It takes a big man to admit they are wrong

Phil_bfc deux

Phil_bfc deux

Well-known member
So come on Simon, Brett and Ben time to get rid of the tinker man coach Critchley

Big fanfare when he came in almost a year ago about fast exciting 'entertaining' football yet the reality is that Critchley's record is almost the same as Graysons, the football isn't much better either

I posted a thread a couple of days ago highlighting the support Critchley has had from the board and showed examples of our current squad and how strong it looks on paper with options all over the pitch

There really isn't any excuse as Critchley has been given all the tools necessary to build a good consistent team

The problem to me is the stubbornness and his reluctance to play 2 strikers week in week out, the stats show that we win more games than we lose when we play 2 upfront

Yesterday was awful for a number of reasons

Another new formation, that looked defensive on paper with 5 in midfield, it was all about accommodating the new Sunderland lad in a free role behind Yates. He did ok but nothing special considering he was given the freedom to make things happen. We have and have had several other players who could of played that role yet weren't given the chance. Both Kemp and Woodburn have been and gone without being allowed to play in that free role 10 slot that they prefer

Ipswich were bang out of form with several key players missing yet we were impotent

Credit to Critchley for the signing of big Marv he has really improved since the start of the season, but i suppose even a broken clock is right once

Maybe Critchley was brought in the develop players if so move him sideways and get a proper manager in the manage the 1st team

Get rid now to save our season, admit the experiment hasn't worked and kick on

Simon Sadler deserves better
 
Getting rid of the manager now will just cause turmoil in the dressing room with the players it's too late should have done it back in October before saving his skin in November if the club wanted rid.

Do it in the summer if you want change I never thought we were good enough anyway especially after beating Northampton and Wigan unlike some. 😜
 
I doubt any changes will be made now, let’s be fair, we’ve had some good results recently and had we won this we’d have been on 37 points, 6 behind Charlton in sixth place with games in hand.

I agree he’s had enough time, despite all the new signings, and looking back, many keep saying give him time. My view is he’s now on borrowed time unless he starts to get consistency, instead of the constant changes in formation and personnel which contribute to the up and down results.

End of February is when I’d give him to.
 
I'm not advocating replacing Critchley but Phil does make some good points about the stark contrast in results when play a lone striker / 4-3-3 and when we play two up top - see my 4-4-2 post for the specifics

What that tells us is that both Madine and Yates need each other ( or a like replacement )

Until we have the personal to play the system Critch wants us to play we should stick to what works - fairly certain we'd be a lot higher in the league if we had adopted that mantra back in Nov when the benefits of 4-4-2 first became apparent

We also need to stop the ridiculous number of substitutions
 
Insider said:
Well there's nothing like a bit of variety in your opinions. 😉
🎵We want Critchy in, Critchy out,
In, out, in, out
I post it all about.....🎵
I leave it to others to finish off the song.
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Its not my fault you misread my post the other day

No excuses i said

As I've been saying for a while

Yesterday was abysmal against a side in horrendous form
 
One other thing... it's a poor do if we are saying a professional team can't play more than one system. Even half decent Sunday League teams manage two or three systems.
 
So in three days we’ve gone from the season and promotion are there for the taking to Critchley out, because we lost one game of football!?

I used to think you were a serious poster to be honest and I was being churlish the other day, to which you got narked at because you felt I was having at dig at you, whilst you were...... oh having a dig at other peoples opinions.

But you keep ‘arguing’ for us to replace managers every twelve months. It’s just nonsense. I can’t take you seriously.

Anyway here’s my last run for you on your weird chases.
 
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TwelveAngryMen said:
I'm not advocating replacing Critchley but Phil does make some good points about the stark contrast in results when play a lone striker / 4-3-3 and when we play two up top - see my 4-4-2 post for the specifics

What that tells us is that both Madine and Yates need each other ( or a like replacement )

Until we have the personal to play the system Critch wants us to play we should stick to what works - fairly certain we'd be a lot higher in the league if we had adopted that mantra back in Nov when the benefits of 4-4-2 first became apparent

We also need to stop the ridiculous number of substitutions
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The number of subs is not my problem and as soon as we went one down after barely creating a chance from open play in the first half.
Half time was the time to change it and it should have been Simms for Virtue or Kia Kia for me.
The late raft of subs does nothing but upset the whole team and if your losing 2-0 give the changes a chance to work at least.
 
