Freedman out!

[jaffka]

And for the record I would love to be proved wrong.

We all want to win.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

I guess if he was actively trying to move players on then finding he couldnt that could make for a pretty dishillusioned start and attitude.Freedman wouldnt have the players he wanted and some of the players he has would know they werent really wanted.Course we wouldnt know but it seems quite possible and would make some sense of events. As for knight I till think the captaincy thing was a misplaced attempt to get more out of the man the words feckless and hapless were invented for.Some people rise to responsibility and leadership,sadly knight typically appears to sleep through it.

strange though how 2 of the players he supposedly wanted to move on and who many wrote off, are now forming (early days I know) a reasonable CH partnership;

Wrt Knight the sooner people stop treating him as a pantomime villain the better. I think he's OK and I'm not sure on what basis the leadership/ respect he has from within the team can be judged by people not in the team - is it the shouting/ arm waving sydrome again. If, of course myself, DF and all the other managers who have picked ZK are wrong and he is as bad as some folk think, then the captain decision together with our new CH partnership were both bad judgement calls by DF

If he'd managed to move Ream and Mills on he may have been able to sign a centre half who knows. My problem with Knight has always been that he appears so laid back and has a tendency to switch off. I always preferred wheater as at least he seemed to have some drive but he has been struggling. No idea whether players respect Knight. I'm sure he's a likeable popular chap,not quick to anger,easy going,happy to stand his round. You knid of want a guy at the back leading the team by example and giving the proverbial 110% and making it clear that the rest of the team should be doing likewise. Knight never gives that impression. It's this more than anything else that bugs me. You're right , I overstated how poor he is,as a centre half he should be more than ok at this level but his laid back attitude doesnt come across well.
Perhaps Ream just needed a few games infront of a back two to get some confidence,he still may struggle against more physical strikers but at least offers us some pace and passing ability and provides some balance. Mills may yet prove good enough to stay ahead of the other two with a run in the team and a consistent partner.

[Prufrock]

I don't really buy into this 'looking laid back' thing; my problem with Knight is that he can't defend. He's slow, positionally awful, has no awareness of what's around him (how many times is the ball wide on our left, about to come into our box before you see Knight look around where his man is (and not see him because by this point he's already made a start on Zat as it flashes across the box ready to tap it in. He's also utterly wank in the air for anyone, never mind someone of his size, and doesn't have the willingness to do the dirty stuff.

Ream is playing well, but has a long way to go to convince me he is the long term answer. That said, he offers something different to the other three who are all happiest with the ball in front of them. He's not really 'quick' like people make out, but he's a hell of a lot quicker and more mobile than the other three. I think that position is about balance, and Ream+1 is probably our best bet as long as he stays near where he is now and doesn't regress to where he has been for the last 18 months. I'd have Wheater, but it seems Mills is doing fine. Once that becomes less of a problem area it means we can be a bit more adventurous in midfield and start actually creating some chances as appears to have happened last night. Unless Beckford suddenly starts knocking them in though, we have to find a way to get Eagles in there.

Goals win games and all that.

[BL3]

When we dropped from the Premiership , the mighty Bolton Wanderers automatically expected to beat everybody and go back up. We didn't and now we can't buy unless we sell and are no different than a lot of other clubs all fighting to survive. We can't beat teams because of our name and past reputation, we have to do it the hard way and it's with a team of almost strangers compared to past years. It isn't just about the manager any more.

Great post this. Absolutely spot on.

...he said, desperately clinging on to any theory that lets Dougie off the hook.

How did Blackpool manage to make the play-off final the season after they dropped out of the Premier League then? It certainly wasn't by outspending every other club in the league.

[david lee's bald patch]

When we dropped from the Premiership , the mighty Bolton Wanderers automatically expected to beat everybody and go back up. We didn't and now we can't buy unless we sell and are no different than a lot of other clubs all fighting to survive. We can't beat teams because of our name and past reputation, we have to do it the hard way and it's with a team of almost strangers compared to past years. It isn't just about the manager any more.

Great post this. Absolutely spot on.

...he said, desperately clinging on to any theory that lets Dougie off the hook.

