Dougie Freedman – the Real Test

Article by Alan Houghton

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What caused our dreadful start to last season and what can we look forward to next season? What is being done to prevent a repeat of our worst opening set of results for over a century? Similar to the previous season, we finished last season on a high. In both cases, loan players were brought in to shore up the team and produce a decent finale to the season.

Dougie Freedman has now admitted that he had problems in the dressing room at the start of last season and that he failed to deal with them properly. Some egos were bigger than others and some refused to take new instructions. He didn’t name names but a look at the players who have been let go or farmed out on long term loans may give an indication of those players involved. For the fans watching Bolton Wanderers early last season, it was obvious that we were not a team. At times within a match, we played good football but as soon as anything went against us, the heads went down and team spirit was nowhere to be seen. A good example of this was at Blackburn where we started well but as soon as we conceded the first goal we were hanging on. Alex Baptiste pulled one back just before the interval and we started the second half on top. But again, once Blackburn scored, the heads went down and we were lucky to keep it to only a four-one defeat. Individuals like Alex Baptiste were prepared to put up a fight but there was no collective spirit. Alex Baptiste was struggling out of position at left back but at least he didn’t give up. There were similar horror shows at Nottingham Forest and Brighton. Far too many points were dropped at home and it all came to a head with the seven-one hammering at Reading. Something had to be done and I think this match will prove to be the turning point for Dougie Freedman and Bolton Wanderers.

I think it was the straw, albeit a rather large straw, that broke the camel’s back. For the first time, Dougie Freedman criticised his players in public, stating that several players were not good enough to play for Bolton Wanderers. David Ngog was sent packing. Chris Eagles hardly played for us again. Tim Ream was moved to left back. Medo Kamara was brought in to midfield and when the opportunity arose, Alan Hutton, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Joe Mason and Liam Trotter were brought in on loan. Dougie Freedman also challenged the youngsters saying that he thought none of them were ready to step up to the first team.

Results improved and we only lost two of the last fifteen matches. Superb performances were seen at Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday while Watford were comfortably beaten and the perfect revenge was sought and found against Blackburn Rovers at home.

Dougie Freedman has gone to the Chairman, Phil Gartside and Owner, Eddie Davies with his recruitment plan for the summer and next season and got it agreed. Obviously money is tight and some wheeling and dealing will have to be done. He said that he wanted to act early and get things sorted so that new players are there when all the players report back for pre-season training in June. So far, his actions have been impressive. Chris Eagles, Zak Knight and Tyrone Mears have gone. Neil Danns, Dorian Dervite and Liam Trotter have been signed up while it looks like we are going to snatch Liam Feeney from under the noses of our neighbours, Blackburn Rovers. That will make up for Blackburn snatching David Dunn from under our noses a few years ago. There could be others to follow, hopefully Lukas Jutkiewicz and possibly Joe Mason. These will cost us some money so they may depend upon shipping somebody out like last season’s loanees, Keith Andrews, Craig Davies and Marvin Sordell. Or it could involve sacrificing one of our better players like Adam Bogdan, Mark Davies, Chung Yong Lee or Tim Ream, who are the ones likely to attract a decent transfer fee.

Jaimie Fullarton is now starting to produce results with several of the youngsters already training with the first team squad and Andy Kellett and Oscar Threlkeld impressing on their first team debuts, while others have been on the bench and come on for short periods like Chris Lester. Josh Vela has been out on loan at Notts County and by all accounts has turned in some promising performances. Rob Hall is getting better as he has been given more game time.

The best sign is that Dougie Freedman seems to be in control now and is exerting his authority. He’s grown a backbone and has a clear plan for what he wants to do. He seems to be getting a squad together that share that plan and if everyone from the owner, chairman and board down to the players and fans can buy into that plan and sing from the same hymn sheet, we can move forward and get our club, Bolton Wanderers back into the Premier League. This will be the make or break season for Dougie Freedman as it will be his plan, his squad of players and therefore a real test of his management skills.

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