Dougie Freedman takes his share of the blame for Bolton Wanderers' failed tactics

DOUGIE Freedman shouldered some of the blame after his tactical reshuffle drew a blank against Brighton.

Although Mark Davies pulled out of the squad on Friday night and had been pencilled-in to start, the Wanderers boss also dropped Zat Knight, Neil Danns and Andre Moritz after the midweek draw at Derby.

He also set up with a slightly different midfield shape than in recent outings – but admitted his plan had not worked out on the day.

Liam Trotter seemed to struggle in the role he was being asked to play and Wanderers struggled to find any width in midfield.

Freedman held up his hands after the final whistle but says January signing Trotter will recover from a difficult day.

“Everyone has a bad day at the office,” he said.

“We’d asked him to do a role similar to Dannsy and I’ve got to look at myself for that, to be honest.

“The game didn’t pan out like we’d hoped and maybe we needed to stretch it a little bit wider.

“But you’ve seen in the past that he’s a good acquisition and that he’ll get better but this wasn’t his day.”

Freedman brought Joe Mason back into the side but the on-loan Cardiff man played in a slightly deeper role behind Lukas Jutkiewicz.

Chung-Yong Lee also struggled to get into the game on his return to the team for the bug-struck Davies, while the demotion of Knight to the bench came as a surprise to many after his excellent midweek display at Derby.

“All the lads who came in are all very, very capable of playing in the Championship and keeping the run going,” the manager maintained. “But it didn’t happen for us.

“In the end, it came down to they had two or three chances and took them, we had the same and didn’t. It was as simple as that.”

Freedman was annoyed that Mason’s 61st minute goal was ruled out by the referee’s assistant for offside when, in his view, it should have stood.

“The offside that was given was clearly onside,” he said. “If that goes in then it’s a different game.

“We didn’t get the rub of the green but when it went their way, they took their chances.

“It was a difficult day, especially considering how well we’ve been playing, but we’d put a lot into this week’s game and maybe it caught up with us.”

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/wanderersnews/11080725.Dougie_Freedman_takes_his_share_of_the_blame_for_Bolton_Wanderers__failed_tactics/

Typical Dougie too arrogant to admit he's fucked up!... Oh wait

Course he fucked up the simplest change Moritz for Mavies.Was Danns suffering from lifethreatining exhaustion NO! DF is a fucking idiot.Im sure Danns could of managed to start the game and he could of brought on the fucking useless CYL.He takes of Trotter and I cannot remember him ever playing well in a Wanderers shirt.Remind me if I'm wrong.Hall came on did FA,then Moritz came on for the equally ineffective Lee.So his two changes he substitutes ,but only once we are 2-0 down.15-000 fans knew when the team was announced we were fucked but DF had to make his changes.

I took it to mean his time at Millwall LPP.

bwfc1874 wrote:I took it to mean his time at Millwall LPP.

Maybe so mate but seriously Dougie can't really expect to get away with saying "he used to be decent" because even before the match it was obvious he's out of form, out of shape and seems to be out of interest as well. I do take Dougie's point about us not converting chances, we had two sitters that should have been buried in the last ten minutes but we never should have been in the position of being 2 down to begin with. Dougie's tinkering with the line up was stupid, fair enough if a player's injured or ill but the logical step would have been Moritz in and LEAVE THE REST ALONE. 

Without trying to be too down on him Dougie lost this match in his office writing the team sheet.

He's come out and admitted his mistake in picking him, he can't go on and say 'because he's shit' that would be disastrous in every way, it's about keeping Trotter confident in the hope he can show some of the talent he must have.

Danns's best attribute is his energy and tenacity, something that Trotter supposedly has but we've only seen the complete opposite so far. Moritz isn't that type of player though, so I can see why Dougie would swap Danns for Trotter but so far Trotter hasn't looked anywhere near interested enough to put himself about for us. He should have stuck with Danns IMO and I hope he goes back to him on Saturday.

bwfc1874 wrote:He's come out and admitted his mistake in picking him, he can't go on and say 'because he's shit' that would be disastrous in every way, it's about keeping Trotter confident in the hope he can show some of the talent he must have.

Danns's best attribute is his energy and tenacity, something that Trotter supposedly has but we've only seen the complete opposite so far. Moritz isn't that type of player though, so I can see why Dougie would swap Danns for Trotter but so far Trotter hasn't looked anywhere near interested enough to put himself about for us. He should have stuck with Danns IMO and I hope he goes back to him on Saturday.

I couldn't agree more but it wasn't the only duff selection. Dropping Knight and changing the back line which had performed so well over the previous few games was also dumb. However we look at it Dougie seems to spend his time doing the exact opposite of common sense management. He keeps a team that loses 7-1 and then starts changing a team that wins three on the bounce including a 5-1 away win against Leeds. I think he should deliberately begin to do the precise opposite to whatever his gut instinct may be, then we might well see him turn into a good manager.

