We have seen the usual rotation of Managers this season in full force and Bolton has been in the thick of it, tempting Douglas Freedman away from Crystal Palace to replace the erstwhile and amiable Owen Coyle. This led to Ollie Holloway leaving Blackpool to take the position vacated by Freedman and Michael Appleton leaving troubled Portsmouth to take the position vacated by Holloway.

We have seen neighbours Blackburn accept the resignation of Steve Kean and replace him with former player Henning Berg, who quite notably criticized the club's owners on Norwegian television by saying  there were "no real Managers with credibility who would accept a job like that" and neighbours Burnley lost Manager Eddie Howe to Bournemouth and replaced him with ex-Watford boss Sean Dyche. Even more recently, Queens Park Rangers sacked Mark Hughes and when the dust from his departing car had settled, former Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp was seen getting out of his vehicle to occupy Hughes' still-warm managerial seat.

Roberto Di Matteo who was called upon to replace the "under-achieving" Andre Villas-Boas (current Tottenham  Manager) at Chelsea was himself booted after all of eight months despite winning the coveted Champions League Trophy as well as the FA Cup. The new man in  charge, if he can be called that, is none other than former Liverpool Manager Rafa Benitez.  You will be excused for wanting a cup of tea
(or something  stronger) before you read on. To round up the roundabout, the Brazilian National Team has parted ways with Manager Mano Menezes after two years in charge after losing crucial games against Germany, France and notably Mexico in the Olympic Football Final.

To say that change is the only constant is clearly more than just a truism. Our Douglas has been doing his fair share of changes to his  first team - rotations and experiments have been the order of the day in a five-game run that has remarkably not yielded a loss, despite the close attentions of this past weekend by a Brighton & Hove Albion team that must count themselves as desperately unlucky not to have claimed all the points on offer.  The magnitude of the task at hand is clearly obvious to all and sundry and the optimistic opinions at the start of the season have been shown to be just that.

Further changes are certain - both in terms of line-ups and  personnel going forward. The Manager must be thinking of both recruiting and  releasing players in the January window - by which time he will have had the opportunity to decide who he wants to go, and who should stay. A certain Stuart Holden should be ready for his much-anticipated return close to then as well,  which should improve us even
further. Rumblings have also surfaced regarding champions Manchester City being willing to send their highly-regarded young striker John Guidetti to the Reebok to get some first team football in the second half of the season. This remains to be seen, but while the roundabout speeds up in frenzied fashion, we hope Bolton Wanderers will have swung back to the Barclays Premier League - or
thereabouts (play-offs!).

Amidst a flurry of International games, Bolton manager Douglas Freedman has had the troops doing double sessions with physical and tactical training at the forefront. The Golfing sessions seem to have been done away with; as are the Ping Pong games. The focus is firmly on the business of gaining points. 

To achieve this, the Manager and his inner sanctum have been assessing the players available and analyzing how well they will be able to do what is required. Those who may be able to contribute but are not yet up to the standard needed, are being considered for loan spells away from the club where they may be able to get some games under their belt. Others are being considered for possible moves away from the club altogether while the final group are being shuffled around in terms of positions and playing times, in order to get the best possible fit.

For some players, this may bring a mixed reaction. Joe Riley reportedly visited Swindon for a possible loan spell, but made an abrupt  return after Bolton Wanderers was advised the player had to "earn a chance to play in League One". In a somewhat contradictory statement, Swindon Town Manager Paolo Di Canio had this to say: “I know every single player from League Two to the Premier League but I don’t know who he is, I don’t know his face.  We will see for the future.” I don't think so, Paolo.

The rumour mill has linked several players to the exit door, including the likes of Gregg Wylde, Tim Ream and Marvin Sordell. Sordell, who has recently been involved in social networking rows due to racial abuse endured most notably at Millwall, has been unable to get any time on the pitch - and if Kevin Davies has anything to say on the matter, Sordell won't be getting much time on Twitter either. Davies shared his  opinion: “It got to the point after the semi-final where I was hurting and so was everyone else. You are constantly checking to see whether you are getting stick. I didn’t need that.  I needed to concentrate on football.”

Separate and apart from the fact that Bolton supporters were hurting during that infamous semi-final, Sordell has not had much to do  outside of training for games that he probably knows he will not participate in.  With that being the case, why should Davies suggest that Sordell not indulge  himself on Twitter? Unlike many other young players, @MarvinSordell tends to spend his time re-tweeting worthwhile causes as requested of him, professing his love for his Lady-friend and supporting charitable events.

Surely it cannot be the case that if Sordell had not been on Facebook/Twitter, then he would not be abused. The rather despicable photograph that was bandied about on Facebook, and the offensive tweets directed towards him after the initial racial abuse and the
banner that was unfurled after the young culprit was identified, didn't happen because he uses Social Media. It can only be hoped that the  Wanderers can put all distractions aside in our game against Barnsley at the Reebok. Former Barnsley man Jacob Butterfield may make his Bolton debut on loan from Norwich and in a game that the Wanderers are expected to win, let us see if  Douglas can get the lads in a positive frame of mind to express themselves.

