May 11, 201313 yr And he is bringing Mark Leather back as head of sports science, he started the stuff with Sam back in 99 that transformed the fitness of the team before being poached by reidy to Sunderland. Top man and a great move IMO Isn't Leather also a wanderer?
May 11, 201313 yr Laughable this DF love in on here when he's done something worthy of such a tribute and trust he will then gain my trust you lot can live in your DF love bubble I will wait to see a lot more proof first. Sensible in my opinion. If the season had started with Freedman's first game, we would have finished in joint 5th place.....with Ipswich. A club with a far inferior squad and in MM a manager that a lot on here don't consider good enough for us. I do see the signs of a very good manager - though he got it wrong in 2 high pressure games (Leicester away, Blackpool home) Yes Medo looks very promising....but I will wait and see before I judge him to be a genius in the transfer market. He has made it clear he doesn't like getting players on loan - yet Spearing (who the so- called moron Coyle signed) and Dawson have been our best players. That said, I have a funny feeling we might have a Rioch de ja vu situation next May - winning the play off or promotion only for DC to move onto his next 'project'
May 11, 201313 yr Spearing a moron signing??? I think the general opinion has been good from day 1 on him.
May 11, 201313 yr I really hope Coyle would get a good opportunity for himself and 'his team' at some other club. This would be of benefit twofold; To get him off our payroll and, to finally expose him once and for all, a corollary being to silence the last pockets of apologists who still consider him 'unlucky' or just 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' (or insert your own cliche/excuse here). Edited May 11, 201313 yr by Youri McAnespie
May 11, 201313 yr Sensible in my opinion. If the season had started with Freedman's first game, we would have finished in joint 5th place.....with Ipswich. A club with a far inferior squad and in MM a manager that a lot on here don't consider good enough for us. I do see the signs of a very good manager - though he got it wrong in 2 high pressure games (Leicester away, Blackpool home) Yes Medo looks very promising....but I will wait and see before I judge him to be a genius in the transfer market. He has made it clear he doesn't like getting players on loan - yet Spearing (who the so- called moron Coyle signed) and Dawson have been our best players. That said, I have a funny feeling we might have a Rioch de ja vu situation next May - winning the play off or promotion only for DC to move onto his next 'project' Nice someone agrees, its not meant to be a slag the club and DF off I don't fall into that category but I'm certainly not blowing smoke up his arse when he's proven nothing, some folk need to take a rain check in here losing the plot when there's another opinion.
May 11, 201313 yr Nice someone agrees, its not meant to be a slag the club and DF off I don't fall into that category but I'm certainly not blowing smoke up his arse when he's proven nothing, some folk need to take a rain check in here losing the plot when there's another opinion. If Leicester didn't score in the 90th minute and we therefore got the last play off space, would he have proven anything?
May 11, 201313 yr If Leicester didn't score in the 90th minute and we therefore got the last play off space, would he have proven anything? Maybe after the playoffsfinished to some people.
May 11, 201313 yr If Leicester didn't score in the 90th minute and we therefore got the last play off space, would he have proven anything? Well if he was told to get us into the play offs, he would have proved he could meet his objective. If we had then beat Watford over two legs, he'd have proved to me that he can handle the big games.
May 11, 201313 yr I keep referring to this but here goes. His clear directive was play offs at least. He failed. Yes there are positives and lots of them for next season. But come on, this thread is ridiculous. Let's just say that there are plenty of future prem managers in front of DF at the moment. My little kitten hasn't left the house yet but at least he's curious what's outside.
May 11, 201313 yr If Leicester didn't score in the 90th minute and we therefore got the last play off space, would he have proven anything? The Leicester game not a good one to choose because Dougie got it wrong and that ultimately cost us a play off spot, also think he was unlucky with key injuries in the run, lets all agree that he and we hit the ground running next season.
May 11, 201313 yr The Leicester game not a good one to choose because Dougie got it wrong and that ultimately cost us a play off spot, also think he was unlucky with key injuries in the run, lets all agree that he and we hit the ground running next season. He got Butterfield wrong there massively but did haul him off I thought starting 4-5-1 there was wise given their attacking options; but he did change to 4-4-2 when he needed to I think this shows he's still a little green and does make mistakes, but is certainly open to changing things if/when required I wasn't convinced at first and am now much more of a DF fan. But I'm still not 100% sure he's the man He's been more good than bad so far IMO though
May 11, 201313 yr I agree and more good than bad so far..... But. Butterfield was a massive mistake changing a winning back line. He did the same again against pool. C'mon everyone must have been asking 'hall' who when they saw the team on their mobile before the game. Why change it? He did and he'll learn. Edited May 11, 201313 yr by captainmed
May 11, 201313 yr I keep referring to this but here goes. His clear directive was play offs at least. He failed. Where was this clear directive that DF must reach the play offs at least ? At the time of his appointment we were heading for relegation, so it would seem a bit odd to have been talking about play offs at that point. I was just happy for him to stop our decline this season.
