Have the anti-Freedman moaners finally admitted defeat?

I'd criticise Dougie for not buying players with pace and/or physicality. We lack the fear factor because of his poor recruitments, basically replacing competent players at this level with many lightweights and tortoises. 

Even so, managed and coached properly, we still have enough ability to be in the top half, but timidity, lack of a consistent approach and illogical tinkering have meant that few good partnerships have been established. We tend to defer meekly as DF builds up the opposition each match-day.

It's not that those with perfectly justifiable criticisms have "admitted defeat"; it's simply that they have become resigned........which, ironically, is what Dougie and his acolytes should do!!

Look at other sites and the various outlets for letters/emails/blogs, Lusty. 

You are massively in the minority.

okocha wrote:I'd criticise Dougie for not buying players with pace and/or physicality. We lack the fear factor because of his poor recruitments, basically replacing competent players at this level with many lightweights and tortoises. 

Even so, managed and coached properly, we still have enough ability to be in the top half, but timidity, lack of a consistent approach and illogical tinkering have meant that few good partnerships have been established. We tend to defer meekly as DF builds up the opposition each match-day.

It's not that those with perfectly justifiable criticisms have "admitted defeat"; it's simply that they have become resigned........which, ironically, is what Dougie and his acolytes should do!!

Look at other sites and the various outlets for letters/emails/blogs, Lusty. 

You are massively in the minority.

I'd say he is a minority of one, every forum, every media outlet concerning BWFC wants Freedman gone, But I do suspect Wandy is WUMing, nobody is that blind as to defend the defenceless.

May 4 th 2013 Bolton need to beat Blackpool,but Craig Dawson for some reason some twat wanted him back for the last few WBA games we had Knight and Ream.2-0 down yet Eagles scored and made Cravies equalizer in added time we should of gone for the win.
Surely if we had had Dawson for the duration we would of gone up.Did he have to go back?
The players we had then were better players than we have now.
Petrov,SKD,Alonso.Now the team is full of shit rejects from South London.
We had the good times under BSA,Rioch,Todd,now it's going to be a shit season again.I don't even look forward to going anymore we are shit.

He's made daft decisions mostly in team selection, tactics on the field, poor subs.  Not just lately but over the last year.  I'm not blaming him for not having any money to spend.
We want the best 11 out there...play aggressive attacking football,  positive subs at the right time...... that's all I ask for.  If we get beat then let it be by a better team......that's fair play.

the squad is crap and unbalanced, only 3 senior strikers and a million (give or take) midfielders. Plus they don't play as a team because the tactical genius thinks squad rotation is the way to go even at this early stage of the season.

Just can't be arsed going through all this again. You need to get down to The Macron more often Lusty and spend an eternity waiting for us to create this one and only chance that Dougie wants us to create every match,only to see us fucking miss it even if we do manage to create one.

Morning all. Lusty, I see you're simply trying to wake us all up/shake off the apathy that has now settled on so many of us. 

I think that's the real problem now. So many of us see no point in saying a word because it won't change anything. And we're running out of the strength to care about our club when it so clearly doesn't give a damn about us. That's really all it its.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Morning all. Lusty, I see you're simply trying to wake us all up/shake off the apathy that has now settled on so many of us. 

I think that's the real problem now. So many of us see no point in saying a word because it won't change anything. And we're running out of the strength to care about our club when it so clearly doesn't give a damn about us. That's really all it its.

Or in other words.....admitting defeat Peter.
Still find it amusing that one or two are still clinging to spurious arguments with which to have a go at Freedman like blaming him for the reduced quality of players we now have i.e. transfers. Always debatable that one given the money situation. Personally I err on the side of Freedman as regards transfers if only because the targets he identified but wasn't backed to get would have made a cracking team. We'll never know though.

You're right though Peter. Feelings about the situation have changed but I'm not sure that it's apathy that has replaced anti -Freedman hatred for most punters. I think it's more acceptance of our lot, understanding that a change of manager (if affordable and if anyone decent would take it on and if the Board lost their faith in Freedman) would only have limited impact given the paucity of talent in the squad. Slowly but surely we are adopting the "underdog mentality" - something we Bolton fans can excel at once we shake off the misplaced cockiness that some of our glory-hunter Bolton fans preferred.

Personally, I'd like to get back to the "little old Bolton", "we have no money but we have got spirit", "getting one over on the big boys" approach as soon as possible. Expecting to beat "teams like Wolves" is a lose-lose situation. Expecting to get stuffed away to 3rd in the league Wolves is not quite a win-win but it's a lot closer.
Maybe then we'll get behind our piss-poor manager and piss-poor team and have realistic expectations commensurate with our very real financial situation - and everyone will be a lot happier for it.

A point I think worth mentioning having acknowledged our "Absentee landlord" owner has failed to support Dougie in the transfer market, excused for FFP reasons.

It is probably a fair to say lack of investment is an excuse for not being in the top 6 promotion chasing places. It is NOT an excuse for being in relegation trouble.

Amen

Barryjw wrote:
It is probably a fair to say lack of investment is an excuse for not being in the top 6 promotion chasing places. It is NOT an excuse for being in relegation trouble.

