Ipswich 1-0 Bolton

Agree very much with Boggers.
After nearly three years in the job I don't think Freedman was any clearer in his own mind as to where we were going,or even who was going to get us there.
By the end I'd become pretty much immune to the post match bullshit that had become a Dougie trademark,in fact I often thought he'd been at a different match. No bull from Lennon.
I think he has a plan,knows the style and the players we need to execute it,and even if the plan falls short,I'm pretty sure that his tenure at the Macron can only take us forward as a club.

I just think Lennon's phlegmatic persona gives the impression that he's cool, calm and collected which if true is a great asset for a manager to have and if not true at least gives the fans the idea that he know what he's doing.
Plus all the reasons '74 listed.
He does talk post match crap though. That "we want to go the rest of the season unbeaten" he came out with a couple of weeks ago is a classic example- although TBF I'd defend Lennon on that in the same way I defended Dougie when he made similar statements i.e. you have to give positive messages to the media.

Despite all this, I like Lennon as a manager and if he sticks with us could be ideal for rebuilding the club.

Don't think wanting to go the rest of the season unbeaten is necessarily bullshit Lusty. It's probably just a genuine wish. What I object to is being told,post match,that I'd just witnessed something I hadn't.
Supporters know shite when they see it,and mangers would do well to remember that,and refrain from constantly trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

Dougie, as nice a man as I thought him to be, clearly was not doing well.  5 pts from 10 games and last place.

One game to a managerless club which was a loss.

Neil Lennon has 44 points from 37 games... and that most probably would have been much better save losing an entire starting team.  At one point, Lennon had achieved a remarkable 39 points from 27 games... and unfortunately we then starting losing players left and right until we had no first string goaltenders left.

Let's be realistic.  Without the injuries, and with many of the same players, Lennon brought us life from relegation.  We were in last place with 5 points when he signed up.  What more could someone ask for.  Let's see who Neil brings in this summer on a tight budget and what we achieve next season.  For my money, he has saved us from relegation and without all the injuries we may have finished top six or top ten.  He has brought some of our youth to life... something Dougie did not do.  Yes, we are sputtering at the moment with loanees filling out the roster, but we has given a chance to many of the academy players and to some of the youth who are on Bosman's this summer.  Sounds like a smart piece of business and we'll see what money there is and how smart he is with it.

boltonbonce wrote:Don't think wanting to go the rest of the season unbeaten is necessarily bullshit Lusty. It's probably just a genuine wish. What I object to is being told,post match,that I'd just witnessed something I hadn't.
Supporters know shite when they see it,and mangers would do well to remember that,and refrain from constantly trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

But Lennon does exactly the same thing. Last night he said "we should have been home and hosed by half time" which is bollocks as Ipswich had 2 very presentable chances in the first half compared to our one great chance and two half chances. At best we could have hoped for a one goal lead and that is by no means clear cut.

And whilst he was waxing lyrical about Rochinha he neatly omitted that more than half his passes went astray and he missed the best chance we had.

But it's what managers do and I think this is a case of "supporters know shite when they want to see it".

At the end of the day we were BOTTOM OF THE FUCKING LEAGUE when Dougie got the push. Would we fuck be in a similar position to where we are now had we kept the clown on, we'd be below Wigan and Millwall and probably just above Blackpool.

I'll say that again, under Dougie we WERE BELOW BLACKPOOL, the worst Championship team ever.

Lennon has had the same set of donkeys and the same financial restrictions as Dougie, but he's had the worst injury crisis I can remember to contend with.  Despite that he's got us to relative safety with an enviable home record.

And he's done it by giving youth a chance. Had we even heard of Clough, Vela & Walker under Dougie - all players he could have picked.

But the biggest difference under Lennon is we HAVE A BIT OF FUCKING HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

Don't hold back, Nat - tell us how you really feel!

Natasha Whittam wrote:At the end of the day we were BOTTOM OF THE FUCKING LEAGUE when Dougie got the push. Would we fuck be in a similar position to where we are now had we kept the clown on, we'd be below Wigan and Millwall and probably just above Blackpool.

I'll say that again, under Dougie we WERE BELOW BLACKPOOL, the worst Championship team ever.

Lennon has had the same set of donkeys and the same financial restrictions as Dougie, but he's had the worst injury crisis I can remember to contend with.  Despite that he's got us to relative safety with an enviable home record.

