Dougie Freedman: Bolton manager will not walk away after poor start

Dougie Freedman: Bolton manager will not walk away after poor start

Manager Dougie Freedman says he will not quit Bolton and is determined to end their terrible start to the season.

Wanderers, who were beaten 3-1 at Brighton on Saturday, are bottom of the Championship and without a win from their first eight league matches.

But the 39-year-old has insisted he will not walk away from the challenge.

"When you're in a professional game and you've worked at a professional level, you don't have that inside you. It's not inside me," said Freedman.

The former Crystal Palace boss took control of Bolton in October 2012 and masterminded a turnaround that saw Wanderers climb from 20th position in February to the brink of the play-offs.

Failure to secure a top-six spot on the final day of last season, followed by a poor start to the 2013-14 campaign, has left Freedman's position at the Reebok Stadium under scrutiny.

He told BBC Radio Manchester: "We turned a lot around last season when we gathered some momentum. We are slipping over in certain matches but we're certainly not falling down."

Bolton host third-bottom Yeovil on Saturday, with Freedman declaring it is a game from which his side must emerge victorious.

"It is a big match and simply a match we've got to win," added the Scot. "The good thing about is that these players can win football matches if they're focused and concentrated for 95 minutes rather than 80 minutes."

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Good. If he turns it around both the players and manager will be better for the experience, and we won't have to go through another 12 months of rebuilding from scratch with another expensive ponce who probably doesn't want the hassle of the job anyway.
I'm glad Dougie is committed to the task in hand - all we need now is for the players to follow his example.

he won't have the luxury of walking away if we don't start to pick up points soon. Sammy Lee went after 10 games and 5 points so look out Dougie!

No managers walk away anymore, you only had to look at Steve Kean at Blackburn. Why quit when you can hold on then get a pay-off when you are sacked.

Norpig wrote:he won't have the luxury of walking away if we don't start to pick up points soon. Sammy Lee went after 10 games and 5 points so look out Dougie!

...another one who was hounded out before we had an opportunity to find out how he'd do in the long run. Now we'll never know - although we do know what happened as a result of his sacking.

i don't think any of our Managers have been hounded out apart from Mugson of course, its just more like total apathy, last weeks crowd being a case in point.

Lee was abused by the fans and the weak Board twitched and replaced him. Coyle and Megson got the same treatment. It's as if the Board abdicated their responsibilities in order to appease those fans who wanted a short-term solution.
The only ones who weren't hounded out was the Dream Team but the Board clearly wanted a "name".
Sometimes I think the Board are more concerned about their image than the long-term success of the club. Weak.

i may be being naive but if a clubs fans turn on a manager then they have little option than to make a change (whether rightly or wrongly) as they can't risk alienating the fans even more than they already have.
You only have to look at the crowd for the last home game, just over 14,000 and will probably be quite a few less this Saturday. There is nothing for the casual fan to get exited about at the moment.
Bad results and poor crowds will only lead to one outcome - the elbow for Dougie

Lee was the victim of a player "mutiny" it was well publicised that Nolan Davies and some senior players called a meeting with Gartside to discuss his management.

Nolan and Campo had both been dropped by Lee for some games prior.

I was under the impression, like Hipster said that Lee's sacking was mainly down to the players revolting against him.

Don't know if there's a way back for Dougie, given his lack of affiliation with the club and the fact he's never been popular with a large portion of the fans (mainly the idiots in terms of some posters on here and those I've encountered at games).

But I seriously doubt we'll get in an improvement, I can't think of anyone that would come in and improve us. I fear for us this season. Changing manager won't help us, but most won't realise that till it's happened.

Well what a shame. A good letter of resignation blaming the players is always the best way out.

The fact that Dougie comes across as a bit dour and miserable doesn't worry me in the slightest. Not every manager is blessed with great PR skills.

He is only young and is still learning about the pressures of management. Given time he could be the next Alex Ferguson. Who knows?

Yes, we have had an awful pre-season and start to the campaign but there really isn't a magic formula. Give the man time to turn things round rather than jump out of the frying pan into the fire.

The question is Reebok how much time? He's had almost a year, two transfer windows and plenty of opportunity to change things for the better. Can you really, honestly see an improvement? We're sinking fast because the guy hash't a clue what to do to stop the slide. Can you name me the first team, can you tell me what formation we're playing, can you tell me why he made such a case for Knight when anyone with a grain of sense would have known how much he was loathed here? The answer must be no, he has chopped and changed fiddled and fumbled since day one, treated some of the players despicably and come out with the same old rubbish we hear from any manager who has lost the plot. The buck stops with Freedman and hopefully when we lose to mighty Yeovil on Saturday even you and the other myopics like 74 will see how misguided you are.

I know where you are coming from 63. I have seen some shit managers over the years at Wanderers but I don't think Dougie is as bad as our position in the table suggests.

At the moment I think sacking him would be the totally wrong decision.

Which players have been treated despicably? - This is the second time you've said this and you need to actually answer because it's a ludicrous suggestion. 

Zat Knight got 6 games before he was dropped, not long at all. Him being loathed by the fans is irrelevant, we need to pick our best team, Knight had been the best of a bad bunch going into the season, he started poorly and was dropped. It would have made no sense to drop him straight away. So far has it improved us? Probably not. 

We played 4231 against Brighton, that's obvious. I don't understand how a failure to play 442 can lead to such confusion. Everyone's first team is different, Dougie's changes too often I'd agree on that point. 

You exaggerate and invent things to fit with your opinion Whites and there's no need to, wanting a change of manager after a disappointing start to the season is a reasonable view to have and Im sure Im in the minority who would prefer to see Dougie given time. But the way you react to a difference of opinion is pathetic, as is you inventing these things to support your view and throwing about the childish insults. If you're acutally a white since 63 then you need to grow up. Everyone's entitled to an opinion, don't like it then don't read it.

I really hope you're right Reebok because however much I disagree I accept he won't be sacked. I just think there's rather more of hope than expectation about your posts and in the absence of any real proof he is up to this job. Even the players seem to have lost faith in him and show no heart or fight in our decline. That shouldn't happen but sadly it usually tells it's own story. I'd make the change now otherwise I genuinely think it will be too late.

The other question is where is the proof Jimmy Phillips is "up to the job"

If Jimmy Phillips is the answer god help us.

If doougie freeman is to be leavin Bolton then I think Gus Poet is the manager we need.