DOUGIE Freedman recognises a lot of the troubles that Wigan have had this season – and may have a few words of good advice for newly-installed Latics boss Uwe Rosler.

Both men on the touchline tomorrow afternoon took on the job of managing a recently-relegated club struggling to come to terms with life in the Championship.

And it just so happens that both Freedman and Rosler succeeded exactly the same man – Owen Coyle.

Freedman finds himself 14 months down the managerial line from his opposite number, taking charge of his first home game tomorrow, but admits the situation Rosler has stepped into rings a few bells of recognition.

“Premiership clubs come down and they have still got that hangover and in Wigan’s case there were a lot of players that got changed,” he told The Bolton News.

“That takes time to settle.

“Then you get the expectations that ‘we should be this, we should be that’ and it mounts pressure that you have got to start your season like a rocket. Football isn’t like that.

“The foundations have got to be there and the ground has got to be readied to plant these seeds to grow. Only when it is ready can you see the club flourish.

“I think Wigan have struggled with that this year.”

Freedman got Wanderers within a whisker of where they wanted to be last season but still has plenty of work on his hands if he intends to do the same this time around.

But while the Scot will be looking for a win that could propel his team into the top half for the first time this season, he did have some words of advice for Rosler as he set out on his journey at the DW Stadium.

“Everyone has got their own opinions and I’m sure Uwe will be having all the experts and ex-Wigan players telling him how he should be doing things, or how they were done last year,” he said.

“He has got to do his own job. He has got a decent squad and the fact they are out of Europe might just focus him a little bit more in the league.

“He has got to put his own mark on it and try to make all his decisions from that little six yard box they put us in.”

Freedman admits he does not know how Wigan will set themselves up – but will come up against two old team-mates in the Latics line-up.

Midfielder Ben Watson set out alongside the Wanderers boss at Palace, while Freedman actually recommended Emerson Boyce as a signing to then-Wigan boss Paul Jewell a decade ago.

“I gave him the thumbs up because at the time we weren’t a very well known team but he just stood out,” he said.

“It was tough playing against him every day.”