And he's done it by giving youth a chance. Had we even heard of Clough, Vela & Walker under Dougie - all players he could have picked.

But the biggest difference under Lennon is we HAVE A BIT OF FUCKING HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

On the blob?

Breadman wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:At the end of the day we were BOTTOM OF THE FUCKING LEAGUE when Dougie got the push. Would we fuck be in a similar position to where we are now had we kept the clown on, we'd be below Wigan and Millwall and probably just above Blackpool.

I'll say that again, under Dougie we WERE BELOW BLACKPOOL, the worst Championship team ever.

Lennon has had the same set of donkeys and the same financial restrictions as Dougie, but he's had the worst injury crisis I can remember to contend with.  Despite that he's got us to relative safety with an enviable home record.

And he's done it by giving youth a chance. Had we even heard of Clough, Vela & Walker under Dougie - all players he could have picked.

But the biggest difference under Lennon is we HAVE A BIT OF FUCKING HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

On the blob?

All those words just to point out that we were bottom of the league - a fact already in the public domain...the rest is simply reiteration. Even the thickest fans on the planet could work out that if we were bottom of the league we'd be below B'pool.
And the premise of the discussion is wouldn't we be where we are now if Freedman had been allowed to stay and execute HIS plan? Fact is you don't know - none of us do. We've no idea if he'd have given debuts to youngsters by now or who he would have brought in. We don't even know if Dougie left his development plan on the desk when he left and Lennon just picked it up and carried on, do we?
It's all speculation but because the fans turned on the guy who was their hero the previous season when he took us to within goal difference of the playoffs from nowhere, you are simply reiterating the populist party line by guessing where we'd be.
I have hope for the future. I hope Lennon doesn't get us relegated. I hope he doesn't piss off and accept the first offer he is given and leave the job half done. I hope we can overcome unrealistic expectations and financial austerity to build a strong team. I hope that Lennon goes on to be the best manager we've ever had.

But when you look past the public persona, the piss poor performances and judge Lennon on the same basis that the previous manager was judged i.e. on results and our league position it's fairly clear he isn't doing the business yet - and is a very long way short of the previous manager's first season in charge. And the reasons for that could well be the very same reasons that the previous manager's plan rebuilding was slow to get going which are well documented elsewhere - but we don't know do we?

wanderlust wrote:And the premise of the discussion is wouldn't we be where we are now if Freedman had been allowed to stay and execute HIS plan? Fact is you don't know - none of us do. We've no idea if he'd have given debuts to youngsters by now or who he would have brought in.

Absolute garbage.

He'd had more than 18 months to implement his so-called plan. After 18 months we were bottom of the league. Where is the evidence we'd have suddenly shot up the league? I'll tell you where it is - in your fat head.

Anyone unlucky enough to watch BWFC under Freedman will know it was turgid stuff, absolutely dire, the worst football imaginable. Evidence suggests if we'd kept him as manager we'd be in the bottom 3 right now.

And as for your notion that Freedman would have picked Clough, Walker etc. Bullshit. He had numerous opportunities when we had injuries but chose to go into the loan market for more pisspoor players.

He was a shit manager, the worst, and I'll bet you anything we are a force next season under Lennon.

Natasha Whittam wrote:At the end of the day we were BOTTOM OF THE FUCKING LEAGUE when Dougie got the push. Would we fuck be in a similar position to where we are now had we kept the clown on, we'd be below Wigan and Millwall and probably just above Blackpool.

I'll say that again, under Dougie we WERE BELOW BLACKPOOL, the worst Championship team ever.

Lennon has had the same set of donkeys and the same financial restrictions as Dougie, but he's had the worst injury crisis I can remember to contend with.  Despite that he's got us to relative safety with an enviable home record.

And he's done it by giving youth a chance. Had we even heard of Clough, Vela & Walker under Dougie - all players he could have picked.

But the biggest difference under Lennon is we HAVE A BIT OF FUCKING HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

Well said!

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wanderlust wrote:And the premise of the discussion is wouldn't we be where we are now if Freedman had been allowed to stay and execute HIS plan? Fact is you don't know - none of us do. We've no idea if he'd have given debuts to youngsters by now or who he would have brought in.

Absolute garbage.

He'd had more than 18 months to implement his so-called plan. After 18 months we were bottom of the league. Where is the evidence we'd have suddenly shot up the league? I'll tell you where it is - in your fat head.