I can't knock Yates for his work rate but Critchley is putting far too much onus on the lad. He really isn't clinical enough to play as a lone striker and there isn't enough quality in the final 3rd to make one up top work. Madine and Yates together have got us the results so far but Critch seems reluctant to play 2 up top on a regular basis. If we eventually find a front 3 in the mould of say DJ, Dobbie and Dicko , pace movement and a clinical edge, then NC's favoured formation would be very effective. Until then stick to what has proved successful and stop tinkering.
 
To be honest I thought the op was going to say its time for Critchley to admit he was wrong but that just doesnt seem to happen and I dont like that...he needs to realise when he has dropped a bollock like yesterday and LEARN from it...I dont think he is learning from mistakes and in fact on the contrary doent believe they are mistakes..For the record yesterdays formation was yet another weird set up which played more like a 4 2 3 1 (or would have done if Virtue had turned up) than a 4 5 1. It would be nice if the manager held his hands up and said it was my mistake and wont happen again but tbh that is not in his make up.

You really need to take a position Phil as you are chopping and changing more than a Neil Critchley 11 at the moment...for clarity is it Critchley in or Critchley out now (if its out I think you will get a lot of support in the coming weeks as NC is skating on very very thin ice)...are we going up or staying down...please let us deluded ones know Phil.
 
I don't think the OP knows much about being a big man.

Ok, yesterday was poor. Overall, the squad has been getting good results with varied formations. Just because it backfired yesterday doesn't mean he should change his approach. I kinda like that we are not predictable in formation or line up, makes us harder to prepare for.
 
The main thing Phil is correct on is the style of football and we look more and more like a Grayson outfit by the week....no high press apart from Yates who looks pissed off that he is chasing and nobody else is...no fast paced slick moves , no tempo and no continuity...time to go back to basics and NOW. We also need a substitute coach to advise NC to get the subs on at the right time. I am not against Critchley yet but its time to start getting more right than wrong.
 
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coppiceman said:
I don't think the OP knows much about being a big man.

Ok, yesterday was poor. Overall, the squad has been getting good results with varied formations. Just because it backfired yesterday doesn't mean he should change his approach. I kinda like that we are not predictable in formation or line up, makes us harder to prepare for.
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Totally disagree and its time for the best 11 available to play week in week out...no more tinkering for tinkerings sake...the manager isnt good enough for that as displayed at Gillingham Ipswich Wimbledon Bristol Rovers Shrewsbury etc etc
 
We’re missing Hamilton, how long is he actually out for?

Playing Virtue right wing isn’t the answer & I don’t think Kaikai is at his best wide in a 4-4-2 or in a 4-5-1 as it was yesterday.

We have some excellent centre backs so surely we go 3-5-2 till Hamilton returns. It suits the players we have, it crucially means we can have two upfront as Yates struggles upfront on his own (have the coaching team forgot the start to the season when he didn’t score and looked a bit lost?). It means uwe can have 3 in the middle and not get overrun (NC worries about this and mentions it regular), Embleton or Kaikai can go and create wherever in front of Stewart & Dougall and crucially it means you don’t have to play Virtue out of position as we have two natural wing backs in Garbutt and Gabriel.

I just think we are trying to over complicate things. Are we good with 1 upfront? Bar the Pompey win no we are not. Are Kaikai or Virtue performing or playing well wide? Not for me. It’s alright having a vision and desired formations but currently we haven’t got the players to fit, so it needs to be sorted or at least like the management team are clocking it.

Madine is now a big miss, but we have options to make it less so, they just seem to be overlooked.

This league is turning into the Championship with some mad results, it’s strange with all the Covid/isolation nonsense about, so I’ll take seeing progress and development but yesterday felt like we were back in September.

Every day is a school day as they say and we haven’t reached the pits of the end of Grayson’s reign, there’s some really positive signs at times but we need to help the players with the system and yesterday Yates got stitched up in my opinion & he’s too good to do that to.
 
