Dougie Freedman - New Manager

[jonnycooper]

Probably lose to Ipswich. It's the Bolton way

Wash your mouth out..We are now under the new dougie Bolton way..A loss is not to be contemplated..We have got better with every game under DF (brighton excepted)but they played with an extra spring in their step cos of his Palace connections,Someone is due a Bloody Good Hiding from us and I,m hoping that,s Mad Mick on Saturday....

[Armchair Wanderer]

1.66667 PPG from those 6 games if my math worked. That must be top half kinda form, albeit not always pretty sofar.

I should say that I've not seen a game under DF yet so hoping to go to the Charlton game to see what the football is really like. If we're starting to click there may be bumps ahead but it can only really improve from now on.

[Worthy4England]

1.66667 PPG from those 6 games if my math worked. That must be top half kinda form, albeit not always pretty sofar.

I should say that I've not seen a game under DF yet so hoping to go to the Charlton game to see what the football is really like. If we're starting to click there may be bumps ahead but it can only really improve from now on.

math????? MATH!!!!!????

I'd say it will still take him time to see what his best XI is, but regardless of his best XI, his mantra does seem to talk about rotation quite a lot...

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Six unbeaten, and unlike some I've always been right behind Freedman.
Credit where it's due, he mostly got it right tonight. Keep it up!

[officer_dibble]

Six unbeaten, and unlike some I've always been right behind Freedman.
Credit where it's due, he mostly got it right tonight. Keep it up!

Credit where its due. Fair play. Unlike others who only turn up when we dont win...

[Wandering Willy]

Swallows summer etc.

Shocking Saturday, much better last night.

Will the real Dougie Freedman please step forward.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Pratley for Eagles was a shocker. Could have been a turning point to the much worse, so we were slightly lucky in a way. Down with tinkerationism. Happy with the win though, obviously.

[BWFC_Insane]

Pratley for Eagles was a shocker. Could have been a turning point to the much worse, so we were slightly lucky in a way. Down with tinkerationism. Happy with the win though, obviously.

Oh do come on. Fresh legs when to chase and close down with 10 minutes left when you're 2-0 up? Its hardly the most controversial thing ever.

All this nonsense about the "real Dougie Freedman" is just well, nonsense. He came in and in his first interview said he believed in squad rotation. He has carried that through.

Sam Allardyce when manager claimed that when you have 3 games in a week, that the research he did said that to stay fresh and fit there was an optimum of 5-6 changes each game to keep the team you put out at optimum fitness. He did said research when we first qualified for Europe but it applies here.

Thats what Dougie has done.

And taken 4 points from 2 games where most were predicting a whole lot less.

Its actually refreshing that he is giving everyone game time and that people aren't being frozen out for months on end as happened before.

We have a big squad for this division, but that only counts if it's used. And not if its the same eleven every week until an injury then we bring someone in from the cold who hasn't played for 6 weeks.

I can see what he's doing. He's using players that were written off by the previous manager bringing them back into the fold, giving them a chance.

If everyone has a proper chance, nobody can knock on the door if they aren't picked. Players are now going to have to be ready to play and compete to play.

Its proper management. Something we've lacked for a while.

And to be clear, I still think that there will be plenty of ups and downs and bumps in the road whilst he establishes the mentality and structure he wants. I'm happy to let him do that though, because I'm far more confident he knows what he's doing than the last guy. And I'll judge where we are in a year or two.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

My point was that we appeared to be comfortable and winning quite easily. He then made a change Pratley on, Eagles off and they scored within seconds of it. Maybe it was not an exact cause and effect, but we were under the cosh from that moment on. Were we not?

[CrazyHorse]

And I'll judge where we are in a year or two.

Who are you kidding?
A year from now we could be rock bottom of League 1. Two years bottom of League 2.
Like you're going to not pass judgement on him between now and then if that were to happen.

You'll be back doing your hysterical woman routine if we're still bottom half come Easter.

[jaffka]

And I'll judge where we are in a year or two.

Who are you kidding?
A year from now we could be rock bottom of League 1. Two years bottom of League 2.
Like you're going to not pass judgement on him between now and then if that were to happen.

You'll be back doing your hysterical woman routine if we're still bottom half come Easter.

