Interesting comments by Freeman

[adamski]

Dill The Dog, beats 6 men and still ends up a blind ally, he is not quick enough to pass and reads a game like a dyslexic reads a book!

So not good enough for us now!

[Fordy62]

Freeman was and is a good player. Ironically I could see him doing well in our currently set up, but I think tendency to check back frustrated LJ rather than the one touch he was asking for - and we’re seeing now. 

So in short, it’s probably a good job I’m not in charge. 

[Cider-Head23]

He has an impressive number of assists and so he should as imo the best part of his game is his left foot delivery from set pieces. 

But his all round game isn't good enough for a top end championship side. Doesn't run at players like he did in league one and isn't anywhere near as creative at this level. 

[E.G.Red]

And yet Fulham are reportedly prepared to pay£4m for him. 

Might be a good move and the football they play might suit him better

[Bar BS3]

6 hours ago, Robin1988 said:

For all of Lee’s good points this is the same man who pretty much claimed Aden Flint wanted to leave while offering him around for £4 million in the summer. Given Freeman has nothing to gain from his quotes, and the Flint saga, I’d trust him over LJ/club spin.

Also at Freeman, who has more assists than anyone else in the division this season, being not good enough for a decent Championship club.

Aden Flint DID want to leave in the summer! 

That was financially motivated as well..! Thankfully that seems to have now resolved itself and there is no question about how important Flint is to us. Freeman (in the Championship) never was such a talisman for us. 

[Vincent Vega]

Surely a glance at today's Championship table proves it was the right decision to get rid ?

[tinman85]

Patterson head and shoulders above him

[bh_red]

25 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Aden Flint DID want to leave in the summer! 

That was financially motivated as well..! Thankfully that seems to have now resolved itself and there is no question about how important Flint is to us. Freeman (in the Championship) never was such a talisman for us. 

With the indication that PREMIER league clubs were wanting him.

[Alessandro]

So Freeman, by “out of my hands....the club didn’t offer me anything”

You mean “they didn’t offer me enough money and I can’t help being a greedy bastard and wanting more and then refusing to play for the team last Jan to seal my pay rise”

League one sentiment aside - Little was fantastic in league one after all - Freeman had quality about him but never consistently did it in the champ for us. I’m not sure I’d have him in our first team squad now either and anyone can get a load of assists from free kicks and corners when that’s the only way your team tries to score.

[redsquirrel]

4 hours ago, DaveF said:

He’s still managed 9 assists though which is the joint highest in the league...

how many of those were off target shots that someone else corrected? i remember him being a good winger until he got near the box then tended to fluff it?

[Vespa Red]

I don't care what anyone says, he is Jay from the Imbetweeners

[AshtonGreat]

Good servant for us - did brilliantly in our League One title season, and always seemed a likeable bloke. Good luck to him.

As an aside, I was chatting to a QPR fan after the game, and he said that Freeman tended to run himself into cul-de-sacs. That said, he's scored three this season (I think) and has a few assists, so you can't really argue with that.

[AshtonGreat]

29 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

So Freeman, by “out of my hands....the club didn’t offer me anything”

You mean “they didn’t offer me enough money and I can’t help being a greedy bastard and wanting more and then refusing to play for the team last Jan to seal my pay rise”

League one sentiment aside - Little was fantastic in league one after all - Freeman had quality about him but never consistently did it in the champ for us. I’m not sure I’d have him in our first team squad now either and anyone can get a load of assists from free kicks and corners when that’s the only way your team tries to score.

Would it not annoy you if all your teammates were on more than you? It would annoy me

[Alessandro]

5 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

Would it not annoy you if all your teammates were on more than you? It would annoy me

Well if that was the case, of course. But unless we were sat in the negotiation room, we don’t know if Freeman was given a fair deal or not. I wasn’t! What makes you think he wasn’t offered as much as his team mates as oppose to got a better deal at QPR, in his home town? His behaviour at the time was not of a player who wanted to stay IIRC.

Eitherway, it certainly seems strange to say what he has, I.e the club didn’t offer me anything, which appears to be a lie?

[Robin1988]

5 hours ago, JamesBCFC said:

Except the club weren't offering Flint around for £4million.

Freeman also contradicts himself "they didn't offer me a contract" shortly followed by "they offered me a contract".

 

Ok mate. You can check my previous track record if you’ve got time.

[MurrayLives]

Aside from money issues, Freeman was very unfit coming back into pre-season and couldn’t handle the new training methods implemented by LJ. He was worked particularly hard and was openly dissentful of the manager - Lucky to have been offered a new contract at all.

[Robin1988]

1 hour ago, Bar BS3 said:

Aden Flint DID want to leave in the summer! 

That was financially motivated as well..! Thankfully that seems to have now resolved itself and there is no question about how important Flint is to us. Freeman (in the Championship) never was such a talisman for us. 

When the club were touting him around and made it clear they wanted him out, of course his head wasn’t in things. Would you be ready to perform at your best if you were told your employers didn’t want you any more?

Look, it’s football. But given that’s what happened with Flint, it’s absolutely possible Freeman is telling the truth. He has no reason to lie.

Of course most people will swallow what the club say over any old players or random forum members, but at least remember everything that is written and spoken through the website is PR.