May 11, 201313 yr I said in February that I thought we could reach 69 and that might just be enough in this strange season. In fact we got to the last home game on 67, so clearly we could have made it. My expectation was that we would win almost all of our last 9 home games, but all 9 seemed just too optimistic. For that reason I was not too surprised how the last game turned out. My fear was that even if we won the home play-off would be the one to end a winning sequence. All us know-alls simply don't know who is carrying knocks, who has got family issues, and so on. The things which simply don't reach the media. So I accept that DF is making a judgement when he picks his teams. Even Butterfield. Even Hall. But then I've managed at National League level in athletics and had to make the difficult decisions. One I remember was telling the top sprinter he was running the second leg, into the wind, in a sprint relay. "But I'm the Northern champion" he said. I replied "And that is why you are not on the anchor, which carries the baton for the shortest distance, but you can make inroads into the wind". I ran the top hurdler on the anchor, as he had the best dip finish (something hurdlers tend to be adept at because they are all in step coming off the last hurdle. In the race we won, with the first 4 (out of 6) teams recording 42.4 secs. I reckon I got that one right. On another occasion, a one per event cup semi-final at Edinburgh, the 10000m runner was late arriving from RAF Lossiemouth. The 1500m runner volunteered to switch events, so I went along with it. Almost inevitably both finished last, and we'd have been better leaving the 10k vacant and finishing anywhere better than last in the 1500m - so that was a mistake not to be repeated. Looking to next season the initial target should be 92 pts - 2 per game average - which is the level which has never yet failed to make automatic promotion. No need to get wobbly if we're on 6 points after 4 matches, though.
May 11, 201313 yr I said in February that I thought we could reach 69 and that might just be enough in this strange season. In fact we got to the last home game on 67, so clearly we could have made it. My expectation was that we would win almost all of our last 9 home games, but all 9 seemed just too optimistic. For that reason I was not too surprised how the last game turned out. My fear was that even if we won the home play-off would be the one to end a winning sequence. All us know-alls simply don't know who is carrying knocks, who has got family issues, and so on. The things which simply don't reach the media. So I accept that DF is making a judgement when he picks his teams. Even Butterfield. Even Hall. But then I've managed at National League level in athletics and had to make the difficult decisions. One I remember was telling the top sprinter he was running the second leg, into the wind, in a sprint relay. "But I'm the Northern champion" he said. I replied "And that is why you are not on the anchor, which carries the baton for the shortest distance, but you can make inroads into the wind". I ran the top hurdler on the anchor, as he had the best dip finish (something hurdlers tend to be adept at because they are all in step coming off the last hurdle. In the race we won, with the first 4 (out of 6) teams recording 42.4 secs. I reckon I got that one right. On another occasion, a one per event cup semi-final at Edinburgh, the 10000m runner was late arriving from RAF Lossiemouth. The 1500m runner volunteered to switch events, so I went along with it. Almost inevitably both finished last, and we'd have been better leaving the 10k vacant and finishing anywhere better than last in the 1500m - so that was a mistake not to be repeated. Looking to next season the initial target should be 92 pts - 2 per game average - which is the level which has never yet failed to make automatic promotion. No need to get wobbly if we're on 6 points after 4 matches, though. Bollocks to 2 points a game. I want at least 2.5 per game or else.
May 11, 201313 yr 2 points per game will do actually #lackofambition We should aim for 3.3 by giving 110% commitment.
May 11, 201313 yr #lackofambition We should aim for 3.3 by giving 110% commitment. Don't forget the hunger!
May 12, 201313 yr He got Butterfield wrong there massively but did haul him off I thought starting 4-5-1 there was wise given their attacking options; but he did change to 4-4-2 when he needed to I think this shows he's still a little green and does make mistakes, but is certainly open to changing things if/when required I wasn't convinced at first and am now much more of a DF fan. But I'm still not 100% sure he's the man He's been more good than bad so far IMO though I agree with that just wish he'd dragged Butterfield off earlier, but I understand he probably did not want to ruin him.
May 12, 201313 yr I agree with that just wish he'd dragged Butterfield off earlier, but I understand he probably did not want to ruin him. Do t think that's ever a worry for BWFC managers; can leave
May 12, 201313 yr All things considered DF's done tremendously well- like everyone else at times I've considered some selections 'strange' but equally some of his changes during games have proved very positive. I'm sure he'd admit to having made mistakes- but he's doesn't seem too pig-headed to change things if they're not right. He's a young chap, but seems to have a calm, balanced yet quitetly confident air about him that I've rarely seen; a refreshing change to the dour Megson or over 'kid in a sweet shop' Coyle. He seems supportive of players that work hard yet has removed those that don't want to without a great deal of fuss. SAF just told United fans to get behind their new manager- we need to do the same, and give the guy time to build his 'empire' and hopefully a rosy long term future for BWFC
May 13, 201313 yr Going back to the OP, I'm not in the slightest bit worried anyone will snaffle Dougie from us. In the cold light of day he's not actually achieved anything ... yet. He's made some big mistakes IMO this season, Hall's inclusion against Blackpool was the most glaring of them. Having said that, he's young and still inexperienced so mistakes will be made. He'll learn from them too, of that I'm sure, and that is the important thing. I'd also not want anyone else in charge at the moment.
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