BigHandsOliverKahn said:
It's still 27 points from the last 15 games despite yesterday so calling for the coach to go is a bit silly.

It's his first year and he had to transform the entire squad in his first 12 months so he deserves a couple of more years now to see what he can build on these initial foundations.
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He didn’t have to transform the entire squad, he chose to. Some change was needed yes but not necessarily an entire squad change after 2 games. The season was then ended so I don’t believe all our new players were actually watched in competitive games.
 
Rektseasider said:
So in three days we’ve gone from the season and promotion are there for the taking to Critchley out, because we lost one game of football!?

I used to think you we’re a serious poster to be honest and I was being churlish the other day, to which you got narked at because you felt I was having at dig at you, whilst you were...... oh having a dig at other peoples opinions.

But you keep ‘arguing’ for us to replace mangers every twelve months. It’s just nonsense. I can’t take you seriously.

Anyway here’s my last run for you on your weird chases.
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Nonsense

Grayson had 7 months in charge and i didn't once say he should be sacked

Critchley has had nearly 12 months and his record after so much investment from the board just isn't good enough

My post the other day was about highlighting the strong squad we have the the support the board have given him

No excuses i said ...

Yesterday was probably one of the worse performances of the season due to the way we set up against a team who are in such poor form

We just didn't have a go at them

And thats unforgivable in my book
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
So come on Simon, Brett and Ben time to get rid of the tinker man coach Critchley

Big fanfare when he came in almost a year ago about fast exciting 'entertaining' football yet the reality is that Critchley's record is almost the same as Graysons, the football isn't much better either

I posted a thread a couple of days ago highlighting the support Critchley has had from the board and showed examples of our current squad and how strong it looks on paper with options all over the pitch

There really isn't any excuse as Critchley has been given all the tools necessary to build a good consistent team

The problem to me is the stubbornness and his reluctance to play 2 strikers week in week out, the stats show that we win more games than we lose when we play 2 upfront

Yesterday was awful for a number of reasons

Another new formation, that looked defensive on paper with 5 in midfield, it was all about accommodating the new Sunderland lad in a free role behind Yates. He did ok but nothing special considering he was given the freedom to make things happen. We have and have had several other players who could of played that role yet weren't given the chance. Both Kemp and Woodburn have been and gone without being allowed to play in that free role 10 slot that they prefer

Ipswich were bang out of form with several key players missing yet we were impotent

Credit to Critchley for the signing of big Marv he has really improved since the start of the season, but i suppose even a broken clock is right once

Maybe Critchley was brought in the develop players if so move him sideways and get a proper manager in the manage the 1st team

Get rid now to save our season, admit the experiment hasn't worked and kick on

Simon Sadler deserves better
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Im sorry but when you post reactionary drivel like this I can’t defend you. You’ve said you didn’t want Critchley, and that’s fine, it’s a perfectly valid opinion. However, to post hysteric posts like this calling for his head after a single defeat is honestly a bit embarrassing. You’ll have your supporters on here no doubt, but this kind of thread shows exactly what’s wrong with our fanbase. You care more about being right than the club being successful.
 
Although I'm not calling for Critchley's head the OP makes some valid points. We set up negatively yesterday against a team in crisis. In fact they had 2 players making debuts for them. Why on earth we didn't play 2 up front is beyond me. I agree he seems to have rejigged the side to accommodate the Sunderland lad which was strange. Perhaps Calderwood needs to have a word in Critch's ear. Yesterday was one of the most disappointing displays of the season and 2 nil flattered us.
 
I suspect that Phil constantly changes the settings on his toaster just so he can argue with his wife about his toast not being quite to his liking.
I. e He's a man who loves the sound of his own voice and would start an argument in an empty room🙄
 
How much money does SS have to throw at it?

Some say get through this season and rebuild with nc in the summer. How much will that cost? Let alone whether you need 3 signings to find 1 player.

Sack NC now? How much will that cost?

Cheapest option is to stick with NC and hope it all comes good.