Anyone unlucky enough to watch BWFC under Freedman will know it was turgid stuff, absolutely dire, the worst football imaginable. Evidence suggests if we'd kept him as manager we'd be in the bottom 3 right now.

And as for your notion that Freedman would have picked Clough, Walker etc. Bullshit. He had numerous opportunities when we had injuries but chose to go into the loan market for more pisspoor players.

He was a shit manager, the worst, and I'll bet you anything we are a force next season under Lennon.

You're definitely on the blob - go on Mumsnet and have a moan with other like-minded, hormonal whackjobs, it'll make you feel better.

(Not saying anything you've said is wrong, just observing that you seem unusually angst-ridden. Even for you, love.)

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wanderlust wrote:And the premise of the discussion is wouldn't we be where we are now if Freedman had been allowed to stay and execute HIS plan? Fact is you don't know - none of us do. We've no idea if he'd have given debuts to youngsters by now or who he would have brought in.

Absolute garbage.

He'd had more than 18 months to implement his so-called plan. After 18 months we were bottom of the league. Where is the evidence we'd have suddenly shot up the league? I'll tell you where it is - in your fat head.

Anyone unlucky enough to watch BWFC under Freedman will know it was turgid stuff, absolutely dire, the worst football imaginable. Evidence suggests if we'd kept him as manager we'd be in the bottom 3 right now.

And as for your notion that Freedman would have picked Clough, Walker etc. Bullshit. He had numerous opportunities when we had injuries but chose to go into the loan market for more pisspoor players.

He was a shit manager, the worst, and I'll bet you anything we are a force next season under Lennon.

You point to evidence where there is none. We could be top of the league with a 10 point advantage for all you know. You're guessing and you know it. You do it because you led from the rear to give Freedman a kicking when he was down and now you're embarrassed because Lennon has still not got enough points for us to be statistically safe whereas as Dougie has kicked ass at Forest.
If you want to quote facts in a shouty voice then LENNON'S RESULTS ARE WORSE THAN DOUGIE'S at this stage of their relative tenures so maybe you want to hang fire on judging our Neil until he's had another chance to sign his own players and a second season under his belt.

When will you start to realise that you know f*** all about what's happening behind the scenes at the club, what is said and what players do in training so all your surmise about "what Dougie is thinking" or "what Neil is thinking" is 100% pure speculation.

It all boils down to one simple fact. You and your "followers" don't like Freedman anymore even though you were ready to have his babies the previous season. Lennon you can tolerate for now - but you'll be planting your knife between his shoulder blades at the first opportunity as usual.


Also noticed your writing style changes when you get into the emotive subject of our previous manager. Reminds me of another one of your "characters" who spouts similarly foundless subjective shite on this topic.

And Bread....thanks for dragging this old chestnut up again you shit-stirring ****.

wanderlust wrote:
You point to evidence where there is none. We could be top of the league with a 10 point advantage for all you know. You're guessing and you know it.

Of course I'm guessing, but it's an educated guess.

We were bottom of the league, looked like relegation fodder, couldn't even win at home, and no youth in the team whatsoever.

Most would say it was a fair guess to assume we were in danger of going down. Wouldn't you agree?

You seem to be the only one missing Freedman, but of course you're right as always.

You pretentious prick.

I saw the highlights just now. Ream looked to have had his worst game in a long time, by a mile. He missed a golden opportunity to score, nearly caused one through carelessness and could have done better for their goal. He was also dismissed really easily at the edge of the box. Hopefully he gets the lead out by the weekend.

Although not perfect I still believe that Neil has got a clue what needs to be done. Unlike the "Doog" who actually admitted he didn't know what to do at the end.
On top of what others have said above we might have another good 'un in this Rochina lad.  Albeit only based on last night's game.
Next season with a fit squad, a couple of Neil's boys to come in and then we will see what's what.

How's Mavis, Rochina, Clough, Ediur & Bannon sound for 5 across the middle for starters.

I'd prefer Clough as an out-and-out striker, but it's not going to be boring when this season ends!

terenceanne wrote:

How's Mavis, Rochina, Clough, Ediur & Bannon sound for 5 across the middle for starters.

Injured most of the time, back at Benfica, sold to Liverpool for about half a million, retired and back at Palace.

In that order......

Is Rochinha actually going to swap Benfica for Bolton? Do Benfica have any intention of letting him go? Doubt it to be honest and if he was available no doubt we'd be his only offer.

Think Bannan would be a struggle to unless he's out of contract.