I agree although in mitigation most clubs have strengthened and therefore why might we not expect a relegation battle?. And it isn't going to get easier. I suspect that when Dougie cleared the decks of strikers, he was fully expecting to land Juke and Mason but when the price for Juke got inflated, he wasn't backed and Mason pissed about signing a new contract for OGS instead of coming to us. Dougie's mistake for not nailing down a striker first (although TBF you can't plan transfer activity - just set targets, bid and hope)

Dougie looks very safe in his job but unless results start to improve it will eventually become too much to bear - even for the Board that backed him to oversee the cutbacks.
Can't be that motivating for the players knowing that your target for the season is survival in the Championship.

No more investment - I get it - but we need to start turning narrow defeats into narrow victories to get things moving.

wanderlust wrote:
Dougie looks very safe in his job

The bookies say otherwise.

"No more investment - I get it - but we need to start turning narrow defeats into narrow victories to get things moving."

Which brings us nicely back, full circle, to whether or not Freedman's ability as (A) a tactician and (B) a motivator are sufficient to get the job done.

And I think he's proved himself to be incapable on both counts.

Sack him.

I take some of your points lusty but the players are now largely Dougie's own and it's his job to get the best out of them. He's failed in that, no matter how much anyone might try to claim otherwise.

Personally I've never blamed him for the financial situation, that's been out of his hands for his whole tenure. However I do blame him for signing midfielder after midfielder when our need for a real Left Back and a real striker have been screamingly obvious to even the most myopic for far too long. 

In some ways he seems to have been signing players just to sign a body, to LOOK like something's being done when perhaps the wiser course would have been to husband what resources we have and wait, bite the bullet and hang on until a player in a position we NEED to strengthen became available at a price we could afford. In a situation like ours quantity should never be put above quality and sadly now we have this huge glut of midfielders like Trotter and Pratley who aren't anywhere near good enough but whose wages at least could have been used to bring in a decent LB or striker. 

Gartside and Eddie have a lot to answer for over the last few years. 

Your comment about Wolves intrigues me. Honestly, we should be expecting to win EVERY game as fans, even if we're playing Barcelona in the Nou Camp and our keeper's Guide Dog is having a nap.

The days I want to see again are the ones where 'little' Bolton feared nobody. The days when being drawn against us in a Cup made Premiership managers groan because they were hoping for something easier. I don't mean we should be arrogant or blind to reality, merely that we should go into every match believing we CAN win not go into a game against a team that were a division below us last season EXPECTING to lose. 

Freedman is a TERRIBLE manager. But I've said it and my reasons for it so many times there's little to no point continuing to do so when the owner and chairman clearly don't care and don't intend to change a thing.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:
Your comment about Wolves intrigues me. Honestly, we should be expecting to win EVERY game as fans, even if we're playing Barcelona in the Nou Camp and our keeper's Guide Dog is having a nap.

Are you serious? Expecting???

No wonder you are disappointed all the time. Blimey, I'd be a miserable moaner too if I expected this team to win every game.

Fortunately I'm a realist so I can spare myself the trauma of constantly being disappointed. And occasionally enjoy winning games that I didn't expect us to win.

wanderlust wrote:
Are you serious? Expecting???

No wonder you are disappointed all the time. Blimey, I'd be a miserable moaner too if I expected this team to win every game.

Fortunately I'm a realist so I can spare myself the trauma of constantly being disappointed. And occasionally enjoy winning games that I didn't expect us to win.

I think LPP's post and your post show the difference between a fan and a casual supporter.

Ever since I started watching Bolton I've expected to win every game. We are the greatest club in the world and no one should be beating us. That is the mentality of a true fan.

A casual supporter can comment on the club despite not having watched them since 1971 and be totally detached from the passion that being a true fan brings.

I think the difference is being realistic and in touch with football and unrealistic and not having a clue. I doubt LPP could name half the Wolves team.

bwfc1874 wrote:I think the difference is being realistic and in touch with football and unrealistic and not having a clue. I doubt LPP could name half the Wolves team.

A true football fan is never realistic or in touch. We dream the dream.

Then I accept your original comparison, well done.

wanderlust wrote:

luckyPeterpiper wrote:
Your comment about Wolves intrigues me. Honestly, we should be expecting to win EVERY game as fans, even if we're playing Barcelona in the Nou Camp and our keeper's Guide Dog is having a nap.

Are you serious? Expecting???

No wonder you are disappointed all the time. Blimey, I'd be a miserable moaner too if I expected this team to win every game.

Fortunately I'm a realist so I can spare myself the trauma of constantly being disappointed. And occasionally enjoy winning games that I didn't expect us to win.

You definitely need work on that sense of humour there lusty and to re-read my next sentence as well.

bwfc1874 wrote:I think the difference is being realistic and in touch with football and unrealistic and not having a clue. I doubt LPP could name half the Wolves team.

When did being able to name 51% of the opposition's players become one of the criteria for being "clued up"...?

Are we going to start being tested on our knowledge of every other team in the league before we can post on here?