Freedman out!

[Harry Genshaw]

Zola

Thank God it's not just me!

The mere mention of Ian Holloway seems to get loads of lols but surely his record stands up to greater scrutiny than Zola's, McKays or Clarkes?

[Armchair Wanderer]

Malky is getting everyone's sympathy vote because of the nasty owners, a bit like Hughton did a while back and Adkins.

[SmokinFrazier]

I rate Zola as a manager. He did a good job with Watford last year and whilst things didn't work out for him against this season, I think he'll go on to be a good manager in the future. He's a lot better than Freedman is anyway.

[bobo the clown]

I rate Zola as a manager. He did a good job with Watford last year and whilst things didn't work out for him against this season, I think he'll go on to be a good manager in the future. He's a lot better than Freedman is anyway.

Not so sure. He was given a golden egg ... twice ... and gained very moderate outcomes.

Seems a nice enough guy, but we've been there.

[Bruce Rioja]

I rate Zola as a manager. He did a good job with Watford last year and whilst things didn't work out for him against this season, I think he'll go on to be a good manager in the future. He's a lot better than Freedman is anyway.

But shirley people can look at Freedman's record last year and say that he's also good manager a per pro our late season form, no? However, ultimately you know he isn't and I know that he isn't and neither of us are fooled by what hppened late on last season. I apply that same thinking to Zola too.

[bobo the clown]

I rate Zola as a manager. He did a good job with Watford last year and whilst things didn't work out for him against this season, I think he'll go on to be a good manager in the future. He's a lot better than Freedman is anyway.

But shirley people can look at Freedman's record last year and say that he's also good manager a per pro our late season form, no? However, ultimately you know he isn't and I know that he isn't and neither of us are fooled by what hppened late on last season. I apply that same thinking to Zola too.

I never considered that run to be altogether convincing. Maybe I'm hard to please but, though we garnered points and got good traction up the league, there were few clear, classy victories and it seemed to be getting all the luck that they'd not had earlier in the season.

I did say this at the time, not just leaping on his back now.

[Lord Kangana]

They're both bad managers.

Pub?

[gizmothevoomer]

So what we're looking for is a manager who's currently on his arse but also 'top drawer'

A manager in the bottom three of the Prem who can lead us to the glory land of....the bottom three of the Prem.

If that's the case we should have stuck with Knobson.

I fully support Vincent Tan in everything he does.

Which of the managers mentioned ( Clarke WBA, Mackay Cardiff or Lambert Villa ) has a team in the bottom three of the premiership when dismissed? As I type this the current teams in bottom three are Fulham, West ham and Sunderland and Jol and Di Canio would not be a step forward and nor would BSA from West Ham.

What I was trying to say is only sack your current manager if you can get a significantly better manager, if the board are looking to get rid of Dougie then now would be a good time as 2 excellent managers Clarke and Mackay are available Lambert is in a precarious position and may be out of a job in the next few weeks.

The only other time we should of looked at replacing Dougie was when Mclaren was looking for a club when at QPR, he would of been a significant step forward.

[LeverEnd]

I rate Zola as a manager. He did a good job with Watford last year and whilst things didn't work out for him against this season, I think he'll go on to be a good manager in the future. He's a lot better than Freedman is anyway.

But shirley people can look at Freedman's record last year and say that he's also good manager a per pro our late season form, no? However, ultimately you know he isn't and I know that he isn't and neither of us are fooled by what hppened late on last season. I apply that same thinking to Zola too.

I never considered that run to be altogether convincing. Maybe I'm hard to please but, though we garnered points and got good traction up the league, there were few clear, classy victories and it seemed to be getting all the luck that they'd not had earlier in the season.

I did say this at the time, not just leaping on his back now.

I thought we got lucky often in that run but earned a lot of that luck by working hard and restricting teams to half chances rather than getting ripped to shreds. I considered it very promising and thought he would build on it. He hasn't. You look at Mackay and Zola, MM picked Cardiff up form a playoff defeat and won the league in dominant fashion. Zola hasn't been able to do that, and has taken them backwards so that tars him with the Dougie brush for me. I like Zola, but think you need to be a tougher character in this league. You don't have the top-drawer pros that Prem clubs can sign (well some do!). We'd see better football under Zola though, I'm confident of that, but I wouldn't appoint him.

[CAPSLOCK]

Bottom three in the Prem is higher on the football pyramid than 17th in The Championship, though.

No, its definitely higher

Much higher

Its about the difference between Bolton when Coyle arrived to when Coyle left

Stick to buying dodgy mortgages and wine - at least you know a bit about those two

[Lord Kangana]

What? Dodgy mortgages? What the f*ck's going through your mind?