Two games into Douglas Freedman's tenure and we have added 4 points to our tally. This is in keeping with the target initially set by Chairman Philip Gartside at the start of the season. This is sadly no longer enough to get the team promoted because the team had that quite forgettable start to the season when they managed 15 points from 13 games. The manager has, quite unsurprisingly, chosen to focus on a porous defense line in an effort to stop the steady flood of goals that firstly pulled us unceremoniously out of the Barclays Premier league, then into the nether reaches of the npower Championship where we languish today.

What has been something of a surprise, however, is that Mr. Freedman has largely chosen to use  the same players that were on the pitch when all of this bad patch took place.  Our talisman and captain, Kevin Davies, has been battling defenders and 'flicking on' long balls for all he is worth - although there are those who might suggest that his worth has been badly diminished recently - and Zatiyah 
Knight has been restored from the virtual purgatory he found himself in, under the distinguished patronage of the glee-some threesome.

Martin Petrov has returned to the reckoning and has been putting himself about, but where does one begin with Marvin Sordell? The  Forgotten Man' has seen the cold shoulder he suffers from at Bolton, extend to the England U-21 setup where he has ostensibly been replaced by, wait for it, Bolton's on-loan Arsenal striker, Benik Afobe.  Afobe had been the preferred choice instead of Sordell in the
Coyle Administration and that has continued so far, under the new regime. The only hint of light at the end of the tunnel has been a seat alongside the pitch instead of his usual seat in the stands. He must, at this point, be longing for his freedom.

It is interesting to note the 'return' of David Ngog. While it may be too soon to say, I'll go ahead and say it anyway - Ngog has looked like a new man. In his Cardiff cameo, he earned us a penalty, scored twice, had one of them wrongfully disallowed, comitted two bookable offences and was sent off.  Most fans will agree that was the liveliest 30 minutes they have seen from the former Liverpool man since he swapped the famous red shirt for the famous white one.

It is standard practice for a new manager to take an under-performing team apart in analysis and start to fix the existing problems from the back.  Our clean sheet was not pretty, but I never look a gift horse in the mouth. Next on the managers' agenda seems to be the midfield. He has brought in Canaries midfielder Jacob Butterfield on a month's loan - which, for the optimists among us, suggests that when this loan expires, we may well see the return of (drumroll please!) Stuart Holden after his long injury layoff.

Say what you like about supporting Bolton Wanderers, but it is never boring. Mr. Freedman has said he would be "shocked if the same team started three games in a row", but so far both his starting teams have had a striking similarity.  Our talisman and captain was subbed off for Ngog in the Cardiff game, but Ngog's suspension saw Davies keep his place in the team for the full ninety minutes against Leicester City.  It will be interesting to see the lineup and tactics employed for the Blackpool game and I look forward to seeing how it all pans out as we go riding on the Freedway of Championship football.

Written By Keegan

Despite initial resistance from  Crystal Palace, Douglas is a Freedman. But what exactly has he been freed to do?  In the words of our erstwhile Chairman Philip Gartside, "[promotion] is an absolute goal. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen - but it's a goal we've set ourselves and it's got to happen as far as we're concerned." This means that a relatively inexperienced young Scot who has boundless enthusiasm and a desire to play football 'the right way' has been entrusted with the reins of our club, which is currently languishing at the wrong end of table.  Does anyone else get a sense of déjà vu?

Not so long ago, (or a lifetime ago, depending on which longsuffering fan you ask!) a certain young Scot by the name of Owen Coyle was recruited from a rival team despite not having achieved anything of note outside of promotion to the  Barclays Premier League with Burnley.  Boundless enthusiasm, bright and young, Coyle came in on a cloud of optimism after the struggles experienced under that veritable fountain of charm, wit and animal magnetism who was affectionately nicknamed "The Ginger Mourinho"- Gary Megson.

Eighteen months of deepening pessimism and a relegation later, Phil Gartside seems to have somewhat maintained his objective of keeping Coyle at the helm by hiring a man who is seen by many as Coyle Part 2. Freedman has not achieved anything of note in his  managerial career to date, was recruited from a rival club, has no experience of managing in the Premier League (compared to the very little prior experience that his predecessor had) and is saying all the right things in his interviews.

The club started life under his stewardship - albeit not under his direction, in a less than stellar way, by conceding two second-half goals to lose by the odd goal in three to Middlesbrough.  For fans who had started to warm up the cosmopolitan and tinkerman-esque ways of the gleesome threesome of Phillips, Lee and Darby - so much so that many thought they should have been given an extended opportunity to take charge, this was a rude awakening.  A school of thought had started to develop that suggested that either our roster was really not very good, or those in charge were not up to the task at hand.

Mr. Freedman, having watched the proceedings from the safety of  the stands, made his first signing in the person of his former assistant at Crystal Palace, Robin "Lennie" Lawrence.  He has been so bold as to say that Lawrence will prove to be "...the best signing Bolton will make this season",  and went on to say of the partnership "I’ll drive the ship and Lennie will steer it. It’s my enthusiasm, ideas and desire to succeed.  Lennie just steers it along and makes sure we don’t go off track."  This Scot may, however, end up needing the Luck o' the Irish if he is to lead Bolton Wanderers to that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If this should prove to be the fourth consecutive bad managerial appointment made by Philip Gartside, both he and Douglas Freedman may find themselves forcibly reminded that the buck, indeed, stops here.

Written By Keegan