Dougie Freedman

Dougie Freedman
Dougie Freedman
Personal information
Full name Douglas Freedman
Date of birth 25 May 1974 (1974-05-25) (age 37)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Crystal Palace (manager)
Youth career
1992–1994 Queens Park Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994-1995 Barnet 47 (27)
1995–1997 Crystal Palace 93 (31)
1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 2 (2)
1997–1998 Wolverhampton Wanderers 27 (8)
1998-2000 Nottingham Forest 70 (18)
2000-2008 Crystal Palace 237 (64)
2008 Leeds United (loan) 14 (6)
2008-2010 Southend United 37 (6)
Total 524 (160)
National team
Scotland U21 8 (2)
2001–2002 Scotland 2 (1)
Teams managed
2011- Crystal Palace
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Douglas "Dougie" Freedman (born 25 May 1974 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former professional football player who played as a striker. He is currently manager at Championship club Crystal Palace, where he spent ten of his sixteen years as a player.

Contents

Club career

Barnet

Freedman began his career with top flight Queens Park Rangers in 1992, but never made their first team. He moved to Third Division Barnet on a free transfer in July 1994, aged 20. He made his league debut in August 1994 and quickly became the club's leading player as he struck 24 goals in his debut season. A bright start to the following season attracted the interest of Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace (first spell)

Freedman was signed by Crystal Palace for a fee of £800,000 in September 1995. He instantly showed he could continue his goalscoring form at the higher level when he netted 20 times in the 1995–96 season. This haul included the second fastest hat-trick in Crystal Palace's history – 11 minutes – against Grimsby Town on 5 March 1996.

The following, 1996-97 season saw a less prolific 11 goals but helped the club to the promotion play-offs. He then scored crucial goals in the 89th and 90th minutes of their Play Off semi-final tie with Wolves after coming off the bench with 17 minutes left. Palace went on to win promotion in the Wembley Play Off final, beating Sheffield United 1–0.

Freedman's experience of Premier League football in the 1997-98 season proved short-lived though as he only managed seven top flight games before being sold to Wolves, ironically the club he had helped deny promotion.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Freedman joined Wolverhampton Wanderers initially on loan in October 1997, but after impressing with two goals in as many games, Wolves quickly signed him permanently in a £800,000 combined deal with Palace defender Jamie Smith. However, Freemans's time at Wolves only lasted until the end of the 1997–98 season. He was the team's top goalscorer with 13 in total in a season that saw Wolves fail to mount a serious promotion challenge. The emergence of striker Robbie Keane during the season helped convince Wolves to sell Freedman.

Nottingham Forest

In August 1998 Freedman signed for newly promoted Premier League side Nottingham Forest for a fee of £950,000. He made his first appearance for Forest on 17 August 1998 as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal. In his first full campaign in the top flight in 1998-99 he scored nine goals for Forest who were relegated that season to Division One. In his second season at Forest in 1999-2000 the club languished in mid-table under manager David Platt. Freedman made a total of 83 appearances, and scoring 23 goals, before being sold to Crystal Palace in October 2000.

Crystal Palace (second spell)

Freedman signed for Palace in October 2000 for a transfer fee of £600,000. He rejoined the club during a relegation threatened campaign, but one which ended with perhaps his most famous goal for the club. Relegation to the third tier loomed in their final game of the season at Stockport County, with three minutes left and no score. Dramatically, Freedman then scored the vital goal that kept Palace in the division, and relegated Huddersfield Town.

The following season saw Freeman bag 21 goals in all competitions, his best seasonal tally for Palace. This also earned him a call-up to the Scottish national team, to add to his earlier Under 21 caps. However, the next season was less of a personal success as he was dropped from the Scotland side, and began to find his appearances limited at Palace, as manager Trevor Francis largely preferred Ade Akinbiyi, Dele Adebola, and Andy Johnson to him.

His fortunes were revived in 2003–04 though, as he re-established himself as a first choice regular under new manager Iain Dowie. A strong surge in the second half of the season saw the club go from relegation contenders to the promotion play-offs. Freedman scored during the penalty shootout victory at Sunderland in the semi finals to help the club to the final. He was an unused substitute in the final though, which saw the club beat West Ham, the second time he had been promoted with the club.

However, life in the Premier League in 2004–05 saw Freedman often overlooked as the team employed only one striker in most games, with Andy Johnson being the preferred choice in this role. Despite attracting interest from Leeds United midway through the season, he remained committed to the Palace cause of consolidating Premier League status by rejecting a loan bid from the Championship contenders. He stayed to score his only top flight goal for the club in their vital final fixture at Charlton Athletic, drawing them level at 1–1. However, the eventual 2–2 result saw the club endure a record third Premier League relegation.