Anyway, you'll find 17th is about 1 place lower than when he left. F*cking impressive after 15 months, wouldn't you say?

[CAPSLOCK]

Aye, you're right, mortgage adviser aint something you should consider

What a tit

To only be one place lower while cleaning up Coyles shit is nothing less than stunning

[Lord Kangana]

What are you on about at all?

[CAPSLOCK]

[Lord Kangana]

O.K.

I take it we're about 1/2 hr from texting-the-ex territory?

[a1]

But shirley people can look at Freedman's record last year and say that he's also good manager a per pro our late season form, no? However, ultimately you know he isn't and I know that he isn't and neither of us are fooled by what hppened late on last season. I apply that same thinking to Zola too.

when allardyce didnt get us up the first season, i didnt think that.*

sammy a. had us about 3rd in the following season at christmas. and paperplateface is about 13 places behind that

but.. wouldnt write freedman off yet, not until he falls out with the goalkeepers or somethin' were folk misconstrue his choice of grammar as a slight on the club. "oh, feck! he's using a
singular proximal demonstrative instead of a first-person, plural obejective personal pronoun when refering to bolton wanderers"

... actually i think he's done the second one, but i'm not a scholar, or a style manual buff, so i'm not arsed, but he's probably on borrowed time just for that. maybe he can counter it if he ends sentences with the word 'like' as allardyce used to do ..


* feck barry knight

[jaffka]

But shirley people can look at Freedman's record last year and say that he's also good manager a per pro our late season form, no? However, ultimately you know he isn't and I know that he isn't and neither of us are fooled by what hppened late on last season. I apply that same thinking to Zola too.

when allardyce didnt get us up the first season, i didnt think that.*

sammy a. had us about 3rd in the following season at christmas. and paperplateface is about 13 places behind that

but.. wouldnt write freedman off yet, not until he falls out with the goalkeepers or somethin' were folk misconstrue his choice of grammar as a slight on the club. "oh, feck! he's using a
singular proximal demonstrative instead of a first-person, plural obejective personal pronoun when refering to bolton wanderers"

... actually i think he's done the second one, but i'm not a scholar, or a style manual buff, so i'm not arsed, but he's probably on borrowed time just for that. maybe he can counter it if he ends sentences with the word 'like' as allardyce used to do ..


* feck barry knight

Still unsure as to what you are babbling on about.

Freedman needs to get some results. Simple really, a bit like you.

[a1]

Still unsure as to what you are babbling on about.

Freedman needs to get some results. Simple really, a bit like you.

nice.

i'm saying you cant write him off for nearly getting us up one season after about 12 months, allardyce didnt get us promoted on his first go neither. i never wrote allardyce off using this somewhat unfair method of predicting the future.

maybe ive mistaken the man's point a bit, but getting them (bolton) near the playoffs was a minor miracle,..

.. and ,for me, he buys himself some time of 'fecking up' by not getting promoted. Just because i know that Coyle was fecking crazy and 'not getting promoted' is like winning the world cup when compared to the 'WTF?' 'lose by 3 goals' seasons of coyle.

if youre dismissing zola as being bobbins its the "it's a me , mario!" accent that renders him bobbins. and that he had a unfair fluckton of players and wages etc last year and still ballzed it up. and west ham sacked him coz he were shite. i wouldnt use zola being shite as any kind of comparable yardstick RE: Freedman . its a pretty different scenario .

the overly grammatical thing, was a reference the brickbats folk use on [freedman] for using (as megson used to) the word "this" as in "this club" instead of "us" . going off this , and only this, he's fecking doomed coz folk went apeshit over it last time.

cant wait for the "we won inspite of freedman, not because of him" stuff later, think ive seen it used once, so far. But yeah, feck him off and get mcginlay* in.


* or steve fulton. he played for bolton [probably literally] once.

[Sponge]

I'm pissed but:

I sometimes wonder – who in the world is a good manager? Or, let's say, in the English leagues: who is a good manager?

Managers who are generally accepted as "good":

—Wenger
—Ferguson
—Mourinho
—Moyes, until he took the United job.

And who else?

I can't think of a single other manager who is generally considered to be "good". Which tells me that it's not the managers that are the problem but something else. Whatever that something else is I'm not sure, but it does make me wonder who we'd replace Dougie with and why they'd be any better.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

A good manager is someone that can...

Assemble a squad of players that can concentrate and turn up for 90 odd minutes at a time.
Sign players that complement the strengths and weaknesses of the others.
Assign players to roles in the team that play to their strengths.
Set a team up to play to their strengths.
Motivate players.
Learn from mistakes.
Be adaptable.
Understand their own weaknesses and build a coaching staff to complement.

There are others, but a manager competent in that lot will generally do better than one that isn't.