How did Blackpool manage to make the play-off final the season after they dropped out of the Premier League then? It certainly wasn't by outspending every other club in the league.

Didn't someone ask you a direct question above? Care to answer that? Or is just the usual trolling & sniping.

[wigan white]

When we dropped from the Premiership , the mighty Bolton Wanderers automatically expected to beat everybody and go back up. We didn't and now we can't buy unless we sell and are no different than a lot of other clubs all fighting to survive. We can't beat teams because of our name and past reputation, we have to do it the hard way and it's with a team of almost strangers compared to past years. It isn't just about the manager any more.

Great post this. Absolutely spot on.

...he said, desperately clinging on to any theory that lets Dougie off the hook.

How did Blackpool manage to make the play-off final the season after they dropped out of the Premier League then? It certainly wasn't by outspending every other club in the league.

Why are you so insistant on blaming DF for all thats gone on??? I don't know the facts but from the outside it looks as though, he wasnt given the cash to bring in who he really wanted to in the summer, potentially due to being unable to off-load some of the "High-earners". The board haven't given him the type of money that Wigan and Forest have spent, and from reports he's been limited even on bringing in players on free/loans due to the lack of funds for wages. Its a long process, and yes, things have started off poorly this season, but if you have a team consisting of people who "dont care about the club" as people put it, then its a catch 22 for DF as he can't afford to bring people in due to these players not leaving and then he has to play them as the squad isn't good enough to leave them out. There's only so much he can do to try to get the best out of players, but as we're down to the bare bones, he has to play them at some time.
You harp on about him spending money on Hall and the 2 young lads from Sheff Wed and Millwall, but they were for minimal fees, as was Hall initially and his price only goes up after games played etc. We've not outlaid any money for Beckford as such as again its all about appearances etc. So Spearing is the only one who we've apparently paid money for but not sure how much and when paid it was. Its ok saying he should have spent the money on a centre back, but we've got 4 senior ones on our books who didnt look likely to leave, so something had to give, and who's to say he didnt try to get a centre back but couldnt due to lack of funds??? We don't know everything that goes on at the club or which players we may have missed out on, you just seem to speculate to your own benefit to be negative about DF and the team. People would take you more seriously if you actually posted when the team do well, instead of hiding away until we lose, then jumping all over it without looking at whats really going on.

[BWFC_Insane]

When we dropped from the Premiership , the mighty Bolton Wanderers automatically expected to beat everybody and go back up. We didn't and now we can't buy unless we sell and are no different than a lot of other clubs all fighting to survive. We can't beat teams because of our name and past reputation, we have to do it the hard way and it's with a team of almost strangers compared to past years. It isn't just about the manager any more.

Great post this. Absolutely spot on.

...he said, desperately clinging on to any theory that lets Dougie off the hook.

How did Blackpool manage to make the play-off final the season after they dropped out of the Premier League then? It certainly wasn't by outspending every other club in the league.

Not everything is about a single issue. TD's post will be the case whoever is in charge.

And you can keep comparing us to other clubs but a better comparison might be sides who have been in the premiership a while, and then are relegated. Plenty of those have gone on to struggle. We are hardly an anomaly.

[BL3]

When we dropped from the Premiership , the mighty Bolton Wanderers automatically expected to beat everybody and go back up. We didn't and now we can't buy unless we sell and are no different than a lot of other clubs all fighting to survive. We can't beat teams because of our name and past reputation, we have to do it the hard way and it's with a team of almost strangers compared to past years. It isn't just about the manager any more.

Great post this. Absolutely spot on.

...he said, desperately clinging on to any theory that lets Dougie off the hook.

How did Blackpool manage to make the play-off final the season after they dropped out of the Premier League then? It certainly wasn't by outspending every other club in the league.

Not everything is about a single issue. TD's post will be the case whoever is in charge.

And you can keep comparing us to other clubs but a better comparison might be sides who have been in the premiership a while, and then are relegated. Plenty of those have gone on to struggle. We are hardly an anomaly.

I didn't make the original comparison. Blackpool was one of the clubs quoted in the post you said was 'spot on'...

