Freedman's first 11 games VS the start of season...

Coyle:

Played: 10
Points: 11
Goals For: 13
Goals Against: 16

Freedman:
Played: 10
Points: 14
Goals For: 17
Goals Against: 15

So what is the difference between a Coyle and a Freedman Bolton? Can it be measured in points or goals? Or does it show in attitude and eptitude (competence) on the pitch?

Both managers have been in charge at Bolton for 10 games this season. Coyle the first ten and Freedman the most recent 10. Jimmy Phillips took charge for the three games inbetween.

We have three more points after ten games under Freedman than we did under Coyle? I can't figure out whether that is good or not though. Three points is not that much really especially when averaged out game for game. Coyle averaged 1.1 points per game to Freedmans's 1.3 points per game. Kind of both in the same range I would say.

One of the big positives of introducing Freedman for many was that he would improve our defence. Indeed we have actually managed to carve out a clean sheet or two under the new boss but having said that there is a very strong case to say those clean sheets were certainly not down to superior defending by any stretch of the imagination.

Last week it was mentioned that Freedman's record as boss for Bolton was not that bad and that our improved defensive record was proof of that. This week though, after conceding five goals at Peterborough the figures don't tell a story of improvements.
Average goals against under Coyle was 1.6 goals per game, Freedman 1.5 - definitely in the same ball park.

We are scoring more goals with Freedman than we did when Coyle was at the helm. But the average is not vastly different. Coyle 1.3 with Freedman ahead on 1.7. This 0.4 goals per game difference though could be a vital difference in turning draws into wins or losses into draws. Time will tell.

Shall we throw Jimmy Phillips in for good measure?
Played: 3
Points per game: 1.33 Better than Coyle, worse than Freedman.
Goals For per game: 2.0 The best return from all three.
Goals against per game: 2.0 The worst of all three.

Does any of this mean anything? No.

Why? Because irrespective of points gained, goals scored or conceded, stats, shorts or trousers, I think Mr Freedman may well be taking the club in the right direction. I may yet be forced to eat my words but I would be of pretty much the same opinion even if Freedman's record was worse than Coyles. And no, I was not one of the ones begging for a Freedman appointment, in fact I was against it if anything.

Merry Christmas all!

Coyle got us relegated, left us with the shite we have now and just for a laugh signed Pratley to a FOUR year contract, then resigned Knight to a two year one!

I don't think ANYONE could do worse than him - EVER!

Judging on 10 games, Dougie is a better manager than Coyle!

Culcheth_White wrote:Judging on 10 games, Dougie is a better manager than Coyle!

Given 10 games I am sure I could do better than that clueless twat.

MartinBWFC wrote:

Culcheth_White wrote:Judging on 10 games, Dougie is a better manager than Coyle!

Given 10 games I am sure I could do better than that clueless twat.

I thought it was a Coyle V Dougie thread?

The football has so far been poor to watch. It's interesting that somebody who played professionally as a striker sets his teams up to play such a defensive game. This is something Dougie should have considered before he signed. There was no particular demand for immediate success or exciting football at Palace. Though pretty football is no priority here, the opposite significantly shortens the fans' patience for as long as results are mediocre. If he doesn't get it right soon, he's particularly vulnerable.

doffcocker wrote:The football has so far been poor to watch. It's interesting that somebody who played professionally as a striker sets his teams up to play such a defensive game. This is something Dougie should have considered before he signed. There was no particular demand for immediate success or exciting football at Palace. Though pretty football is no priority here, the opposite significantly shortens the fans' patience for as long as results are mediocre. If he doesn't get it right soon, he's particularly vulnerable.

Palace fans did warn us at the start that he plays a defensive game. Tey said they had many bore 1 and 2-0 draws. I think we are heading the right way and when dougie gets his stamp finally on the team we will see improvement. Sadly i dont think that this will be for another couple of years yet so expect another 2 seasons before we are challenging at the top of the championship.

Dougie will be the man to take us up though i think

What I take from that comparison is not that Freedman has only just bettered Coyle but that Freedman has done better than Coyle in every single department. This can only be a positive.

And I do believe we will continue to improve.

He hasn't been the savior we where perhaps hoping for, but he will improve this team.






On the more defensive set up - this is exactly what we needed and one reason I didn't want Solskjaer, I would have preferred Mick to Solskjaer. We needed someone who would put a lot of training time in to the defense.

He has only had 10 games in charge. His record is better than Little Sam after 10 games as well. Let's see what happens in the Jan window bearing in mind that both Wednesday and Birmingham at home are winnable games.

I have taken it upon myself to amend this to first 11 games of this season vs Freedman's first 11 games...

First 11 games:
Played: 11
Points: 14
Goals For: 16
Goals Against: 18

Freedman:
Played: 11
Points: 14
Goals For: 17
Goals Against: 16

Right, so people were saying, after the first 10 games of the season, that Coyle should be doing far more with the squad he had. The players "are good enough" to walk this division therefore Coyle is doing something wrong. But in reality, where it matters (on the table) Freedman has changed nothing.

So do we still think the players are good enough? Could a different manager have come in and got better out of them than Freedman?

Freedman is working with the same crap that coyle brought in, i'm not surprised he isn't getting different restults to be honest.

We have some awful players there's no doubt about that, but it's rare for a new manager to come in and make so little impact.

The defence is still an utter shambles, there is no fight, no leadership and no definite style.

Poor, poor management. Especially when you look at what McCarthy has done in a similar amount of time at Ipswich.

I'm sure there were other teams who thought they'd walk this league at one point or another.

Wolves, Birmingham, Burnley, Blackpool, Leicester, Boro, Leeds. You could go back and look at the likes of Cov, Debry too. Look where Cov are now.

Sadly bar a few exceptions this league is a bit of a shock to most.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Wolves, Birmingham, Burnley, Blackpool, Leicester, Boro, Leeds. .

Aren't all those teams above us?

I think you'll have to read again, again.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:I think you'll have to read again, again.

You're comparing us to teams that are better than us. Good one.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Hipster_Nebula wrote:I think you'll have to read again, again.

You're comparing us to teams that are better than us. Good one.

the act of taking something and purposely misinterpreting it, is wearing thin.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Sadly bar a few exceptions this league is a bit of a shock to most.

And yet I said from day one that we'd struggle so....

"Sadly bar a few exceptions this league is a bit of a shock to everyone except Natasha. "

Even the team currently residing at the top (Cardiff) has lost a 25% of their games - we have lost just 3 more than them...(37.5%)