Managers Thoughts

Freedman- Impressed with the team putting bodies on the line
Huddersfield Manager- Felt they bossed the game <--

The Huddersfield manager seemed to watch a different game to me today?

Dougie Freedman praised his side’s professionalism and organisation as Wanderers extended their run of consecutive home wins to six with victory over Huddersfield Town on Tuesday evening.

Chris Eagles’ second-half goal proved decisive, with Bolton also registering a fourth clean sheet on home soil.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Freedman said: “I thought we showed a determination, organisation and a real spirit this evening.

“The lads were prepared to put their bodies on the line. Huddersfield were tough and they threw everything at us.

“We had to tweak our game-plan, as we expected them to sit back in midfield. They didn’t do that and we had to play more down the wings. That gave us much more success in the second half.

“Along with that, we increased the tempo, were quicker to the ball, created chances and scored a well-worked goal.

“We’ve had a couple of disappointing results of late, but I feel that we responded well tonight. Huddersfield had to go and win the game tonight. With half-a-dozen games left to play sides still have everything to play for.

“If we can continue to play with the same commitment we showed tonight for the rest of the season, we’re always going to be in with a chance of winning games.

“If we can keep the momentum going there’s a possible chance that other teams will be looking over their shoulder. That’s important, because it drains energy away from them.

“This result keeps up ticking along nicely. There’s a quiet determination about our group.”

“We can never be faulted on our effort or desire to get three points and that’s just what you need at this stage of the season.”

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Its funny how people can watch the same game and have completely differing views. I thought we were very fortunate to get 3 points tonight and although we had other chances to score I thought Huddersfield created better opportunities.

On the way back to the car I heard a couple of Huddersfield fans gutted that they didn't get at least a point [I concur] and then another guy talking on the phone saying that they tried hard but never looked likely.

Do people always judge their own team more harshly?

There is no doubt that it could have gone either way, so I think it's fair to say that we didn't do enough to dominate and we certainly didn't control the game - in or out of possession.
I think that the very fine margins between loss and victory that exist when teams are evenly matched have been our downfall, especially in games like Charlton where with a bit of luck we could have stolen the points.
We need to get to a point where we control the game so that bad luck and bad decisions don't play such a significant part in the outcome, but we're still a long way from that.
Unless our performances improve massively, we'll be trusting to luck in every game. Seeing as we need to win every game, the cumulative odds of us winning by luck are seriously stacked against us - it's like betting on an accumulator.