A Bad Omen for Palace

On Tuesday, 23rd October , 2007, Dougie Freedman scored his last ever goal for Crystal Palace in a 3-1 loss against Stoke. Today, exactly 5 years later, might be Freedman's last day in charge of the club.

At the time of writing, there are no reports confirming that he has accepted the job at Bolton but it is sounding increasingly likely. He is supposedly the lowest paid manager in the league and has been offered a contract by the Trotters which is worth five times what he is currently on at Palace. They are also offering a three year deal providing him with the security that the Palace board have failed to show him so far. Freedman has been described as 'hard work' by Parish and there are claims that they don't see eye to eye on a couple of matters behind the scenes.

However, money isn't everything and a move to Bolton, in my opinion, would be a poor decision for Dougie. Owen Coyle was the Championship's first managerial casualty showing that they're not scared to chop and change managers when things are going badly. At the Reebok, he won't start with the legendary status that he currently has here at Palace and will have to impress straight away, something which is always a tough ask when taking over a struggling side. Whereas at Palace, even after just 3 wins in 27 matches, he had most of the fans' full support and he even attributed the turnaround in form to the amazing support the team had received during those bleak times.

Futhermore, as a young manager who is still learning his trade, it would surely be the right move to stay at a club where you're settled and doing well. Then, once you've finally had a couple of years experience and achieved all you can with the club, you make a move up the footballing ladder. He's been telling the press recently about Wilfried Zaha saying that he's not ready for a move to the Premiership and that he'll let him go when he's learnt all that he's learnt from Palace. I feel the same thing applies to Dougie and he has the perfect chance now with an in-form team just one win off the top spot and a £12 million rated starlet who has been consistently unplayable. I'm sure most Palace fans wouldn't begrudge him a move to the Premiership as those sorts of opportunities don't come around often but a move to a lacklustre Bolton side is at the very most a sideways move.

This news could rock the Eagles and break their phenomenal unbeaten run. Palace face a tough trip up to Barnsley tonight and despite already being without Zaha, who picked up a one match ban receiving a fifth yellow card at Millwall, it has been confirmed that Dougie will also miss the game as he is in talks with his potential suitors. In several matches so far this season, Zaha has been the only player to make a difference and it will certainly be a tricky tie against a Barnsley side who has been quietly improving over the last few seasons. Things are looking bad for both tonight and the future for Crystal Palace.