Back in the Championship, he remained down the pecking order behind England international Andy Johnson and Republic of Ireland international Clinton Morrison. However, injuries to Johnson and Jon Macken, and lack of form from Morrison brought him back into the team and he scored his 100th and 101st goals for Crystal Palace in a 3–2 win at rivals Brighton & Hove Albion on 20 November 2005. This made him only the seventh player in Palace history to have reached the century mark.

He managed to stay in the line-up after Johnson's return, having made a great impression on Palace boss Iain Dowie, who, later, made a public call to Scotland boss Walter Smith for the striker to be given another chance in the national side. He ended the season with seven league goals, as the club comfortably reached the play-offs. However, they were beaten by Watford in their semi final tie to deny him a chance of a third promotion.

The appointment of Peter Taylor as manager in Summer 2006 limited Freedman's chances, and he could only manage three league goals. However, he extended his contract by a further two years at the conclusion of the season. Taylor was replaced by Neil Warnock early in the 2007–08 season, but strong goalscoring form of Clinton Morrison limited Freedman to rare substitute appearances.

Leeds United (loan)

With Morrison keeping him out of the Palace side, Freedman, after initially rejecting the move (as he had done during the 2004–05 season), decided to move to League One club Leeds United on loan until the end of the season.[1]

He was in excellent form for Elland Road club, scoring five goals to ensure a play-off place including a brace against Carlisle United in a 3–2 win at Elland Road, and also receiving praise from Leeds manager Gary McAllister.[2] This form earned him League One's "Player of the Month" award for April,[3] while another vital late Play-off goal in the first leg of Leeds' semi-final tie with Carlisle United and an assist for a last minute Jonny Howson goal in the second leg helped the Whites to Wembley, where he featured in the Play-off final on the day of his 34th birthday, as Leeds were downed 1–0 by Doncaster Rovers. After the season ended Freedman revealed that he wanted to join Leeds permanently, however Leeds signed Luciano Becchio and Freedman had to look elsewhere.[4]

Freedman is still held in very high regard by the Leeds United's supporters to this day despite such a short spell at the club, his impact in helping the team to the playoff final and his impressive interviews during his time at Leeds he will always be remembered as a cult hero.

The end at Selhurst

After returning to Palace at the end of the season, Freedman was granted a testimonial match to reward him for ten years' service at the club over two spells, with the match to be a first-team pre-season friendly fixture against Fulham at Selhurst Park which ended in a 0–0 draw.

Following this match, Warnock allowed Freedman to depart Selhurst. He was heavily linked with a permanent move to Leeds, this never materialised.

Southend United

Instead Freedman moved to Southend United on a free transfer, scoring four goals in his first four outings for the Shrimpers. However his first season was plagued by injury. The following season saw the form of Lee Barnard keep Freedman out of the side. In March 2010 Freedman had his contract at Southend terminated by mutual consent to rejoin Palace as part of the coaching staff, signalling the end of his playing career.

International career

Freedman made his Scotland debut on 6 October 2001, in a crunch match against Latvia at Hampden Park, for a place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The Scots won the match 2–1, with Freedman scoring the equalising goal in the process (a header past then Palace teammate, goalkeeper Aleksandrs Koliņko), after Andrejs Rubins (another Palace teammate at the time) had given the Latvians the lead. Despite this victory, Scotland failed to gain a place in the Finals, and manager Craig Brown resigned, being replaced by Berti Vogts.

He only got one more Scotland cap following Vogts' appointment, playing the first 45 minutes of Scotland's 5–0 defeat at the hands of France in a friendly.

Managerial career

Freedman's coaching career began when he was appointed as the reserve team manager of Crystal Palace in November 2007. He was in this role alongside his playing duties for the club's first team. This role ended when he joined Leeds United on loan the following March. Following his move to Southend United, he began coaching alongside playing for the Shrimpers' first team.

Freedman became the assistant manager of Crystal Palace in March 2010. Freedman returned to Crystal Palace as assistant manager to Paul Hart as manager and John Pemberton as First Team Coach, helping secure survival for the Eagles. Following the appointment of George Burley, Freedman was retained as Assistant Manager. When Burley was sacked on New Year's Day 2011, Freedman was given the Caretaker Manager role, which many expected to be for a few weeks until a new manager was appointed, but he was made the official manager of Crystal Palace signing a two and a half year deal on 11 January 2011. He quickly moved to bring in Lennie Lawrence as his Assistant Manager and former Palace team-mate Tony Popovic as First Team Coach.