However, if you are going to change, now would be the time as there's no window and a new bloke has proper time to assess before discarding, unlike NC who discarded anyway without DC&A.
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
To be honest I thought the op was going to say its time for Critchley to admit he was wrong but that just doesnt seem to happen and I dont like that...he needs to realise when he has dropped a bollock like yesterday and LEARN from it...I dont think he is learning from mistakes and in fact on the contrary doent believe they are mistakes..For the record yesterdays formation was yet another weird set up which played more like a 4 2 3 1 (or would have done if Virtue had turned up) than a 4 5 1. It would be nice if the manager held his hands up and said it was my mistake and wont happen again but tbh that is not in his make up.

You really need to take a position Phil as you are chopping and changing more than a Neil Critchley 11 at the moment...for clarity is it Critchley in or Critchley out now (if its out I think you will get a lot of support in the coming weeks as NC is skating on very very thin ice)...are we going up or staying down...please let us deluded ones know Phil.
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Thats rubbish mate

My view on Critchley hasn't changed, i dont believe he's good enough and i didn't want him from day one due to his lack of experience

The only thing that has changed is me now calling for him to go

I've been critical of his tactics all season

We have a strong squad with good players yet can't get anything against a poor Ipswich team, he's been backed from the board more than any manager in my lifetime
 
AngelBFC said:
Phil I'm pretty sure the board aren't worried about admitting failure .

SS set out his target for promotion when he took over . From what I can remember it was within 3 years
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And the second of those 3 years is almost over with no visible improvement, nor are we any nearer to the top of the league.
 
Formation?? There wasn’t one against Ipswich really. Shambolic.

rotation? Only works if you’re a moneybags team with a real advantage over the vast majority of other teams in the division and have a manager that can handle massive egos. Never has worked in League One.

Mass subs. Hardly ever make a difference. It’s Champ Manager style management.
 
What none of us know is the disruption of losing the majority of the key squad to 10 days training. They may be back in but certainly aren’t fit and playing as they were pre-Covid disruption.
 
I think he definitely gets all this season barring our form going into some sort of death spiral, but Phil and Tam make some good points.
I'm not saying that 3 or 5 at the back, depending on how you look at it , is always the right thing but it is with our squad.
If we include Thorniley and at a push Husband and Turton we have 6 players who can play in a back 3.
We have two decent wing backs and Mitchell as back up on the left, lacking cover on the right.
It would make best use of what we have, it also allows to play a front 2 from Yates, Madine, Hamilton and Simms.
Also means we can play Kaikai or Embleton where they can do some damage, behind the front two!
Too many square pegs in round holes and 1 up top doesn't work whoever he puts there.
And his use and timing of subs needs to improve dramatically, use 2 of them at half time to change a game, still got 3 in reserve!
The clock is ticking.......
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
I'm not advocating replacing Critchley but Phil does make some good points about the stark contrast in results when play a lone striker / 4-3-3 and when we play two up top - see my 4-4-2 post for the specifics

What that tells us is that both Madine and Yates need each other ( or a like replacement )
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My concern is why can’t Critchley see this after nearly a year in the job?
 
Can’t really comment much on the team cos I haven’t seen enough of them to pass judgement on how good they are. But from the odd league game and the cup games I’ve seen none of them have been entertaining.
fir the record though the op has been consistent since August in his opinions on the manager.
 
Goforgoal said:
The post said Sadlers aim was promotion within 2/3 years. It’s almost 2 years since he took over was my point, not how long Critchley has been in charge.
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Think his point was more the fact you said the season was ‘almost over’ when we have 22 games left to play. Another ridiculous comment
 
Shiggy said:
Think his point was more the fact you said the season was ‘almost over’ when we have 22 games left to play. Another ridiculous comment
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Again read my post, I said, the second of those years is almost over. Nowhere in either post did I mention a season being over, half over, almost over, nor in any other context. I never mentioned a season. Thank you 😀
 
12 goals conceded in the last 15 games.

A manager in his first professional role, who had only managed 26 league games.

Numerous first team players out or just retuning from covid.

The majority of the squad only having played one game or less infront of Blackpool fans.

In my opinion, it's still way too early to be calling for the managers head. I think there is plenty more potential to be realised by this squad and manager.
 