Couldn't disagree more about Knight, I've been advocating a Wheater Ream partnership since we got relegated so Im glad to see them playing together now.

bwfc1874 wrote:Couldn't disagree more about Knight, I've been advocating a Wheater Ream partnership since we got relegated so Im glad to see them playing together now.

Under normal circumstances I'd say Knight shouldn't be on the bench let alone the park BUT his recent performances had been really good and he seems to do his best work when partnered with David Wheater, something I noticed back when Cahill was out injured in the Coyle days. When a player is on form and doing well as part of a winning side it makes no sense to change it unless he's injured imo. 

I do like the Ream Wheater partnership but frankly I thought it was less effevtive (as evidenced by the result) than Knight with Wheater or Knight with Ream. I find it difficult to believe I'm saying this myself but Zat should have stayed in the team on merit as the man in form.

If Wheater and Ream are the pairing which he wants to go with in future (and I hope he does) then this is the right move IMO - play as many games as they can together.

bwfc1874 wrote:If Wheater and Ream are the pairing which he wants to go with in future (and I hope he does) then this is the right move IMO - play as many games as they can together.

I'd never have dreamed I'd get into a debate where I was defending Zat Knight but it's a wider principle as well; players in form who are fully fit and have high confidence shouldn't be dropped, especially when facing a top six team who until Saturday were having a bit of a wobble of their own. Had we started with the same team that dismantled Leeds (albeit with the enforced switch of bringing Moritz in for Mavies) I truly believe we would have won it. Anyway, as to your comment about Wheater and Ream you may be right in that on paper they look to be our best CB pairing but I'm not so sure about that in practice. I seriously think Knight and Wheater work pretty well together and have done quite a few times now.

It was utterly ridiculous to drop Knight in favour of Hutton, a player who is on loan with zero chance of signing. Dougie keeps telling us there's a long term plan, but manages as though every week is his last.

It was even more ridiculous to drop Danns, Freedman is the only person who thinks this was a good move.

You pick your best side possible, and barring injuries you keep a winning team - especially when you've struggled for any consistency all season.

It makes me laugh that people call me a WUM when we have bellends on here like wanderlust and 1874 defending Freedman.

Natasha Whittam wrote:It was utterly ridiculous to drop Knight in favour of Hutton, a player who is on loan with zero chance of signing. Dougie keeps telling us there's a long term plan, but manages as though every week is his last.

It was even more ridiculous to drop Danns, Freedman is the only person who thinks this was a good move.

You pick your best side possible, and barring injuries you keep a winning team - especially when you've struggled for any consistency all season.

It makes me laugh that people call me a WUM when we have bellends on here like wanderlust and 1874 defending Freedman.

I've said (and Dougie's said) he made the wrong decision regarding Danns. But I'd take a back four of Hutton Ream Wheater Baptiste over any other combination we have at the moment, so if Dougie feels that's his best team surely that fits the first part of your criteria? If he also wants Ream and Wheater as first choice long term, that fits with building a long term plan - especially if he intends to let Knight go come the summer.

It was only a couple of weeks ago you and a many other posters were saying drop Knight ASAP and criticising Freedman as Knight's a mistake waiting to happen. He follows your advice and you criticise him for doing so?

bwfc1874 wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:It was utterly ridiculous to drop Knight in favour of Hutton, a player who is on loan with zero chance of signing. Dougie keeps telling us there's a long term plan, but manages as though every week is his last.

It was even more ridiculous to drop Danns, Freedman is the only person who thinks this was a good move.

You pick your best side possible, and barring injuries you keep a winning team - especially when you've struggled for any consistency all season.

It makes me laugh that people call me a WUM when we have bellends on here like wanderlust and 1874 defending Freedman.

I've said (and Dougie's said) he made the wrong decision regarding Danns. But I'd take a back four of Hutton Ream Wheater Baptiste over any other combination we have at the moment, so if Dougie feels that's his best team surely that fits the first part of your criteria? If he also wants Ream and Wheater as first choice long term, that fits with building a long term plan - especially if he intends to let Knight go come the summer.

It was only a couple of weeks ago you and a many other posters were saying drop Knight ASAP and criticising Freedman as Knight's a mistake waiting to happen. He follows your advice and you criticise him for doing so?

indeed, the agenda is a tad boring now.

This is a very half-hearted apology from Freedman. What he's actually saying is "I made the mistake of putting my faith in players who I would have expected to do a better job than they did".

At no point does he apologise for the tactics or selections without a caveat.

I don't think he needs defending though. To quote Whittam a year or so ago "these are highly paid professional players so they should be able to do the job."

I guess if anything, Dougie made the same mistake as Whittam i.e. expecting the players coming in to perform to an acceptable standard.

It's unfortunate that we haven't actually got strength in depth that can be trusted, but I guess that's the legacy that Freedman has to try to correct albeit on a shoestring.