Freedman: 'Southend have a bright future, which includes staying up'
Scottish striker Dougie had his contract with the Shrimpers cancelled by mutual consent allowing him to be confirmed as the Crystal Palace assistant manager.
Announced along with the new Eagles boss, Paul Hart, Dougie will be returning to his spiritual home where he spent 10 years as a player.
Freedman spoke to www.southendunited.co.uk: "It's an exciting and new challenge for me. I know Paul Hart well from being at Nottingham Forest together and he rang me to ask if I was interested in being his assistant. When I found out it was going to be at Crystal Palace I just thought it was perfect but I owe a big thanks to Ron Martin for releasing me and allowing me to come because it wasn't something he had to do."
Saving on your wages probably had something to do with the speed, but anyway.
Freedman has been with Southend since September 2008, however he last made a start last November, and there was no doubt that after a run of injuries last term was catching up with the player. 13 appearances out of 23 games this season told it's own story.
Dougie explained: "It was great to begin with but then my first season was killed by injuries. This year it's been stop-start and I haven't really had enough games but I always gave 100 per cent in everything I did there. I was never half-hearted, I helped the strikers, I helped coach the youth team with Ricky Duncan and was always committed to the club. I'm sure the manager and players know that and I hope the fans do too."
We do indeed Dougie.
Finally, Freedman spoke about the crisis enveloping Roots Hall and the part played by Chairman Ron Martin.
The new Eagles No.2 concluded: "I really do think the lads will avoid relegation because there are some very good players there. Ron has the club at heart and the stadium, when it happens, will be a fantastic project for the club. The only criticism you could have is that maybe he's been looking at the long-term and not the short-term. The problems with wages hasn't helped but that's the way of the world at the moment and I'm sure Southend have a bright future, which includes staying up."
S24 remembers well his four goals in his first four games, including one that buried the Borient, and his nine out of ten performance in a 4-3 away game at Crewe where he turned the game around almost single-handed.
Good luck Dougie.