What people are overlooking is the fact that for some reason this Division, this season, seems to be all over the place with results and there has not been any matches that could be a guaranteed “banker.”
Who would have predicted Burton, or Accrington for that matter, beating Hull?
And when you look at some of the results it shows us in a good light and we can compete with everyone in that Division.
Although Ipswich had been on a bad run it doesn’t mean they were there for the taking.
An interesting stat from that game as well. Of the 11 players that started the game for Ipswich they had only scored 3 goals between them!
The game is so unpredictable and as I said anyone is capable of beating anyone else.
We have 3 games in hand over Charlton who are in 6th place and we are 9 points behind them and the season has a long way to go yet so it is guaranteed there will be a lot more “unexpected” results.
But don’t worry, we won’t see one on Tuesday night. !!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I’d give him this season and then assess where we are then. Agree we should be much higher up the league with all the money spent and backing from Sadler. It’s annoying when you see the weird formation pre-match and tinkering, and expect the worse (again). Maybe he will realise that’s what’s needed to get out of LG1. Some of his failed formation experiments might actually be more successful in the Championship, who knows?
 
One thing NC Could try is playing the same team 2 weeks in a row which I don't believe he has done once all season .A settled team im sure would help build confidence and momentum in the players .Many times we've been amazed how many players have been dropped after playing well the game before.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Thats rubbish mate

My view on Critchley hasn't changed, i dont believe he's good enough and i didn't want him from day one due to his lack of experience

The only thing that has changed is me now calling for him to go

I've been critical of his tactics all season

We have a strong squad with good players yet can't get anything against a poor Ipswich team, he's been backed from the board more than any manager in my lifetime
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Thanks Phil that now polarises your position that you want Critchley out...as I say I dont think you will be alone in the coming weeks if we cant start winning...any finish lower than 12th is a disappointment in my opinion and will put his position in doubt...how long do you give him next season if he finishes 12th or below this season...10 games maybe and if not much improved its time to go.
 
I would of played Kai Kai in the role behind Yates. That said we were still gash in the second half and deserved nothing. NC stays for me and gets the full summer to get his shit together. If by the next January window he’s still pissing about and doesn’t know his strongest 11 and formation then 8 suspect SS will be asking some very tough questions. PS for the record I’m not a fan of sacking managers every 6months.
 
Seasidesupporter said:
One thing NC Could try is playing the same team 2 weeks in a row which I don't believe he has done once all season .A settled team im sure would help build confidence and momentum in the players .Many times we've been amazed how many players have been dropped after playing well the game before.
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Correct he over complicates things as Ancelloti said as the start of the season football is an easy game NC sometimes tries to be too smart for his own good.
 
Yesterday's set up was a nonsense with Jerry up front on his own. More worryingly overall, the team seems to be somewhat fragile under pressure. It takes way too long to regroup if we concede first. Definitely not time for Critch to go, but Simon S must be disappointed with progress so far. Yesterday we had a cluttered, samey looking midfield none of whom apart from Sullay was going to attempt anything out of the ordinary. We should be able to adapt formations enough for game conditions but as a basis we should have a preferred shape and stick to it. My choice would be good old 4 4 2 with a focus on width.
 
The season is almost over playoff wise I think. A shame to see it all peter out given we are obviously better than our league position and performances suggest. Again it’s inability to score consistently in games that is costing us and the formation and selections are contributing massively to that.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Its not my fault you misread my post the other day

No excuses i said

As I've been saying for a while

Yesterday was abysmal against a side in horrendous form
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You mean the one where you couldn't get the players names right? 😉
TBH I don't actually disagree with some of what you say.
I do absolutely disagree that we should get rid of Critch.
He does tinker too much for my liking but you and I aren't usually privy to the fitness of the players so that's a consideration that may have influenced yesterday's team selection.
He is still learning and I'd say you learn more from a defeat than a victory.
We can all see the negatives from yesterday, primarily that we lost and also the poor 2nd half performance.
We soon forget that we actually did OK for the first 44mis of the game.
With what we appeared to have had available yesterday I would have played 4-4-2.
I'd have started with Turts instead of Gabriel.
Mid-field: Embleton, Dougall, Stewart Garbutt.
Up top: Yates Simms.
I listened to Larry post match yesterday and I came out in a cold sweat. 😁
 
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