF to date, bearing in mind you are 4 games unbeaten since he took charge?

basically summed up as...

vaguely confident that the club is not now a national lampoon's comedy shop of ludicrous horrors

desperately pretending that we are all sensible and not getting carried away and genuinely happy with a point against Barnsley

publicly pretending that we are grown-ups and we'd be happy with steady progress and missing out on promotion anticipating a solid building job for a promotion push next season

in the main still in the euphoric relief phase when you have been desperate for the bog on the way home in the car in the traffic jam and you have run up the stairs and just let one go (or - downloaded a humungous file)

a little bit envious of clubs pulling away at the top and able to win more than one game in a row

but - just about all of us glad to be shut of Coyle and confident that Dougie is a safe pair of hands and isn't mental...

[Lost Leopard Spot]

...or a cross dresser.

[malcd1]

What's the genuine feeling of you guys to DF to date, bearing in mind you are 4 games unbeaten since he took charge?

basically summed up as...

vaguely confident that the club is not now a national lampoon's comedy shop of ludicrous horrors

desperately pretending that we are all sensible and not getting carried away and genuinely happy with a point against Barnsley

publicly pretending that we are grown-ups and we'd be happy with steady progress and missing out on promotion anticipating a solid building job for a promotion push next season

in the main still in the euphoric relief phase when you have been desperate for the bog on the way home in the car in the traffic jam and you have run up the stairs and just let one go (or - downloaded a humungous file)

a little bit envious of clubs pulling away at the top and able to win more than one game in a row

but - just about all of us glad to be shut of Coyle and confident that Dougie is a safe pair of hands and isn't mental...

March 24th when we last won two competitive games on the trot. That is 8 months ago when we beat QPR and Blackburn. We did win a third league game in a row against Wolves but was separated by a 3-1 FA Cup loss to Tottenham.

[CrazyHorse]

What's the genuine feeling of you guys to DF to date, bearing in mind you are 4 games unbeaten since he took charge?

I think he's a chancer who doesn't know what he's doing beyond making the players fitter.
Despite that he's a thousand times better than the last guy.
So for now that'll do me reet.

[Enoch]

What's the genuine feeling of you guys to DF to date, bearing in mind you are 4 games unbeaten since he took charge?

I followed his stay at Palace with some interest and without the baggage of being a Palace fan. From a distance I was, by the sound of it, more impressed with his effort than you. The quote below is lifted from holmesdale.net and I fancy gives a reasonable review of his stay.

Personally, I think my feet are firmly on the ground. In answer to your question, I'm optimistic that we have better times ahead.

There's a team in the Championship that Dougie Freedman has already built. That team was relegation haunted when he took over. He assembled it on a shoestring budget. He organised it from the back. He brought in a few bargain signings and young players from the youth team. Then he got it playing football his way. It is the only away side to win at the Reebok this season and sitting pretty at the top of the league.

[thebish]

What's the genuine feeling of you guys to DF to date, bearing in mind you are 4 games unbeaten since he took charge?

we're not convinced he's the messiah - but we're fairly sure he ain't coyle....

[Ianmooreslovechild]

I've been more than happy with what he is clearly trying to do. He is in essence the anti coyle and that has to be a good thing. If he can do a similar job to what he did at Palace(and there's no reason to suspect he cant) he'll be a very good manager for us. Not sure about the chancer thing. He's looking at organisation and tryinging to build from the back. Certainly much more going on than fitness work. I also like the fact he has wise old uncle len alongside. I'd imagine it's a pretty equal partnership and LL has been a very good manager himself in the past tho clearly doesnt want the full responsibility of it anymore.