A new Eagles boss & an ex-Shrimpers skipper: 'I will look at both the playing squad & my own staff'

Dougie Freedman: New Eagles boss.

So ex-Blues striker Dougie Freedman, who impressed the Blues faithful during his 41 games for the club, has been made manager of Crystal Palace after the struggling Championship side decided to give George Burley the boot.

The 36-year-old, who worked under Paul Hart and Burley, was already in caretaker charge and looked likely to lose out to first Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe, who turned the job down, (blimey, that bloke must be doing something right at Dean Court, both Charlton and Burnley have been sneaking around), and possibily former Eagles manager Steve Coppell.

However, he's now in the hot seat and looking forward to the challenge of keeping them in the second tier of league football.

Dougie told www.cpfc.co.uk: "This is a very proud moment for me to be named manager of the club that I have grown to love. First and foremost I would like to thank the fans for their support over my playing and coaching career and long may it continue. I would also like to thank the owners of the club for giving me this opportunity and I am looking forward to the challenge ahead. I will now look at both the playing squad and my own staff which we will hopefully add to sooner rather than later."

Whether that will include former skipper and all round legend Adam Barrett, now at Selhurst Park, we will have to see.

To be sure Adam is only there because of Dougie but then again the Scotsman may have seen enough that the Benfleet-born boy, who turned out 289 times for the Shrimpers, is maybe not the man to turn to in their tough position.

Of course ex-Captain Adam will hope that's not the case.

Barrett told www.echo-news.co.uk: "I'm really pleased that Dougie has been given the job because he was a major reason why I came here in the first place. He knows the club inside out and is very well respected here so I'm sure he will do well. It's also a fresh start for everyone, including myself, and hopefully I can start to get a few more games now because it has been a frustrating six months so far for me at Crystal Palace."

Frustrating enough that he still may be on loan to a lower division club before the season's out, Tilly would bite his own hand off to get him at Lincoln City, or maybe even former youth midfielder Stuart O'Keefe, just a couple of sub appearances for the boy.

Eagles Co-chairman Steve Parish on why Dougie: "I was determined to have someone with fresh ideas, committed to working in a modern innovative way. We also need someone with a great knowledge of our current squad, its strengths, weaknesses, where we need to make additions, with a firm idea of who they should be. Finally, we need someone who has as deep a passion for this club as we do. Dougie ticks all those boxes and more. We will also be adding some 'older heads' to bring some experience as Dougie's assistants and these will be announced in due course."

Some interesting views on Dougie's promotion here, as well as another player that shared both clubs, one Spud Taylor: www.fiveyearplanfanzine.co.uk/

The Freedman Files

Personal information
Full name	Douglas Freedman
Date of birth	25 May 1974 (1974-05-25) (age 36)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Crystal Palace (manager)
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)	11	(5)
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).

(Manager info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougie_Freedman)