[thebish]

Its actually refreshing that he is giving everyone game time and that people aren't being frozen out for months on end as happened before.

sordell??

[boltonboris]

He doesn't count because he's in the army or something..

[thebish]

My point was that we appeared to be comfortable and winning quite easily. He then made a change Pratley on, Eagles off and they scored within seconds of it. Maybe it was not an exact cause and effect, but we were under the cosh from that moment on. Were we not?

indeed... under Coyle - such a change leading to such consequences would have been ridiculed and BWFCi would certainly have led the charge of posters using it as proof that coyle hadn't got a fecking clue...

and now Dougie does summat similar...
it is PERFECTLY POSSIBLE to be behind the new manager - but still comment on stuff you think he might have got wrong... really it is!

managers can come in between the poles of utterly ace and utterly shit

nuance IN!

[Lost Leopard Spot]

He doesn't count because he's in the army or something..

Oi, stop it.

[thebish]

He doesn't count because he's in the army or something..

[Ianmooreslovechild]

My point was that we appeared to be comfortable and winning quite easily. He then made a change Pratley on, Eagles off and they scored within seconds of it. Maybe it was not an exact cause and effect, but we were under the cosh from that moment on. Were we not?

indeed... under Coyle - such a change leading to such consequences would have been ridiculed and BWFCi would certainly have led the charge of posters using it as proof that coyle hadn't got a fecking clue...

and now Dougie does summat similar...
it is PERFECTLY POSSIBLE to be behind the new manager - but still comment on stuff you think he might have got wrong... really it is!

managers can come in between the poles of utterly ace and utterly shit

nuance IN!

The Pratley on thing seems like an albatross. We conceded soon as he came on in a previous game too. Not really Pratleys fault but a bad coincididence. It's worth remembering though that in an away game when the home team is behind they are going to come strong toward the end whoever we have on the pitch so in theory its not a bad policy except that it does surrender some initiative. He'd already put petrov on last night though so he should have offered a threat on the break and petrov and eagles does leave us a bit light in the balls department.

[BWFC_Insane]

My point was that we appeared to be comfortable and winning quite easily. He then made a change Pratley on, Eagles off and they scored within seconds of it. Maybe it was not an exact cause and effect, but we were under the cosh from that moment on. Were we not?

indeed... under Coyle - such a change leading to such consequences would have been ridiculed and BWFCi would certainly have led the charge of posters using it as proof that coyle hadn't got a fecking clue...

and now Dougie does summat similar...
it is PERFECTLY POSSIBLE to be behind the new manager - but still comment on stuff you think he might have got wrong... really it is!

managers can come in between the poles of utterly ace and utterly shit

nuance IN!

Think you'll find I've said that all along.

Just Coyle was utterly shite. I certainly wouldn't put Dougie in the utterly ace bracket, he is lucky that he followed IMO the worst manager we've had since Roy McFarland.

However, I honestly think Dougie's changes are more akin to what Allardyce would do than what Coyle would do. Plenty criticised Allardyce's "negative" tactics at times. Not me though. So I'm happy with Dougie, happy that he's upsetting some of the football "purists" too. Because for me that shows pragmatism we've badly lacked.

I'm still hopeful rather than optimistic.

But at the very least he's exceeded my initial expectations in terms of results.

[BL3]

We have got better with every game under DF (brighton excepted)

Have we feck. We've been inconsistent, mainly due to his constant tinkering. He needs to pick his best team and stick to it and then we might see more performances like last night rather than Barnsley or Brighton.

[Armchair Wanderer]

I just had it on the radio so while they may have scored when Pratley came on, the other change LCY/Mills seemed to really invite the pressure onto us. Having said that, it was a fresh pair of legs in defence and it worked out ok in the end.

Everything coming out of DF through the media is very refreshing. It's not just "the players have to try harder next time". And, what's more, it seems to actually get some points.

The rotation thing is sensible too. Our older players shouldn't be forced to play 3 games a week. It just comes down to looking at the upcoming fixture and choosing a team that can get point(s). If Wednesday's team is tired on Saturday we won't win. We need an XI that is not tired, well-drilled and with a bit of flair up front, hopefully.

I personally don't got any problems with playing for a draw at the league leaders away from home, certainly not while we're still learning to fly.