[BWFC_Insane]

I didn't make the original comparison. Blackpool was one of the clubs quoted in the post you said was 'spot on'...

Right but the point of that post was that we have to accept where we are, rather than keep expecting a magic fix to get us back to where we'd like to be.

Bottom line is that if the players we had were good enough we'd not be where we are. We'd not have been relegated and we'd not have struggled last season.

[BL3]

I didn't make the original comparison. Blackpool was one of the clubs quoted in the post you said was 'spot on'...

Right but the point of that post was that we have to accept where we are, rather than keep expecting a magic fix to get us back to where we'd like to be.

Bottom line is that if the players we had were good enough we'd not be where we are. We'd not have been relegated and we'd not have struggled last season.

Why? What 'magic fix' have Burnley employed? Sean Dyche took over in the same month that Dougie was appointed our manager. They sold their top scorer before the season even started and have spent precisely nothing in transfer fees.

[BWFC_Insane]

I didn't make the original comparison. Blackpool was one of the clubs quoted in the post you said was 'spot on'...

Right but the point of that post was that we have to accept where we are, rather than keep expecting a magic fix to get us back to where we'd like to be.

Bottom line is that if the players we had were good enough we'd not be where we are. We'd not have been relegated and we'd not have struggled last season.

Why? What 'magic fix' have Burnley employed? Sean Dyche took over in the same month that Dougie was appointed our manager. They sold their top scorer before the season even started and have spent precisely nothing in transfer fees.

They're having a good season so far. But struggled upon relegation for a number of seasons. If we were good enough we'd not be here in the first place!

[wigan white]

I didn't make the original comparison. Blackpool was one of the clubs quoted in the post you said was 'spot on'...

Right but the point of that post was that we have to accept where we are, rather than keep expecting a magic fix to get us back to where we'd like to be.

Bottom line is that if the players we had were good enough we'd not be where we are. We'd not have been relegated and we'd not have struggled last season.

Why? What 'magic fix' have Burnley employed? Sean Dyche took over in the same month that Dougie was appointed our manager. They sold their top scorer before the season even started and have spent precisely nothing in transfer fees.

But who is to say theyre going to stay where they are in the league, its still early doors, and i'd put money on them dropping down the league. Apart from Austin, they've kept virtually the same team as last season and too be fair to them , they were a decent mid-table team last year. Our problem is different to theirs, in that we realise some of our players aren't good enough/can't be arsed, but due to us not being able to get rid of them we can't bring in better/more committed players. Plus, we still have fans, who seem to think we have a god given right to hammer everyone in the league, you're not facing reality or accepting the situation we're in.

[Armchair Wanderer]

Our problem is different to theirs, in that we realise some of our players aren't good enough/can't be arsed, but due to us not being able to get rid of them we can't bring in better/more committed players. Plus, we still have fans, who seem to think we have a god given right to hammer everyone in the league, you're not facing reality or accepting the situation we're in.

[BL3]

I didn't make the original comparison. Blackpool was one of the clubs quoted in the post you said was 'spot on'...

Right but the point of that post was that we have to accept where we are, rather than keep expecting a magic fix to get us back to where we'd like to be.

Bottom line is that if the players we had were good enough we'd not be where we are. We'd not have been relegated and we'd not have struggled last season.

Why? What 'magic fix' have Burnley employed? Sean Dyche took over in the same month that Dougie was appointed our manager. They sold their top scorer before the season even started and have spent precisely nothing in transfer fees.

They're having a good season so far. But struggled upon relegation for a number of seasons. If we were good enough we'd not be here in the first place!

But you keep saying that as if struggle is an inevitable part of the process. Burnley weren't 'good enough' for the Premier League either. Under Eddie Howe, they were a mid-table Championship club. Then they appointed Sean Dyche and within the same amount of time that Freedman has had, they are now top of the table. Earlier on, you were agreeing that 'it isn't just about the manager any more.'

