CAREER opportunity: Famous old football club, fallen on hard times, needs injection of passion and tactical know-how, budget juggling skills would be an advantage. Timewasters need not apply.

Phil Gartside won’t be lacking in quality applicants for the fourth managerial vacancy at Wanderers in seven years but the under-fire chairman knows full well that the next decision he makes could define what happens at this club for a long time to come.

The choice to sacrifice Dougie Freedman’s long-term vision was clearly made with heavy heart but one glance at the Championship table – where Wanderers sit in bottom spot – tells you why short-termism needed to take precedence this time.

So did the football on offer in this 90 minutes of contrasting emotion.

Freed of the shackles imposed by the previous manager’s rigid tactical set-up, Wanderers played with a freedom we haven’t seen since the carefree days of Owen Coyle.

But freed of the shackles imposed by the previous manager’s tactical set-up, Wanderers also played with a naivety we haven’t seen since the carefree days of Owen Coyle.

The same problems – wasteful finishing, neglectful defending – that cost Freedman his job have not disappeared just because he no longer occupies the dugout.

Nor had the anger directed towards Gartside that popped up in pockets through the course of the game.

However it was hard to be too negative, at least about what was happening on the pitch, as caretaker managers Andy Hughes and Lee Turner pulled every trick in the book to revive a home crowd that had turned sour in the last couple of months.

Hughes developed cult status at Leeds United when he became the club’s first signing after being docked 15 points for going into administration back in 2007. His willingness to play any role for the club during their darkest hours cemented his popularity on the terraces at Elland Road and that same attitude prompted Gartside to look towards him on Friday.

Flanked by goalkeeper coach Lee Hughes, the team tellingly saw two of Freedman’s under-performers, Owen Garvan and Dean Moxey, dropped entirely from the 18, and a return to a standard 4-4-2.

The pair were appointed because they had worked closely with the first team in recent months.

That fans’ choice Jimmy Phillips was not considered for the post was no indictment on his coaching – more a reflection on the rift that has developed between first team and Academy this last two years that had prevented him and his staff from having closer relationship with the senior set-up.

Phillips watched on from the directors’ box with Gartside and Co as Wanderers made a fast-paced start, Craig Davies forcing Artur Boruc into a save at his near post after only 14 seconds.

Geed-up by a lap of appreciation by the players prior to kick off, the stadium was on song.

Jay Spearing, Chung-Yong Lee and Mark Davies had upped their game and the front two both made a nuisance of themselves.

Jermaine Beckford also seemed intent on repairing some of his damaged relationship with the fans – his body language far more positive than he had been since the start of the season. And yet the breakthrough, as so often under Freedman, failed to materialise.

Beckford flashed a good shot just wide, while Steve Cook’s brilliant lunging tackle blocked a goalbound effort from Craig Davies.

When the early promise started to fade Andy Lonergan stepped up with an important save from Marc Pugh.

The Whites then got a let-off as Callum Wilson was bundled down by Matt Mills – a penalty at first glance – but ruled a free kick by referee Andre Marriner.

Yann Kermorgant curled the set-piece past Lonergan but Dorian Dervite made a crucial header off the line.

That was it for former Charlton man Kermorgant.

Moments later he was sent off for a ridiculously high challenge on Mark Davies that sparked a shoving contest between several players.

Davies recovered but then pulled up on halfway after losing the ball to Charlie Daniels.

Initial signs are more promising than at first feared but his knee problem will be re-assessed today – and past history had everyone looking nervous at the Macron following the midfielders reaction.

With a man advantage Wanderers threatened to make the breakthrough, with Beckford twice going close.

Bourne-mouth’s gameplan didn’t suffer, however, and Lonergan made another good save when Matt Ritchie cut in from the right to drill a low shot at goal.

The Cherries caught Wanderers cold after half time, where Darren Pratley had replaced the ailing Davies.

Wilson got behind Dervite and Ream and produced a quality finish.

The home crowd produced an instantaneous wave of encouragement and five minutes later Spearing spun away from a challenge 25 yards out to crash a wonderful strike past Boruc for the equaliser.

Had Wanderers kept the tempo high at that point, exploited their numerical advantage, then the day would have panned out differently.

Craig Davies was plain unfortunate. His shot deflected off Cook and crashed off the bar but Neil Danns should have buried the rebound.

The football was too frantic, too forced.

And as a result, concentration levels at the back were not what they should have been.

A straightforward lofted pass from the back caught out Mills and Dervite, leaving Wilson to ghost in again to roll his shot under Lonergan.

The lack of composure continued into the final minutes, although Max Clayton’s late appearance from the bench did hint at something exciting to come.

Frustration grew.

Pockets of supporters started to call for the chairman’s head once more, even though he had long-since vacated the directors’ box.

All of a sudden we were back where we started seven days earlier against Derby County.

Well, not quite.

While many fans filed out to continue their chanting, many more stayed behind to applaud the players’ efforts, repaid in kind by a show of appreciation on the pitch.

That loyalty, if nothing else, is why applications will start piling up in their multitude on the chairman’s desk and in his inbox this morning.

And regardless of who gets the nod, that same attitude will be needed between now and May if the club are to get themselves out of relegation trouble.