He was ultimately successful in guiding Crystal Palace out of the relegation zone, with the club achieving safety with a game to spare. Palace began the 2011-12 season well under their new manager, occupying the playoff places at the end of October and also enjoying a good run in the Football League Cup, where they have a quarter-final clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford at the end of November.[5]

Personal life

Freedman is married to Sarah, sister of ex Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Stephen Clemence and daughter of former England international Ray Clemence. He tends to use the anglicized abbreviation of his name 'Duggie' rather than 'Doo-gie,' the usual pronunciation for a Scottish person. Generally most Palace supporters use 'Doo-gie'.

Miscellany

When Freedman scored at Palace's home games, Who Let the Dogs Out? by The Baha Men was played and fans sung along, replacing 'Dogs' with 'Doug'.

Scored the first non-Northampton Town goal at Sixfields Stadium for Barnet on 15 October 1994.

He scored his 100th Palace goal against Palace's fierce rivals Brighton in a 3–2 win for the Eagles.

Despite only spending a short spell at Barnet at the beginning of his playing career, Freedman was voted as the fans' favourite player in the club's all-time history in late 2007.[6]

Statistics

Awards

  • Championship Player of the Month: August 2003 whilst at Crystal Palace
  • League 1 Player of the Month: April 2008 whilst at Leeds United
Leeds United

League One

  • Play Off Runners Up: 2007/2008

Playing

(correct as of 2 March 2010)
Club Season League Cup[7] Europe Play-Offs Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Barnet 1994–95 42 24 ? - - - - - - - - - 42 24 ?
Barnet 1995–96 5 3 ? 2 0 ? - - - - - - 7 3 ?
Total 1994–1996 47 27 ? 2 0 ? - - - - - - 49 27 ?
Crystal Palace 1995–96 42 20 ? 2 0 ? - - - - - - 44 20 ?
Crystal Palace 1996–97 37 11 ? 3 1 ? - - - 2 2 0 42 14 ?
Crystal Palace 1997–98 8 0 ? 1 0 ? - - - - - - 9 0 ?
Total 1995–1998 93 31 ? 6 1 ? - - - - - - 99 32 ?
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1997–98 29 10 ? 6 2 ? - - - - - - 35 12 ?
Total 1997–1998 29 10 ? 6 2 ? - - - - - - 35 12 ?
Nottingham Forest 1998–99 31 9 ? 5 3 ? - - - - - - 36 12 ?
Nottingham Forest 1999-00 34 9 ? 7 2 ? - - - - - - 41 11 ?
Nottingham Forest 2000–01 5 0 ? 1 0 ? - - - - - - 6 0 ?
Total 1998–2001 70 18 ? 13 5 ? - - - - - - 83 23 ?
Crystal Palace 2000–01 26 11 ? 2 0 ? - - - - - - 28 11 ?
Crystal Palace 2001–02 40 20 ? 2 1 ? - - - - - - 42 21 ?
Crystal Palace 2002–03 29 9 0 5 2 0 - - - - - - 34 11 0
Crystal Palace 2003–04 35 13 1 4 2 0 - - - 1 0 0 40 15 1
Crystal Palace 2004–05 20 1 0 3 2 0 - - - - - - 23 3 0
Crystal Palace 2005–06 34 6 6 4 2 0 - - - 2 0 0 40 8 6
Crystal Palace 2006–07 34 3 4 3 0 0 - - - - - - 37 3 4
Crystal Palace 2007–08 19 1 2 0 0 0 - - - 0 0 0 19 1 2
Total 2000–2008 237 64 13 24 10 0 - - - 0 0 0 261 74 13
Leeds United (loan) 2007–08 11 5 3 - - - - - - 3 1 0 14 6 3
Total 2008 11 5 3 - - - - - - 3 1 0 14 6 3
Southend United 2008–09 17 5 4 2 0 0 - - - - - - 19 5 4
Southend United 2009–10 20 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - - 23 1 1
Total 2008–2010 37 6 5 5 0 0 - - - - - - 42 6 5
Career totals 524 160 26 56 18 0 - - - 9 3 0 577 179 13

Managerial statistics

All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches (including friendlies) are included.

As of 20 November 2011
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Crystal Palace England 1 January 2011 Present &1000000000000004400000044 &1000000000000001700000017 &1000000000000001200000012 &1000000000000001500000015 &1000000000000003864000038.64

References

External links


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