[TANGODANCER]

The point of my post wasn't to have a go at either club, manager or even players, just to accept what we have and haven't got right now. We just can't compete money-wise with clubs that can throw sums at players. We have to go with what we've got, accept we're currently bottom of the pile and fight our way back as high as we're capable of. The Bolton of
Allardyce has gone, we've been through some rubbish but now we know exactly where we are.

The reality of it all is shown by Kevin McNaughton's statement that he went into the dressing room on tuesday not knowing anybody. When was the last time Bolton had a situation like that? We have three players in that mode right now. McNaughton seems keen to become a part of Bolton in his interview in the B.N. which is encouraging. If we start from scratch here, set out bar a few notches down for now and just play football we can have a realistic season and build off it. We need to have a "only way is up" attitude and go for it.

Is all.

[ChrisC]

When we dropped from the Premiership , the mighty Bolton Wanderers automatically expected to beat everybody and go back up. We didn't and now we can't buy unless we sell and are no different than a lot of other clubs all fighting to survive. We can't beat teams because of our name and past reputation, we have to do it the hard way and it's with a team of almost strangers compared to past years. It isn't just about the manager any more.

Great post this. Absolutely spot on.

...he said, desperately clinging on to any theory that lets Dougie off the hook.

How did Blackpool manage to make the play-off final the season after they dropped out of the Premier League then? It certainly wasn't by outspending every other club in the league.

Blackpool where totally different because they hadn't had a sustained period in the Premiership. They still had mainly the same players in their squad that knew the championship and therefore where accustomed to the league when they come back down.

[BL3]

When we dropped from the Premiership , the mighty Bolton Wanderers automatically expected to beat everybody and go back up. We didn't and now we can't buy unless we sell and are no different than a lot of other clubs all fighting to survive. We can't beat teams because of our name and past reputation, we have to do it the hard way and it's with a team of almost strangers compared to past years. It isn't just about the manager any more.

Great post this. Absolutely spot on.

...he said, desperately clinging on to any theory that lets Dougie off the hook.

How did Blackpool manage to make the play-off final the season after they dropped out of the Premier League then? It certainly wasn't by outspending every other club in the league.

Blackpool where totally different because they hadn't had a sustained period in the Premiership. They still had mainly the same players in their squad that knew the championship and therefore where accustomed to the league when they come back down.

So we should have expected Burnley to go straight back up then, given that they had a distinct advantage over everyone else, as they had both the Premier League parachute payments and a group of players 'that knew the Championship'.

[SmokinFrazier]

Why are you so insistant on blaming DF for all thats gone on??? I don't know the facts but from the outside it looks as though, he wasnt given the cash to bring in who he really wanted to in the summer, potentially due to being unable to off-load some of the "High-earners".

I don't know if that's quite true. Freedman wanted Baptiste and got him. He wanted Tierney and got him too We chased Beckford for ages and got him. We got Spearing and Hall, who were two clear targets from the start. Moritz was another key target and we got him in the end. All of our business was done early in the transfer window and the only player we wanted but didn't get was Dawson, who was unrealistic and Freedman knew it would always be a long shot.

Freedman got who he wanted, bar Dawson. Dawson was obviously a very good player last year but when you only miss out on one target, who you knew beforehand would be hard to get, then it can hardly be called an unsuccessful window.

[BWFC_Insane]

Why are you so insistant on blaming DF for all thats gone on??? I don't know the facts but from the outside it looks as though, he wasnt given the cash to bring in who he really wanted to in the summer, potentially due to being unable to off-load some of the "High-earners".

I don't know if that's quite true. Freedman wanted Baptiste and got him. He wanted Tierney and got him too We chased Beckford for ages and got him. We got Spearing and Hall, who were two clear targets from the start. Moritz was another key target and we got him in the end. All of our business was done early in the transfer window and the only player we wanted but didn't get was Dawson, who was unrealistic and Freedman knew it would always be a long shot.

Freedman got who he wanted, bar Dawson. Dawson was obviously a very good player last year but when you only miss out on one target, who you knew beforehand would be hard to get, then it can hardly be called an unsuccessful window.

I don't think you or anyone else on here can possibly know if that was the case or not.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Didn't he say he wanted four more? Dawson's good, but he's not four.