Dougie Freedman made a desperate plea for new signings after witnessing Wanderers’ worst result in 32 years.
Describing the shocking 7-1 defeat at Reading as “embarrassing” the Scot launched an astonishing attack on some of his players, claiming they were not good enough to compete in the Championship.
Freedman says his hands have been tied since inheriting a collection of highly paid ex-Premier League stars – and insists the result at the Madejski Stadium highlighted the massive deficiencies in his squad.
“The nucleus of this group of players, which has been here for three or four years, needs to change,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.
“Until I get some recruitment in and am able to make some changes, moving forward is a very, very difficult thing to do.”
Reading took an early lead through Adam Le Fondre – who went on to score a hat-trick – but missed a chance to equalise when David Ngog burst clean through on goal.
“We miss the chance of the day and then all of a sudden a handful of players collapse,” he said. “We are very fragile.
“This has lingered around the club for three or four years. “I know it is my job to pick them up and make sure they give honest performances but frankly some of them are not up to playing Championship football and winning games.
“That means I need to get enough recruitment in here to win games of football.”
Asked whether he could move players on wholesale during the current transfer window, a frustrated Freedman claimed the wages earned by some of his players had deterred other clubs from making offers.
“I’ve only got 15 or 16 senior players and I can’t trade them,” he said.
“My phone hasn’t gone once in 15 months for any of them.
“They are not good enough and anyone can see that.
“It’s time for one or two players to step up because these are unacceptable performances.
“As the manager I need to get some more players in.”
Quite what the reaction will be from within the Wanderers dressing room to Freedman’s comments remains to be seen but the manager called his squad in for an extra training session yesterday to address the current problems.
The Glaswegian is adamant that he can still get results out of this group of players and avoid a battle against relegation from the Championship.
“I know exactly what I need to do,” he said.
“I need to get some honesty in there – and sometimes we’ve seen that on a Saturday afternoon and sometimes you don’t.
“When you go into this business you have got to expect the ups and downs of football management. This is a real down. It isn’t something you look forward to but it’s something that happens to a lot of managers and something you have to deal with and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“I need to make sure there is a reaction to it. “What it tells me is that the football club is in need of recruitment, simple as that. “We need to bring in players that show better than what we have just seen.”
Describing the shocking 7-1 defeat at Reading as “embarrassing” the Scot launched an astonishing attack on some of his players, claiming they were not good enough to compete in the Championship.
Freedman says his hands have been tied since inheriting a collection of highly paid ex-Premier League stars – and insists the result at the Madejski Stadium highlighted the massive deficiencies in his squad.
“The nucleus of this group of players, which has been here for three or four years, needs to change,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.
“Until I get some recruitment in and am able to make some changes, moving forward is a very, very difficult thing to do.”
Reading took an early lead through Adam Le Fondre – who went on to score a hat-trick – but missed a chance to equalise when David Ngog burst clean through on goal.
“We miss the chance of the day and then all of a sudden a handful of players collapse,” he said. “We are very fragile.
“This has lingered around the club for three or four years. “I know it is my job to pick them up and make sure they give honest performances but frankly some of them are not up to playing Championship football and winning games.
“That means I need to get enough recruitment in here to win games of football.”
Asked whether he could move players on wholesale during the current transfer window, a frustrated Freedman claimed the wages earned by some of his players had deterred other clubs from making offers.
“I’ve only got 15 or 16 senior players and I can’t trade them,” he said.
“My phone hasn’t gone once in 15 months for any of them.
“They are not good enough and anyone can see that.
“It’s time for one or two players to step up because these are unacceptable performances.
“As the manager I need to get some more players in.”
Quite what the reaction will be from within the Wanderers dressing room to Freedman’s comments remains to be seen but the manager called his squad in for an extra training session yesterday to address the current problems.
The Glaswegian is adamant that he can still get results out of this group of players and avoid a battle against relegation from the Championship.
“I know exactly what I need to do,” he said.
“I need to get some honesty in there – and sometimes we’ve seen that on a Saturday afternoon and sometimes you don’t.
“When you go into this business you have got to expect the ups and downs of football management. This is a real down. It isn’t something you look forward to but it’s something that happens to a lot of managers and something you have to deal with and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“I need to make sure there is a reaction to it. “What it tells me is that the football club is in need of recruitment, simple as that. “We need to bring in players that show better than what we have just seen.”
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