[BCFC_Dan]

He's perfectly up to the standard of the Championship but he doesn't fit our style of play at all. He hangs onto the ball for too long, doesn't see the pass, and doesn't create or score enough from open play. He takes a great set piece and gets a lot of assists that way and if the team is set up in the right way he'll shine. He's just too ponderous for the fast-moving high-pressing style that Johnson wants City to play.

[Mr Popodopolous]

9 hours ago, Leveller said:

Agreed. I’m disappointed by the badmouthing of players who do well for us then leave. I liked him and his version of the story may well be correct. We have no evidence and if it is, it just means LJ decided to let him go. In which case he would be blameless.

He didn't work for us...our style of play moving forward under LJ. Doesn't make him a poor player. The badmouthing thing...depends on how they left IMO, the background to it etc. e.g. We don't dislike Adomah. However Maynard was a prize tosser.

Agree with @BCFC_Dan too.

[Bar BS3]

1 hour ago, bh_red said:

With the indication that PREMIER league clubs were wanting him.

?? Birmingham..!

[Bar BS3]

29 minutes ago, Robin1988 said:

When the club were touting him around and made it clear they wanted him out, of course his head wasn’t in things. Would you be ready to perform at your best if you were told your employers didn’t want you any more?

Look, it’s football. But given that’s what happened with Flint, it’s absolutely possible Freeman is telling the truth. He has no reason to lie.

Of course most people will swallow what the club say over any old players or random forum members, but at least remember everything that is written and spoken through the website is PR.

I think you are some way off the truth there mate. 

[INCRED]

9 hours ago, Leveller said:

Agreed. I’m disappointed by the badmouthing of players who do well for us then leave. I liked him and his version of the story may well be correct. We have no evidence and if it is, it just means LJ decided to let him go. In which case he would be blameless.

By not offering a lucrative contract is the roundabout way of the club saying you are not in our plans but you will be a bit part squad player. I don’t blame him for going because if he got a better contract offer at QPR then we would all do the same. That’s football and sometimes the player doesn’t hold all the cards!

[Manon]

2 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

Freeman was and is a good player. Ironically I could see him doing well in our currently set up, but I think tendency to check back frustrated LJ rather than the one touch he was asking for - and we’re seeing now. 

So in short, it’s probably a good job I’m not in charge. 

I think that that is something that you can coach out of him if needed. 

My view is that LJ considered him surplus to requirements and was given a gentle push out of the door in the form of a poor contract. 

[BRISTOL86]

1 hour ago, AshtonGreat said:

Would it not annoy you if all your teammates were on more than you? It would annoy me

I highly doubt ‘all his team mates’ were on more than him. I imagine he was towards the higher end of the pay scale than the lower end. 

Did he do anything at this level to justify being the top earner or close to it? Not for me. I think a large part of our rigidity with the wage structure is to weed out exactly the sort of player for whom money is the sole motivator. 

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

Interesting! No more than 2 QI points. 

[ciderwithtommy]

1 hour ago, tinman85 said:

Patterson head and shoulders above him

100% agreed - correct way of looking at it

 

[AshtonGreat]

54 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

Well if that was the case, of course. But unless we were sat in the negotiation room, we don’t know if Freeman was given a fair deal or not. I wasn’t! What makes you think he wasn’t offered as much as his team mates as oppose to got a better deal at QPR, in his home town? His behaviour at the time was not of a player who wanted to stay IIRC.

Eitherway, it certainly seems strange to say what he has, I.e the club didn’t offer me anything, which appears to be a lie?

The club said they offered him a good deal, or words to that effect, and he said they didn't offer him as much as his teammates, or words to that effect. We'll never know for sure what was said behind the scenes, of course. But what I do know is that the situation reminds me of my situation with my last employer, who said exactly the same thing (that they were offering me a good/competitive salary), when I knew full well they were taking me for a ride and not paying me what other employees were being paid. Of course Bristol City are going to say that they offered Freeman a good deal. I know footballers are notoriously greedy, but Freeman always struck me as being a decent bloke.

By the way, I'm not saying we should've kept him, but it's my hunch that he's being honest here.

[BRISTOL86]

I have absolutely no objection to Freeman looking for the best deal he can get - don’t we all. 

What I do object to is asking not to be picked while he’s negotiating his exit. ‘My heads not in it’ - read - ‘I don’t want to get injured and ruin my chances of a bigger payday’. 

[Robin1988]

28 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I think you are some way off the truth there mate. 

That's fine, I don't blame you. It may well come out in the passage of time if he does leave.

[Davefevs]

There’s a lot of people on here who know the ins and outs of Freeman’s departure. There is probably a bit of poetic licence on both sides. 

If I take the club’s side:

Weve got a player with 6 months left on a contract, who the manager probably doesn’t think really suits our style. He’ll go for free in the summer and we’ve got interest in him from QPR, possibly others for £500-750k. If we sell him we get a cash injection to offset the 5 deals we are doing this window and we save 6 months of wages. We are happy to offer him a deal but in line with his status in the squad and relative to where we see his contribution going forward. But Luke thinks he’s worth more. We don’t. Only option is to sell. Luke has confirmed he won’t sign it so there’s no wiggle room. Don’t want to lose the money from QPR so let’s not risk an injury until the deal is done!